Therans In Space: Chapter 8

“You want to do what?”

“We want to fight the mob,” Ya’Cahin repeated and Jenny stared at her just trying to process the repeated statement her captain kept saying like it made sense.

The eight of them had gathered at a private booth at the casino. When they had the disposable money they just won they could earn at least a seat. Everyone had enough drinks to be conversational and business was ready to be taken care of.

“So, are we trying to steal the shard from them?” Rizier asked. “I can only imagine these people are dangerous.”

“Very. We’re just a crew of bounty hunters. These are the people who hire people to hire us. The Megreega. Drugs, money, trafficking. All of it runs through them. Three children and the parents.”

“Three children?” Jenny repeated and then the face of that winking horned person appeared in her mind. “Wait. Tahu do you remember?”

Tahu nodded. “Yep. They were the ones who left the club after doing their hit.”

“So, we’ve all met them. Goodie.” Ya’Cahin clapped her hands together.

“We don’t even know which of them has the shard. If one of them actually has the shard.” Ula said scowling. “I don’t like this captain.”

Ya’Cahin waved her hands quickly. “I know I know. I’ve got a plan formulating up here,” she tapped her forehead. “And it’s gonna require all of us without any major major commitment to trying to take the shard. Will you hear me out Ula?”

The zorg stared at her, frowning harder. “I’m listening.”

“Perfect,” Ya’Cahin grinned wider and glanced at her team. “So we need to do some recon and figure out good information before committing to a major plan. And we have the perfect people for that.”

She pointed above their heads to the private rooms. “We can’t get up there without invitations since those spaces are all rented out or owned.” Ya’Cahin pointed at Rizier, Seth and Alice. “Shapeshifting, teleporting, and invisibility. All tailor made for getting into one of those rooms. If we can’t get our own room, you sneak in, incapacitate them and then invite the rest of us in.

“From there we have me and Jenny to scan the room that’ll have the shard. We’ll have to finesse it so that we don’t tip anyone off about us hanging around. Finally, if muscle is needed we have Trey here to take down some body guards or just look threatening.”

She tapped his shoulder and he made sloppy finger guns at them all. “I got the booms.”

“Alright. So say that we find the shard owner up there,” Seth said. “We’re gonna muscle our way in, steal it and run out of here? A place used to crime families causing trouble and likely have defensives better than anything we’re ready for off the top.”

Ya’Cahin held her hand up and paused before answering that question. “Look. I’m working on my feet. We can keep workshopping it.”

“I believe I can offer some help,” Rizier said tapping their forehead. “I can infiltrate their minds, providing they aren’t psykikly gifted, and have them give us the shard.”

“We felt some presence at the club remember?” Jenny said and Rizier nodded. “I don’t know if it came from one of them or someone else. Regardless it might be a problem.”

“I guess we’ll have to figure that out too,” Ya’Cahin conceded. “Rizier, you can probe for other psykiks without trouble or alerting them, right?”

“Indeed.”

“Then that’ll be a part of the recon mission for you three.”

“Will the comms be effective if they get confronted?” Tahu asked.

Sighing Alice frowned and signed, “We can’t afford that. We’ll have to avoid that situation as hard as we can.”

Jenny glanced at her then squeezed her hand. “It’s risky but I agree with Yaya to a degree. I felt the shard here and this is the first one we’ve found outside of Therra. We need to pursue it or else who knows when we find another.”

“Finally, someone else gets me,” Ya’Cahin mumbled. But she looked at the seven of them and her gaze was steady. “We’ll play it safe. Be smart and slow and if things go bad, we’ll back out immediately.”

Tahu smirked. “I have just the tool to get you guys in. Something that I’ve been toying around with.” Their arm opened up and a few tiny spheres came tumbling out. “It’s a tiny localized emp. It won’t fry the systems of anything but it will shut them down for a few seconds.”

“What good is only a temporary reboot?” Seth asked looking at one of them.

“Not much,” Tahu shrugged as they handed a couple to him. “But getting our infiltrators past an annoying robot? Very useful.”

