The Underbay is known throughout the galaxy as a safe haven for the criminal element. It wasn't just because the Underbay was located five hundred meters beneath the surface of Ksush and made up sixty percent of the planet's interior; an area so vast, it would be near impossible to find someone who didn't want to be found. Neither is it entirely because of the omnipresent darkness, the only illumination being the street lights and home lights powered by generators connected to the surface power grid. Primarily, it was the Ksush themselves. The three armed beings value hospitality above all else and consider any who set foot on or below soil to be guests protected under the laws they set. The only law for those who call the Underbay home is to not antagonize those above ground. The happiness of the world of amusement must never be breached under penalty of death with the extreme prejudice sixty million, seven foot bipeds could muster against a violator. The criminals obey wholeheartedly, knowing they have a whole race of protectors from various interplanetary law enforcement.
One such person was desperate for that protection at the moment. He is a Tilris named Domeraa and he had stolen enough c-chips from an old lover to buy an island on Aphlis and retire from a life of crime. Unfortunately, that old lover was the head of the deadliest crime organization the Underbay had to offer. While she was currently off-world, he knew he had better follow her example before she returned. Domeraa was known for his ability to crack any safe. His thin, bony fingers could sense by touch which buttons or switches or any number of protective devices with a combination lock needed to be used. Magically enchanted locks were no issue for him either; he possessed a scroll stolen years ago while on a trip to Yon that allowed him to immediately identify and know the proper counter spell to any magical sealing experienced by the scroll's creator. He made a name for himself as the Bird Burglar and was hired by and targeted by many organizations that sought to use or fell prey to him.
He never had the golden eggs to pull a job on the Zandorina crime family before yesterday. After all, Zandorina took a liking to him and made him one of her lovers; she paid him well and supplied plenty of jobs to keep him occupied. But after a hundred days of comfort, he felt the call of the wild once more. He decided to take a parting gift for having to be with the much bigger Dagon so often. A thief's gotta thief, after all.
Once Zandorina and her top lieutenants left for business, it was a simple matter bypassing the normally adequate security measures and into the electronic safe in the Dagon's bedroom. Inside was a small grey box that he knew held her emergency stash of c-chips. When he opened it, he nearly passed out. Lined in three rows of twelve and stacked four deep were c-chips with a digital value of one hundred thousand a piece.
His joy at his newfound wealth was shattered within hours. After hiding the box of c-chips in a lake of sewage, he returned home and by sheer luck, saw Zandorina gunmen enter the crumbling structure. He must have tripped some alarm that sent a warning to Zandorina or someone within her organization. Luckily, it wasn't to anyone inside her heavily fortified headquarters or he wouldn't have made it out alive. And she knew it was him, straight out the cage, no guess work needed. The woman was smarter than she looked. He retreats to one of his lesser known hideouts, sticking to the ground instead of flying the distance, sure Zandorina spies had infrared sensors trained on the black skies beneath the surface of Ksush.
He was at a security gate hidden by a wall of fake graffiti and punched the code only he knew. Inside was a stuffy hanger full of boxes, cobwebs, and dust. Also, a snub nosed cruiser of Cycloid design, all dark and dead looking. Domeraa searched a particular box and obtains the ignition ring he hid for the ship. He hadn't used this ship in over a year, pretending to be shipless just for this occasion. It would take the craft's computers an hour to reboot and get the systems ready for flight.
He took this opportunity to make it to another hideaway, which was a shitty boarding house he paid for a year in advance. He also had to kill the homeowner, who tried to rob him, thinking he was loaded. He took flight up the stairs to his room and knew someone had been inside. Everything looked untouched; his bed, dresser, and box holotube was like he left it. The floor dust was disturbed and his clothes in the closet were moved around as if someone was searching for something. He was positive it was the homeowner's wife, a Human, who can never be trusted. It was possible Zandorina knew of his secret apartment and had her goons here, but the place would be more ransacked if so.
He used his sharp talons to cut open his mattress to retrieve a few id cards and a pair of metal detecting spectacles used to find hidden safes. He grabs a one piece suit to change into once he dug out the box from the mortal waste. While grabbing his gear, he decides to turn on the decades old holotube to fill the silence. The channel just happens to be on Coalition Carnage, on which he had big money riding on a Koshinataa victory.
The current battle pleased him as well. It was the well known mercenary for hire, Nor, duking it out with the surprisingly thin Cycloid wearing full body gear that covered her face and forehead antenna. This was one less merc he had to worry about. Zandorina had hired the scary looking Ninshu on multiple occasions and he always returned having successfully completed her requests. He takes a moment to watch, hoping the Cycloid, he couldn't recall her name, would kill Nor with one of those blasts emitting from a flying mirror device she seemed to be controlling remotely. They battled within a jungle of vines and twisted trees. When the vines started reaching for the combatants, Domeraa stopped paying attention, remembering he was on borrowed time.
