The Outer Worlds: Book One of the Epherian Chronicles (17 page)

‘
Yeah, yeah, just a few more drinks and we’ll be on our
way.’

‘
You said one drink before we arrived; you have already
consumed three.’

‘
Relax, Ivan. Take a look around; this is a nice bar in a nice
city. Men like us rarely get a chance to relax and take it easy. We
have to sneak a moment here and there. You know what I
mean.’

‘
Actually, I do not know what you mean. Remember, I am a
synthetic android; I don’t need to relax and take it easy, and I
certainly do not need to drink poisonous beverages to make myself
feel good.’

‘
No wonder you’re always uptight,’ said Ajax with a chuckle.
His dark eyes scanned the mostly empty saloon. A basic synthetic
android was serving drinks behind the bar. Most high end androids
looked so much like people that it was very difficult to tell the
difference, but the one serving drinks had skin that looked like
plastic and an obviously fake beard. The android was an antique,
and the saloon owners were clearly trying to create a retro
feel.

‘
We have a responsibility to the crew,’ said Ivan.

Ajax grimaced.
‘Listen here, Ivan. I’ve been awake for less than an hour. Before I
blacked out I thought I was dying. I deserve a few drinks after
fighting so many aliens. Surely even a robot can understand
that.’

‘
I comprehend your reasoning.’

Ajax smiled.
‘Good. You can be decent sometimes. Let me finish this last drink
and then we will head back to the Out Drifter.’

‘
May I ask you at what age you began to consume
alcohol?’

Ajax
physically shuddered at recalling the memory. He turned away and
stared out the window at the city beyond. He didn’t answer, but the
question caused him to recall some buried memories. He saw her face
in his memories. Her happy eyes were full of joy. A feeling of
painful grief surged through his body. He remembered back to that
time so many years ago.

‘
Ajax, don’t be out too late. The system reports are saying the
gangs are active tonight in the outskirts,’ said Tara, his twin
sister.

‘
You worry too much, Tara. I know how to dodge the gangs, and
besides, look at these muscles,’ he said as he flexed his huge
biceps. ‘I’m the toughest guy out there.’

‘
There is always someone stronger.’

‘
Not in this city,’ he replied confidently. He dashed out the
front door of their small ground floor apartment.

A year earlier
their parents had died in a tragic air-vehicle accident. Ajax and
Tara had been left alone to fend for themselves in rough and
unforgiving city of Endtown on Asterton Beta 2, an end of the line
world which was used as a scrapyard by Epherian Empire contractors
to salvage parts from obsolete space freighters. They were
seventeen years old, and Ajax worked as a labourer in a small
scrapyard at the end of their street. Tara was attending a
correspondence school on the local free education network. She
stayed home most of the time because the streets were becoming more
dangerous with each passing month. Street gangs were progressively
taking over the city. The authorities had tried to stop the spread
of violence, but the problem had gone beyond the point of no return
and everyone knew that the gang leaders were the real authority in
the city.

The gangs
provided a feeling of belonging and brotherhood for disaffected
youth. Members also enjoyed the protection provided by gang
affiliation. Young Ajax had been spotted by a gang leader who had
invited him to join the ranks. The Knuckles were a smaller gang,
but they had been growing quickly and taking a lot of territory
from the larger more established gangs. The Knuckles were generally
feared because of their violent tactics and reluctance to back down
in a fight.

Most of the
young lads of the local suburb aspired to join the Knuckles, and
many worked as Seconds, which was the name given to those who were
not yet full gang members. That night was Ajax’s big night; he had
been chosen ahead of many others to enter into full membership. A
feeling of excitement flowed through his body as he rounded the
corner at the end of the street.

He made his
way through an area of scrapyards to a dusty field which was
situated between a series of abandoned residential buildings and a
junkyard. A group of about thirty Knuckles were standing in a
semicircle in the half light. They were all clothed in a similar
manner, dark intelligent glasses and plasma resistant black leather
jackets.

