I
Some dream of wealth. Others, love. And many dream of power. Amidst the hazily glistening spectacle of another neon night in ArcCorp’s Area 18, and on countless nights before, Rez dreamed of peace.
He once dreamed of adventure, and to a point, he found it. He had enlisted in the UAEE Navy. He didn’t have the marks to make it as an officer, but was handy and hardworking enough to rate CPO on a Bengal-class crew. Talented in making do, he led one of the most talented snub and fighter maintenance teams, earning the respect and appreciation of pilots and RIOs in his years’ service.
Unfortunately, there are no bonuses for officers’ respect, and he was too often held to account for misconduct among the crew. Rez got passed over for leadership positions – many of which he told himself he did not want – and in kind, the salaries and pensions that go with them. While he did better than many, he found that life after the Navy was just as demanding. He found some comfort in the action and high-energy routine of Area 18 and was at least grateful to have avoided scraping by on Hurston. Too many of his crewmates ended up there, and after some years, had gone radio silent.
Rez was a loner by experience and circumstance, and consoled himself in the fantasy that maybe they’d made it and didn’t have time for him anymore. Just as well, he thought. I didn’t join up to make friends. He joined up to see the galaxy, and while most of his tour had been spent between Stanton and Pyro, he found much to love about the ‘verse. In his years of service, though, he’d often taken leave on the lakes and rivers of Microtech. He’d daydream of owning a tackle and boat repair shop, and of lazy afternoons and evenings in the temperate sunslides at the poles of the icy planet.
It was from such a dream that he awoke to the grinding sound of his alarm. Paralyzed at the shock of waking, he stared up at the low ceiling over his bed for a moment. He gathered strength and eased himself up, his tired mussles aching from poor sleep and his joints creaking from all those years’ hard work. Still, he wasted no time. Slipping into his vacuum-rated undersuit, he grabbed a cup of caff and a burrito and hustled out the door.
One thing about living in Area 18 was that there was no shortage of things and people to see. ArcCorp built out until almost the entire planet was covered in development. Then they built up. Rez’s building soared into the clouds, but his flat was a mere twelve levels up.
He reached the elevator, having taken little notice of his neighbors. At first, the sight of people standing as if at attention, even on their chairs, rattled him. He soon learned that this was among the many side effects of SLAM dosing, and while the drug was highly illegal by every official measure, it was clearly easy to find. After just weeks of grinding out a life for himself, he discovered a tolerance that bordered on compassion for denizens who took to such lengths to forget, even for a moment, the circumstances of their lives.
He called the elevator. He could hear the machinery sputter to life, hum, then die down. He grunted annoyance as he pressed the call button again and the doors peeled open. Stepping in, he pressed the button for the lobby and waited. He was grateful at least that the elevators worked. Among the stories he’d heard from former subordinates who ended up on Hurston were the legendarily dangerous lifts in Lorville. He quietly doubted it was true, but he’d heard more than once that falling into the elevator shaft or being crushed in the cables and gearing was not just possible, but shockingly common. He’d take faulty call buttons and lazy doors over that anytime.
He stepped out of the lift into the lobby. “Oi, Chief! Finally up I see!” Rez turned to the voice and smiled. Nate Corbin was one of the few on his crew who had avoided Hurston after retirement, and he was glad to see him.
“The hell you mean, ‘finally?’ It’s early – even for you,” Rez laughed. “What’s the word in any case?” Corbin had long established himself on the inside track of whatever the vid news was covering, and lot of what it wasn’t.
“You haven’t heard?” Corbin looked surprised. “Thought you were early-birding the worm on this one.” Rez just stared at him blankly for a moment. “Oh, you really don’t know. OK, yeah, have a seat and I’ll get ya up to speed.” Rez sat and Corbin leaned in, his voice lowering immediately. “So, there was a major dust-up between pirates and the Sec boys around ArcCorp L2. Reports came in from the mining guild that the pirates hit a major haul out of system and were inbound making their way to Grim Hex to unload. Well,” Corbin looked around, uneasy, “it didn’t go well for anyone. A bloodbath, I hear.”
Rez held up his hand, saying, “Hold on. That seems like a pretty big deal and close to home to boot. I’d expect that’s all over the vidnews.”
“Thing is,” Corbin leaned in closer, “it’s not. At least not yet. My guy Trev in SecCorp says the brass is trying to keep it quiet for now because they lost a lot of people. They’ve got to notify next of kin and all that. Not to mention the embarrassment. Pirates? I mean, come on. Trev says the SecCorp gave them theirs, but it got out of hand. Lots of ships and men gone.”
Rez sat in thought. “You know Corb,” he started slowly, “you’ve been right a lot, but this, I don’t know. Sounds off.”
Corbin nodded and leaned back. “No man, I hear you. And I’m not as solid on this as I have been on others, but it’s worth a look.”
“No argument there, but then why are you still here? I figure you’d want to be all over this like stink on iceweasel dung.”
Corbin looked at him flatly. “First of all, thanks for that.” Rez laughed as Corbin punched his shoulder. “And secondly, I can’t. Got an appointment at the admin office to see about some cargo they lost. But what are you doing today? You ought to save yourself the trouble of a delivery that doesn’t pay and see what you can find.”
Rez looked around. Other people seemed to drift listlessly back and forth, to wherever they were going, the haze of a dim day’s prospects blanking their faces. Rez longed for a break from his own routine, and a day or two of quiet hull scraping did beat the hell out of another round of cleaning up Covalex’s infamous shipment practices. “Yeah,” he said after some thought. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”
“Cool,” Corbin said, life returning to his voice. “Cut me in for ten percent. Finder’s fee, eh?”
“Oh I see how it is. Want to front the ship rental for me then?”
Corbin laughed and stood up. He straightened his jacket and smiled. Looking down the hall, he smirked and simply said, “Come on, Rez, you know that’s not good business. Info isn’t free, after all.”
Rez smiled and shook his head. “Five percent.”
Corbin thought a moment, then nodded. “So the friends and family discount? All right then. Let me know how it goes, chief,” he said, and stepped away. Moments later, he was gone – just another face in the crowd.
II
Rez made his way out of the Adria Falls complex he and about five thousand other hopefuls called home. He imagined that the starfield above Area 18 would really be something at this time of night. Of course, from Zone 1, the glistening of distant skyscrapers and neon signs were the only lights in ArcCorp’s opaque skies.
Rent Vulture, chat with rental mechanic about known issues (bugs). Discuss how tech is constantly struggling, even elevators are barely working.
QT to Lyria to get vector on L2.
L2 empty – no salvage, no ships, no cargo. Realize left helmet on ArcCorp, make for Lively Pathway station.
Hail station, no response. Approach, try again. Hail station. No response. Investigate sentry, trigger crimestat. Soft death in Vulture. Boarded by UAE security, argument. Concussed and blacked out.
III
Inmate 4346 – wake up in Klescher cell. Short sentence, choose to mine and repair O2 machines. In tunnel to mines, attacked by inmate. Fight for life, incapacitate other inmate. “If I wasn’t a criminal before, I am now.”
IV
Run into other inmates, some friendly, some aggressive. Meet Keith, work together and mine enough to complete sentence. Keith heads back, Rez is curious and travels past Depth 15. Discovers bioluminescent cave.
Sentence completed, but running out of oxygen. Notices other inmate dead on floor in the depths. Suffocates, blacks out. Wakes up in Klescher, sees Keith at tables, releasing. May meet up again in the Verse.