AGU SCI 1: The Star Brotherhood (5 page)

"Let's go," Vyx said. "I'm starting to get hungry."

An oh-gee stretch-limo was parked in front of the tavern. It wasn't the kind of vehicle usually seen in this part of the city, and people lined the sidewalk to see which big-shot had deigned to rub elbows with the lowlifes. When a Terran exited the tavern and climbed into the backseat of the limo, there were a lot of surprised Uthlarans, but when they saw Gillanno, they closed their mouths and went about their business.

Although a city, Ogsnara was not a large metropolitan center, so the ride only lasted about five minutes. As the limo settled to its skids in front of an impressive office building, Vyx worked to hide his surprise. He'd expected something a bit more modest, such as a rundown warehouse at the edge of the spaceport.

As the door on the right side of the limo rolled down and under the vehicle to allow easy egress by the occupants, Gillanno stepped out. Vyx climbed out behind him and stood up as he regarded the building with seeming nonchalance. Gillanno seemed about to say something, then thought better of it when he saw the bored expression on Vyx's face.

"This way, Trader," Gillanno said as he began walking towards the building.

When they entered the lobby, four burly, armed Uthlarans left their posts and began to move towards Vyx. He stopped, stiffened, and flipped the right side of his cloak over his right shoulder. The strap that held the pistol in the holster was still off, so he simply dropped his arm. With his arm hovering near his pistol, he was as ready as he could be for whatever was coming.

Gillanno, seeing Vyx's action, waved the bodyguards off, and they returned to their posts.

"This way, Trader," Gillanno said as he led the way to the lifts.

The lift was fast and delivered the two men to the penthouse office suite on the sixteenth floor in just seconds. To Vyx, the deceleration and stop at the top was more violent than the sensation felt when going from maximum sub-light speed in the
Scorpion
to a full stop. Of course the spaceship had inertial compensators, and he wondered why they didn't have them in the elevator.

The doors opened to reveal a very posh reception area. Two bodyguards stood on either side of a set of stylish double doors just off to the left side of a receptionist's desk.

"Trader Vyx to see Lippaula," Gillanno said to the woman behind the desk.

"Yes, you're expected, Trader," the Uthlaran female said after repeating the message into a com unit and receiving a reply. "You may go in."

Trader Vyx looked at Gillanno, who stepped back out of the way to allow him to pass. Obviously Gillanno wasn't invited, which made Vyx nervous. He'd have expected Lippaula to want a number of others present if Vyx was being allowed in with his weapons. Perhaps the room was already crowded with enforcers and Lippaula didn't want Gillanno in the line of fire. The hair on the back of his neck began to stand up.

After his moment of hesitation, Vyx turned towards the office doors. As he did so, the two bodyguards moved closer together to block the entrance to the office. Knowing they intended to search him for weapons and confiscate all they found, Vyx stopped, again flipped the right side of his cloak over his shoulder, and prepared for a fight. Gillanno had said his weapons wouldn't be confiscated, and he had no intention of surrendering them.

Gillanno, upon seeing the motion of the two bodyguards and Vyx's response, waved the bodyguards off, but they refused to back away because they reported only to Lippaula. They placed their hands on the handles of their weapons and waited for Vyx to yield.

"I think we're done here, Gillanno," Vyx said, backing away. "It's either time for me to leave or start killing. Summon the lift."

The receptionist made a noise that sounded like, "Yeep!" and disappeared down behind the desk.

"Wait a minute, Trader," Gillanno said. "There's obviously been a breakdown in communication. Lippaula told me you could keep your weapons if you insisted." Looking towards where the receptionist was cowering under the desk, he said, "Tell Lippaula that her bodyguards won't allow Vyx to pass with his weapons. He refuses to surrender them and intends to leave."

The receptionist came out from beneath the desk and repeated the message into the com device. A few seconds later the com device chirped and the receptionist read the message, then turned towards the two bodyguards. "Lippaula says Trader Vyx is to be allowed in with his weapons."

