Legacy of the Anari

by Ashleigh Blayze

Chapter 9

Enjoy!

News of the sudden, brutal and unexpected demise of eight Cobalts including Carlo the Hive Mart Boss spread faster than a virulent disease through the Slums District. The only witness to events, was Twitchy Tash, a cheap whore perpetually in debt to her MethHeaven addiction. Twitchy had just shot up, hiding herself for safety in the alleyway when the Cobalt blockers arrived. Even high Twitchy knew enough to stay hidden from the Cobalts, she knew a prepared ambush when she saw one. When the blockers had moved into position, Twitchy crept to the edge of the alleyway, anticipating news that would buy her next hit of MH. She watched, high, trying to work out what was real and what was MH hallucination.

Terrified out of her wits by the lightning quick and brutal violence which killed the Cobalts Twitchy stayed utterly frozen long enough that she began to come down, her faculties slowly returning. She’d been raped by all of the dead Cobalts at one time or another, and in her addled mind decided that retribution was abroad. Still the agent of retribution terrified her, surely only a devil or angel could move so fast and no angel would be so brutal. Eventually she was able to force herself to move, and quickly Twitchy Tash sold her tale for a hit as fast as she could to her supplier, also a Cobalt, who quickly confirmed the tale.

Word spread rapidly, the story evolving as the rumours spread. By the time Grinder heard the word for the fifth time, Carlo had attacked a witch who cursed him and all Cobalts, summoning death for them to punish their wickedness. Grinder was unimpressed to say the least, but mostly by the loss of the Cred sticks that Carlo had held, and the challenge to his rule of the Slums. The order went out, find the witch, woman, devil, angel, or whatever that had butchered Carlo's crew. Find it, kill it, and bring him its head.

*****v

Rumours travelled fast and far through Talont during the night. Rival gangs in surrounding areas heard of a monster in the slums, word was someone or something was killing off Cobalts. Not necessarily a bad thing from their point of view. Some gangs made preparations just in case. Who knew whether the monster was after more than just Cobalts, or if possibly the Cobalts would lose enough bodies to weaken their hold on the Slums.

News services in Talont’s commerce habs heard the rumours of witchcraft and brutal gang killings in the Slums. Within 2 hours of the Twitchy Tash fleeing the scene Channel 42 News was vying with Talont Times for the best holocam angles while Sec Bureau guards cordoned off the area around the bodies, which still lay where they had fallen. In the morning Sec Bureau would start its investigation. No one at Sec Bureau was really taking tales of witches and curses seriously and the Slums were a really bad place to go kicking down doors during the night.

The Watch Sergeant figured waiting for the morning was best way to avoid a riot and casualties to his troopers. If the beast or whatever got away in the meantime that was just fine, anything that killed human gangers was just fine with the Korkari sergeant. He had a team grab Twitchy Tash from her usual dope house and once the Medics managed to get the MH head lucid, a couple of his techs did their best to get a description of the killer from the still freaked Twitchy. It left them little the wiser.

One who had a damn good idea what was actually going on was Zazt Haskins. Two plus two equals four — most of the time at least, and Haskins was sure that Ashai was responsible. Not that he would say anything, that would be a death sentence from Grinder, silence was his best bet. During the night rumours spread, chaos reigned and tension in the Slums rose, while oblivious Ashai planned for a trip to the space port, before crashing out.

As morning came Ashai watched the news holocasts with dismay. The bodies of the Cobalts still lay in the dirt between the alleys. In the light of day their wounds looked particularly graphic to the delight of the newsies. Their reports filled the casts with garbled stories of a demon woman with white hair who killed gangers. Clad in black and able to move with terrifying speed was the only description so far. Security outside the Slum was reportedly being stepped up as a precautionary measure.

According to reliable sources in the Slums, Grinder had ordered the death of whoever was responsible and the Cobalts were hunting the killer. Sec Bureau had also begun an investigation, but didn’t have many leads at this time. A confidential Sec Bureau source was reported as saying that the night's rainfall had ruined much of the forensic evidence, but the causes of deaths were very self evident so Sec Bureau weren’t too fussed. The newsie who tapped that source had the good sense not to ask why the investigation hadn't begun sooner.

After watching the holocasts, Ashai decided to head for the Space Port sooner rather than later. Her combat body suit wasn’t a good idea, much as she wanted its protection, a different look was necessary. Turning to the wall monitor she began browsing the directory clothes stores for ideas. There were hundreds of ideas, but after a mental conversation with Key and Hound she settled on a look that comprised black leather pants with chunky knee high boots, accompanied by a long thigh length blouse of like jade silk.

Looking in the mirror after Hound successfully managed her requirements Ashai felt she looked good but realised that other human women would be wearing makeup. She didn’t have any or any idea what to do with it, so she would have to do without. Finally she tried to decide what weaponry she should carry, and what would have to be stored in the pack. The Di-Kat was too long to fit so she would carry its scabbard over her back. The weapons she'd recovered from the dead Cobalts were evidence if she was found with them. They weren’t worth much, but she was sure that sooner or later someone would search the room, so leaving them here was out. So in the pack they went, though Ashai had to break the shotgun down to make it fit. Her two Makatov blasters? One carried enough intimidation for most situations. Carrying both would look out of place with the rest of her outfit. Strapping on one thigh holster, and clipping on her utility belt, she stuffed the rest of her gear into the pack, it fit but only just. She transferred the creds from the Cobalts to her secure stick, and stuck the empty sticks in her belt. Somewhere along the way she would need to find a recycling unit to dispose of the evidence. Preparations complete Ashai headed out.