“The only change in the plan captain is that we’re going to need to operate from the ship. A fast and clean getaway is going to be a necessity considering who we’re up against,” Ula grabbed her fellow zorg’s arm and dragged them to their feet and ignoring their complaints. But before they got far Ula handed a small computer stick to Alice. “Once you break in, use this on the first console you can find. It’ll give us a back door to work with to get into the system. In case something goes wrong”

Once they left Alice called the bartender and ordered a drink for herself. “I think I’m going to need it.” She held her hand up and let it turn translucent before solid again and glanced toward Jenny. “I’ll be with Seth and Rizier. No better company.”

“I resent that,” Trey said pointing at her.

“Ignored.” Alice replied as her drink arrived. A lightly swirling yellow concoction that smelled strong. Not quite an odor but sour to a degree. Jenny wrinkled her nose but Alice grinned. She took a sip making a face for a second but took another sip then chugged it and hissed.

Another round of drinks came by, one for everyone as they waited for the zorgs to come through with some good news.

“So, in case this mission goes sideways should we just be ready to run like hell?” Jenny asked glancing at everyone.

“It’s likely yeah,” Ya’Cahin smirked. “Can’t wait.”

Rolling her eyes Jenny raised and clinked it against Ya’Cahin’s. “Whatever you say captain.”

The six of them stayed at their table talking and joking about how they were going to make it through this mission. They tried to keep the drinking under control despite the urgings from Trey. Even Ya’Cahin forced them to drink palate cleansers so that they could all sober up for what was next. Finally, Tahu and Ula came on the comms.

“We’ve found a channel to get in. The controls are very limited but we should be able to lower the shield just long enough to allow the infiltration team through. After that however we may be caught and singled out. So they’ll be on their own until they can secure a room and invite everyone else to meet them.”

Ya’Cahin nodded and glanced at the trio. “How much time will they have?”

“Thirty seconds at best. We can push it to forty but that’ll risk exposing us. If we’re exposed we’ll have to leave orbit and you’ll be on your own for a little bit.”

Seth looked at his team before nodding. “That’ll be enough. Barring some unforeseen consequences.”

Jenny knocked on the table. “Let’s hope for nothing like that happens.”

“Agreed,” Trey said standing up.

“Shall we be going?” Rizier asked the sand already beginning to shift.

Seth finished his drink, something similar to water but with a funny taste. Rizier shifted slightly, their sand moving in an uneasy way but still excited.

Alice stood slowly and leaned down kissing Jennys forehead and then her lips lightly. Jenny stroked her cheek slowly and sighed. “Be careful.” Jenny whispered. Alice kissed her again in response, then squeezed her hand.

“We’ll watch her back,” Rizier said and the sand morphed into something like a smile.

“More like I’ll be watching yours,” she signed patting their back as they continued to reshape themselves into what they imagined a higher class member of society looked like. Turning to look at Seth and Alice, their eyes glowed and quickly a link was established between the minds of the trio.

“This will make it easier to plan our moves,” they said and their voice echoed in their minds. Both nodded and clasped hands and then vanished from sight. The trio moved forward together with Seth mentally leading them to the place where the robot had stopped him before. There was no one else around but the stairs greeted them begging to be crossed.

They approached slowly and Seth reached into his back pocket. Rolling the orb across the ground the machine began to say, “Please show your invita-“

The ball rolled across the ground and went off in a tiny burst of light. The robot flinched before slumping down, the spot where it’s ‘face’ was flicking to a black screen. With it out of commission for a few moments they acted. Seth pressed his hand against their backs and then they vanished appearing at the top of the stairs.

The hallway was long and dark with some doors closed, glowing lines outlining them. There was one all the way down the hallway with an open glowing door, while the others were red waiting for confirmation. They rushed toward that open door and all went through it as fast as they could. The door closed behind them it turned red for occupied.

The room had a round table in the center, with a console display and a few hot keys to start up some of the gambling games. As Rizier walked toward the tables they saw the symbols on the console and they weren’t dealing in chips. They were dealing in serious currency that could only be done with real money and a few symbols they didn’t recognize.

