Ghost in the Machine (Corwint Central Agent Files) Read online

  He liked to think so.

  He knew he was no more innocent. He didn’t take girls into his bed to satisfy the primal needs that Breathers seemed utterly incapable of ignoring. For him, it was all part of his study of the ways of Organics. He did the expected motions; caressed their skin, kissed their lips and performed, what he believed, was probably the best sex they would ever have. All the right moves and he was rewarded with their moans and sighs. Still, he knew from the looks in their half-closed eyes that something was still missing. There was still something he wasn’t able to provide. He doubted he would ever be able to understand what that something was, no matter how many girls he bedded.

  His eyes glanced back at the empty bed one more time. He admitted that it might be nice to wake up one day to someone willingly lying beside him, no matter how unlikely the probability of that happening was. He guessed that was as close to a dream as he would ever get.

  One Pass - For when your credentials need knowing!

  “Fuck sakes.” Ethan put on his sunglasses and stepped out into morning light of the glass-enclosed hallway.

  2 Central

  “You know, just once I’d like for us to be on time.” Hank pushed through the glass double doors of the front entrance of an unassuming office building in the heart of downtown Easton.

  Easton was one of the six mega cities that together incorporated sixty-three percent of the planet Corwint’s main landmass. It was a vast metropolis of increasingly tall skyscrapers that spread out as far as you could see before thinning into less dense older suburbs and the newly built housing districts. As the capital city of Corwint, it was the center of all commerce for the planet, and it served as a binding point for Corwint’s ever more diversified population.

  Still untouched by the Xen’dari Empire, it had become a haven for all planetary races seeking refuge, or simply a place for one to live outside of conflict. It also held its place in history as one of the leading centers for technological innovation, and it was the birthplace of Hydrofusion Theory, Mechatronic Engineering and graphene synthesis. At the heart of the interplanetary cooperation and technological advances was this very simple building of white concrete and glass.

  Ethan caught the doors as they swung back his way and followed Hank into the large open lobby. His six-feet, ten-inch height required him to duck slightly as he passed under the door frame. “Why break our record now? If we keep it up, maybe they will start sending an escort.”

  “An escort to the detention cells in the basement, I bet.” Hank rushed his steps to the automated lift doors to beat out a woman heading that way.

  “No, I was thinking more of a personal transport.” Ethan stepped onto the lift next to Hank and pushed the button to close and seal the doors. The woman reached the doors just in time to give the pair an angry glare as Hank flashed her his boyish grin and waved. Once the doors were sealed, Ethan leaned in to let the panel scan his right eye as he held down the button for the one hundredth and forty-fourth floor. The scan completed and gave an audible beep of acceptance.

  “You know,” Ethan completed his previous thought. “the kind where the driver sits in front and you sit in back having a provided cocktail from the built in mini-fridge.”

  “Maybe you should ask the Director for that in our meeting.” Hank laughed lightly before his stomach jumped with the sudden movement of the lift. He hated these damn things. It always felt like it was just going to keep going and shoot your ass out of the top of the building. Moving compartments should have a control stick.

  The gravitational shift didn’t faze Ethan, whose internal gravitational stabilizers adjusted to keep his footing solid against the floor of the lift. “Good idea. I’ll be sure to mention your request for a pay raise too, while I’m at it.”

  “Thanks.” Hank exhaled a slow breath as the lift came to a jarring stop and the doors slid open. “At least the cells down there are solitary confinement.”

  “Oh I’m sure they would make an exception, just for the two of us.”

  They stepped out into a long, empty, glossy white hallway and waited for the lift to close behind them. The lift doors closed and sealed, leaving behind a seamless glossy white wall. A decompression hiss broke the silence and the pseudo-solid wall in front of them opened. From the new doorway stepped a very short and small boned older woman in a confining pinstriped business suit.

  “I assure you boys,” The woman’s Hedarion accent of buzzing s’s and drawn out monotone vowels was thick and only added to her stiff appearance. “we have a very special place reserved down there for the both of you.”