****b

Korcari guards from the Security Bureau where patrolling the crime scene, when Katz pulled up on his hovertrike. He waited as his passenger dismounted then parked the machine designating a guard by the simple expedient of grabbing a Bureau private and pointing at his trike with a curt order to 'Keep it safe'. That done he walked the short distance to the investigation where his passenger was already observing the scene. The passenger was an officer from Korcari Intelligencia and usually worked in Administration House, and his remit was very vague and very wide.

It was rumoured Officer Gantol was on personal terms with the clan heads who ruled Yasm, so irritating him was not something Katz was keen on doing. Sergeants don’t make much, forcibly retired ones even less. The intelligence officer had been visiting the Watch commander as the rumours had come in of witchcraft and a demon or monster on the loose. As the rumours turned into confirmed stories of a blood bath Gantol expressed an interest in viewing the scene, which was enough for Katz to be ordered to escort him there. So here he was.

Gantol stood at the edge of the crime scene, quietly observing first the work going on, nothing obviously wrong there, before looking at the bodies lying on the ground. Part of his wide range of skills was as a tracker, and he gazed at the ground looking for the minute trace disturbances that told him about an individual’s weight, height, and movement. After a short time the picture building in his head made no sense, and with a sense of irritation he curtly ordered everyone outside of the crime scene so he could concentrate and work on peace.

The Sec Bureau investigators paused, saw who was doing the ordering and followed Katz' silent hand gestures and made themselves scarce. Gantol was already oblivious to them, there was something here.....he had a sense for trouble that wasn’t often wrong, and right now it was shrilling loudly at him. Walking slowly and carefully with light feet, to avoid disturbing the ground any more, he examined the bodies of all the dead gangers. Then Gantol traced each ganger’s footprints back to their starting positions outside the alleyways, 5 on one, 3 at the other. Gantol nodded to himself, whatever happened started with an ambush then.

That being the case the target would have been about...here. Boot marks in the dirt, not a tread he recognised, depth and the soil type and moisture levels, gave a weight of around 120kg. 120kg would be very substantial for a human female in the slums. Poverty meant there wasn’t enough food for women to grow fat here. The witness description said a tall slim woman, all in black, who seemed to vanish. The weight clearly didn't fit the description.

He put that thought aside for a second as he concentrated on the ground, and the placement of the dead, reconstructing the events. Okay the Cobalts spring their ambush, there’s an exchange of insults etc. Then the fight starts, the Cobalts charge, 4 die from single shots with blasters? These two, same height and weight, matching clothing, twins perhaps? Hard to tell now. They are killed first, roughly the same distance from the female. They were killed at virtually the same time then.

Gantol stopped for a second thinking. The positions of the first two deaths ruled out a single two handed weapon, and confirmed two shots, so that meant two weapons, and implied the shooter was ambidextrous. Okay the wound size and cauterisation pointed to blast weapons. Blast rifles? The diameter of the wound burned through the torso was inconsistent with blast rifles. They focussed narrower for longer distance and accuracy so the target was using blast pistols maybe heavy blast pistols. Gangers ambush an ambidextrous target using two heavy blast pistols. Stupid fuckers. Maker she could have killed them all at distance, so why didn’t she? Gantol scratched his left horn in puzzlement.

Okay our unknown kills those two with her first shots. Then what? There are two more deaths from blast wounds, a little closer as the Cobalts charge. Follow the boot prints, okay so the target spins left leaving this one dead first with the chest shot, then that one behind her with a headshot. Good shooting. Excellent shooting and the Cobalts have barely moved. Very fast. Much too fast. The shooter could easily have shot the rest, but didn't, she went hand to hand. There that depression, angled boot mark from leaping forward, the shooter closed the distance to engage the next Cobalt?

Gantol moved back to the body lying near to a crude flail. Following the footprints told him this Cobalt died next. He examined the body for damage noting the wounds to groin, knee, the position of severe bruising on the lower back, the smashed trachyea and ruptured carotid. Very strong strikes delivered very quickly. The ganger was completely disabled by the knee, and the groin strikes. Ouch, definitely not a threat anymore, but killed anyway. Why? Overkill suggests a lot of anger. To be expected if someone ambushes you I guess. Enough anger to kill all eight? You don’t take the time to finish off eight gang thugs in a fight without a reason. If this was straight forward there should have been wounded. Still dead bodies don’t talk. Gatchi shit.

Gantol started to worry as that thought drifted into his mind. The Cobalts were so outclassed they were basically executed. The shooter was showing clinical efficiency with the first five deaths and then this one was next. Gantol crouched over the Cobalt's body, the shoulder was almost blown away by the force of a shotgun blast hitting from the rear. The face wasn’t recognisable, the post mortem bruising turning it a purplish hue but the damage to the nose was obvious enough.