“Serious stakes go down here,” they said gliding a hand over the table and saw a dark stain at the corner of the table.

Alice walked toward one of the chairs but the moment she sat down a digital display appeared in front of her. Waving her hand quickly she sent it away in annoyance and continued using the pad. Some spots were locked off from her but she had access to the majority of things.

While Alice worked Seth walked toward the edge of the room. When he touched the wall part of it evaporated to reveal the club as a whole. He could see the gambling tables, people milling around but also the closed ‘windows’ of everyone else at the club. “Can you see the window I just opened?” Seth asked.

“That’s a negative,” Ya’Cahin replied.

“So the wall is one way. Interesting.”

He turned and watched as Alice plugged the stick that Tahu gave her into the console. Going through the menus and she watched as the last few locks were taken away. Giving a thumbs up to Seth she explored her new options. “We’ve made it into a room,” Seth said glancing around. “And the drive is inserted.”

“We see that,” Tahu said as they gave a window dedicated to the information. “That’ll help us get eyes and ears on the floor and the casino as a whole.”

“Since you have a room can you bring us up?” Ya’Cahin asked.

“Not sure,” Seth glanced over at Alice. “Can we bring anyone up?”

She held up her hand and keyed through the display. It lit up showing off a variety of options from food to drink to games and entertainment. The entertainment section confused her but when she hit previews she shut it down as quickly as she opened it. Letting out a frustrated sigh she quickly signed. “I don’t see an invite section but maybe I need to keep looking.”

“Nothing yet but we’re looking,” Seth repeated.

“Let me take a look,” Tahu said.

Alice hit a few keys as she stumbled into a new window. The screen started moving on it’s own diving through window to window before finally it flashed green and then began to blink a few times. She looked at Seth and he shrugged at her.

There was a light knock on the door and they all jumped. Alice got to her feet and checked the door. It opened without much warning and Jenny was there waving. “Uh. Hi,” Alice said startled. “Didn’t think that would work.”

She held up a card and it flashed a blue light. “Guess Tahu invited me up.” She looked around them, taking in the room and went to the chair. “Though I doubt we should invite anyone else. I got some looks on the way up here.”

“We haven’t done any reconnaissance yet. All the rooms are shut tight and If our room is any indicator seeing in or out of these places isn’t easy,” Alice signed, standing beside her. “We’re going to need to see if we can get any of them to leave their rooms and give us a hint.”

“Can one of you do that?” Jenny asked tuning into the channel for the zorgs.

She only heard static for a few long seconds but after a sharp cut that made her jerk her head back she heard Tahu speak quickly. “Yes, I can set up a distraction but it’s going to be the kind that gets the attention of everyone. So one shot to get it right.”

“What are you going to pull the fire alarm?” Seth asked snorting back his laughter. But when silence greeted him he turned slowly and arched his eyebrow. “Seriously? That’s what you’re going to do.”

“Well you need a big distraction, right?” Tahu asked. “This is a big one. And it’s not a fire alarm it’s a gas leak alarm.”

“Okay, put a hold on that for now. Let’s get the game plan going first,” Jenny said motioning for the crew to gather around. Seth, Rizier, and Alice stood beside her as she rubbed her chin in thought. “If everyone leaves expecting some sort of danger we can stay in the wings and try to pinpoint who has the shard. Once we find them we ambush them, take it and run.”

The four of them were silent, letting the plan marinate for a long moment. Then Alice fought back laughter. “That’s your big plan?”

Jenny made a face and fought her blush. “You know I’m not great at plans. And it’s pretty straight forward for now. Besides there’s plenty of time for it to go horribly wrong right?”

“That’s the spirit,” Ya’Cahin added.

Jenny shook her head, “And what are you going to be doing?”

“Well if you’re going to set off some massive alarm like that we’re going to cause a bit of extra chaos and confusion. And back up in case the Megreega get wind of you.”