Kagger the
Jackal stepped forward from the group. He was the leader of the
Knuckles, a giant of a man, who had genetically modified his body
to be far musclier than was naturally possible. He was tall with a
shaved head and a permanent grimace. He lifted his glasses and his
piercing blue eyes stared at Ajax like he was staring at a dirty
rat approaching.

Ajax stepped
forward. He had never spoken to Kagger the Jackal, and he felt
nervous being in the presence of the fearsome leader of the
Knuckles.

‘
You want to join the Knuckles, do you, boy?’ growled
Kagger.

‘
That’s what I’m here for,’ answered Ajax, holding his chin
high and staring directly back at Kagger. Kagger held the stare and
nothing was said for a few seconds.

‘
Do you know the code?’ asked Kagger with a sneer.

‘
I do. Loyalty to the Knuckles. Stand by the Knuckles until
death. To betray one Knuckle is to betray all the
Knuckles.’

‘
Do you accept the code?’

‘
I do,’ he replied.

‘
Do you understand you can never leave once you
join?’

‘
I do.’

‘
Do you understand your loyalty is to us and no one
else?’

‘
I do.’

‘
Very good,’ said Kagger. He then walked toward Ajax and lifted
a vial of orange liquid. ‘Do you know what this is?’

‘
Nano-bot infused liquid,’ answered Ajax.

‘
Yes, that’s right, with a dash of pure alcohol. The active
components are specially designed nano-bots which will permeate
your entire system. They restrain you from doing anything to hurt
your fellow Knuckles. We all drink a vial of this when we join the
gang. The nano-bots stay in your system for your entire life. If
they ever detect you assaulting another gang member they will
activate pain receptors throughout your body. All our nano-bots are
wirelessly connected. It’s an extra precaution we take to ensure
loyalty remains the central pillar of the Knuckles.’ He handed the
vial to Ajax. ‘Drink!’

Ajax took the
vial and lifted it to his lips. Within seconds he had swallowed the
entire contents.

Kagger’s lips
twisted into a grin. ‘Good, now you’re a man like the rest of us.
You’re a real Knuckle.’

Ajax became
aware of someone approaching out of the corner of his eye. He
glanced over his shoulder and his heart nearly stopped. Tara was
walking toward them, deep concern evident in her eyes.

‘
Ajax, what’s going on? You’re not joining a gang are you? No,
Ajax, you can’t,’ she pleaded.

‘
Who’s this intruder?’ asked Kagger with a vicious
sneer.

‘
Tara, you shouldn’t be here! You shouldn’t have followed me.
Go home! This is none of your business,’ he said firmly.

‘
I’m not leaving without you! Ajax, come with me. This isn’t
who you are.’

‘
He is not going anywhere,’ growled Kagger. ‘Ajax is one of
us.’

Tara shook her
head. ‘Ajax is not one of you. You think you’re so strong, but when
I look at you the only thing I see is a pack of cowards. Not one of
you has the strength or courage to stand alone. You’re little boys
pretending to be men.’

Kagger sneered
down at her. Ajax could sense the danger and his mind raced as he
tried to think of a way to diffuse the situation. This was a
nightmare turning into reality. She wasn’t meant to know anything
about what he was up to with the Knuckles. He had no idea how she
had managed to follow him, and on this night of all nights.

‘
Tara, I will take you home,’ said Ajax, taking her
arm.

‘
No, no, no,’ said Kagger. ‘She can’t barge into a Knuckle
initiation and insult us without consequences.’

‘
She’s my sister,’ said Ajax in a low and steady
voice.

‘
I couldn’t care less, even if she was Epherian royalty; no one
gets away with insulting the Knuckles.’

‘
Kagger, listen to me,’ stuttered Ajax. ‘She doesn’t know what
she’s saying.’

‘
I know exactly what I’m saying,’ said Tara. ‘You have to come
with me. I won’t leave without you.’

Ajax turned to
face her, pleading for her to say nothing more. ‘Please, Tara…’

The hiss of
plasma ripped through the air. Ajax watched as the beam tore
through Tara’s chest. She froze in shock, and her eyes widened as
she stumbled and fell backward, clutching her bleeding chest.

