Chronicles of a Space Mercenary 0: Tanya (9 page)

Tanya wouldn't be back aboard ship tomorrow, roll-call or not.

Chapter 20

The moment she departed the liner, she realized that all the unbelievable stories that she’d heard about Kievor trade stations didn’t come close to the actual reality. Tanya had seen many aliens throughout the course of her life, many now doing business on human
worlds, but the plethora of life visible to her just upon first glance was wide-ranging
and varied
.

Mostly they were lizards. All were armed. They seemed to glance her way as they passed, a double take in many cases, as Tanya moved out with the other departing tourists. Perhaps tourists wasn't exactly the right description; they were adventure-seekers mostly, the sons and daughters of the rich. But there were more than a few hard-eyed men and women among them looking to
make
their fortunes. If the stories were true, a few of them would, but most wouldn't. Most of that type would only find death here.

Tanya had seen lizards on human worlds, but not many. Most lizards, the formal term being reptile if a human didn't want to be disrespectful, did not like humans. Few reptiles liked mammals at all, since their diets consisted primarily of mammals, and they saw mammals and especially humans as below contempt. Most other sentient mammals came equipped with the similar attributes of lizards, sharp long teeth and claws to match. Humans came with none of these.

So first humans were mammals, and second most humans couldn't fight their way of out a wet paper sack, whereas it was well known that all lizards could and in most cases loved to fight. They came directly from their shells prepared to fight. They fought ferociously and were always ready. They needed little incentive. Tanya was reserving judgment for the moment, though her laser-pistol was more than loose in its holster.

There would be plenty of time to test the legends concerning how well lizards fought. With her plans there was little doubt she would find out.
She stared unflinching back at the lizards who turned to look, returning their hatred with her eyes only; a small quirk of a smile twisting her lips.

The second thing Tanya noticed as she continued to slowly move through the throngs was the fact that many of these lizards, the females at least, were festooned with jewelry. She remembered well the lesson
her returning memories had
imparted to her; in a lawless land, whatever could be taken and held was property. There was no law whatsoever on Kievor Trade Stations and only one rule; do not screw with the Kievor. It was just then that the Kievors made their presence known to her. A green arrow began flashing within the metal floor. Tanya followed it.

Tanya
spent the trip here studying everything there was to know about Kievor Trade Stations and the Kievor themselves. There was a lot more information to be gleaned about the Stations themselves. Little was actually known about the reclusive race of horses, the closest human term to describe them, except that they were the only known hooved sentient to reach the stars on their own initiative.

Not only had the Kievors reached the stars on their own, but they were the most technologically advanced race that was known. They were so far advanced in comparison to humans that most of their technology seemed like magic. Humans were babes in the woods compared to the mighty Kievor. Luckily, the Kievor weren’t bent on Universal Conquest. They were a trading empire of unknown range and they were known to be scrupulously honest with everyone. The arrow led Tanya to a lift tube. The opening seemed to melt away, the trans-metal she had read about, and Tanya entered the lift.

Tanya felt the plunge of the lift as soon as the door sealed back in place, though it was more intuition than a physical sensation. She felt nothing whatsoever. However, there was little doubt in her mind, as the lift's door melted away again that she had just been accelerated and then decelerated to and from speeds the human body should not have survived. Only the Kievor’s incredible technology, incredibly powerful gravity shields, not to mention the computing power necessary, would allow the journey to be made in complete comfort and safety. And it had been a journey; the Kievor Trade Station was massive beyond belief. There were smaller planets.

This was Level One, the indicator inside the lift designated. Tanya stepped out and continued following the green arrow that began flashing in the floor as soon as she stepped out of the lift. Only four more steps and the door of the office it directed her to melted away in front of her eyes as soon as she stepped in front of it. Tanya walked in, as it seemed that was what was expected.

The stories were true. If there was any animal the Kievor most closely resembled it was the Earth horse, but that image was broken immediately when it spoke.

“Shall I address you,” the Kievor asked, “with the name by which you are known?”

Tanya looked into the Kievor's eyes for a moment. Since she had traveled here under an alias, she assumed the Kievor meant the name she had used to travel here, but when she looked into those knowing eyes, and by the way in which the Kievor had posed its question, Tanya was instantly positive the Kievor was going to call her by her real name.
“Yes, by the name by which I am known.” Tanya answered. Nor was she wrong.

“Excellent.” The Kievor said. “The name of record is Tanya Serensen. What sort of accommodations will you be seeking with us?” Tanya had made no mention of the fact that she would be seeking accommodations at all aboard the Kievor Trade Stati
on. The only possessions she
brought were in the wheeled suitcase standing on the floor beside her. Add to that the fact that they knew her real name. It seemed impossible. Tanya was impressed, and that was not easy to do.

“Something small and affordable,” Tanya responded.

“Small we can accommodate.” The Kievor said with what Tanya was sure was amusement. There was really no way to tell. “Affordable is another question altogether.” It added.

Tanya had already researched the Kievor's pricing and it was outrageous compared to human space habitat resorts, quadruple even the most expensive five-star space hotels, but Tanya had just entered the land of milk and honey and the Kievor’s pricing would be no problem. She had sufficient funds with her for several months, in any case. After what she had just seen in her short walk through the Station, she was assured that only several days’ funds would have been more than sufficient. There would be no hunger here for Tanya.