“Good point,” Jenny mumbled. “Okay. Seth take Rizier with you. Be on the lookout for the Megreega once they leave their room. I’ll isolate the one with the shard, Seth will grab them and Rizier will replace them as a copy. Take them back into their room. Me and Alice will circle around while invisible and it should be pretty straight forward to just snatch the shard and dip, right?”

“We’re already this far ahead. Might as well over commit,” Seth muttered and glanced at Rizier. “Can you shape shift on the fly?”

They tilted their head back and forth. “I’m unsure. I wouldn’t know until I gave it a try. But the fundamentals of something that are familiar to me. Speed would be the concern.”

“Counting on you,” he grasped their shoulder and they vanished to the edge of the room near the door. Jenny jumped to her feet and took Alice’s hand.

“Before you ask, yes I remember how to dance.” Jenny whispered and Alice stole a kiss from her.

Smirking she gave her hand a squeeze and Alice turned them invisible. They crossed the room quickly to the door and Jenny made a motion with her hand to let it open. The hallway was empty and clear of any security so the invisible duo made their way toward the back of it in silence.

They crossed a few doors easily when one of them opened with a woosh right in front of them. A stranger in a gown open at the sides with horns sprouting from their forehead sauntered out. There wasn’t anything truly special about her but it was the leak of power from within the room that made Jenny’s legs wobble.

“Them!” she hissed as quietly as she could. “They’ve got the shard! Grab them!” she thought as loudly as she could and she knew that they heard her because Rizier and Seth moved quickly from their hiding spots. They appeared in front of the stranger and grabbed them, each taking an arm. They vanished immediately again and Jenny watched as they retreated right back to the room they’d left.

Alice squeezed her hand tightly and Jenny nodded quickly as they back tracked. Once they were back inside Alice let go of her hand and they both looked toward the alien who stared at the wall dazed. But Rizier’s eyes were glowing along with their captives.

“What are you doing to them?” Jenny asked making her way over, still feeling the dull throbbing of the psykik backlash.

“Keeping her unconscious. Or at least not wholly aware. And you were right. I can feel the shard on her person. She’s resisting my influence though she’s inexperienced,” they said with squinted eyes. Jenny looked at them and they were focused so hard their sand was displacing.

Approaching slowly, she felt the pull of the shard coming from this strange alien woman. She couldn’t imagine where the shard would be hidden now, wearing what she was. This wasn’t a dress it was a gown made of some sort of material that she couldn’t even guess at. But like on Therra there were no pockets.

But her eyes kept getting drawn to the horns on her head, three of them, two from around the side of her head and one from the middle that was shorter and almot entirely smooth. Narrowing her eyes, she raised her hand and it was like touching an invisible wall, one that repelled her like two magnets meeting.

“Her horn,” Jenny mumbled her eyes widening and reached out with her powers.

Her magnetism extended quickly, ready to latch onto metal but were struck by the same barrier. But her power sensed something in the shard as well and unlike her hand it was attracted. Shutting her eyes, she doubled down as her powers continued to dig and push toward the horn.

The woman’s head and Jenny’s arm jerked forward as the magnetic attraction increased. The horn was almost within almost touching distance. Keeping her focus, Jenny curled her fingers and her power latched onto it properly. She had a grip on it and now for the hard part.

Slowly she pulled her arm back and the powers tugged on her horn. It resisted but as she tugged she could feel that it wasn’t entirely secured. Something like a prosthetic that was relatively new. So new that she could feel the metal bits that had connected it to her skin. “This thing is new. It’s not bonded to her yet.”

“Her mind is waking up Jenny. I am unsure how long I can keep her under,” Rizier said and Jenny could hear the strain in their voice. But she knew that she couldn’t rush this one or else it was going to cause even more trouble.

Jenny pulled and felt something give slightly in the horn, the resistance wasn’t as bad but it was still attached to her head. But as she pulled Jenny shuddered and almost stumbled to the ground. Her eyes jerked up and the woman’s were open, not just open but glowing and finally Jenny felt the pyskik backlash.

“You… dare…!” she scowled.