Without comment, the two bodyguards dropped their arms to their sides and returned to their former positions on either side of the door, but their eyes never left Vyx.

Vyx relaxed and approached the doors, which opened automatically. The tritanium-reinforced doors resembled something that might be seen on a bank vault, but they slid into door pockets rather than opening on hinges. Even so, it would probably take a ton of explosives to open them forcibly.

Alone in the room, Vyx surveyed the massive office as the doors closed behind him. It was easy to see that no expense had been spared in decorating the room. A large table, rather than a desk, appeared to be the work center, while the rest of the room resembled a lounge like that found in a luxury hotel. Four sofas and at least a dozen chairs dotted the room in intimate clusters. What appeared to be expensive art hung from the walls, while sculptures were scattered about the room, some freestanding, some on small pedestals, and a few on the room's tables. A fountain, rising up from the center of a pool that contained live fish, bubbled briskly in the center of the office space. It was an impressive office suite.

Vyx turned in response to the sound of a door opening in a side wall. As a Terran female entered the room, Vyx's lower jaw dropped slightly. Dressed in a glittering blue silk gown that hugged her incredible curves to perfection, she seemed eerily familiar. Her long black mane hung over one shoulder and contrasted with a hundred thousand credits of sparkling jewelry that adorned her ears, neck, and wrists. Her face reminded him of a statue he'd once seen in a museum. The sculpturer had named his creation Aphrodite, and it was intended to represent his vision of the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

As the woman flashed a million-credit smile, Vyx said in a business-like manner, "I'm here to see Lippaula."

"I'm Lippaula," she said in a voice that ignited long dormant memories in the back of Vyx's mind.

Vyx's jaw dropped even further. Rarely at a loss for words, Vyx found himself unable to speak for a few moments. As he recovered, he said, "You're Lippaula?"

"Surprised?"

"That word doesn't come close to expressing what I feel right now, Paula. We all thought you were dead."

~ June 29
^th
, 2288 ~

"I'm sure you never expected to find me two thousand light-years from Earth, Victor?"

"I never expected to find you at all, Paula. But other than that, I expected Lippaula to be an Uthlaran. I also expected a male because the Uthlaran culture is male centric. A Terran female can usually find a job as a secretary or clerk, but little else."

"I assure you I was just as surprised to learn that Victor Gregorian from Snowy Hills High School has become a smuggler and gunrunner going by the name of Trader Vyx. As I read through the Raider report on you this morning and saw your image, I did a double take. I knew it couldn't
possibly
be you and assumed it had to be someone who resembled you, but the resemblance was so uncanny that I found myself unable to stop staring at your image. Even so, it's only your face that reminded me of that skinny bookworm from my high school days."

"You don't exactly look like the high school cheerleader I remember. You were pretty in high school, but now you're stunning."

"Thank you. We're both adults now, with adult bodies."

"Your gown is beautiful. I expected less formal attire. Do you dress like this every day?"

"Of course not. Normally I wear a business outfit with slacks. I wore this especially for you. I wanted to impress you. This became a special day once I learned who Trader Vyx might really be. I can't tell you how excited I was when I first saw you just now and knew it really was you. My heart is beating so hard it seems it will burst."

"I wish I had known who Lippaula really was. I would have cleaned up and worn something more appropriate."

"You look fine. More than fine actually. The skinny bookworm has turned into a real man. Since seeing your image in the file, I've imagined what you must look like under that cloak."

"Really? And what did you imagine you'd see?"

"I saw a muscular chest with washboard abs, sculptured arms, narrow waist and hips, and strong, powerful legs."

Vyx opened the cloak and then pulled it off while Lippaula watched.

"I was right," she said, smiling as Vyx tossed his cloak onto a nearby chair. "You can take off your laser pistol. You won't need it here."

"I always feel undressed without it. I only take it off when I go to bed."

She chuckled. "Maybe later then. Let's sit down and continue our reunion discussion."

Lippaula selected a sofa on the smaller side that kept them in close proximity.

When they were comfortable, Vyx asked, "How did you wind up out here?"

