FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"We're here, boss."

Katherine looked over the pilot's head at the desolated landscape leading to the mountain range.

The pilot lowered the ship until they were half a kilometer over the surface. "Welcome to TKSDP-254, another world ruined by a mining company and then abandoned. Or in this case, used to house one lonely prison. I bid you welcome to Deep Below; a third class prison barely managed by the people who ruined this world."

"Do a fly-over. Brad, do a scan of the prison and the area." She looked at the open hangar door and had a bad feeling about this. She touched the ruined side of her face. "What I'd like to know is how a place like this managed to score someone like Tristan." She looked at Carlita, at the communication board.

The woman noticed her gaze and shrugged. "The contact is reliable. Every time he's given us information it's panned out, we just got there too late. This time he claimed that his source actually mentioned the name 'Alex' in relation to Tristan, so who knows, maybe they don't know that's who they have, after all, the Sayatoga still claims Tristan is theirs."

"Like any prison can hold him." There had been too many reports in recent years for him to be in prison. Actually, the alien had been more active in these last seven or eight years than he'd ever been before. That had given her plenty of chances to catch him, but she'd always been too late. Showing up only after he'd gone.

"Carlie, have any of your contacts gotten back to you about that new engine? We need to go faster. We have to get it before Tristan does."

"No, they're still chasing the rumors, but some of them are saying that's all they are, rumors."

If there hadn't been the breakthrough in engine technology, the only way she could go faster was to buy a new, much larger ship, something she couldn't afford. As things stood, she had to take side jobs to bring enough money in to pay her people and maintain the ship.

"Brad?"

"Scan's still going, but like every prison out there, they don't want people to know who, or how many, they have, so the anti-measures are good, even for a hole like this." The image of a cave system appeared in the center of the cockpit. "This is the layout. I got that through resonance scanning, but I can't tell you how many prisoners they have. It's two kilometers under the mountain. A man-sized tunnel wouldn't show up on this, but I doubt anyone could be able to dig through so much rock."

"Don't put anything past Tristan. David, take us in, be careful."

The ship flew around the mountain, came to a stop before the hangar door and then proceeded slowly in.

"We're too late," Katherine growled on seeing the wreckage of two ships. Her hands clasped into fists, her mechanical one so tightly that she could feel the armature shake. She forced her hands to relax and look at the rest of the hangar. Only the two ships showed signs of a conflict. By the pattern of the debris they'd exploded. There were no signs of a gunfight, no burns on the walls she couldn't link to the explosions. A few of the lockers had been opened.

"Someone is contacting us," Carlie said. Katherine nodded.

"Hello incoming ship," a man said over the comm. "I can't read your ID, so I hope you're Katherine Silt's ship. If you're not you might as well turn around, I'm not accepting visitors for the time being."

Brad looked around, mouthing the word 'silt.' He was trying to see if any of them knew anything about it. Katherine hadn't used Thomas' name in decades. The reminder of her loss was too painful, even after all these years.

"This is Katherine," she answered, her voice hard. "Who are you, and where is Tristan?"

"My name is Martin Asinsky, you can call me Marty. We can discuss Tristan in person. Now, just so you don't get any idea of storming me, there's only one way to get to the command center, and I've lined it with enough explosives to bring down the mountain on you. So it's going to be just you Katherine. I see anyone else and I'm blowing you up."

"That's not going to happen, Martin. I don't know you, and you claim to have been a prisoner so I'm not inclined to trust you. I'm going to have people with me."

"Fine, you can bring two, any more and I--"

"No."

"Look, I'm the one with all the pieces here, I get to dictate what's--"

"If Tristan's really there, like you claim, you know two isn't going to be enough to restrain him." The silence didn't do anything to boost her confidence her husband's killer was here. "I'm bringing a dozen of my people. If you're not happy with that say so and I'm going to leave."

"No, it's okay. You can bring them."

"Good." She motioned for Carlie to end the connection.

"That was a quick flip on his part," David said as he landed the ship. "He didn't even try to talk you down to less. I'm starting to think you're right, we missed him."

