The Distraction - Part 4

Fiction Friday. Escape pod here.


The Distraction - Part 4

Caldari Constructions Production Plant Station

Planet VII, Moon 4
Nourvukaiken Solar System

Kazem stood on the side of the docking berth by the Magnate class frigate. Two of his men flanked the small boy. At this hour the dock was deserted. There were another few frigates in adjacent berths but all appeared to be powered down except for the adjacent Merlin and that had its doors sealed. It was unlikely anyone was watching. He could see someone in the distance approaching. As they neared he could see it was a woman. The mission had gone disastrously wrong. Their agent had killed several back in Tama and been killed himself. Kidnapping the woman's son had been a rush job and a last resort.

"Stand by. Looks like we're on." he said touching the communications insert in his ear. He casually glanced up at the gantry high above. It was dark and he couldn't see anything.

The woman stopped ten metres away.

"You let my son go and I'll come quietly." she said loudly.

Kazem laughed.

"No I think you'll both come with us. Do it."

A shot rang out from high above and she fell to the floor screaming clutching her leg.

"You were saying?" Kazem asked. He took a single step forward sneering, she turned to him, holding her wounded leg.

"What pussy-calibre was that?" she hissed through the pain.

Kazem paused. Shocked at the question.

"7 mill? Just to make sure you don't run off. Why?"

"Because I prefer 75 mill, makes a bigger bang" she growled back.

The men jumped as a loud whirring sound came from the Merlin class frigate. They watched in horror as a railgun extended from its retracted hardpoint, twisted and fired. The supersonic discharge shook the hanger and the gantry high above the hanger where Kazem's sniper had been stationed exploded in a fire ball. The men were frozen in fear as the railgun twisted again and bore down on the group. They dare not run, knowing it was pointless. The blast would vaporise them all even if they scattered in different directions.

"You know as well as I do Pareh is going to give me and my son a very slow, horrible death if you take us back. He's such a sick asshole he's probably planning on forcing me to watch my own child die. Thankfully in my time dancing I made a few contacts. The deal is this. Release my son to that ship and I'll come with you..." as she said that a personnel door at the side of the Merlin opened casting bright light into the gloom of the hanger "...otherwise my friend there will vaporise us all. If both my son and I are to die I'd much prefer being instantly vaporised to what your boss has in store for us. Up to you."

Kazem swallowed hard glancing nervously at the 75mm railgun pointing at them.

-o0o-

City of Aartakos
Planet VII
Bahromab Solar System, Domain

It was early afternoon and traditionally time for entertainment at the conference. The governors were seated with their staff around a tiered stone arena watching several Matari slaves fight with primitive weapons. Each man had been told that if they died their families would be burnt alive. Each fought with passion and rage trying to save their wifes and children. The spectators had placed bets and were cheering on their particular champion. Three men lay dead already, seven fires burned high up on the top wall of the arena. Three men remained with eight woman and children tied to stakes above the remaining unlit fires.

"Sir, they have her and are en-route back here. They will be in Amarr space within minutes." Azhdan whispered into Pareh's ear.

The Governor smiled broadly.

"And they have her son too?" he asked.

"I'm sorry my lord. She was clever and made it so that our men had no choice but to give up the boy to ensure her capture."

"That is disappointing" he said, still happy he had her. He needed to set up holo-recorders in the cell. The Vengeance Drone couple potentially work on her for longer than he could stay awake and he didn't want to miss a second of her screams.

A cheer went up from the crowd as one of the fighters speared another with a trident lifting him far above the ground. Pareh clapped approvingly. A further cheer went up as the trident fighter was stabbed in the back by a sword-wielding man. The last man faced the governor and dropped his bloody sword.

"Bravo!" Pareh announced as five more fires were lit, his voice now amplified by a microphone. "We have a winner. Now ladies and gentlemen our final show of the afternoon."

The base of the arena containing the fighters dropped and slid away as another rose. In this there was a Matari woman tied to a table in the centre. Another Matari woman was stood next to her. A chain was fastened between her ankle and the table. At either end of the arena was a wooden stake to which a girl was tied. They stood on piles of wood.

