66This chapter written because I needed filler between two other parts of the story! Doncha love it? It does address a loose end that I forgot about. . Oops! Well, it's good I read my notes now and again, isn't it? Oh, and last chapter... it was kinda short, wasn't it? I'm so sorry, but English Comp. class sucks out all my creativity! I'm finally back to writing during winter break…four and a half months….
(_|_|_)_ _ (_|_|_) GOMENASAI!
I don't know why I quit writing! I know I can make time to do it, because I was writing 2000 words a day during November for National Novel Writing Month. Forgive this pathetic moron. Please?
Oh, and just because none of you have the guts to tell methat my plot has holes…. I know that the transition of Kobi-friend to Kobi-enemy really stinks. It needs to be rewritten. I am painfully aware of this, and embarrassed that I let it go. Gomen nido.
This chapter brought to you by: Store Brand Non-PopTart Toaster Pastries. Same sugar, same taste, half the price! All the hyperactivity!
09/22/03 to 1/7/04…Pathetic!
CHAPTER 22
BIENVANT SPACEPORT
DISTRICT 4A – 'BUSINESS'
1138 HOURS, 11.11.3475
Kobi tried not to think. He tried not to ponder the apparent betrayal by the person he trusted most. He tried not to dwell on the fact that he was now working for someone whom he wasn't quite sure whether to classify as friend or foe. Instead, he thought about his mission. That was safe. It was logical, structured, impersonal. It didn't hurt to think about things like that.
After a short, private talk with Biaydi, Kobi found himself in the position of go-between and information gatherer for the Hyani group. Right now, he was heading to a meeting that would supposedly involve sale of information. What made him nervous, though, was the fact that his orders had not come from Biaydi, rather they were given by the second-in-command, Yaheni.
Biaydi had announced to his followers that the Talcion was now a member of their group, and to treat him as such. Kobi wasn't quite sure he liked the sound of that. He liked the certain looks that Biaydi had given the rest even less. He honestly didn't expect to put to work so soon, if ever. But here he was, moving down a back alley in one of the spaceport's better kept up areas, headed to a mysterious and potentially dangerous exchange.
As to why he was on this mission in the first place… The Hyani group had filtered out of the ship over the course of the day on various errands, some secretive some not. The Kilarin Oirec had been shut up in one of the Phoenix's computer bays all day. Yaheni had been preparing to take his own leave from the Phoenix Horizon, having received some sort of classified call earlier that afternoon. When the second call had come in, a mysterious informant claiming to have information to sell, Kobi had been the only one nearby.
"Hey kitty. Got a job for ya." The senior Hyani had sneered in Kobi's general direction. "Go see what this moron wants, and don't get shot. Got it?" Silently bristling, Kobi had accepted a small data card with some coordinates on it. And now here he was.
Kobi silently checked the pair of numbers glowing faintly on the screen of his data reader. He flipped the screen to the map program. Right on target. This is where the informant was supposed to be in about five minutes. Kobi settled himself in to the familiar routine of 'lurking', one of the many skills her had picked up while working for both Marc and Ryi Crowell… he twisted his muzzle into an expression approximating a grimace as he squelched the thought. Ryi… was not what she claimed to be.
Kobi was glad that the other had not arrived yet. For situations where so much is unknown, it is always best to be the first to arrive. It gave you time to get the lay of the land before the other casually rounded the far corner of the alley where the meeting was to take place, as the unidentified being was doing now. Kobi straightened from his casual slouch against one slightly grimy wall and turned to face the other.
As soon as the Talcion's eyes focused on the approaching figure, his ears went flat back against his head and a growl began in his throat. A light breeze brought the being's familiar scent to his nostrils, and the flattened ears disappeared into the short fur of his head, his hackles instantly rose, and the growl became a full out, very audible snarl.
"You-!" Kobi managed to turn this word into a hiss, "Vryten!"
The tall, gold-skinned being paused for a moment in the face of Kobi's predatory fury, recognition lighting up its eyes at the same moment. It made a self-satisfied clicking noise in its throat, a small smirk appearing on its face.