Gantol turned to the Sec Bureau investigators outside the crime scene and found the one who was examining the body as he arrived.

“This one, any more wounds?”

The Korkari investigator looked a little sick as it replied, “The human's chest Ser, under its clothing. May I?”

Gantol signalled his assent and watched as the thug's clothing was opened, revealing a mass of bruising and bloodied flesh. It looked like shards of bone were trying to erupt out of the chest cavity. Impassively although he felt nauseous, he watched as the horrific wound was covered back up. And then there were 2 left Gantol muttered to himself under his breath. Who was next? He looked at the last two corpses.

That one lost a hand and bled out, I guess he had the shotgun. The weight shift in the footprints means the shotgun wielder was disabled first before the big one lost his leg. The footprints changed to more normal movement so the fight was over before the decapitation. A mercy stroke? Eight armed men dead, 4 shot, 2 hand to hand, 2 by the blade, almost before they could move after beginning their attack. Worried Gantol turned and found the Sergeant.

“Well Katz you’ve a dangerous adversary on the loose. Assuming it is a human female, she is much faster and much stronger than any normal human, or Korkari for that matter. These idiots died before they knew it. I expect they thought she was a target for an ambush for robbery and rape, from the description we have been given of tall and slim. The tracks say she was heavy as well weighing almost twice as much as an average human female. She is very well armed for this area, probably 2 heavy blast pistols rather than a blast rifle, plus a bladed weapon. The first two died at the same time so she can fire the pistols simultaneously. This shooter isn’t your normal human. You had any reports of humans with heavy mods, prosthetics, bionics, or cyborgs?”

“No Ser, no one like that I’ve heard of in the Slums at the moment. Things have been reasonably quiet recently, just the usual levels of crime. Someone like you describe would be quite obvious? Like a mercenary, bounty tracker or something like that?”

“Probably Katz, probably, unless the mods are very expensive, which would present another problem.”

“Ser?”

Gantol sighed. The sergeant didn’t get the bigger picture.

“Simple Katz, What the fuck is a disguised killing machine like that doing on this shit hole? Yasm is the arse end of this fucking sector. Who is it after? It probably butchered this lot when they interrupted an op. How many fights can you remember with eight fatalities and no wounded? That doesn’t happen Katz unless you’re deliberately leaving no witnesses behind. Of course it could be a demon summoned to kill off the Cobalts but personally I don't think it would be using blasters.”

Gantol grunted in disgust as he looked at bodies in the mud.

“Come on, back to the office to speak with the Watch Commander, then you can give me a lift back to Administration, I need to make a report. In the meantime get your investigators into the Port and Trade districts and anywhere else you know of that might get visited by an augmented human. And tell them to be careful. They might only have been humans but whoever we're after killed that lot without breaking a sweat, and based on those wounds she could beat the shit out of us Korkari just as easily.”

*****h

The Space Port district of Talont was the original site of the main industrial unit that had accompanied the Korkari when they colonised Yasm. After planetfall, the Korkari and their machinery quickly turned the landscape around the industrial plant into a sea of plascrete, machinery and building operations. As the colony successfully developed and expanded, the industrial focus of Talont had moved elsewhere and the original unit had been redeveloped to form Talont's only spaceport.

The original ad hoc landing arrangements gave way to a more formalised approach and the Spaceport rapidly expanded. Myriad industrial units and businesses sprang up in the barely regulated warren of above and underground construction. Fuel refineries, distribution systems, hangars, accommodation, shops, brothels, drinking dens, drug dens, alleys, storage warehouses, and landing pens, everything that formed the import and export facilities of Yasm.

Now the imports could be almost anything, while the exports tended to be foodstuffs or cattle, live or already slaughtered, which were Yasm’s main export to nearby Korkari systems. When a cattle shipment was due, the land for miles around the Port became a sea of mega bison.
For weeks after the cattle shipped, the stench of dung and animal sweat drifted in the already polluted air, while cleaning crews of human labour struggled to get the situation back under control. The entire district was a mass of heavy construction, heavy machinery, cacophonous noise, throngs of workers busily or idly passing the hours. The regular arrival and departure of vessels set the rhythm of the whole district.

Ashai got on a busy early morning public transport into the central port terminal. The journey was without incident although she was conscious of the newscasts she saw playing on various screens. The casts were attracting a modicum of attention from the passing public, but nothing spectacular. She had never been to the Space Port before, so had nothing to compare against but it looked like there were a lot of security forces around. It could also be her nerves making her imagine guards around every corner, waiting for her.

The events of yesterday had made an impression, and thinking things through during the long night, Ashai eventually came to the conclusion her only fault was not knowing what she was capable of. Considering she’d only been a she for a few days, Ashai wasn’t going to beat herself up for that. She was now stronger, much faster, and healthier than before, although at times it felt like her moods and emotions were like quicksilver. Her old life as Rin, already seemed a long time ago. Swapping gender? She thought she was coming to terms with the differences overall, and it beat the alternative of being dead. The downsides of her changes would take time to come to terms with.