Jenny’s eyes flew open and she fought back a scream into an intense whimper. Alice started to come to her side but Jenny shook her head. “Don’t… I’ve got thi-“ she was cut off by another wave of pain.

Rizier’s form was already broken apart into many floating shards, barely keeping standing. Spreading their arms, they focused and let out a hissing noise like air leaving a sac and the woman’s glowing eyes faded as she slumped into the chair. Jenny gasped gripping the horn and pulled with a renewed vigor.

 The horn made a harsh tearing sound as she ripped it off and it flew into her palm. Her eyes rolled back immediately as the power coursed through her, sending blue and purple veins like ice up her arm as she fell to the ground seizing.

Alice rushed to her side but didn’t touch her afraid to make things worse. Jenny’s eyes were huge but pupils were pinpricks. Alice looked up at the others but Rizier was pulling themselves back together and Seth was equally as panicked as she was. Before they could talk there was a harsh banging on the door to their room.

“There’s always something more to deal with,” Seth mumbled and touched his communicator. “Captain we need to get out now. We got the shard and Jenny touched it and now she looks like she’s having a seizure.”

“Jenny touched the shard?! Alone?! Make her drop it! Now! We need to get you guys out of there.”

“Seth. Break. The. Window,” Alice signed her hands shaking. She nodded to him and then went to Jenny’s side.

Resting one hand on her forearm she brushed against the shard and the moment she did she felt the power jump start through her like sticking her hand in a light socket. Clenching her teeth, she shut her eyes and ripped the shard from Jenny’s hand. With the energy coursing through her she ripped part of her skirt off and wrapped it around the shard. The glow faded away from her arm and the seizure stopped in Jenny.

Alice sighed but then jumped as the door broke off the hinges and flew through the window. Crouching Alice picked up Jenny and ran toward the now broke window and look down. They had a lot of attention now since a door just flew through and might have crushed someone.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw a bunch of black dressed goons armed with guns. Seth blinked into existence near her and Rizier’s arm was around his shoulder. Shots rang out as explosions of light. Quickly looking back and forth between the ground and him he groaned. “You really want me to have an aneurysm, don’t you?”

Another laser blast echoed and if they hadn’t ducked it would have been their heads.

Scowling Seth placed his hand on her back and took a slow breath. They vanished together and hit the ground in a heap. In the midst of the shouting and screams there was silence as coins fell, machines beeped and four people suddenly appeared near them.

Alice fell on her side, keeping Jenny against her while Seth and Rizier stumbled away from one another. He wheezed against the ground shuddering and immediately they could hear footsteps rushing toward them. Alice scrabbled to her feet and through the cash and tokens she lost the shard. Eyes wide she felt Jenny rise beside her.

Letting out a gasp as she remembered how to stand Alice grabbed her shoulder and pulled her closer, carefully signing, “You okay?”

“Tell you when the lights stop sparkling and the ground stops shaking.” She raised her hand and on instinct the shard flew to her hands. Wrapped in cloth she could still feel the power pulsating within it but unlike the violent vibrations of before, this was more subtle and warm. “Let’s get out of here.

Glancing at her, Alice frowned but nodded. They checked on Seth who was wiping vomit from his mouth as he got to his feet and wiped his nose clean of blood. Rizier was helping him to his feet, their form far more stable.

“Don’t let those four escape!” They didn’t bother looking back up to the hole they made and instead huddled together. Each of them grabbed one of Alice’s hands and they turned invisible.

They didn’t get very far before explosions started rocking the lower levels. The crowds shrieked and scattered in every direction. They all recognized what they were as Trey’s explosions. He had in fact brought the booms. Being invisible in all the commotion helped as they made their way out of the club.

The street outside wasn’t doing much better as the panicked people filed out. But they remained invisible until they got a decent bit of distance away. broke out of the invisibility as Trey waved them over. “Come on get in! Hurry it up before the rest of them show up!”

