Chapter 11: Introductions

How did this thing even stay in the air? It looked like it was put through a metal shredder and slapped back together. There were holes everywhere, and several panels were missing or poorly repaired by an amateur; even the logo was almost incomprehensible. It was a faded yellow with the name "JAGO" in big, bold, slanting letters.

I closed my mouth when I saw Kiko, Tammy, and Cashel exit the ship, and right on cue a large panel fell to the ground with a thud. I had no idea we were flying in a scrap heap. Tammy certainly was amazing to be able to keep this thing together—and flying another larger ship at the same time. No wonder she couldn't talk earlier.

She had landed the huge Sola battleship just behind the Jago.

"Ahhhh!" A man's pained voice came from behind me. "What have you done to all my hard work?"

He wore overalls that were riddled with grease spots. Rei giggled. The man looked mortified as he examined the remains of the ship.

Cashel apologized. "Sorry, Jonas, we got caught up in a few skirmishes. We have a big catch from the other day though so you'll be properly compensated. Tammy already sent you the internal diagnostics and recommended restructure."

Rei dragged me off again. "C'mon, let's go!"

I followed her to a rectangular block on the ground that began lowering beneath us. The large platform took us down, and because there were no walls we saw thousands of workers working on hundreds of ships on the first level. And then we passed another level … and another. The lower we went, the less ships and people there were, until finally we stopped at a level surrounded by walls. One slid open, revealing a hallway full of people and creatures. I'd never seen or imagined so many different species. Since Sola was at the distant edge of the galaxy (and sort of a terrible place what with Vaughan and all his slavers), I hardly saw any planetary foreigners. They were walking, sloshing, slinking, or moving in ways I never would've imagined until I saw it firsthand. A constant hum of chatter filled the hall with the occasional intercom announcement.

"This is the arrival zone," Rei explained as we walked with the flow of the crowd. "I told Aki we would meet her in the lounge so let's head there."

We walked for about ten minutes following signs that said "Lounge" before reaching a large room filled with chair and tables. It was a lot quieter and had a relaxing atmosphere. It even smelled good; it reminded me of my former master's kitchen when I would pass by just before his meal hours.

We sat at one of the tables and a hologram popped up. It said, "Welcome … humanoid" and began repeating text in thousands of languages that my eyes interpreted as "Home Planet?" Rei cleared her throat and said "Sola." A menu appeared.

"It assumes you can only speak your native language," she explained.

She ordered one of the dishes that I always made on the Jago, and we ate. It tasted bland, exactly how mine tasted before Kiko slipped in ingredients. I ordered a small plate, and I wasn't surprised when Rei ordered the largest. Her plate nearly took up the entire table. I'm not sure how she did it, but she finished even before me.

"Eh, yours is better," she said, setting her cleared plate on the nearest empty table.

"So, where'd everyone go?" I asked.

She sighed with contentment and settled her head comfortably against the table before taking a second to think. "Mmm … Tammy's handling the Sola battleship auction. Cashel and Aki went to go deliver our goods to the Bounty Collection Agency."

"What do you usually do?"

"Go to the lounge and eat."

I chuckled, then remembered something. "I've been meaning to ask, why do you call Kiko 'Aki'?"

She perched her head on a hand in a lazy slump. "She's always been Aki to me, ever since I was little." Then she threw me off by giving me a mischievous grin. "You should feel special. She doesn't let just anyone call her 'Kiko'."

My face grew hot, and I shifted in my seat. I tried to change the subject. "Does she not like her name?"

Rei giggled before answering. "She loves it, which is why she only lets a select few shorten it. It was Cashel who gave her that nickname."

"Ahh …" I said and left it at that. I was honored that I was one of the 'select few' but didn't want to give Rei another opportunity to tease me.

She groaned, slumped back in her chair, and mumbled, "They're taking forever. Aki's probably window shopping in the weapons department putting stuff on her 'to-get' list for next time." She waved her hand in a disapproving manner. "She already bought the ammo we needed, but Tammy cut out a portion of Yomen we usually get because someone accidently destroyed the crate that held our newly-developed vocal transmitters on Epsilon."

"That was you," Kiko said as she joined us at the table.

"You're finally back!" Rei jumped up, ignoring her comment.

"Yeah, there wasn't much to look at today. I guess something's going on that everyone's preparing for."

Rei thought for a moment. "The Millennium Galaxy Race! That starts soon doesn't it? Like—"

"Next week," I finished, looking at a holographic ad on the wall.