She was constantly conscious that now she attracted attention where before there was none. That had sparked lethal consequences already and there was the disturbing possibility of more. There was so much she didn’t know and it wasn’t like she could buy a VAL chip titled — ‘Being a woman, everything you ever wanted or needed to know, for the recently transformed’. Ashai sighed as she walked along, her sense of humour was definitely getting darker. She headed towards one of the terminal’s shopping concourses, splitting her attention between her thoughts, and the crowds of humans, Korkari and other aliens all mingled together.

Haskins had given her the details of a contact who could provide an ID, a dealer who apparently dealt in imported leisure goods, at least most of the time. Ashai didn’t know what to make of that, leisure goods was a very vague description, but right now she too was busy looking for Talont Entertainment Industries, to worry about it. It was supposed to be on the right hand side of this shopping concourse, and so far there was no sign of it. Where was a directory terminal when you wanted one?

***f

Katx was busy examining the hotel room for clues. The woman was long gone, having released the room that morning. The bed was still messed up, the cleaners hadn’t been yet, and nothing appeared to have been left behind. The fan in the bathroom was still running, and he’d noticed flecks of vomit around the toilet. He pointed them to the investigation team as they came in through the busted door. The entrance team had withdrawn along with their 'door knocker', a large metal ramming bar, once they had checked the room for threats. Not that they were certain this was the right room, or even the right Hab. That would be way too easy.

Gantol had filled him in on his suppositions about the killer on the ride back to Sec Bureau's offices, where he updated the Watch commander. Katx to admit he was impressed by Gantol's deductions, and his skill in tracking. It looked like his reputation as a skilled officer was deserved. He wouldn’t expect an Intelligencia Officer to know how to track, but it was a useful trick. Gantol's logic had concerned the commander enough that he ordered a general increase in security throughout Talont, and requested the Intelligencia's assistance.

Katx was ordered to keep Gantol in the loop and then kicked back out into the field to find this modified human or whatever the hell she was. Gantol headed back to Intelligencia headquarters to see what he could stir up. By the time Katx got back to the crime scene the bodies had finally been removed, and a search was being conducted along the possible paths out of the slums. He ordered any available surveillance footage be examined. He didn’t expect many buildings in the area that would admit to having vid systems. Discretion is prized in the slums and as expected, so far his search teams hadn’t found anything useful. With no other options they continued searching house to house.

The Hab 27 Hotel was just one of many buildings that were to be checked for information, and Katx was here because the hotel’s owners ran an anonymous house. That made it a more likely place for the shooter to stay, all sorts of people liked their privacy. One of his search team had visited initially, found an automated reception system and commed the owners for their records and surveillance.

The owners had quite naturally denied any surveillance existed, which would have been the end of it. Except that Gantol was in the loop, and Intelligentsia had levers that Katx wasn’t aware of. The Intelligentsia Officer had spoken to the owners privately, and returned looking smug. Suddenly there was mention of an old vid system, that 'because of its poor imagery and reliability issues' wasn’t mentioned previously. This vid system was usually turned off, but by lucky coincidence there were some records from the time in question.

It was mid afternoon by the time the surveillance data was hand delivered to Sec Bureau, along with the palm scanner records from the automated reception. Time stamps on both allowed Katx' officers to start comparing data and eliminating potential leads, on this source as well as the various other vid systems that the investigation had turned up in the neighbourhood. Late afternoon was the time for an update from the investigation teams on their progress, which Katx and Gantol both attended.

The team reported that the search had so far been inconclusive although they had uncovered plenty of anonymous meetings that could be interesting in the future, as well as a completely unknown palm print. That sparked Gantol interest who asked if they had more information on the unknown palm prints. The investigator explained the print had been on a data disk that had been delivered a little while earlier, and was from Hab 27. So far they’d been able to correlate the palm print to an image from the vid system by its time stamp. The investigator showed the image on his projector. The image quality was poor and in black and white, the vid system was an antique for sure, but it grabbed Katx' attention.

“Maker’s breath I’ve seen that face, I know it. Blow it up.”

“Yes Sergeant.”

Katx stalked forwards from his desk and gazed intently at the displayed picture.

“Can you enhance it at all?” The investigator adjusted his software settings, and the image sharpened, losing some of the interference. Katx was looking at a head shot of a young human female....one he had seen recently....he racked his brains, trying to think and it came to him.

“Galont, her name is Ashai Lennox. She was here in the office, 2 days ago with Lt Resnij from the mercenary team we sent out to Phiftar. Lennox came back with him after escaping from a cave system she fled to after the Dtilla raids. She lives in Talont, was the girlfriend of Edgar Rijkard who was killed defending her. Her story was plausible so she was released.”

The investigator began tapping away searching for information in Sec Bureaus databases.

“If she lives in Talont, why was she in Hab 27?” Galont queried.

“Ser, I have no record of Ashai Lennox in the Talont databases,” The investigator continued, “In fact Ser there’s no record of Ashai Lennox anywhere, no property records, no licence, no tax, birth or criminal records of any kind. She’s a ghost.”

“She doesn't exist?” Katx asked, while Gantol wondered, “Her palm print is unknown?”

“Get that room at the Hab 27 searched right now. Move. “ Katx ordered.

He was already on his way out the door heading for his trike, with Gantol following close behind him. The thought that a mass murderer might have walked out of his office as he was bickering with a merc over their charges for deployment during the raid was enough to form a frozen ball in his second stomach, and to ignite his temper. The search was now personal. Katx didn’t take kindly to being made a fool out of.