Not three minutes later, the power in the building goes out. They found him. He pulls a Tek pistol from his belt, looking it over briefly. He wasn't sure how it worked, but by using a piece of duracrete as a focus, the weapon could turn anyone shot with it to stone. He stole it from a colleague who got it for protection from some broker of Tek. He disappeared before Domeraa could get info on the broker; he may need the help of more than just one Tek pistol in the near future.
A portion of the eastern wall erupts inward, pipes from within reach out to wrap around Domeraa like the vines did the Superstars. Water sprayed all over the room, raining on his feathered head in a cold shower. The keen sense of smell possessed by his people alerted him to the rather putrid stench that only clung to those from the mist shrouded world appropriately named Myst, the Ninshu. Fear spiked in him as he knew who his captor was.
His door opened and the first thing Domeraa noticed was the jaw full of sharp teeth five inches long, giving Nor a ghastly looking grin at all times. His thin frame was draped in clothing from some of the most expensive tailors, along with necklaces and rings on his clawed three fingers.
Nor
Hello, hello!
Domeraa
It's you. But I just saw you on the holotube.
Nor
That was my Sync, dum dum. Now, to business.
Domeraa
Wait, please! I'm willing to split the money with you!
Nor
You and I think almost alike. Except, I'm taking it all.
Domeraa
Sure, take all of it. Just don't kill me.
Nor walks over to the dropped Tek pistol and stoops to pick it up. He tests its weight, looks it over a bit, then it disappears beneath his fancy jacket.
Nor
Where is it?
Domeraa
In a building near where I was to meet my pilot.
The pipes holding him rip apart and he drops to the floor. The pipes were finally dry, for which Domeraa was grateful.
Woman
Hey!
The homeowner's wife had came around the corner, but stopped well short from entering the room.
Homeowner's wife
Look what you did to my place! I tip you off and this what I get!?
The Ninshu took two sharp claws and reached into his jacket, producing a c-chip. He casually tosses it to her. Her eyes widen at the sum and she disappeared back around the corner.
Nor
Let's go. Zandorina's men might arrive anytime. Move it, move it, move it!
Domeraa leads the way from his not so secret hideaway, down various boulevards, not a living being in sight. If there was anyone spying them from the shadowed windows and alleyways, they made no move to help the captive Tilris. Even if the bounty Zandorina obviously put on him in the past couple of hours was high enough to entice a person to attempt to take Nor's prize, it would be the Superstar's notoriety that would make them think several times before trying.
The building Domeraa led Nor to had half a roof and was covered in graffiti and darkness. All was quiet, except a distant scream. Domeraa could smell nothing but Nor's stench. Inside was like the outside, except it had small lights on the walls too dim to see if not in the room. Domeraa walks to one of the light fixtures, raising a hand before Nor orders him to halt.
Nor
Not so fast, sticky feathers. Where's the money?
Domeraa
Pulling down on that light opens the secret door.
Nor
Outta the way.
Nor greedily pulls the fixture indicated and four separate beams of static like energy shoot from the upper corners of the room, engulfing him. He curses vehemently.
Domeraa
Thank the Tutors for soul traps. I'm sure you know how they work. I'll be leaving now. Oh, by the way, a bomb will go off sixty seconds after I close this door.
He tweets and whistles at Nor.
Domeraa
That's my native language way of saying 'so long sucker'!
With that, Domeraa runs from the room, slamming the door behind him. He had no more time to waste. He heard the explosion a minute later. He flew the four blocks to the cesspool, willing to risk being spotted. He drudges around in the muck until he had the box, face crinkling at the smell. He nearly vomited on himself when he catches movement in the shadows. Paranoia sets in and he takes back to the air, wishing he had the time to go back for a change of clothes. He was covered in gunk, which may help hide him in the dark sky.
He saw the building holding his ship, cursing at himself for forgetting to turn the running lights off. Yellow light spilled through the many holes in the walls, shining into the air like spotlights. He flew through one of the rusted out openings, landing next to the ship's ramp. He was onboard and strapped in the pilot's chair less than sixty seconds after hitting the ground. A quick check assures him it's all systems go. He pats the box next to him in the vacant copilot seat and brings the anti-gravity generators online. A knock on the forward viewport made his blood turn to ice. He looked in horror as Nor, riding a floating piece of metal scrap, smiled a real smile; one that showed more teeth then he thought could fit in a mouth that size.