‘
No!’ screamed Ajax as he dashed to her side. ‘No! This can’t
be happening!’ he howled.

Tara looked up
at him. He could see her mouth was filling with blood, and her sad
eyes stared into his.

‘
I won’t leave without you…’ she said as her voice trailed
away. She became completely still, and her lifeless eyes stared
into space.

Kagger was
holding the smoking plasma pistol. Ajax felt anger well up within
him like a swirling tornado. The anger turned into rage and far
beyond. He leapt up, clenched his fists and charged. He hit out,
but before he could finish the punch he felt an unbearable pain
blast through his entire body. He fell to the ground and clutched
his abdomen as he moaned.

Kagger
viciously chuckled. ‘That’s the feeling of the nano-bots doing
their work. They won’t allow you to hurt me, but my nano-bots are a
little different. Being the leader of the Knuckles I can do
whatever I want.’

Kagger ran
forward and kicked Ajax in the head. The impact almost knocked him
unconscious. Blood trickled down his cheek. Kagger and the other
gang members laughed and jeered.

‘
This is what happens when you have loyalty to people outside
the gang. You are not one of us. I banish you, Ajax. You chose your
sister over the Knuckles. Get him out of my sight.’

Kagger turned
and walked away. Two gang members dragged Ajax across the field. He
was dazed and confused from the intense and excruciating pain.
Simultaneously he could feel the emotional pain was only increasing
with each passing moment. He howled in grief as the Knuckles hurled
him into a pile of garbage. The gang laughed and mocked him as they
walked away. He was left lying in the silence. He looked up at the
dark sky and moaned from the core of his being.

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

Sara glanced
down at the control console. Her eyes caught sight of a small red
flickering light, which was the navigation system warning
light.

‘
Why would anyone want to jam our navigation system?’ she
questioned as she switched on the ship’s computer.

‘
Computer, what is the status of the navigation communication
channels? Are we being jammed?’

RUNNING
DIAGNOSTIC TOOL. A few seconds passed. She tapped the edge of the
console and waited. Something didn’t seem right.

NAVIGATION
COMMUNICATION CHANNELS ARE BEING BLOCKED BY AN EXTERNAL
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD. THE SOURCE OF THE FIELD IS UNKNOWN.

‘
Computer, run a complete check of all internal
systems.’

RUNNING FULL
SYSTEM CHECK: PLEASE WAIT.

Ivan and Ajax
appeared at the door of the control room. She glanced over her
shoulder at Ajax. ‘Good to see you back on your feet. How do you
feel?’ she asked with a smile.

‘
Alive,’ he replied.

ALL SYSTEMS
ARE RUNNING AT A SATISFACTORY LEVEL.

‘
Why are you doing a system check?’ asked Ivan.

‘
Someone is jamming our navigation communication channels,’ she
answered. ‘I want to make sure everything else is fine. We don’t
know anyone on Zeno Par, and we sure don’t have any enemies here,
or at least I don’t think we do. It’s probably a few kids playing a
practical joke with an electromagnetic field disruptor.’

‘
There is another possible explanation,’ said Ivan. ‘Perhaps
all the navigation communication channels throughout the city are
being jammed.’

‘
Why would anyone want to do that?’ asked Ajax.

‘
To reduce the probability of Zeno Par’s armed forces mounting
a coordinated defence,’ said Ivan.

Sara drew a
deep breath. She knew what Ivan was suggesting, and she had seen
the aliens use the same tactic in the past to cause massive
devastation.

‘
Ivan, take a portable scanner to the edge of the platform,’
she said in a hurried voice. ‘See if your theory has any truth to
it.’

Ivan nodded
before turning around and walking back to the cargo bay. Within a
few seconds he was outside the ship. He went to the edge of the
platform and lifted the handheld scanner. Sara watched him and
waited for as he adjusted the device. Ivan took a sudden step back.
He then turned and ran for the ship and waved his free arm.

‘
What did you see, Ivan?’ she asked over the com.

‘…
They are here. The aliens are here…’ he replied.

Adrenaline
rushed through her body. ‘Get in the ship and seal the exit door.
We’re getting out of here!’