1:3:9 Ascension (Part 3)

They were immediately hit by the stench of urine. Stale urine. Mauve reassured them that most of the smell wasn’t from the indentureds but actually from the chemical agents used to smog proof the building. If it was the chemicals, they were working overtime and doing an excellent job of it; the off white walls showed almost no signs of damage and the foyer looked almost Illian in its attention to detail. Everything was weirdly in its place when only a few floors above and below, there were people living in shanty town of sorts that spanned nearly every skybridge the building was connected too. Mauve strode over to the reception desk, gave the Rexian behind it a slight nod and then continued on past him. They entered the lift and pressed the button for Syd’s floor. As it trundled up to the top floor, Char considered her battle strategy; seemed simple enough but the closer she came, the more the ill feeling in her gut grew. There were two things on her mind: getting Lore back and getting even with Reid. Char took stock of her arsenal; a drained Rejuvenator Cannon and a similarly depleted pistol. As the lift doors opened again, she was hit with a wave of inspiration. Char connected her pistol to her tubing and drained the magazine. A golden glow lingered in her eyes as she pushed past Mauve to The Three Armed Rexian. She looked as though she was about to stop Char but one look in her eyes and seeing how heavily she was breathing, the Rexian thought against it. Char parted the doors and stormed through, her boots pounding against the wooden flooring. It would have been even more dramatic if the room had not been designed to minimise any and all sounds made within its four walls. The walk from the mines, to The Destiny and back to Syd’s office had degraded the rubberized coating on Char’s shoes giving them an awkward squeaking as they screamed across the flooring.
“Well, you’re looking a little worse for wear.” Syd nodded at the door where The Three Armed Rexian was standing by. “I felt the ground shaking a bit ago and I saw those Protectorate ships scattering like nothing else so I’m assuming that means everything went well.”
Char just smiled. “Well, shall we finalise our deal then?”
“Your pilots for the mines.” Syd scribbled something on a piece of paper and tore it from a pad. “As requested.” Char, Sky and Mauve looked between each other confused.
“That easy?” Sky whispered.
“That easy.” Syd repeated.
“I’m afraid we haven’t entirely upheld our end of the bargain.” Char’s revelation caused Mauve and Sky to wince. Char took a seat opposite Syd. “The Protectorate are off planet sure, but they’re not going to be gone forever.”
“So…?” Syd relaxed in her chair. She put the piece of paper on the table, folded in two.
“So we’re going to need to take some extra steps to finish the job.” Char went to reach for the paper but Syd withdrew it.
“Then we’ll need a new deal. How’s about you actually finish the job and I return most of your pilots.”
“How many is most?” Char narrowed her eyes at her.
“Seventy five percent. Seems fair, given the situation.”
Char sat there, silently, thinking. Then it came to her. “You’re selling us short. You were selling us short the whole time. How much are those mines and the machinery really worth?”
Syd saw something. There was a moment of hesitation before she began slowly clapping. “What are your terms then?”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.” Syd repeated again.
“We’ll be taking back all of the pilots, enough fuel to top off their tanks and you’re going to help us get rid of The Protectorate warship that’s sat in orbit.”
“And why would I do that? The Protectorate are my best customers.” Syd was still considering if she had seen what she thought. They sat quietly until Syd spoke again. “So why should I help?”
Char didn’t really have a good answer. “A little public service goes a long way?”
Mauve and Sky looked equally unsure about that response. “Is that what we’re going with?”
“My thoughts exactly. I’m a people person, in the sense that I own slaves.” She was notoriously blunt about her sordid present. “This may be the image reset I need right about now. You’ll have my fleet but I’m in charge.”
Sky and Mauve nearly fell over with how successful Char’s flailing had been. Char shook her hand. “You screw us over and I won’t hesitate. Not in the mood.” Char’s eyes flickered gold again.
“Let’s change that.” The door to Syd’s arsenal slid open. “You can keep the cannon obviously, lords know I can’t use it, but you can choose one thing to borrow, if you want.”
Char’s eyes darted across the exposed wall of weaponry. Torture and killing implements from across the galaxy glinted back at her. Part of her felt guilty about feeling so angry, so destructive; part of her knew that no matter the weapon, killing Reid wasn’t really what she wanted. Then the other part spoke to her. None of the weapons would suffice. Char scanned Syd’s desk. She had adorned it with a handful of useful implements, pens, rulers, a paper tray, but she had also a small collection of ornamental items. In that moment, all of her destructive energy was focussed on Syd’s desk tidy. Char reached over and took out a spiralled section of glass.
“You really must have a score to settle.” Syd actually looked somewhat disturbed. “It’s solid Martian glass so it’ll get through skin but you may want something else if you’re planning on dealing more damage.”