Chapter 21

It was a land with no laws whatsoever. Though the Station’s volume wasn't as large as Earth’s, for example, and there were billions of people living on Earth, there were a great many more than that living here. Trillions of beings upon level after level lived within this place. An entire world of levels filled with beings of every imaginable stripe and nature. Thousands of alien races were represented here, all intermingling and mixing, doing the things that all sentient beings did. Gambling, drinking, drugging, carousing, whoring, fig
hting and murdering one another-
and here and th
ere some legitimate business
thrown in for good measure. The only difference between this place and the ghetto of her youth was the upkeep.

If the Kievors had been able to discover her real name, howeve
r it was they had done it,
they would also know how she was planning to support herself on their Station, and apparently were perfectly approving. In other words, she had a license to steal, a license to murder, a license to do whatever she wanted as long as she could pay her rent.

A lizard walking towards her, nearly dwarfing her, appeared as though it was going to
attempt to
walk right through her, the
old sidewalk game; t
wo
people- or
bei
ngs
-
walking towards one another
down
the center of a sidewalk and neither willing to move out of the way. A
fight likely to ensue
!
Tanya had an ego of her own and wasn't about to step out of the way, but neither was she going to let that lizard walk right over her. She stopped walking and dropped her hand to hover over the grip of her hand-laser. She smiled when the lizard stopped dead in its tracks. It was not a warm smile. Tanya was not as big or
mean
looking as this species of lizard, but she had the character to match one, and then some.

For a moment it looked like the lizard was going to go for its blaster. It was wearing a Kievor made blaster, Tanya recognized. They were showing up all over human worlds now. They were extremely powerful. No question about that, but w
as the lizard as fast as she
heard they could be? Lizards were reputed to be extremely fast. It didn't appear she was going to find out, because the lizard snorted in derision, but when it started walking again it went around her. Tanya stood stock still while the reptile passed her, her hand not moving a millimeter from where it was poised over the grip of her weapon.

“I thought I was going to have to burn that lizard down.” A voice said as the reptile moved on. Tanya turned to look to see who was speaking. She was immediately unimpressed. He was well-dressed, rings on his fingers, a friendly smile on his face, but coldly dead calculating eyes. He was now measuring her. Tanya gave him an uncertain smile.

“I thought I was dead meat.”

“You could've been if that lizard hadn't backed down.” He said as he sauntered over to her. His motives were about as transparent as they came, but that was what made it all okay; made it perfect, in fact. Though this hustler was as transparent and stupid as they came, he hadn't put those rings on his fingers working at a legitimate job. People or aliens or whoever, had paid dearly, probably with their lives, over and over again without a doubt, so that this one might live a life of ease and comfort. He would not feel so comforted shortly. Tanya would lose no sleep over this one.

“Thank God you were there,” Tanya breathed as she leaned on him, her hand resting a moment on his arm, “I was so scared.”

“No. You were remarkable. You bluffed that lizard right down.” He said. “You must be a poker player?”

“Well I've played a couple times.” Tanya said. Could it be this easy?

Four hours later, her new friend James, who was now no longer her friend, and who was now also realizing he had been hustled all along, slammed his hands on the card table as he leaped to his feet, his hand reaching for his weapon. “You cheated!”

Tanya's laser was in her hand before his hand even touched the grip of his weapon. She burned out his right eyeball, the ruby red beam spearing out the back of his head to briefly singe the wall behind him. The singe mark disappeared instantly, Tanya noted with detached interest. The trans-metal, she decided. James slowly toppled over and fell to the floor. The crowd in the bar had instantly become silent and attentive when James leapt to his feet, all hoping and praying for bloodshed, and now satisfied they went back to
their
business as if nothing unusual had occurred.

No one gave Tanya a second glance as she helped herself to his rings, his watch and a few other valuables he would no longer be in need of, the Kievor blaster among them. She had also taken him for over four thousand Kievor Credits on the table, and that when Kievor Credits were the most valuable currency on the market. She had gotten everything he’d had in his account, and which was now all safely deposited in her own account through Kievor instant transfer throughout the game. Tanya had literally lost track of the number of times she had bluffed him. His impression of her simply would not allow him to believe he was being hustled, until finally there at the end,
at least, when his account was empty and Tanya had declined his suggestion that she should loan him an ante.

Her laugh at that point had not been a pretty sound, but a moment of dawning realization for her new friend.
Tanya had time to wonder then, as she found places upon her person to stow her new belongings, what a person might do if they didn't have a ship of their own and lost all their money while on a Kievor Trade Station? She supposed they would just be ejected into space.

Chapter 22
Tanya didn’t notice when the sma
ll ship docked with the Kievor T
rade S
tation. That wasn’t surprising, because thousands of ships docked and undocked
hourly
, and Tanya had simply decided it would be impossible to try to watch for signs of pursuit in that manner. In any case, Tanya wasn’t the type to cower and hide from her enemies. She was making lots of new ones here in any case, so a policy of constant situational awareness was in effect. In a place where lizards would walk over you just to pass the time, ripping your guts out with a kick of their clawed foot as they passed as if swatting a fly, and probably with the same thoughtlessness, a human had to be constantly vigilant.

In fact, it quite simplified matters for Tanya. She had already spent her entire life, the one she could remember, in constant vigilance, constant fear that one of her jobs would come back to haunt her, and this was easier. Here everyone was her enemy. At least in the environs she haunted; hustlers, scam artists, thieves, rapists, murderers and the list went on and on. Not one of whom Tanya would be willing to turn her
back on for even a moment. If they wanted her, they were going to have to take her up front and formally. There would be no long-range sniper attack here on the Kievor Trade Station. She had killed thirteen times over the previous Standard month that she had been here, though none had been Organization Operatives.