ADSactly Sci-Fi - Outer Earth Series 'The One Eyed Man (Part 9)'

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Outer Earth Series – The One Eyed Man (Part 9)

Albright walked around Deltia station examining the structure. He was fairly impressed with the cleanliness and its expansive nature. There were scientific laboratories, astronomic observatories, transportation hubs, military bases, schools, shopping malls, parks, a sector specializing in black market goods and services, and essentially, the list went on and on. It would take him days to explore the whole station. Time he didn’t have.

He viewed the entire thing as one giant experiment, and the people who lived on the station were for lack of a better word guinea pigs being tested and monitored by the research and development departments of the multi-global corporations that dominated the galaxy.

There were entire generations of inhabitants who had only ever known Deltia as their home and they even had children of their own at this point who were growing up, going to school and living fairly normal lives on this floating monstrosity.

Of course thinking back he had visited tons on other stations before but this one was different, it had only been around for about fifty years and even that seemed to be enough time for the engineers and scientists to completely revolutionize and upgrade older technology, outfitting Deltia station with much newer and more advanced systems.

The lighting radiated from the floor and ceiling and was remarkably similar to natural daylight, the buildings were modern and aesthetically pleasing and the many levels of the station all seemed to be pretty quiet and peaceful. New advancements in subsonic plating must have contributed to the reduction in ambient noise that’s usually quite perceptible on other stations.

Albright had no clue where to find Claire or if she would even show for that matter. He decided he would grab a beer and a bowl of noodles while he waited for her arrival, resolving that if she didn’t show in the next twelve hours he’d make his way down to the surface of Tremaine and begin his mission without her.

Albright had heard that there was a famous shopping bazaar and restaurant district on level 7 which had been highly recommended by the locals. Albright slowly paced through the area getting his bearings, there were all sorts of merchants selling everything from arts and crafts to exotic herbs, clothing and jewelry.

The air smelled sweet with aromas of treats and delicacies being offered up by an army of local food vendors.

It was a busy evening and the district was becoming lively as the district filled with locals of all types, many of the alien races Albright had a hard time identifying. For such a diverse group of different species, it was almost inspirational to see everyone getting along so well.

He was sure the district had a noodle shop somewhere around here. The kind of place loaners went to slurp down a bowl and put back a tall glass of suds without anyone making something out of it. He was used to being alone, in fact he had been alone for so long he even preferred it.

He briskly made his way past a group locals and turned a corner. There it was on his left. It wasn’t much to look at, just a small shop with a red bar and red barstools. A small white sign marked with the letters of the ancients lit up the roof and a large red banner hung from the front of the shop, proudly displaying the name in a language that Albright wasn’t familiar with.

An old Asian man wearing a black apron and a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled stood patiently behind the counter. Albright felt a bit envious of the man’s very long white fu manchu style beard. He walked up to the red bar and had a seat on one of the red bar stools.

The man approached Albright slowly. “What kind of noodles you want? Special noodle is spicy good. Fried lizard is also popular here.”

Albright ordered the special noodle and a pint of the local brew. He greedily slurped down the noodles while he reviewed the contact information Brag had given him. There was just a name, Oliver and a place of interest, the Rusty Bellend. He made a few notes and then tucked the tablet back into his bag.

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Just then, Albright heard a woman’s voice behind him coming from over his right shoulder. “Hey stranger! What are you having?”

He turned around slowly so as not to look surprised. “Special noodle and a frosty beverage. Would you care to join me?”

It was Claire. She looked just as he had remembered. She was shorter than him, medium height, slender and very athletic. Her long dark brown hair gracefully covered her shoulders and she had big dark green eyes, probably contacts or mods but he couldn’t be sure.

“May as well.”

Claire had a seat in a red stool next to Albright. She called the man over and ordered a glass of water.

Albright was very pleased to be sitting next to Claire but also felt tense and uneasy, he could only assume it was because he didn’t really know Claire and had no way of knowing what type of partner she’d make. He figured the best way to put this anxiety behind him was just to try and figure her out, to see what made her tick.

He said the first thing that came to mind. “So Claire, how many times have you been shot before?”

He quickly regretted asking the question and it showed all over his face.

Claire laughed. “Well, I thought you’d wait until at least the second date before asking me an intimate question like that…”

Albright smiled and gave a look of relief.

“Look, I know you don’t really know anything about me and I don’t know that much about you either but that doesn’t really matter right now does it? The fact is that we are going to catch Derek, retrieve the stolen merchandise and cash in that bounty.”

He couldn’t have put it any better himself. It really didn’t matter if they knew each other well, the mission was paramount to everything. Beyond that, he wouldn’t be able to get a really good night’s sleep until this was all resolved anyways.

“It’s like you read my mind Claire. I agree, we don’t need to know everything about each other, just enough to be able to work effectively together. So let me ask you this, when was the last time you worked a contract with a partner and what was the outcome?”

Claire smiled. She was starting to like Albright a bit. Maybe a bit serious but this wasn’t a dinner date, this was an interview. Based on the context of their encounter, it could be forgiven.

Claire took a sip of water.