  Hank dropped the smile and cleared his throat. He hated those damn, audio tapped, lifts. “Good morning, Director Szina.”

  “Morning?” Jehdra Szina slowly raised one eyebrow high over the rim of her red-framed glasses. Even looking up at them from her four-foot three-inch height, she managed to look down on them with a whip-cracking glare of her natural completely black Hedarion eyes. “I believe, Captain Eros, that it is sometime after noon, Corwint time.“

  “Yes ma’am.” Hank hated how much power this tiny little woman held over him. She could order him dead, here in the hallway, and no one would blink an eye or even remember who he had been if she requested it to be so. She also had a glare that could freeze the ass off of a Berian sled bear.

  “There was a wreck on the express line and…”

  “Yes yes, I know.” She turned on a pivot, the flip of her bright red shoulder length hair adding to the disinterested tone of her voice. “Be late again, boys, and next time I will send a transport. And, I can assure you that it will not include a mini-fridge.”

  “Yes ma’am.” Hank and Ethan responded at the same time and followed her through the doorway, which sealed automatically behind them.

  Ethan had to force the smile away that was on the tip of his lips. He had known Jehdra long enough to know that, under her coarse all-business facade, there was a warm hearted woman with a fiery temper who once drank Hank’s uncle under the table after saving their asses in the Kilari Embargo Wars of 1423ot. Hank didn’t know that, however, and Ethan wasn’t in a rush to tell him. It was fun watching her squeeze Hank’s balls and seeing his eyes water. Hank was his best friend, but being kept in check was one of the things keeping the kid from turning out like his father.

  Beyond the doorway was a normal looking reception area, complete with waiting room, a large receptionist desk and an attractive blond female receptionist. The receptionist nodded at the director and moved her hand away from a side console on her desk which controlled the sterilization system in the hallway. Uninvited guests were not welcome at Central, and they maintained a strict “vaporize first, try and DNA match later” policy.

  As the group passed the desk, the receptionist smiled at Hank, but she avoided looking towards Ethan. Number one hundred and eighteen. It was a bit too close to home, he knew, but she had the most symmetrically pleasing face.

  He didn’t hold the avoidance against her, and he had even considered offering her a memory removal procedure. The high probability that she could turn out even more of a vegetable, however, had persuaded Ethan that she was best left with what brain cells she did have. That was one of his key disagreements with Central. Discretion was at the top of the employee requirements, not intelligence.

  Jehdra led them past several closed and unmarked office doors before turning into a large conference room. She gestured toward the clear acrylic chairs near the head of a long conference table as she continued toward the front of the room. “Have a seat, but don’t make yourselves comfortable. This won’t take long.”

  Hank and Ethan exchanged apprehensive glances as they took the two seats across from each other at the end of the conference table. Normally, the only thing at Central that didn’t take long was a termination of service contract. They watched silently as she turned on the large view-screen that hung against the wall. The bright LED lights in the room automatically shut off and were replaced by the war
m glow of several small desk lamps that were attached to the conference table between every two seats. The view-screen displayed the image of a space port just outside of the Meris system. Its main hangar bay and communications tower were in several floating pieces orbiting the station.

  “Now then...” Jehdra turned back to the table and set her palms flat against its cold white quartz surface. She leaned forward and stared at the boys in front of her. The glow from the lamps cast a dark and foreboding shadow across her face. Any question of her power within Central vanished with the look in her black, pupil-less eyes, and she was not pleased. “Which of you would like to explain this mess to me?”

  Hank grumbled slightly. “They were holding us with bogus charges of smuggling Kilarian ale. They were going to tear my ship apart for the next two weeks, which would of caused us to miss the ransom deadline set by the T’jaros!” He blurted the words out, his nerves overriding his brain telling him that a calm, well thought out response was the best recourse for survival. He cleared his throat and lowered his eyes as his brain kicked his ego in the ass. “...ma’am.”