It said "Watch the Millennium Galaxy Race begin!" and had a countdown with a big number seven followed by "Days left until the race starts."

"What is it?" I asked as we watched the clock tick down.

"I'm not sure actually," Rei admitted. Tammy and Cashel walked into the lounge, and Rei waved them over. "Hey Tammy, what's the Millennium Galaxy Race?"

They sat down as she explained. "A race around the galaxy in which individuals or teams must collect four stones and bring them together to win."

"What do you win?" asked Kiko.

"The life of a thousand human years and the power to rule the galaxy," Tammy answered.

My eyebrows rose. That sounded unbelievable. She was probably joking again.

Rei slapped the table. "Seriously? No joke?"

"Yes." Tammy's hair was pressed into the table as her eyes quickly scanned left and right like she was reading through something quickly. "According to the Crux database, this was how the Vo Galaxy was formed. A stone called Vo is said to hold a vast amount of the universe's power, enabling its wielder to live for a thousand years and possess unnatural abilities. However, after a thousand years the stone will suddenly break back into four pieces and is scattered back throughout the galaxy. The race is held to see who will be the next wielder of Vo."

Rei was enthralled. "Teams can enter this race?"

Everyone knew what she was getting at.

"Teams are formed before the race to help excel through the competition, but there can be only one winner. In the last race the winning team had an agreement about who would win, but when Vo appeared before them, one of them turned on the others and killed a teammate. The other two fought each other, and the winner ended up being the person the team had previously agreed on."

"The team turned on each other?" Rei whispered. She looked horrified at the thought.

Kiko and Cashel shared the same glum look, like they knew what the race could do to you. We were all silent for a moment.

"Let's go home," Cashel said, trying to brighten the mood.

Rei paid for our meal by placing a hand on the table, and her identification holoimage popped up. It had a description of her physical attributes, her birth planet, and title, Class 1 Bounty Hunter, but when it came to species it said "human."

She just smiled and pressed a finger to her lips. What else about her ID was falsified? Were they fugitives or what?

As we made our way through the terminal, Rei pointed out about a hundred different things to me. I hope she didn't want me to to remember it all. We walked for what seemed like miles heading even farther underground. At the bottom of it all was a network of long, busy tunnels. Cashel flagged a small shuttle, and we stuffed ourselves inside.

It wound through different tunnels, going very fast, until a light appeared at the end. It grew brighter until we emerged from the tunnel entirely. Stretched before me was the biggest city I had ever seen. Buildings made of metal instead of dirt and as tall as mountains towered everywhere in different shapes, sizes, and colors.

"We have a place on the outskirts of the Inner City," Rei said. I was too busy staring out the window to reply. "We should be there soon."

We didn't go too far into the city before stopping at a tall building with platforms at every window. Our shuttle stopped at a platform about halfway up the structure, and we all spilled out. Tammy led the way, opening the door to their home here on Crux.

It was smaller than I expected, and simple-looking. The first thing that hit me was the smell of stagnant air, like finding an uninhabited sand cave that's never known a breeze. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust because, apparently, it only got used once a year or so.

"Well, it's good to know the place hasn't changed a bit," Rei said, cleaning off a chair by crashing into it. A cloud of dust billowed up and out.

Tammy turned to me. "Sarth, we only have four rooms so you can sleep wherever you want."

"That's no big deal." I shrugged. It was a huge step up from being crammed into a room with twelve other slaves. "I'll just find a spot when I'm tired."

She nodded. "One more thing." She had me place my hand on a glass hologram panel. My new identification popped up.

My name was now officially Sarth, and I was given the title Class 1 Bounty Hunter and added to the crew of the Jago. Everything else was true; no fake ID for me. She even gave me ten thousand Yomens to spend, which was my share from the bounty, minus medical expenses.

I admired my ID, staring at the flickering light that projected my name. I felt like I had a new meaning in life. I could build myself around my new name. Sarth. This was the second time a girl had given me a name. Even though Trash wasn't what you'd call a traditional name, I didn't hate it. But when I was captured by the Night Raiders a few years ago, my name took on a new meaning, the true meaning of the word. Now I could wipe that slate clean with Sarth.

I looked up at the crew of the Jago, my new family, and smiled.

#

The next day Rei announced she was taking me to the Bounty Board. I had hoped Kiko would go with us, but she'd already left on some early-morning errand.

"Don't get sidetracked," Tammy warned.

"I can't help it. It's called sidetracked for a reason." Rei grinned.