Gantol was busy searching wall terminal’s archives, pulling up the records of data access. It looked like the room’s occupant had been about to go shopping for clothes, there were dozens and dozens of items looked at. So far, so normal. Directory searches for weapons? That was more suspicious. The search entries included Haskins Armouries, which was located in ...the Hive Mart in the Slums, which also happened to put the crime scene directly on the best route from there to here.. Gantol didn’t believe in coincidence, so it looked like he had a solid suspect.

Pointing out the data to Katx he headed back down to the Sergeant's hover trike, Katx close behind him. The question was, where was Lennox now? Katx ordered the distribution of her known details to all security officers, Talont wide with the instructions she was to be detained, preferably alive, and also to be regarded as armed and dangerous. On the off chance he had the Port Security forces ordered to locate and watch the Narwhat 4th Recruitment mission.

As the Sergeant followed the Intelligencia Officer out of the hotel, Private Taryil held back, before heading to his vehicle outside. As he walked he had a brief conversation with Grinder on a private com. After receiving a healthy dose of funds to his secure cred stick, the informant delivered Grinder the information he badly wanted, then carried on with his duties.

“Got the bitch.” Grinder grinned hugely, ugly face lit up in anticipation. “Pick up Haskins in the market. Move it now before the pissing Sec Bur get there. I want to talk with him. And get this picture and description out to the other gangs, city wide. Anyone who coughs up information will be rewarded. If she’s on anyone else's turf, I’ll appreciate being informed. Appreciation in goods or cred. No one disrespects me.” The Cobalts scattered.

***bb

The hover trike was parked in the market, and Sec Bureau officers were clearing the area of onlookers. The sliding door to Haskins Armouries was broken open, the shop inside dark. The entry team had already confirmed that the owner Zazt Haskins wasn’t inside. Katx was angry, angry that his only good lead had vanished. He had a hunch that the Cobalts that ruled the slums would probably be behind the trader's disappearance. Whether or not the Korkari ever showed up alive again was doubtful. In the meantime all he had was the shop itself. He turned to the nearest of the Bureau teams.

“Secure it, and begin the search for evidence. Nobody comes in or out without my approval. Understood?” The Sergeant’s expression was thunderous.

“Yes Sergeant, right away Sergeant.”

Katx turned away from the rapidly retreating trooper and back to Gantol before speaking.

“Well we know Grinder has his crew looking for her as well, and the other gangs, so I guess this just became a race. Particularly as it looks like someone is updating the Cobalts on our movements as well. We only just found out about Haskin’s connection so either Grinder is well ahead of us already, or he was tipped off and moved damn fast to make sure we couldn’t speak to him. We could search the Slums, turn over the Cobalts haunts, but it’ll start a battle in the Slums if we do. It will be last year’s riot all over again.”

“Not worth it Katx, we lose this round I think. Get whatever we can out of the shop, and try to keep tabs on the Cobalts, that’s all we can do here. Let's get back to the office.” Gantol's tone was deceptively calm but his movements were quick and angry. Intelligencia would be tasked with finding the source of the leak. Now all he could do was wait, and hope for another break. Neither Korkari was known for being patient.

****b

Ashai finally located Talont Entertainment Industries, or TEI as its sign proclaimed itself. She had to resort to the concourses directory, but was eventually able to find the shop which was on the right side of the concourse, but was actually at the end of an alleyway just off it. She had missed it on her first walk past. The alleyway was dark, but empty, with the illuminated sign for TEI at the end. Or rather the T and I glowed brightly, the E was burnt out and dark. The door however was functional and slid open automatically to the right as she approached. Bright light and noise spilled out into the alley way and Ashai walked in.

Ashai stopped dead trying to make sense of the chaos. The shop was crazy, a seemingly random jumble of anything and everything that could be even vaguely deemed entertainment. It took her several seconds to find the shops counter over to her left as she entered. In those seconds she saw Virtual Reality Sim consoles, climbing gear, collections of popular vidcasts that had been imported from nearby systems, some type of single person boat, that was hanging from the ceiling upside down. There was a stand filled with sports gear of various types, music chips of various types were stacked up in piles, and a local band's latest electronic music was being blasted out of a sound system.

There were even old fashioned paper books! Who uses books? The cost of shipping them was crazy. Everywhere she looked there was something else, that someone had deemed to be fun and entertaining, plus a price tag. It was without doubt the most eclectic mix of stuff she had ever seen. Ashai also noted a couple of wall mounted spy eyes that surveyed the shop, and she realised were actually very well sighted for maximum coverage. Information surfaced in her mind highlighting the one blank spot in coverage. If the coverage was to be complete there should be a third spy right…there. She spotted it, pretty well hidden and was reassured about the level of professionalism in the surveillance. It didn’t really fit with a trader in entertainment but did fit with someone who could provide false ID.

The shop front was actually about the size of a small eatery but was so crammed there was only a single route through the chaos. There was no sign of the owner yet, so she walked round to the counter. Stepping forward set off some sensor and rang a bell over the door, making her jump. She swore briefly before resuming the somewhat roundabout journey to the counter, stepping carefully to avoid tripping or standing on one of the many piles of …stuff.

