Aetheral Space

Chapter 6:1.6: Blood-Red Opportunity

Rikhail did his best to conceal his anxiety as he mechanically chewed his steak. While his knife cut through the meat with satisfying ease, he couldn’t help but draw a connection between the eating utensil and the sword of the man at the other end of the table. The Lord Mayor found himself wishing he didn’t like his meat quite so bloody.

"It must have been a dull journey planetside," Rikhail said, grasping for conversation.

"Not at all," said Muzazi, with that damnable neutrality in his tone.

He and the Special Officer - this Atoy Muzazi - sat in the Lord Mayor’s private quarters, the automatic furniture having shifted itself into a meal configuration. A round table with cloth draped over it like a wedding dress over a bride, the lights above dimmed to provide a relaxing atmosphere. The night city of Breck Kor lay bare outside the window, lights glittering in the dark like a reflection of the stars above.

Rikhail took another bite of his steak. Atoy Muzazi just sat there; he had refused the offer of a meal.

That was worrying. That implied he wasn’t the kind of man who could be bought. The Lord Mayor knew now that the Special Officer was here to

Bruno glared at Dragan and went to stand up - only for Serena to sit back down.

"No fighting," she said, crossing her arms. "We’re all gonna be good buddies here - right, Mr. Dragan?"

"You kidnapped me!"

The girl smiled. "Yeah, but we’re gonna let you go after!"

Before Dragan could reply to that idiotic statement, two sharp clanging noises rang out from inside the ship - the main doors unlocking. A second later, they screeched open, Skipper and Blaine clambering out.

The captain held his script in his hand, tapping a finger against it. "You kids playing nice?"

Now it was Dragan’s turn to scowl. "Fuck you."

"Always a pleasure, Mr. Hadrien." Skipper stuffed his script back into his pocket. "We’ve got everything that needs hiding hid - just in time, too. Ruth, unlock the hangar. I’ll let the Hyena’s engineers in."

"Right," said Blaine, an amused glance sliding off of Dragan’s face. She thought his animosity was something cute, like a particularly rowdy puppy. Oh, he’d wipe that smile off her face come the end of all this.

As Blaine worked the controls, the red light hanging over the hangar doors switched to green, and Skipper approached as they slid open.

Beyond the doors were ten engineers, clad from head to toe in thick overalls and protective masks. Skipper extended a hand for the one in front, a stout man, to shake.

"Howdy, fellas," he grinned. "She’s a fixer-upper, but you’ll learn to love her."

As one, the group of engineers pulled rifles out from the folds of their protective gear, pointing them directly at Skipper. Ten red sighting lasers danced for supremacy across his face.

Skipper blinked. "Was it something I said?"

And then the fighting started.