"I went to a party with a few new friends and tried some new drug that was supposed to make you feel great. I woke up months later in a jail cell on a Raider base in space, feeling not so great."

"How did you avoid getting sent to a pleasure resort as a slave?"

"I didn't. I was there for over two years. Luckily, they screwed up when they were wiping the minds of the new girls. I was strapped down on the table and the technician was just about to reset me to zero when he was called away. Another technician came in to take over and asked me my name. I'd seen how the girl before me acted after having her mind wiped, so I imitated her behavior. He assumed I'd been processed already, released me, and called someone in to take me to my cell. If I'd been subjected to that procedure, my oldest memories of the past would be the two sordid years at that miserable resort. Instead, I remember my entire childhood and, most especially, my wonderful years in high school. Memories of that time with family and friends got me through those two years. I might have taken my own life otherwise, as many of the other girls did. But I was determined to get away, so I watched, learned, and bided my time until I got a chance to escape. My opportunity came in the form of an Uthlaran freighter. It was scheduled to leave orbit before the guest to whom I'd been assigned for the day was scheduled to leave the resort. I dropped some sleeping pills into his drink and he was slumbering soundly when I snuck out. The resort shouldn't have begun looking for me for hours.

"I managed to sneak aboard the freighter's shuttle and hide out in a storage locker. The freighter crew discovered me after we reached the ship, but I promised them sexual favors in return for safe passage to a world where I could be free. I was the only woman on board, so I provided all the off-duty entertainment. I doubt if I spent more than one day a month off my back over the next eight months. Thankfully, Terrans and Uthlarans aren’t biologically compatible, so there was no risk of pregnancy, and Uthlaran men are tall, with huge feet, but small in other ways, so all I had to do was moan a little and tell them how wonderful they were."

"You're lucky they didn't use you for sex and then turn you in for the bounty on escaped slaves once you reached that world."

"Yeah, but after eight months of having sex with every crewmember, we had bonded enough that they wouldn't have done that."

"Those years must have been horrific. I'm glad to see that you were able to overcome them and retain your sanity. So you got
here
by stowing away. How did you ever achieve such a high position of responsibility in the supposedly all-male Brotherhood? "

"The freighter was a Brotherhood ship that had just delivered supplies to the resort. The captain got me in the door here and the rest just happened. Contrary to popular belief, there are a lot of women in the Brotherhood. It did originally start out as an all-male organization, but it had to change as it expanded. They needed women they could trust for both the administrative jobs and the more— menial chores, so they made us full-fledged members. Eventually, a few of us were able to climb the ladder."

"And you've climbed it all the way to the top."

"On this little planet, yes. But I'm still low in the overall scheme of things. The operation here is pretty small. We're not the Raiders, but we continue to grow. Having the GA take over this region of space has really helped. The Uthlarigasset military maintained a tight grip on commerce in the nation; with them gone, crime groups are flourishing. So how about you? How did you wind up out here, and how did you become a smuggler?"

"Life doesn't always turn out as we expect it will when we're young."

"That's for sure, but what made straight-laced Victor Gregorian become a smuggler?"

"Opportunity, and the desire for a life better than I had. During my third year of college, my folks were killed in a tube train accident when an earthquake ripped the tunnel apart and the earth shifted. The train was too close to the shift location to stop, and over two hundred people died when it impacted a solid wall of earth and rock that faced the shifted tube. I never returned to college. Instead I got a job as a freight hauler. I learned the trade and ultimately won a small ship in a high-stakes card game. Then it was simply a matter of slowly improving my situation as any good, independent businessman would."

"An independent businessman who smuggles illegal goods and runs guns."

"Among other things. I also deal in honest wares at times. I take consignment loads and trade merchandise. It's all a matter of what comes my way. Of course, smuggling always pays best."

A light chime noise sounded at the same instant a small light illuminated over the door Lippaula had come through.

"That means lunch is ready," she said.

"Great. What's on the menu?"

"Gillanno told me he owes you a bowl of Tarlovo. I asked my chef to prepare that."