"The woman tied to the table knows a code. There is a datapad coming which after the code is entered allows the user to select which of the two fires will light in one hour from now. If the woman tied to the table does not reveal the code, her daughter will be safe and the other girl will die a slow, painful death. The woman standing is the other girls mother. She has one hour to, shall we say, persuade the woman on the table to give up the code. However if she does give up the code she will condemn her own daughter to a horrible fate."

The hushed silence that followed was broken as two people entered the arena floor pushing two steel carts. The big screens around the arena that showed close ups on the action on the floor focused on one. It contained a datapad and various tools, knives and wicked looking implements.

"Who will win? Will the woman on the table keep the secret code or will the woman standing by her be able to convince her to reveal the code and switch the ignition circuit. Which of the two pretty young girls will be screaming in agony in one hour as the flames lick their ankles because their mother could not save them? Please place your bets."

There was a flurry of activity as the organisers turned on microphones hidden in the table. The pleas and sobs from the two women not to do this echo'd around as the Amaarian's excitedly placed their bets.

A large chime rang out and a large clock started to count down. The standing woman rushed to the trolley and picked up a wicked looking knife.

-o0o-

Approach to the Niarja Stargate

Kaaputenen Solar System

The man stood having bandaged the woman's leg. He sat next to her in the cramped passenger cabin.

"Pareh has gone to a lot of trouble to bring you back. You must have caused some real trouble." he laughed.

"Not really." she replied "Its because I know he is planning on killing the other governors and taking control of the planet. However now I've told you this, you're going to be next on his list too."

The man laughed.

"Good try. However I think he just wants that hot little body of yours back for some fun."

The woman shook her head as the 'brace for jump' alarm sounded again. A few seconds later and the man winced as the ship was swallowed by the artificial wormhole and deposited light-years away. Travel by stargates was not a pleasant experience for humans and many took mediation to ease the symptoms.

"You don't appear to be affected by the jump?" he asked.

"No. Even outside out pods, we capsuleers have done so many we get used to it." she said casually.

He looked at her through narrowed eyes.

"I think you've had a bump on the head. Plots against the planetary governors. You are a capsuleer. I don't know what you've been smoking but it sounds good shit sweetheart!" he laughed.

The woman reached up and pulled the wig from her bald head.

"First off I'm a man so knock of the sweetheart crap. Second I am a capsuleer and had this clone modified slightly before jumping into it. If you looked properly you should be able to tell I'm not Milaja. It was a rush job on the clone but I thought it would be enough to fool you. I'd ask you to feel how soft my skin is. But if you touch me I'll break your wrist. Anyway we'll decloak in ten seconds when my lover has a surprise for us. I know seven 280mm Republic Fleet Fusion shells is overkill but we capsuleers do enjoy overkill." the woman smiled.

The man paused and looked confused.

"But you're out of your pod.... you'll die!"

"Templar prototype implants. Same as what clone-soldiers use. Bye, bye!" the woman said giving a little wave and a big smile.

He lept from his seat in terror. He didn't even complete two metres.

-o0o-

City of Aartakos
Planet VII
Bahromab Solar System, Domain

Pareh looked in the mirror. His robes where gold, lined with red. The colour of his house. The closing events were all ceremony and pomp. He felt the orbital transceiver in his pocket as the slaves finished dressing him and styling his hair..

There was a knock at the door and Azhdan entered.

"Sir. There has been an incident with the ship bringing the package back."

"What is it?"

"It was destroyed by a capsuleer on the Niarja gate. No survivors."

"Are we sure? Why would a capsuleer do that? Isn't CONCORD around to stop this?"

"Yes sir we are sure. The authorities sent a full report. CONCORD responded quickly and destroyed the capsuleers ship but obviously this was after the event. The flight data recorder showed there was only one second between our vessel detecting a target lock and complete destruction of the ship. They would not have had time to get out of their seats never-mind make it to an escape pod. The Sisters of Eve have confirmed that the only survivors came from the Capsuleer's Thrasher class destroyer."

Pareh paced up and down.

"We are sure she is dead?"

"Absolutely. Last confirmation we had was she was en-route two jumps before."

Pareh smiled. Even though he had wanted a slow death for her, he was now free and clear. It was time for him to step up and wield supreme power over the planet, after he'd committed a little mass murder.

To be concluded....