The jester of deceit, p.21
The Jester of Deceit, page 21
part #1 of The Valkyrie Chronicles Series
“Trust President Lee to turn this disaster into a Confederation recruitment drive. He should be focusing on his own planets getting attacked instead of trying to get more to join him,” Griffin mumbled to himself as he finished another drink.
He had lost count of the number of beers he’d had whilst they’d been waiting, but deep down he knew it was too many. He should have been staying sober while carrying out such a mission, but the run-in with Salek and their current surroundings had led him to one of his main weaknesses; his love for alcohol.
He was finishing his latest drink when he noticed a familiar looking figure through the bottom of his glass. He lowered it to the table and examined the figure carefully. There was a person at the bar who was hiding under a hood and ordering themselves a drink. Despite the attempts to hide their appearance and the dim lighting at this hour, it was easy for Griffin to see who it was straight away. It was Yem Sully.
Partially concealed under a beige hood, Griffin could see where the once well-kept goatee had become a messy, uneven beard. His nose was crooked, he had cuts and bruises all over his face, and his eyes were red and strained, but it was definitely Sully. His build had thickened with too much food or drink, yet Griffin knew if he had once been an officer of the Confederation on the presidential frigate then he was more than capable of defending himself.
Griffin shook the table to gain the attention of the others. “The target’s arrived, over there,” he said, nodding towards Sully’s general direction. The others all turned and sat up when they saw him.
“What’s the plan?” Kaila asked.
“We wait and see what he does,” Griffin replied.
That was not quite the answer everyone had been expecting. They sat in silence, waiting for Griffin to elaborate but a further explanation wasn’t coming.
“But… we’ve found him. Why don’t we just grab him now and take him away?” Axon asked.
“He’s a highly trained former officer of the Confederation. He’s survived this long, that means he’s more dangerous than he looks. We need to find the right time and place to strike, not while we’re in a bar all much drunker than he is. We need to get him away from this crowd. If we try to grab him in front of all these people, anyone could get involved, and the commotion could lure the attention of local soldiers.”
“I’ll go order us some waters,” Danny said, pushing himself away from the table. “Best to try and sober up as much as possible before anything happens.”
“Good idea,” Griffin replied. “We can let Sully get drunk, slowing down his judgment and reflexes, and then we strike when not many people are looking. I assume he’ll recognise my face if he’s been working closely with President Lee for all these years, so we need to make sure he doesn’t spot me.”
They watched as Sully ordered a tray of beverages and carried them over to a booth in the opposite corner. He positioned himself so his back was against the wall and he was looking into the bar, covering all angles that anyone might approach from. That was less than ideal.
“Okay, so sneaking up behind him is out of the question,” Griffin clarified. “We’re going to need to approach this differently-”
Just as Griffin was about to create a new, probably terrible, plan out of thin air, a loud bang came from the bar. The room filled with the sounds of shocked gasps and glasses breaking before falling into silence. The four of them turned to see a Vracken standing in the middle of the room, gun raised and pointed at Sully.
“Is that Terrum?” Axon asked, squinting to try to get a better look.
“No, this one’s much worse. That there is Dankar,” Griffin explained.
He’d been wondering how long it would take for Dankar to arrive in Nooshka and join in the hunt for Sully. Dankar looked similar to Terrum, but was taller and had bone white skin with red war paint all over his body. He wore an armoured vest with spikes sticking out of it, and his sharpened teeth were on display as he snarled at his target.
Griffin knew they didn’t have long. Dankar and Salek were under orders to kill Sully, not capture him. It was a miracle that Dankar hadn’t shot him already. Without giving it much thought, Griffin raced across to the Vracken and dived into the back of his knees. As they fell to the floor, Dankar’s gun fired and struck Sully in his side. Griffin looked up at the others who were still at the table watching on in shock.
“Go! Get him out of here!”
They all obliged, rushing over to a visibly stunned Sully. He had his hand pressed against his wound and was losing a lot of blood. They got him to his feet and out to safety. Griffin rose to his feet, face to face with Dankar.
“Jon Griffin?” His accent was shrill and not as laboured as Terrum’s. “What do you think you are doing exactly?” he asked, raising his gun.
“I can’t let you kill him, Dankar. I need him alive.”
“Then I’ll just have to kill you both,” Dankar replied, firing his weapon. Griffin dived out of the way, but still felt the impact of the blast shattering the table behind him. Everyone in the bar fled except for Griffin and Dankar, who stood glaring at each another among the chaos. Dankar let out a roar and opened fire again. Griffin ran to his side, narrowly missing each blast until Dankar stopped to reload.
“You don’t want to do that, Dankar. You know killing a fellow Bounty Hunter on a job is frowned upon,” Griffin said, trying to buy himself some time.
“You were never much of a Bounty Hunter anyway, Griffin. The rest of the galaxy might consider you to be some sort of big deal, but I see through it all. You are weak.”
Dankar finished reloading and fired off another shot. Griffin dived to his side, missing the blast by the smallest of margins. He landed in a roll next to a table and as he got up he reached for the nearest bottle and flung it across at Dankar. The bottle flew straight into Dankar’s face and smashed, but there was no reaction. He didn’t flinch in the slightest.