The box flew from the chair, crashing through the thick viewport to fit neatly in Nor's grasp. With his other hand, he slowly made a fist and the ship that was to be Domeraa's saving grace was now his shrinking coffin. Metal shrieks and screeches, sparks flying throughout the cockpit mixing with the Tilris screams as Nor folds the space vessel in on itself. Nor laughs as loud as he could, sure it was one of the last things the thief heard before the ship explodes. Shrapnel bounce from Nor's Aura Cloak with audible pings. The building was on fire, but he didn't care as he glided from the doomed hanger. His Sync, Lor, came riding on a crushed trash dispenser.
Lor
Where the hell is he!?
Nor
Dead. He almost got ya.
Lor
Lucky for me those soul traps broke down.
Nor
It was me. I saw you were draco bait unless I intervened. You still have some use, despite being a total idiot. Now, hand it over.
Lor
Hand what over?
Nor
That piece of Tek I sense under your tunic. Or do you think to hide it from me, who is tied so intimately with the electromagnetic spectrum.
The Sync reluctantly hands over the firearm. Nor tucks it away in the same manner his Sync had, then rides the scrap away. The Sync grumbles a curse before following his Base to his ship docked on a roof a quarter mile away from the inferno that fire suppression-tek was attempting to extinguish. Nor's streamjet resembled the head of a ferocious funkmonk insect which was known for laying eggs in its prey's anus. He loved the vertical pincers with the pin tip needle in-between. The ship's aesthetic struck as much fear in those who saw it as the owner.
They land on the hull and enter through the cranium. The cool interior was a welcome after the Underbay's hot climate. Padded furniture was spaced around the curved main cabin. Wisps of mist floated throughout, a byproduct of the eroaika that crawled over every surface. Nor and Lor pop a couple of the green bugs into their jaws before they could scurry away. Lor removed his gold and silver jewelry, tossing it haphazardly in a seat, followed by his jacket, then sat heavily in another. Nor sat behind a desk on the opposite side of the cabin.
Lor
That stuff's heavy. Why wear all that?
Nor
I like the finer things in life.
Lor
I know that's right, brother. Why do I have to?
Nor
Go get us ready for takeoff.
Lor
Right now? I recently survived a life threatening experience.
Nor
And about to find yourself in another if I have to say again.
Lor stood in a huff and stormed out the cabin. Nor watched him go, then turned on the cabin's holoview while he opened the scum covered box. He giggles gleefully as he took each c-chip, less than a fifth the size of his finger, between two claws, eyeing each digital sum. The holoview was only a slight buzz to his consciousness, until a deep hum issued from it that was familiar. He saw his second Sync, Wor, using his power to keep Narshira in place. Nor knew her flexible suit of armor was non magnetic, thus instructed his Sync to capture her using inducing forces magnetic fields can produce. Nor was not a scientist, but over a decade and a half of experience with electromagnetism taught him that with enough of the energy, even things like wood can be effected. Not by magnetizing them, but working more like a tractor beam. The Cycloid was suspended in the air within the forest of trees and vines. Wor was pulling her body in opposite directions with forces too strong for her to break.
The suit rents suddenly and Nor was surprised to see no gore at her dissection. He contemplates this turn of events, wondering how she escaped, leaving only her suit behind, when the private communication device on his middle ring finger vibrates. He magneticly turns it on; the green face of a male Finan appears over the back of his hand, Zandorina's representative
Nor
I was just about to call you guys. The thief is dead.
Finan man
And the money?
Nor
He died before I could get a location. I still plan on searching more of his hideouts but beyond that, there are too many places he could have hidden it.
The Finan was silent.
Nor
I trust the rest of my payment has been deposited.
Finan man
The transfer is complete. Zandorina will be in touch with more opportunities.
The Finan broke contact. Nor didn't care if they knew he was lying or not. They were just as afraid of him as the thief. He reached into a compartment in the bulkhead, retracting a rectangular device twice as long and wide as a c-chip. He places the circuit chip inside the device's grooves along the side, watching the face of the chip on the device's front. The digital numbers of the chip dwindle to zero. From the opposite end, he extracts a new, counterfeit c-chip that could pass any but the most intrusive of inspections. Too bad he couldn't increase the value, but at least the circuitry inside wouldn't identify Zandorina as its owner. He grinds the now blank and worthless chip in his palm, discarding the remains on the table next to the box. He places the new chip into a slot beneath the table. He pulls another c-chip from the box, ready to repeat the process. The intercom buzzed.
Lor
We're ready for take off.
Nor
Then take us back to the surface. Find a spa resort.
Lor
We're not going back to Pia?
Nor
My vacation was interrupted to handle the feather felon. I'm not going back to that death game without enjoying life a little first.
End chapter