“Hello? Anyone here?” Ashai called out.

A lilting voice's tones called back “We will be right there dear customer, please just look around for a moment.”

Ashai looked in the direction the voice had come from, to see a couple of Eckt coming towards her. The female in the lead was dressed in her species' traditional bright gaudy robes, which clashed against the Eckt’s mauve skin. The male behind her was also brightly clad in green pseudo leather trousers and a bright yellow jacket.

Eckt evolved on a world with higher background radiation and harsher light radiation than humans were familiar with and their skin colour was just one of the adaptations nature had provided them with, as well as eye membranes that acted as sunglasses in bright conditions. A humanoid species, slightly smaller than humans but with 4 digit hands whose wide spread fingers were known for being exceptionally dexterous. The only time Ashai had ever seen Eckt before was on vid cast in a band, they could be exceptional musicians.

“Hello, and welcome human youngling”

The female Eckt was wearing a translator box around her neck, an ingenious device that took the Eckt own voices and reproduced their speech in the either the language the Eckt was spoken to in, or whatever they set it to. The Eckt themselves did not speak, they only had to subvocalise their response for the box to transmit it, so conversation with an Eckt seemed like exactly that, conversation, rather than noise interpreted by language nanos in one's brain, or robotic aids.

The male moved from behind the female and spoke, his box producing a melodic voice but with lower pitch and tone than his partner.

“What can we do for you customer? Welcome to our house of all things fun and exciting. Do you have a special need? Are you a fan of vid casts? The latest imported music chips that humans seem to rave about is just behind your left shoulder…”

He was interrupted by the female. “Hush, Poftanichek let the human speak dear one.”

Ashai grinned, surmising this was a fairly regular conversation. Poftanichek seemed intent on speaking as rapidly as possible, describing the stores stock for her.

“Um hello, I’m looking for Poftan and Foithar?” Ashai jumped in before the male began again.

The female's head was cocked now, eye membranes apart revealing sparkling violet eyes.

“He is Poftan, I am Foitharilyeic. How do you know our family names human?” Her tone was curious but also cautious, and Ashai saw the male pick up on the female's body language and tone. His body shifted stance subtly, to a more balanced position, better for fighting or running she guessed.

“I didnt know your names, I was told to ask for those people by a Korkari called Zazt Haskins.”

Ashai kept her hands open, and her arms relaxed. The male tensed at Haskins name, and Ashai worried that this trip was about to be a big mistake, or worse that she was about to find herself in another fight. She wasn’t worried about surviving a fight, but didn’t want any more deaths on her conscience.

“If Haskins gave me bad directions then I’ll leave, it 's fine, I will go.”

Poftanichek was confused. Haskins had never given out their names to just anyone, especially their family names, but this… girl, she was barely in her twenties, didn’t appear to realise the significance of the names, or of Haskins relationship with the Eckt. Now she was offering to leave as though there was a mistake, which was unlikely knowing Haskins despite their difficulties. Was she going to leave to avoid a confrontation? A possibility but anyone armed with a Makatov heavy blaster and a blade weapon of some kind was prepared to handle a fight. Too many unanswered questions so the girl needed to stay for a while.

“Wait human. Stay please.”

The girl stopped and studied him, her arms relaxed and posture open but balanced. Abruptly Poftan realised he’d slid into a defensive stance- huh must be when she mentioned Zazt. Is that why she offered to leave, she noticed me move? That was unusual most other species took one look at Eckt and discounted them as potential adversaries, usually with unpleasant consequences. For all their slight looking almost skeletal appearance, smaller size, and colouring that he knew humans in particular found comical, Eckt were comfortably stronger than humans, a legacy of a heavy gravity evolution.

Taking a breath and aware his life partner Foithar was watching from the right waiting to follow his lead, Poftan shifted to a neutral position, and with a suddenness that was deceiving to many, the Eckt once more became a peaceful trader, seeking a customer.

“I would ask you human, how do you know of Zazt?”

“He has been helping me, and suggested you might be able to help with a problem I have.”

Haskins was sending a human to him for help? After the fiasco last year? That damned Korkari had nerve, not to mention more sense. “And how is my young friend?”

“Young? Ser Haskins is old for a Korkari, he deserves the title for his age alone. You know that though.”

The answer came back immediately, and carried an undertone of surprised pique at a test, as well as a modicum of amusement. The human wasn’t stupid then, and she did indeed appear to know Haskins.

“Forgive me human, indeed as Korkari go Ser Haskins is a good age, although it is worth remembering such things are relative, I for example am much older than Haskins is, so I can call him my young friend. Still enough of trick questions, did he give you a message for us?” This would be the acid test then.

Ashai grinned and spoke. “Actually he did, he had me memorise it. It was, Portal is holding, mortar is strong, flower is but budding, water of life afore nightfall comes. The Stream sings its blessing. Destiny is but history for some. The message that Haskins had given her was very vague, but obviously gave the Eckt information in code. It all made her wonder just what the old Korkari was into, and she hoped her curiosity would be rewarded. The male Eckt listened to the message then relaxed further.