"Feline-being of Phoenix Horizon-ship, yes? Ah, so you are working for Biaydi. Our information was no lie."
"What the hell are you doing here, you asshole?!" Kobi was not in the mood for polite conversation about the accuracy of the Vryten intelligence network.
"I believe it was sent, a message. Information, I have come here to sell. And you are here to buy?" He, the alien was apparently one of the males of the group that had attacked the Phoenix crew so recently, waved his long fingered hand at the data pad clenched nearly to the point of breaking in Kobi's clawed hand.
The Talcion merely growled deep in his throat in reply, made inarticulate by the burning desire to viciously shred the one who had harmed his friends and crewmates – correction, former crewmates – and his equally strong sense that he must fulfill the assignment given to him by one of his new bosses, which couldn't be done if the informant was a bloody pile of flesh in an alley. He was saved the decision by the Vryten, who interrupted the choosing process by speaking again.
"Hold your temper," It raised one hand in a gesture to halt, "Know this, I and my team are well-paid mercenaries. And that mercenaries can be bought by anyone is the truth. Our dealings with the one who ordered the death of the Phoenix crew are completed, and we have been re-hired by your employer now, Biaydi. We are not enemies at this time, so shall we act like allies as we are?"
Kobi froze, his eyes locked on the other who was so calmly telling him to 'get over' the fact that his friends were nearly killed, in not so many words. He remained still and silent for the fact that if the other was telling the truth, he indeed could not seek vengeance, and must cooperate with the Vryten.
Deciding to take, Kobi's silence for agreement the Vryten continued, "Now, we are both busy people, yes? I shall seek the point of our meeting. We are employed by the Hyani Biaydi now, who has paid us well to tell him all we are aware about our most recent former employer, the one who ordered your death."
Giving up on thought processes for the moment, but remaining stiffly on guard and angry, Kobi rumbled out, "So, hand it over already. I've got other places to be and better company to keep."
Not fazed by the thinly veiled, if that, insult, the gold humanoid retrieved a data storage disk from its pocket. "This is the information requested. Names, contacts, locations, and all that we know of his plans."
Snatching the disk with his claws so as not to bring his flesh any closer to his recent enemy than absolutely necessary, Kobi swiftly secreted the disk upon his person. Before he turned away to return to the Phoenix and complete this damned mission, the Talcion hissed one last thing at the still unnamed Vryten standing calmly with folded hands.
"So now I bet you're going to go running back to your last master with all the information you have on us, right?"
The other closed his eyes and took on a look of cheerful calm. "That information is not included in our deal." With no further ado, he turned and walked back the way he came, quickly disappearing from sight around the corner.
Tail lashing furiously, Kobi stood in the same spot for a moment more. That definitely went into the books as one of the most stressful and frustrating ten minute periods he had ever spent. Sighing angrily, he shook his head and turned to go back and deliver the data disk, his senses still on the alert for a surprise attack. He was dealing with assassins, after all.
As for that data… Kobi's curiosity being as it was, and his mind still confused and torn between loyalties, the temptation to know became more unbearable with each step.
I mustn't look… it's not my place… Kobi's ears flattened against his head again. Bah, who am I kidding? There are too many secrets being kept around here.
With that, his mind was firmly made up for the first time in what seemed like months, Kobi picked up his pace, trotting down the nearly empty sidewalk until he deemed himself far away from the meeting place not to get shot, and not close enough to the Phoenix to be discovered and… well, shot. Denying the urge to glance around guiltily and trying to look casual, Kobi paused next to the entryway of a dark building and pulled the data card out, looking at it for a moment before procuring his reader and slipping the card in.
For a moment, the simple word 'Reading…' glowed brightly on the screen, and then a menu appeared on the page. Well, the Vryten were certainly organized, even if they were treacherous, disloyal scum. Selecting the first option, Kobi came up with a block of text. He began reading.
Travel plans, information gathered, people contacted… just as he said. Wait… One word stood out for some reason, Xicantel? What's that?