Alkard

ALKARD

I checked my percomm screen frequently on the walk to the Fallen Star, unable to resist keeping track of Tessi's location.

So far, the tracker stated she hadn't left my residence yet. While that made sense—Razov needed time to travel to my residence, after all—it still filled me with a new kind of anxiety.

Namely, what if she had taken off the bracelet and left it at home?

Impossible, or it should be. The silver bracelet held technology that also made it exceedingly hard to remove without the remote control code or a set of hacking tools. Since she had neither, that bracelet likely remained affixed to her slender, silken soft wrist.

Of course, she could have severed her own limb and slid the bracelet off the bloody stump, but something told me that wasn't the case.

I tried and failed to put Tessi out of my mind as I neared the Fallen Star.

Absurdly, I half wished that my enemies would make a try for me then and there. I could vent my frustrations, and root them out all in one fell swoop.

I stalked through the club and to the private door, gliding down the steps, thoughts fixed on my purpose. I would finish this business quickly and find those who had dared put Tessi in danger, and then I would make them sorry they ever drew their first breath by making them beg for the last.

I entered the meeting room and found everyone present but Razov. Makar turned to Tazhr and waved his fingers, palm facing up.

"Pay up."

Taz shrugged and reached into his back pocket, withdrawing a roll of credit slips.

"What are you two about?" I asked.

"Oh, we had a wager going," Makar said with a shrug. "Our brother claimed that you would be too caught up in the limbs of your new woman to possibly arrive at the meeting on time."

I smirked as if the notion was only worthy of quiet ridicule.

"Oh, please. She's my new pet. Nothing more. When I get tired of her, I may pass her on to one of you."

But inside, I felt a swell of guilt at having called Tessi my ‘pet.'

It was one thing to whisper that in her ear as she clung to me.

Another thing entirely to have others think of her that way.

What did I want with her?

But now wasn't the time to figure it out.

I turned my attention to Havek, cutting to the most urgent matter at hand.

"Havek, do you have any information on that Zok runner?"

Havek's sour look made it clear he had nothing useful to impart.

"Unfortunately, no. It's like he disappeared into the tunnels and vanished without a trace."

"What about the station security camera feed? Was it too difficult for you to hack into?"

Havek sighed.

"If I say yes, will you pass these stupid responsibilities on to someone else?"

"No," I said truthfully.

"Then, no. I hacked into them easily enough. The thing is, our runner didn't show up on hardly any of them."

"How is that possible?" Taz asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"There are lots of ways," Havek said with a shrug. "First and foremost, the security cameras are by no means ubiquitous throughout Thodos III. Second, they're obvious and fairly easy to avoid if you're careful and pick the correct route. And third, there's another reason why we didn't see him on any footage."

"What's that?"

"Someone tampered with the data, and erased him from the files. It wouldn't be that hard, if he didn't interact with anyone or anything, to just wipe him clean."

Silence encompassed the table.

"Fuck," I muttered. "Havek, please tell me that you got something out of the data chip at least."

Havek grew silent and Makar turned to me.

"He's been like this every time we bring up the data disk. No straight answers, just long sighs and a predilection for avoiding looking at us."

"Havek, just come out with it. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad."

He rummaged around in his pocket and withdrew his percomm.

"Poor choice of words, Alkard," he said sadly. "The data disk, as it turns out, is cracked. Badly damaged. I couldn't get any of the video files off it."

"Is that why you're so upset?" I asked.

Havek gave him a look.

"Don't I fucking wish. No, I'm getting to that. Anyway, I couldn't get any video off the disk, but I was able to get some stills taken from just a few minutes before the theft."

He sent the picture on his screen to the big monitor set into the table and my mouth fell open as I looked upon Banek and two Mondians, almost right on top of the cargo.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "There must be an explanation."

"What explanation do you need?" Taz clenched his hand into a fist. "Banek stuck a knife in our back. Simple as that."

"We don't know that for sure," I said.

I looked over my brotherhood. Shocked betrayal shone in their eyes, but so did a desire to inflict violence on those responsible.

I couldn't just let this matter go. I had to do something or risk chaos in my house.

"But I intend to find out." I stood up and checked my holdout pistol. "Get up, all of you."

"Where are we going?" Havek asked.

"We're going to Pulsar to talk to Banek about this. Right fucking now."

I led them out of the basement. Once we hit the Promenade, the tension crackled in the air ahead of us. People moved off the avenue, and everyone tried to pretend like they weren't watching every move we made as we stalked down the street.

"Someone's gonna get a hurtin' put on ‘em," said a derelict, Ewani, as we passed by.

My thoughts raged, trying to understand what we'd just seen.

I didn't want a fight with Banek. The Mondians had been our allies in the war.

But I wasn't going to let them rip us off, either. If Banek were responsible, then he would pay just like anyone else.

Pay with his life.

We hit the door at The Pulsar, and the bouncer started. He pulled the velvet rope open to allow our entrance, but I noticed that four of the other bouncers fell in behind us.

I marched up to the bar.

"Where's Banek?"

"He's negotiating a deal in the back," the girl said. "Hey, you can't go back there!"

I stormed through the beaded curtain and found Banek in the VIP lounge with a girl draped over his shoulders.

"What's your malfunction, Alkard?" Banek sputtered as the girl scrambled to get off of him. "You couldn't knock? Or fucking wait out in the bar drinking free booze until I got done?"

I held the screen of my percomm out, showing the still of Banek and his men by the cargo right before it vanished.

"Explain yourself, Banek."

"Well, I like to think that even though I'm a hardass, I have a soft side?—"

"Damn it, Banek, now is not the time for your screwed up sense of humor. This is a picture of you and your men, standing next to a crate of weapons that's been missing for a damn long time. Now tell me what's going on."

"I don't know," Banek growled. "And I don't like your tone, Alkard."

"You don't know?" I snarled, taking a step closer until our chests nearly touched.

"You expect me to believe that? You didn't even bother to come up with a decent lie?"

He snorted, the scales around his nostrils flaring as three of his men entered the room.

"Yeah, exactly. If…and I do say if…I were going to rip you off, Alkard, I'd come up with a rock solid alibi and you'd never have any clue it was me."

Me and the Mondian stared at each other for a long moment, the fighters on both sides braced for violence, but none of them were particularly hoping it would come to that.

At last, I turned on my heel.

"It's true that you normally cover your tracks better than this, Banek. If it turns out it was you…"

I let the veiled threat hang in the air and stalked out of the lounge, my brothers in step behind me.

Everything was coming apart.

All of my carefully laid plans were being unwound thread by thread. Every time I thought I had it pinned down and sewn up, another fray began somewhere else.

A runner came up toward us. I waved off Makar, who had his knife half drawn from its sheath.

"Don't literally kill the messenger, Makar," I said.

The runner whispered something in my ear. My blood boiled to hear it, though I tried to show no outward sign.

I straightened up and turned to the others.

"We're going to the hydroponic farms. Now."

"The farms?" Taz asked. "Why?"

"One of our soldiers has been killed there, that's why. Any other questions?"

If I didn't get to murder someone soon, I was going to explode.