“Come through to the back please human, Foithar would you lock up please, while I see how we can assist Zazt's young friend. So human your message tells me that Zazt did send you to us, and asks that we assist you, also that he is well. But it doesn’t tell me why, or what Zazt has told you about us?”

Ashia thought that Poftan was intrigued now, not that she was any judge of an Eckt facial expression, it was more his tone. Key had told her the core of any good lie is truth so quickly Ashai revised her recent history.

“Zazt has been a friend of mine since I was a young child. I escaped the riots last year and worked as a herder. We were raided by the Dtilla. I survived but lost almost everything. I got back to Talont and Zazt helped me a great deal already. I need a new ID, so he sent me to you, but I don’t know anything about you.”

“You lost your possessions including your ID and need a new ID. Why not just arrange to have your old ID reissued? That is easily done. For Zazt to involve us means your problem is more unusual than missing ID, you need a false ID, so why? What trouble have you got into?”

Ashai winced at the Eckt’s perception although she wasn’t surprised. Stupid criminals get caught after all, but she still wanted to tell the Eckt as little as possible.

“Trouble with the Cobalts, and I need to leave Yasm.” she replied. Poftan looked at her intently waiting to see if she would tell him more but when the human said no more he nodded. There was obviously a lot more of a story there but she had told him enough. No one would actively want Grinder after them. No doubt going off world seemed like a good solution to the young female.

“Well I think we can help you Ashai, a new ID is certainly possible.” Poftan said before Foithar interrupted him as she returned.

“What Haskins didn't tell you Ashai, is that we deal in all manner of items, including entertainment products but Poftan here is also expert in data manipulation, and can build an ID with little difficulty for a price of course. The price is to reimburse us for both Poftan’s work, as well as the risk to us of becoming involved in your dealings. You’re fortunate that we have dealt with Haskins for years, for anyone else the cost of helping you with your gang related problem would be substantially higher. We don’t know you, but we know him, and Zazt has been helpful to us, so yes we can sort out an ID for you. The cost will be 6000 creds, and before you say anything we don't negotiate. Take it or leave it.”

“I'll take it.”

“Good doing business with you Ashai. I’ll leave you here with Poftan, as I have some other business to take care of. The basics won’t take long to construct, but hacking the Administration’s systems and modifying their data can take hours. I'll see you later Ashai.”

With that Foithar gathered up her colourful cloak to complete her outfit and left the shop. Poftan called Ashai through to the backroom where he sat working at a high powered terminal. He placed a portable palm scanner on the table top.

“Okay Ashai first of all we need to scan your palm print.” The small machine did its job in seconds taking a perfect record of Ashai's palm.

“Okay, now we have your print we need to run a comparison, and check for your records....Hmmm, your palm is unknown, how did you manage that I wonder? Never mind, a story for another time perhaps. Your print doesn’t exist at all, and neither does Ashai Lennox. Hmm, so what we’re doing is creating an identity for you, so that you can make use of the system, rather than taking your existing identity and making you somebody else yes?”

Ashai agreed that his description sounded accurate.

“And you are concerned that you are under threat and want to leave Yasm?” Again Ashai agreed.

“This will be more difficult, the charge is the same, there is no difference in the files we need to access, but I must be more sophisticated about it. It’s going to take some time. I suggest that you take yourself off to the concourse and explore perhaps, come back in about 5 hours. I should be done by then.”

“Thank you Poftan.”

“No human, thank you, I like a challenge, and the mental work out will do me good.”

With that Poftan bade her farewell for the moment and settled into his work. Ashai gathered her pack from where it lay and left TEI. Now seemed like a good time to find somewhere to dispose of the Cobalt's weapons. The first point of call was the local directory board, which after a little bit of coaxing displayed a map of the concourse for her to study and try to plan her movements.

As she worked the directory terminal Ashai pondered where to get rid of the weapons. The problem was she didn’t know enough about the Port. She had never been here before, not many Slum dwellers had the creds to buy anything worthwhile here. The local gangs were, supposed to be more heavily armed and dangerous than the Cobalts, as well as not being human only which meant to her inexperienced gaze anyone could be a ganger.

If the Port was anything like the Slums the local gangs would concentrate in the poorer, rougher areas. Those same areas would be better for losing the evidence as they were the darker areas that security forces don’t like. So if she wanted to dump the parts she would probably risk running into the gangs. Ashai decided it might be better to just try and sell them, perhaps in several shops. That would be safer than blatantly sticking her nose into the gang territory. She scrolled through the directory displays looking for traders marketing weapons and equipment.

The shopping concourse ran North to South in a figure eight. The directory showed that Ashai was on the Ground Floor mall, South East loop. She had arrived at the Port at the Southern most entrance, and made her way North to TEI. Further North the concourse led to the landing and blast pads as well as the main Security checkpoints before accessing the blast pads. Ashai wanted to find a trader that was away from the security points. A quick search showed several dealers and after a second to orientate herself she walked North.