  Ethan watched as the blackness in Jehdra’s eyes darkened to a hue he was certain was not part of the Organic visible spectrum. Hank’s fiery nature made him a force to be reckoned with, but it also got them into a lot of trouble. This was not the first station that Hank’s brash decisions had left in pieces. Discretion was certainly not his strength, and Ethan was starting to think that Central had found him to be more of a liability than an asset.

  Time to step in before she bites his head off. Literally.

  “While the damage to the port is regrettable, Director...” Ethan paused as Jehdra slowly moved her glare over to him. “I must agree with Captain Eros that it was unavoidable. The key point of our mission was dependent on reaching the T’jaros blockade before the deadline in order to retrieve the girl and remove her from the equation for the negotiations between the Kilari and the Merae, which we accomplished.”

  “I am not questioning the success of the mission, Ethan.” She took in a sharp hissing breath. “I am questioning the burning trail of disemboweled space stations, collapsed buildings, wrecked vessels and ruined, highly expensive equipment Captain Eros and his crew always leaves in their wake!”

  Hank fumed. He had always done what he was asked to do, and he had always completed his missions in one form or another. He also watched out for his own. He had the lowest crew casualty rate in Central. Yet, here they were because some bureaucrat had gotten his shit-stained undies in a twist over a rundown rusted piece of space junk passing as a port suffering a few taser cannon burns.

  And they lost their communications tower. And their internal gravitational assembly. And those transport pods full of Keszite ore...

  “Collateral damage has to be expected when shit hits the fan, Director.”

  “Oh trust me, Captain...” Jehdra refocused her glare on Hank. Ethan was certain that, beyond all logic, she was about to spew flames from her mouth and burn Hank’s head off his shoulders. “Shit has indeed hit the fan. I’m your Director. Who do you think has to keep explaining these fuck-ups to the Central Command Council? Who do you think has kept you in active service this long?”

  Hank swallowed hard, taken aback and remembering who he was dealing with. “Ma’am, I..”

  “I’m sorry...” She finished with a small huff. “Yes, I know. I’m sorry too that your Uncle, whose performance record for Central remains the standard by which we evaluate all others, seems to have trained you how to shoot a gun when necessary, but not how to set the gun down when other avenues exist.”

  Ignoring Hank’s attempt at rebuttal, she turned her viperous tongue on Ethan. “And you! I expect so much more from you, Ethan. You should be leading by example through tactful negotiations and evasive maneuvers. Instead, you act like you were compiled yesterday and run in after Hank with guns blazing like you’re in some damn action movie!”

  Ethan had lost all the humor from earlier that morning. His face had gone stoic as his neuro network worked to devise the best way to get he and Hank out of this office alive. The look in Jehdra’s eyes told him, with great certainty, that everything depended on the next few words to come out of his mouth.

  He swallowed hard out of a reflex produced from his organo-relative subroutines, a small set of commands that ran instinctively in order to help him appear more like a Breather. It was something he both thanked and cursed his designer for. It was the reason his chest lifted and fell naturally to support his cooling system, why his eyes blinked in an undetectable pattern and the reason that, at that very moment, his leg gave a nervous twitch.

  “I agree, Director, that we need to make great improvements to our tactics. You are right that we should attempt to be more diplomatic, even in situations where it seems there is no recourse but to shoot our way out, such as with this station. We are both open to any and all suggestions that you have. I know that your ability for such tactics is unmatched.”

  Jehdra let the silence hang in the air as Ethan finished his response. She could tell by the way he spoke that he understood the gravity of the situation they were all in. Her eyes moved to Hank and she knew that he was a mixture of bottled anger and nerves. He was a young Captain who had a great deal to learn and prove. Perhaps she was expecting too much of him too soon due to his uncle’s legacy. Jhonis had been the best damn Captain that Central had ever had. She had hoped that it had rubbed off on Hank. She owed Jhonis more than a few favors to give his nephew another chance, though it may be the last one she would be able to give him.

  “I don’t have a suggestion for you, Ethan.” Jehdra turned back to the view-screen control panel and pulled up a file from Central’s mainframe. “I have an order. You are going to be taking on a new crew member as of right now, and you are going to be under her direction when it comes to anything even remotely resembling the need for discussion, mediation, diplomacy, or even just asking for clearance to dock.”