Instead, he raised his gun again, aiming straight at Griffin. There was the sound of a laser blast and the gun fell out of Dankar’s hand. Griffin didn’t know how to react. He’d been waiting for the shot, only it had never come. He searched around the room for the source of the laser blast and saw Salek N’Day in the doorway, her pistol still raised.
“What are you doing?” she asked, stepping into the room. “Don’t you know there’s a bounty on him if he’s brought in alive?”
“I don’t care about that. I would gladly lose out on the money just to see him dead,” Dankar roared back at Salek, reaching down to pick up his gun. Salek held her pistol up again, encouraging Dankar to step away.
“You might not care about the money, but I do. Leave him to me and I’ll cut you in on the reward. How does thirty percent sound?” Salek grinned, but her eyes remained hard and unamused.
“What if I refuse?” Dankar asked, giving Salek a malicious stare.
“Then I will knock the two of you out, go and kill Sully, and take all of the money for myself. I wouldn’t have to work again for a few years with that sort of payday.”
Griffin watched on as Dankar stood considering his options. Salek watched Dankar carefully as well, not lowering her gun for a second. After what felt like an eternity of anxious silence, Dankar reached up with both arms, signalling surrender.
“I guess I will stand down,” he said, taking a step away from Griffin. He lowered one of his arms to his side but with the other, he slowly reached behind the back of his head. Salek couldn’t see it from where she was stood, but Griffin had the perfect view of what Dankar was planning. The Vracken brought his hand further down behind his head and grasped one of the knives he had stored in the back of his vest.
“Salek look out!” Griffin called out.
Angered by the warning, Dankar pulled out the knife and launched it at Griffin. It flew inches from Griffin’s face and embedded itself into the table behind him. Salek changed her gun to stun mode and fired at Dankar. Nothing happened. She fired again at the Vracken as he charged towards her. He buckled. She managed to get off a third shot just as Dankar was towering over her, and he fell down on top of her, unconscious.
Sensing he didn’t have a lot of time, Griffin got to his feet and ran towards the exit. Salek tried to angle her pistol towards him, but she struggled to move under Dankar’s limp body. By the time she was able to free her arm, Griffin was long gone.
He raced down the street, joining the end of the crowd that was still fleeing from the fight. He continued to weave through the crowd, making sure to keep plenty of people around him as he worked his way further and further away from Salek and Dankar. Eventually, he stopped by the side of the street to catch his breath and analyse his surroundings. He had no idea where he was.
Just as he was wondering what to do next, he felt a small vibration in his pocket. His personal comm device was receiving a transmission. He pulled it out the small, rectangular device and a tiny holographic projection of Danny’s face appeared.
“Did you make it out okay?” Danny asked.
“No, Danny, I am actually still fighting now. I just decided I would stop and get my comm device out mid-fight,” Griffin replied through heavy breaths.
“You need to get over here. I’m sending you our position now.”
Danny’s face quickly disappeared and was replaced with a map of the area with a small flashing red dot showing Danny’s location.
The map led Griffin to an abandoned factory not too far away from Lacie’s. Its windows had all been smashed and the walls were covered in graffiti. The front doors had caved in, and the inside looked more like a bomb site than a former place of work.
Griffin stepped inside into an enormous open room that he assumed used to be the factory floor. It was covered in broken glass and empty food containers. He found the others standing by the only pillar that was still upright in the far corner of the room. As he got closer, he could see that Sully was leaning against the pillar while Kaila was tending to his wound.
“How’s he doing?” Griffin asked as he lowered himself alongside them. Kaila didn’t have to give a reply. The look on her face said it all. Sully had gone pale, and his breathing was fast and wheezy.
“Didn’t think I would see the day that Jon Griffin saved my life,” he said, trying his best to crack a smile. As he did, a small amount of blood trickled from his mouth.
“I’m sorry I didn’t do a better job of it,” Griffin replied. “I was supposed to get you back to Lady Santra in one piece.”
“It’s okay. I was a dead man the moment I left the Confederation. I knew it was only a matter of time before they found me.”
“You need to tell me what you know. What is it they want to keep so secret? Why is it they want you dead?”
Sully turned his head with great effort so he could look Griffin in the eyes. “I don’t know if I can tell you that. I gave my whole life to the Confederation. Leaving them is one thing… betraying them is something else entirely.”
“Look at what they’ve done to you,” Griffin said, gesturing towards the free-flowing wound in Sully’s side. “Don’t let them get away with this. You can make them pay. Just tell me what you know.”
Sully thought for a moment and opened his mouth to answer, but the words didn’t come out. He started choking. He was coughing and spluttering blood everywhere. Kaila and Griffin moved him higher up against the pillar and the coughing subsided. He reached out, put one arm around Griffin, and brought him in closer.
“Get to Bolen’s shuttle,” he whispered with great difficulty, “Hack into his terminal, there you will find-”
They were interrupted by a small pinging sound. Sully fell limp, a small bullet wound in his neck. Griffin turned to look out of the window and spotted Salek on the rooftop of the building opposite with a long-scoped rifle. She got to her feet, quickly took a picture of her kill, and saluted Griffin before fleeing into the night.