We flagged down a shuttle off the platform to take us to the Bounty Board, which was near the Jago in the departure zone. We hopped out of the shuttle, and I followed Rei through the crowded spaceport to a large bustling room with the words "Bounty Board" glowing above the door.

The room was full of gruff, seemingly battle-ready humanoids and other different species. We stuck out—badly. We were the youngest-looking ones there and were eyed continuously by everyone. Some even pointed at us.

"Uhh, are you sure we can be here?" I asked nervously.

"Yeah of course. We're almost there."

The room was divided into sections of five different classes. She brought us to the one that was the least crowded and labeled "Class 1."

"This room has the list of bounties that Crux puts up. It's divided by how hard a given bounty will be," she explained. "There are five classes with five being the easiest bounties to perform and one being the hardest. Obviously, the harder ones yield more Yomen, but it's not smart to go after them unless you're in the listed class or higher."

I studied the hologram wall. "The Jago is Class 1? The highest level?"

"Yep."

Three girls and one old man in a dilapidated ship who thought it was a good idea to take on an escaped slave with no combat experience? They were in the top class? I stared at her incredulously, but she continued on, oblivious.

"You need to have collected a certain amount of Yomen from bounties in order to move up in class." She put her hand on the large hologram wall, and a long list of ship names scrolled down. The Jago was listed as number two with the Breccan at number one by a few million Yomen, but they were both hundreds of millions of Yomen above the rest of the competition.

It was strange to think that, by coincidence, I had joined an elite crew of bounty hunters who regularly put their life on the line with one of the most dangerous jobs in the galaxy.

I saw the amount of Yomen the Jago had accumulated, and something wasn't right.

"If you guys have made this much Yomen, why is it we're always budgeting like we're broke?"

"Well …" Rei chuckled nervously. "With every excursion, we usually end up with more damage costs then we make from the bounty."

A strong, rugged looking man in freshly pressed attire came up behind her. He towered over Rei and crossed his bulging arms as he straightened his posture and gave the back of her head a smug look.

"That's right; about three months ago they managed to destroy a section of the spaceport because their bounty got loose," he said.

Rei rolled her eyes and turned. "It's nice to see that some of us are still relaxing around here," she said in an annoyed tone. "Why don't you take a look at the board, Breccan?"

Uh-oh; this was the number one guy. Rei didn't seem to care though.

She slapped her hand back on the hologram wall. The Jago's second place position was highlighted, and then the amount of Yomen went up drastically, switching the Jago to first place—above Breccan.

He scoffed with a sideways smile. "We've been saving our energy for more important things, like winning the Millennium Galaxy Race." He strode away.

"Ugh! I can't stand that egotistical maniac," Rei spat. "I mean who names their ship after themselves? Don't be surprised if you hear he's been in a tragic accident one day."

I'd never seen Rei so frustrated. It was quite amusing. I guessed Breccan was more of a rival than an enemy.

We stayed awhile, and she showed me how she chose which bounties to consider presenting to the others. This was how they worked: Rei would choose a few bounties, then, after briefing the others, they would all come to an agreement on which ones to take. After that, Tammy would set a flight plan, and the next day they'd leave on their bounty hunting tour.

Rei copied down information from about twenty different bounties before we headed back to our apartment. She told me that they'd take on about five bounties per trip before returning. When Rei showed Tammy the info cards, she immediately weeded out half, leaving ten to discuss with Kiko and Cashel.

I was taken aback by how fast she said no to ten options. "What's wrong with those?" I asked.

"I calculated that those destinations would not be achievable based on our financial standings. Secondly, the equipment we have would not suffice for the operation, and thirdly, the amount of data I have on some of them is not sufficient to create a plan of action within a reasonable amount of time."

I was impressed. "You calculated all that just by glancing at them?"

"Yes."

I decided to test her skills even further. "Can you guess what I'm thinking right now?"

I didn't think she could actually read my mind, but maybe that big brain of hers could somehow calculate the probability of what I might be thinking. Honestly, it didn't seem like there was anything she couldn't do.

She glanced over at me. "No, there are some things I cannot do."

What?! Can she actually read my mind?

"No, I cannot read your mind."

All right, this was getting too weird.

"Yes, I know you think this is weird."

Okay, maybe if I stopped thinking she'd stop.

"Yes, I'll stop now."

Creepy. I held an expressionless stare with her.

"If you can't read my mind, how are you doing that?"

"I made you think you were thinking it."

My mouth opened slightly. "You have that ability?" I asked in awe.

"No." She went back to reading the bounty info cards. "You're just gullible."