"Again." She considered telling her pilot to turn the ship around and get them off this rock, and by the way he was looking at her, he expected her to give the order, but she didn't have any other leads.

A year and a half ago, Tristan had been spotted tearing a path through a criminal carter on Lowcardel. Sixty-eight dead, the only survivors had been the boys and girls they'd had prisoners, sex slaves in various stage of training. Then nothing. When she'd talked with the Law there, she'd learned that most of the criminals had been cut up, instead of shot or blown up. It wasn't Tristan's usual method, but since she'd almost gotten him, and the bastard had nearly blown her up, he'd changed it. He was trying to throw her off his trail.

"Carlie, Brad, David, you're staying with the ship. Keep her warm and ready to leave. Monitor comms and keep scanning, I want to be advised if anything happens. This might be a trap. We have pissed off a lot of people over the years."

"What good merc doesn't?" David asked.

She exited the cockpit and went down the ladder to the troupe area. She'd used every credit she had to get this old troupe carrier and fix it back up into shape. The only change she'd done to it was transform the captain's ready room into her bedroom. It was the one comfort she allowed herself, a real bed.

The twenty-eight men and women there were milling around, seeing to their weapons and armor. Two were still seated in their cryo chairs, suffering from Defrost sickness. As soon as she got the chance she'd have to end their contract. They were good people, but she needed them able to act within minutes of defrosting.

"Loren, pick eleven volunteers to come with us." She paused. "Sorry, that's ten volunteers. Jurran is being voluntold. The idiot who called in the tip actually warned me about the explosives he's got set up so I need you to take a look at them."

"Yes Ma'am." Jurran had come to her when she'd hired his boyfriend. She didn't understand interspecies relationships, but she'd discovered there were a lot of them among the mercs. It was either the stress of constant battle or because it was the one place where if someone gave them a hard time about it, they could just kill them and be done with it. As it were, the bulky Frenian had come with a useful set of skills. He had worked for a demolition company before this and his skills at making explosives had easily translated into disarming them. She wished she'd hired both of them before she'd lost half her face.

"Armiln, anything?" Jurran's boyfriend looked almost human, his skin was just a little too pale, and a little too angular to seemed right.

"Sorry Ma'am, not enough information." Armiln was a Porfedian, or a Whisperer as common slang called them. His species was reported to be able to predict the future, but Armiln had corrected that when she'd interviewed the two of them. What they could do was collate data mentally and extrapolate probabilities. He'd hoped to take this ability into a career within the Law, but he'd been confronted with their xenophobia one time too many, and he'd had to go on the run after losing his temper and killing his partner after he'd made a jab at Armiln's sex life outside his own species.

Armiln had explained that he'd known not only the consequences, he'd been able to see the repercussions all the way to being disowned by his family, the pain he'd caused his current boyfriend, but in that one moment, knowing how the future would fall didn't matter. All he wanted was to shut that bigot up permanently.

By the time Katherine reached the ramp, Loren, Jurran and Armiln had been joined by nine others. "The rest of you be ready to act. I firmly believe Tristan isn't here anymore, but just in case."

"No worries, Ma'am. If the bastard is here, he's not getting away this time." Zeek had been with her that day, and he'd lost a leg and arm to the explosion. She'd expected him to leave after that, but he'd gotten replacements and had promised her he wouldn't leave her side until Tristan was good and dead.

She opened the ramp, and clean, cool air filled the ship. As always, she took a moment to appreciate it. She spent so much time in space that she always forgot what fresh air smelled like. She walked down and looked around. Armiln did the same next to her.

She nodded to the destroyed ships. "What yield of explosive do you think?"

"Small." At her raised eyebrow he continued. "The explosion was a result of a fuel breach. It only took a small explosive to accomplish that. Tristan is familiar enough with ships to know exactly where to put one to cause this."

And this was why he would have been great within the Law. Not only did his ability let him predict the future, but he could look at a scene and work out how it had come to be.

"So you think Tristan was here?"