They scurried forward and piled into the taxi. Jenny and Alice shared the front seat while Rizier helped Seth into the back seat. Once the door slammed shut Trey brought the vehicle to life and sped off dipping low below the other cars. With no traffic Trey gunned it and while Alice kept her eyes on their backs.

“Did you guys get the shard?” Trey asked quickly.

“Yeah. Almost got messed up getting it,” Jenny said staring at the cloth wrapped space rock they’d just stole. “Where’s Yaya and Tahu?”

“Yaya is with Tahu on the scout ship. Ula has the ship prepped and ready for us to go,” he said ascending and going around a few more dozen feet and turning to the left.

“Hopefully Tahu and Ya’Cahin are ready to go when we get there,” Seth mumbled leaning his head back against the back of the seat.

“Come on you know they are,” he said as he zoomed toward the checkpoint. Not slowing down he sailed right past the checkpoint. No time for doing things the proper way, they needed to get back to the ship. As their ship came into view Alice looked over the side of the ship and her eyes went wide. Jenny managed to look as well and she gasped grabbing at Trey’s shoulder.

“Guys on our right. A goon squad heading this way.” As she looked around, she noted a few more vehicles coming their way. They didn’t seem to know them specifically but they were definitely going toward the port.

Trey followed their gaze and swore parking the taxi as they ran across the platforms toward the ship. “Captain, you’ve got company coming toward the ship. Yeah more than a few. No don’t fight them. Look I’m not the idea guy here.” Sighing Jenny tapped her ear twice and jumped into the conversation.

“Yaya it’s Jenny,” she groaned and kept her arm around Alice’s waist for balance. “You’re going to have to take off. Yeah, I know it’s crazy but we can’t get into a fight with those guys. We’ll lose, get caught and probably tortured. And get the shard stolen back. Just fly over us with the door open, we’ll teleport in.”

“You’re joking right?” Seth said glaring at her before wiping his nose again. “You’re really gonna trying kill me, aren’t you?”

Jenny gave him a smile and waved the shard in his direction. “Not if you use this. Rizier can you get in me and Seth’s heads?”

“I believe so,” Rizier closed their eyes and Jenny felt the soft touch in her brain of their mind attaching to her own. “Ah. I can help achieve what you are trying to accomplish.”

“Thanks.” She said and watched the ship start to come to life and raise off the ground. Jenny held her hand out to him and Seth took it hesitantly not eager to be a part of something else that was insane. But their hands touched and she showed him how to better use the power of the shard.

 “That’s what you two have been interacting with this entire time?” he asked feeling the raw power wafting over him. She shrugged and nodded. “You’re both insane.”

“Probably at this point. But we’re in space and stealing from an intergalactic gang. But you’re stealing from them too so you’re just as insane.”

“For fucks sake. Fine.”

Jenny unfurled the cloth slowly the shard sparked to life. She brushed it with her thumb and the power surged from her straight over to him and he jerked his eyes glowing bright like flash lights. Looking down to hide the glow he hissed sharply and dug his fingers into her hand.

The ship started raising up and there was a lot of attention being drawn to it. The goons were running toward their group and saw the ship and drew their guns shooting. The first few missed them directly but one was dangerously close. “If you guys are going to do something hurry it up!”

“Grab on!” Seth strained his voice to shout and Rizier, Alice, and Trey each grabbed onto him. Looking ahead his eyes glowed brighter and he felt time slow down. He looked at Jenny shocked and saw the same glow in her eyes. She nodded and he focused staring closely at their as the hatch opened.

Taking a deep breath, he vanished with them all in tow and it felt easy. It was like they jumped from the platform in slow motion to be in the path of the ship. Normally things happened in a blur for him but now he could watch the travel of the teleportation. The ship flew right over them and they bounced across the cold metal of the hanger as momentum threw them into the wall.

Grunting Trey shouted into his ear, “We’re in! Punch it Tahu!”

The door closed behind them as they dodged around a few ships and burst into the open air. Once they flew into the hanger of their main ship and the hatch closed they hyper jumped. Jenny let her head fall backwards and finally sighed in relief feeling the momentum. “I need a real vacation after that shit.”