The walk took a few minutes, as she worked her way through the thickening crowds. It was just after midday, and lots of the Terminal’s workforce was taking their lunch breaks, heading to the various eateries from which a melange of cooking smells drifted out. There were, Ashai noticed, a lot fewer humans in the Port, and far more Korkari, as well as a variety of other species. Glancing at a food stall that was serving some type of fish, cooked in spices that would make Korkari drool and humans hurl, she shook her head at something smelling so good being so bad for you. The only reason you would know was a sign warning humans that the food was inedible for them.

It was relatively easy to get through the crowds, and Ashai quickly found the second hand equipment dealer she had seen advertised. The 100 creds the Korkari paid her for the machine pistol and pistol was quite good considering that both were pretty crap as slug throwers go, but from the looks of the gear the dealer was flogging, he was not especially fussy about the merchandise.

As a courtesy she spent a short time browsing his stock to see if there was anything useful, but no golden nuggets were visible amongst the crap so Ashai gave her thanks and headed for the next dealer. The shotgun was a better quality weapon than the pistols had been and she hoped to get a better price at the weapons dealer. It was located on the level above, just North of the central junction on the west side loop, and would again be a few minutes walk.

By the time she got there lunch break was over for most and the upper concourse was fairly quiet. Despite the awful name Hooters Shooters, the shop had a far more professional feel to it. Clean and well lit, the walls were lined with secure display cabinets stocking a wide range of guns, both energy weapons and projectile. Hooter was human in his mid fifties with a bulbous nose, which dominated his face, which was lined and blotchy from drink.

Hooter was sober enough to drive a hard bargain, as well as be a complete creep and leer at her breasts when he thought she couldn’t see it. Ashai left 250 creds richer, with some space in the pack, and the urge to beat the shit out of the storekeeper. Only the sure knowledge that if she turned she would see him leering at her rear stopped her. That in turn just made her feel humiliated and she could feel a flush rising. Ashai walked away, searching for a way back down to the ground floor, out of the Hooter’s gaze.

Back on the ground floor she spotted a drinks stall and stopped to settle her nerves and her temper. She ordered a steaming Hi Caff and not feeling like being watched settled herself in the rear corner of the shop, her back to the wall, to wait for her drink. The shop was quiet now, and taking advantage of the space at her table Ashai rearranged her pack. The contents were pretty sparse all things considered, just her equipment, no clothes, or even wash gear, she had made do with the Hotel 27s amenities that morning. With a glum feeling Ashai decided that she really ought to do some shopping, which was not something she had ever enjoyed, or ever really had the credits to do either.

“Key, umm do you think it’s a little odd to be travelling with no clothes in my pack? Hound is fantastic but I think having the armour for clothes all the time is going to look weird. How do I explain dressing differently to people if I don’t have any clothes? I think I will have to buy some clothes and then wear them with Hound either in passive mode, or as the plain body suit under my clothes. Does that make sense?”

Yes Ashai it does. It’s sensible not to rely on Hound for clothing, especially as the choices are limited to form fitting clothing. Having your own clothes would be practical as well as helping you to develop your own sense of style, and having some variety.

“Sense of style? I just meant it would be weird having no clothes is all.”

Ashai you’re thinking like Rin you were, not the woman you are. How you feel about yourself can be influenced by your clothes. You know this already, think about why you modified the default combat suit. How did the original body suit make you feel?

“Exposed, I thought I’d draw way to much attention and that was scary, I didn’t want, and do not want hordes of gangers thinking about me with their cocks. I mean I looked fantastic which was cool, but having people see me like that? No Way. Not Happening.”

And how do you feel in your combat suit as you have modified it to be?

“Well it made me feel protected I guess, not so much on display for the world, but I still think I looked pretty good. I looked more intimidating as well, stronger, and that was good for my confidence in the slums.”

So then what you wear affects how you feel. So what will you wear when you want to feel sexy and have men drool at your feet? What will you wear when you want to feel empowered and be the Prime you are? What will you wear when you need to lead or command your forces? Do your want their love and lust to be the reason they follow you, respect? Fear? All of these can be influenced by what you wear and how you feel.

Ashai started to feel a little panicked at where Key was leading with her questions.

“Stop Key! I totally don’t want to think about that stuff now. I don't want guys following me around drooling. Maker, I don’t know anything about being a woman. I confess I love the body, I feel awesome, strong, light, flexible, fast, better than I ever did as a guy. And yes it’s very pleasurable as well, but I’m not ready for thinking about sex with guys, gross, or leading armies like some general or something. Leave me be okay?”

I’m sorry Ashai, I wasn’t trying to upset you, or force anything on you. You will become used to your new form in time, and we are always here for you.

There was the sensation of a mental hug from Key and a fierce sense of being protected from Hound. Ashai found the panic ebbing away at the reassurance.

“I know Key, I’m sorry for being upset, it’s just so new. I’m just not used to thinking of myself as a girl or a woman yet, and well it’s just a bit much for me, thinking about what I should wear to get a man in my bed. I know I’ll get used to it sooner or later, but for now I’ll just concentrate on the basics. I know what you meant, and I do get it. I do need some basic clothes, and other ...stuff. Sigh I guess some shopping is in order.”

Calm again, Ashai sat at her table and watched the world go by as she slowly drank her hi caff, wondering what clothes she would need, and wear to find them. She decided that once she had finiished her drink that she would find the nearest directory and try her hand at shopping. It promised to be a whole new experience.