"High probability. Anyone who knows about ships could cause this, but it is one of his trademarks, to remove any chance of pursuit. Also, he didn't steal a ship. The ship he left on wasn't one of the prisons. There's only two assigned maintenance area. So only two ships."

She nodded. "So Alex was here too. How did they capture one and not the other?"

"I don't have any information to answer that."

Jurran had run ahead and opened the one door. He was in the corridor crouched, looking at a bundle by the wall. Katherine could see others lining the wall. Nine in total.

"You've got to be kidding me, he put them in the open?"

The Frenian looked up at her. "Remote detonator. Yes Hun, I saw the cameras. I just looked at the bombs. I can't do anything about them until I have the remote."

"Can't you jam the signal?" Loren asked.

"If he's in anyway smart, the remote is connected to the net. I can't jam that."

Katherine looked at the explosives just sitting there on the floor. "I'm not sure he is all that smart."

"Hey, I heard that," Martin said over the comm system. "I'm not an idiot you know. I know how to set up explosives."

Jurran rolled his eyes but kept quiet.

Katherine walked the length of the corridor and the other fell into step behind her. When she reached the other door she looked at the camera.

"You're the one who wanted me here."

The door opened and a short, sort of skinny man stood on the other side of the room pointing a gun at her. He flinched at seeing her face. Fear filled his eyes. "Just you. The others stay there or I blow you up." He raised a shaking hand holding a detonator.

She motioned for the others to stay and entered the command room. She stayed by the door. It had been cleaned but she could see the signs of a fight. Burn marks on the walls, destroyed control boards. There was a door to the left of Martin that had been boarded up, but still had gaps that showed her what had to be the lift's cabin to send convicts down to the caves. At least they didn't just throw them down.

"Where's Tristan?" She began walking around the room, and Martin kept his gun on her. Trying to keep his distance.

"Before I tell you, I want your word that you're taking me off this planet. That's what I want for my payment." He noticed that he was getting close to the open door with a dozen mercs beyond it and moved to the center of the room.

"I'm not promising anything until I've heard what you have to tell me."

"That's not how this works." Martin was getting exasperated. She could tell he was used to be in control. Probably someone who thrived on knowing more than anyone else, or at least letting them believe he did. He probably hadn't had to deal with someone who wasn't willing to play his game.

Katherine nodded to the door, and the idiot looked behind him. Nothing had happened there but she'd stepped in front of him while he was distracted. He yelped and stepped back, but she had a hand on his gun now, keeping him from pointing it at her.

"Tristan isn't here, is he?"

Martin gulped.

Katherine tightened her hand on the gun and it broke. Martin let go of it and backed away.

"Are you crazy? It could have exploded."

"Was Tristan ever here?"

Martin hesitated. Before he could move she had her mechanical hand around his throat.

"I swear, if you made me waste my time I'm going to make you suffer."

"He was here," Martin croaked, trying to pry the fingers apart. "He left."

With a growl she began squeezing.

"I know where he's gone!"

She relaxed her fingers. "Where?"

Martin shook his head. "Swear first, you're taking me with you."

"Tell me how you know where he's gone. Tristan isn't careless. He doesn't let anything slip."

"He wasn't captured, well not really. He was here to rescue someone. Olirian Prian. You know, the Killer of Hastead."

Katherine nodded. The title was vaguely familiar.

"Well, for the last few years he hasn't been well, dying I think. I spent a lot of time with him and he spoke when he was delirious. No one ever knew why he killed all those people, but I do."

She waited for a moment then squeezed her hand. "Hurry up."

"They created a virus so powerful that it could kill everyone in the universe. He killed them to keep them from releasing it, but he wasn't able to destroy the research. I know where it's hidden. That's the only reason to get the old man, for him to tell them where it is."

She looked at him in disbelief. Kill everyone in the universe? That couldn't be possible, but it would certainly be something someone like Tristan would want.

"Where is it?"

"Promise me. I'm done spending time here. You're taking me away."

She smiled at him, and he recoiled. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I'm taking you with me, because if this is a ploy, I want you close by so I can make you suffer."