“I can’t believe her! Quick she’s getting away,” Kaila said getting to her feet, but Griffin yanked on her arm and brought her back to her knees.
“There’s no point, what’s done is done. She has no business with us anymore now she’s finished her job.”
“Doesn’t she want to hand you over to the Confederation?”
“She does, but she’ll wait to do that another day I imagine.” Griffin looked down at the dead body of Yem Sully beneath him and got to his feet, kicking out at the pillar as he did.
“I’m sorry Cap’n…” Danny began, but he was cut off by Griffin.
“We were so close! We had him! He just had to stay alive a little bit longer. This was supposed to be one last easy job, and then we could take things easy for a while.” His voice echoed all around them. He punched the pillar in front of him and instantly regretted it.
Kaila got to her feet and approached Griffin from behind. She reached over rested her hand on his shoulder. “The job’s not over yet. We can still find out what the Confederation is trying to hide. We’ll do what Sully told us to do. We just have to find a way to get into Admiral Bolen’s terminal and hack it ourselves.”
Griffin took a deep breath. He hadn’t meant to lose his temper in front of his crew. He closed his eyes and took a series of deep breaths. Once he’d calmed himself down, he began to think about what Kaila had suggested. Danny and Axon winced in anticipation of an angry reaction, but it didn’t come. His breathing slowed, his shoulders became relaxed, and instead, Griffin turned and faced them with a small smile.
“You’re right…. You’re right. It’s not going to be easy, though. The Admiral comes with a lot of protection.”
“You can’t be seriously thinking about this?” Axon’s mouth was agape. He looked from one to another for someone else who would support him. “We tried, and we failed. Let’s just go back and tell Lady Santra that. We cannot seriously be considering breaking into a Confederation Admiral’s personal shuttle?”
“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. If this isn’t the job for you, then this can be your stop. If you want to find out what it is the Confederation is trying so hard to cover up, then you can join me. I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but let’s get out of here first.”
Griffin turned around and walked out of the factory. Kaila got to her feet and followed him without hesitation. Danny turned to Axon, gave him a pat on the arm, and followed the others. Axon stood alone for a while, looking down at the dead body beneath him.
“I can’t believe I’m about to do this,” he said to himself, before running off to join the others.
Chapter Nineteen
Griffin walked out of the abandoned factory and assessed their surroundings. Salek was well and truly gone, no doubt on her way to collect her hefty reward for killing Sully. The sun was rising over the high levels of the city, but it was still dark down here. The streets around them were bare; no one seemed to wander these streets. Griffin didn’t blame them; it was a dump. The others all emerged alongside him one by one.
“Are we heading back to the docking bay?” Kaila asked, glancing around at the unguarded entrances to their hiding place, half-expecting some armed form to burst through and start firing at them. “They might have guessed we’re not refugees by now.”
“I expect they’ve worked that out. If we can’t get to the shuttle, then we’ll make the shuttle come to us,” Griffin replied with a cheeky smile. “Have you forgotten who we left onboard?”
Kaila’s face lit up.
“Give me some credit. Do you really think I would set up a plan without an exit strategy? Everything has gone exactly as planned so far.”
There was an awkward silence.
“Well, everything except Yem Sully dying before he could tell us what he knew,” Kaila muttered.
“And being ambushed by Salek in an alleyway,” Danny added.
“Yes okay, I didn’t quite plan for that-”
“And when Dankar came into the bar and started shooting the place up,” Danny added again, a comical grin developing across his face.
“Yes, again I might not have planned that, but we adapted to the situation pretty well. Now back to our escape, we need to get to high ground so Terrum can come and grab us.”
The four of them made their way up to the top level of the city. They stood and looked out around them, searching for a building they could land their shuttle on. They spotted one not too far away that had a bright ring of landing lights coming from its roof that indicated a small landing pad on top of it. They made their way along the cleaner, brighter streets to the building in question. It was much busier up here, with people barging past one another as they rushed towards their places of work. The civilians in this part of the city wore formal clothing, so the group attracted a lot of attention as they hastened through the crowds. People scowled and tutted at them as they passed. It was clear they didn’t belong.
“What are we going to do?” Axon asked as they reached the door to a tall, multi-storey building. “I doubt we’re going to be able to just wander inside and ask if we can use their landing pad.”
Axon’s queries fell on deaf ears. Griffin pulled out his comm device and contacted Terrum. The Vracken’s bored face projected out of the device.
“Cap,” he said in his deep accent.
“It’s time. What’s the situation over there?”
“They have armed guards outside, waiting for you to return.”
“Can you get out of there?”
“Shouldn’t be too difficult,” Terrum replied with a shrug.
“Good, I’m sending you our location now.”
Griffin led the four of them around the side of the building and peered in through the windows. The building belonged to a finance company of some sort. The walls were lined with screens displaying the latest trading prices and market shares. Everyone inside wore smart, colourful suits, and walked at an unnaturally fast pace. Luckily for Griffin and his little group, it seemed that the workers were far too important and clearly too busy to stop and question what four commonly dressed folk were doing strolling around the building and peering in through their windows.