“Oh no, it’ll do fine.” Char smiled as she span the pen between her fingers. “Get your crews ready. We’ll do the same.” She span off her chair, stood and began to walk away with a single, fluid motion.
Syd began tapping away at an integrated tablet in her desk. “Where do you want it?” She passed the tablet to Char. Char scoured the map for an entrance to The Hole but couldn’t find one so placed the marker in the hole in the middle of the square. “Never would have guessed.” Syd nodded. She beckoned The Three Armed Rexian in to her office. “Send that down to the mines.” She handed her a tablet. The Three Armed Rexian looked at her confused.
“Are you sure about that boss?” She double checked the tablet. “That’s a fair amount of assets you’re redistributing?”
Syd shook her head. “Now’s not the time to question me Three.” She glared at The Three Armed Rexian who already had two of her hands firmly planted on the door, ready for a hasty retreat. “Get it done.” She nodded before catapulting herself toward the lift. “She’s good but she can be a little too nosey some times.”
“Take your word for it.” Mauve chuckled.
“I’m assuming that requisition order wasn’t just for our pilots…” Char looked back at Syd.
Syd just nodded.
“Good.” Char followed in The Three Armed Rexian’s footsteps and left the office in a brisk, and oddly intimidating, speedwalk.
Mauve and Sky soon followed suit though not as quickly.

Back out on the streets, Mauve’s pocket started vibrating. “Granddad! Granddad!” Blue was virtually screaming in Mauve’s ear. “I don’t know what the hel’s going on but this weird ship’s just landed in the middle of the base. It’s just looking at me.”
Char ushered to Mauve to hand the communicator over. “She’s not staring at you… She might be but you’re not her type anyway. We’ll be back in a moment to sort Destiny out.”
“Please hurry. It’s getting weird.” Blue whimpered.
“Best hurry then.” Sky couldn’t stop themselves from laughing.
Char looked at her wrist and thought about using her transporter and wanted to prolong Blue’s suffering but then she remembered Lore. “Both of you need to be holding hands. Come on!” She locked on to The Destiny and prepared the others for transport. Before they could realise, they were stood in the cargo bay once again. “Destiny, are you ready?”
“What, now?” She created a holographic version of her body, wearing nothing but a towel and covered herself scandalously.
“No, but you do need to get ready. We’ve got about an hour.”
“That I can do.” Destiny gave a salute, nearly dropping her towel, then vanished.
They lowered the landing ramp revealing a confused Blue pointing a pistol at them.
“Put that away you great idiot.” Mauve slapped the gun down. “Open the skylight, we’re expecting guests.” Char’s reign as leader was seemingly over or at least on hiatus with Mauve taking immediate charge. “I want the ships all unlocked and ready for refuelling, I want food on the tables and I want a cup of tea.” Mauve looked at his grandchild who was just stood there. He clouted them.
Blue whimpered. “What was that for?”
“Get a move on.” Mauve readied his hand once more.
“I’m going, I’m going.” Before Blue vanished off to the engineering bay, they thrust a battered tablet into Mauve’s hands. Sky met Mauve at the bottom of the cargo ramp.
“You didn’t have to do that.” Sky shook her head. “They’re only seventeen, you can’t expect them to be up to your adventurous standards yet.”
“When I was their age, I was already a father and I was getting ready to head out into the universe.” Mauve shook his head. “I was younger than them when I got the tablet.” He raised a battered tablet.
“Yeah, you had someone to guide you every step of the way.” Sky pushed passed Mauve and joined Blue in their preparations.
“How long did you say you’ve had that?” Char held out her hand for the tablet. She scrolled down a near endless list of completed tasks.
“I got it at sixteen. Had it since then. Thirty six years, one kid and two grandkids…” He thought for a moment. “Thirty six years and it’s never been this silent.”
“Maybe it’s because we’re here?”
“Maybe.” Mauve looked her up and down. “You know, neither of you are what I was expecting. I thought you’d be more imposing. For someone who could arrange an whole families life, you’re rather clueless in the field.”
“It wasn’t us.” Char invited Mauve to sit on the ramp. “Lore and I, we’re both clones.” Char went back into The Destiny and returned with their tablet. “See. Just like your family, we were made by them to fill a role. A noble role but…”
“I know what you mean.” Mauve nodded. “It’s weird, even though I’ve always had a choice, I’ve never thought about not doing what it said. I’ve visited planets I never thought possible, walked among species that could perfectly copy my face, but in all that time, I never really thought about not obeying, I just grumbled through.”
“Because it’s all for the greater good.” Char whispered under her breath. Mauve heard her and agreed.