  Jehdra turned back to Hank to make sure her point was reaching home. “She is your new Tactical Relations officer and she reports directly to me. Is that clear?”

  Hank didn’t like the sound of this at all. That last comment from Jehdra’s mouth basically said that this chick was going to be an overseer on his own damn ship. The Director’s very own watchdog. Perfect. Just fucking perfect. That was all he needed. Some uptight bitch watching their every move and whispering reports back to the Director. Could it possibly get any worse?

  “Director?” Ethan cocked his head to the right as his eyes surveyed the mostly blank data sheet. Normally, a personnel file would have every small detail about the person, from their allergies to their psych evaluation. This file didn’t even have a picture. It just had a first name, listed as Orynn, and a Central agent id number. It also had an exceptionally long list of previous mission dates with codenames. Below that, and the only other thing on the sheet, was her race. It was that last part that gave him second thoughts about making a run for it.

  “Does that file say Vesparian?”

  “The fuck?!” Hank’s eyes shot back up to the data file and searched for what Ethan was reading.

  “Yes. It does.” Jehdra crossed her arms. “And you’ll watch your fucking language in my conference room, Captain.”

  Ethan’s eyebrow raised. “Are you telling us that Vesparians actually exist?”

  “Yes. This is classified information. You are to tell no one but your crew, is that clear?”

  “Oh come on, Director!” Hank planted both feet on the ground and started to get up, but paused as Ethan gave him a stern look. Hank sat back down and took in a deep breath to try and cool his nerves. “Even if half the rumors I’ve heard about them are true, you can’t honestly expect me to let one on my ship!”

  “I do.” Jehdra leaned back down and stared Hank in the eyes. “And by my last count, that ship belongs to Central a hundred times over after all the messes we’ve had to clean up for you in the past five years with
you as its Captain. You will be expected to treat her with respect and take her tactical suggestions very seriously.”

  She stood up straight again and turned to face the pictureless file. “Ethan, you said I was unmatched in my tactical abilities. This one, Orynn, makes me look like a damn amateur. I need you to trust me on this, for old times’ sake.”

  Hank started to protest again, but Ethan stopped him and stood from the table. The tone in her voice told him more than he knew Hank could read. She had put her neck on the line for them this time. If they crashed and burned again, so would she. This was a last ditch desperate move to save all their asses. “Where do we pick her up?”

  3 Zera

  The Zera was a beautiful ship despite its age. It was a class three long range cargo vessel melded with a streamlined short ranged fighter. Its sleek dark blue graphene shell included stealth reflector panels and framed a carbon-titanium hull that gave twice the strength at a quarter of the weight. The technology was, officially, still in development. Central had been using it on their ships for decades. It was a ship engineered and built from the ground up for a single purpose. It needed to infiltrate past blockaded warzones, complete covert operations and then make its way out again, undetected if possible.

  The Zera’s previous Captain, Jhonis Eros, had been a master at such missions. His nephew, Hankarron Eros, was proving to be as good at completing the missions as Jhonis, but the ability to remain elusive or inconspicuous while doing so had, as yet, proved challenging. Hank had a tendency, as Director Szina loved to point out as often as possible, to hide out in the open while blowing shit up. The blowing shit up part was catching the attentions of both the Director’s superiors at Central and the Xen’dari Empire.

  The Corwint Central Council of Governance was not for or against the Xen’dari Empire and its government agency, although they admitted that most of the assignments were in direct conflict with the Xen’dari Objective. The Objective was the creed that every Xen’dari was bred and raised into believing was the only way the universe could work successfully. It spoke of empowerment by subjugation, peace by necessary oppression and that the resources of one world belonged to all worlds. The fact that the Xen’dari most often took those resources by force for pure Xen’dari homeworld benefit didn’t seem to matter. Every world in the Xen’dari Empire was expected to contribute, and they believed that every world should be part of the Empire.