“The last time I worked with a partner was a few years ago. We were tasked with killing a group of pirates that had been working the Delirium sector picking off Syndicate transport ships. We tracked the pirates down and boarded their ship undetected. When they went to sleep we hacked their food synthesizers and programmed them to produce all ship meals and beverages with an added neurotoxin that is completely tasteless. The crew fell ill one by one and died. We split the bounty and went our separate ways. Since then I’ve only ever worked solo, that job wasn’t special and nothing I couldn’t have done alone. More for me.”

Albright nodded. Nothing about Claire’s story seemed unreasonable and in fact, it even made him feel more confident about her methods and manner, it all reinforced the fact that she was a professional like himself, nothing more, nothing less.

“Thanks for that Claire. I like to see you take so much discretion in your work. If it were me I’d probably have taken a similar tact. It’s the little things that always seem to make or break a job. In our line of work timing is everything. Hit them hard and make sure they never see it coming.”

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Albright raised his glass in hopes of a toast. Claire obliged and the two smiled at each other.

“Alright, well I’ve got a contact on Tremaine now that might help us track down Derek’s movements there. I still don’t have a clue what he is up to but I figure he must have a good reason for staying put beyond that fact that he knows he’s being hunted like a dog that needs to be put down.” Albright looked into his empty glass.

Claire nodded, pausing to think about the situation for a moment. “He’s probably down there getting some cosmetic surgery done and setting up a transitional plan for relocation for a move off-grid. The possibility exists that he has already sold the merchandise to someone down there but let’s keep our hopes up anyways.”

Albright knew about a freighter leaving for the planet’s surface in about two hours.

“Well, there’s a ship departing for Tremaine in just a few hours. Shall we make our way to the boarding site?”

Claire smiled. She stood up and told Albright that she would meet him at the launch bay in about forty five minutes, she needed to grab her gear and run a few last minute errands. He agreed and the two parted ways.

This ship was docked in a section of the station which was known to be a bit more rough than the rest of it. The people who worked on the lower decks were usually from outer colony planets. Miners, scavengers, manual laborers worked themselves to the bone loading and unloading cargo, manufacturing useful components and catering to the wants and needs of workers.

Albright made his way through the tight corridors of the lower decks noticing the grim and tired faces of the people he passed. The tote bag carrying his gear weighed heavily on his shoulder. Sure he could understand that life was hard for these people, he was still numbed to their plight.

He couldn’t relate to poor people, he thought they were really shabby dressers. Albright wasn’t poor, he was broke, there’s a difference between the two.

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He paused for a moment to review the map of the station he had loaded on his tablet.

Whack! His sight had gone blurry. A rough voice could be heard saying ‘stay down or I’ll put this pipe right through your head.’

Two men stood over him. Albright clutched his head. It was bleeding profusely.

‘Grab his shit, c’mon, hurry!’

One man grabbed the strap of his tote bag while the other kicked him in the stomach. Albright grasped the bag’s strap firmly with one hand. His other swung wildly trying to get a grip on the man’s ankle. After a few tries he got it. With all his strength he pulled on the man’s ankle sending the metal pipe out of his hand while he fell backwards onto his back. He rolled over on top of the man and used his free hand to grab the man’s hair and repeatedly banged the guy’s head into the cold metal grated floor beneath a few times.

Seeing the carnage taking place before him, the man’s partner let go of the strap and rotated his body making a motion to escape. Albright grabbed his ankle and pulled the guy’s leg right out from under him sending his body flying forward and down into a face plant. Clunk.

Albright rolled the man over and slapped him in the face a few times. He was out cold now as well.

“Flerkin amateurs” he muttered to himself. With all the shit on his mind this was the last thing he needed. Breathing erratically, he ran through the pockets of the men before him. A few credit discs, a laser cutter and a condom. Ripping the sleeve off a man’s shirt he proceeded to wrap it around his head to slow the bleeding. He’d need to get to a med-bay for laser stitching before he could meet Claire. It would take a lot more than two vagabonds to stop him from completing his mission.

His head throbbed and adrenaline coursed through his veins. It had been a while since he had a good brawl and although these guys had caught him off guard, they clearly didn’t have a clue who they were messing with. Albright dusted himself off and tapped a few symbols into his tablet.

A darknet search algorithm sprung to life. This med job would have to be done by an underground medic so as not to raise any alarm bells. The tablet flashed a few times indicating the search was complete. Apparently a less than reputable Dr. Allcome had a shadowy clinic just a few decks up from Albright’s current location.

It would be a stretch to meet Clarie in time but assuming everything didn’t go to shit again it seemed feasible. Making his way to the doc his mind raged with expletives. Why couldn’t things just go smoothly for once Albright thought to himself. It was true, lady luck was a fickle woman indeed, all would be forgiven if he could just catch a break with Claire. And just like that he had found himself in a better mood.

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Final Thoughts

In this chapter readers got to know the characters a bit better as well as the nature of the universe they live in. Claire and Albright seem to have some chemistry but time will tell how it all plays out.

Both characters are very capable of handling themselves in tough situations and that fact will be made clear in future chapters. In this chapter I experimented with a bit of action and had some fun painting a sort of blade runner / fifth element type environment where familiar and unfamiliar foods and settings clash.

The story will get more confusing from this point forward so try to keep your eyes on the ball. I really liked some of the books written by Dan Brown and have taken inspiration from some of their mysteries in order to spice this novel up!

Thanks so much for reading. As always, your feedback is welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Authored by: Zentalk

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