INFINITUM GALAXUS 

 

BLOODTIES II

 

The scorched sand of Que'ha flicked up behind our ship as we made our way across it’s surface. We stayed close to the planet’s surface, taking in the sight of it’s harshness. Every now and again, mountainous skeletons of creatures rose from the sands, half buried.

The old inhabitants of the planet before it became barren, I thought.

Local archaeologists called them Ker’tar and believed that they lived millions of years ago. Their bone density was so great that even to this day they still stand, refusing to crumble under the weight of time. The density was so great because it had to support the gigantic creatures under the planet’s own gravity. They were suspected of going extinct due to the lack of food to maintain their mass. Understandable. When you’re that big it would probably take millions of kilojoules to survive even a day. 

I looked away from the ship's front view and down to my brother. He had a holographic display of the planet up and was doing calculations. The first thought that came to my head was 'nerd' quickly followed by 'genius'. There really wasn’t any other word to describe him, aside from compassionate. For a fourteen-year-old he was able to program navigation equations into the ship in his head, taking into account every single factor that could possibly be thought of. Longitude, latitude, height, speed, and angle - everything. His brain was a supercomputer at this point, and that was just for planet navigation. In space, his coordinates were never off, not even by an inch. Usually, people use the Infinitum Galaxus, a hyperlight highway or a literal supercomputer to program coordinates into a ship and the ship does the rest. 

I think his superior intellect is thanks to our mother. She died a couple of years before dad got the ship but she taught us everything she knew. We all loved her very much and it hit us hard when she passed on. But just like everything else in the universe, over time her body will become the stars in space and we will never truly be without her. That thought always warmed my heart. Before her passing, she gave my brother some extra lessons and made him a genius. He was always into the science aspect of the universe so it’s no doubt he got into it. Even after mum went he continued to replay her lessons over and over and study. It was kinda nice in a way. Sort of like mum never really left and that she lives on in him. 

“Coming up on the meeting point," He said.

I looked ahead and saw a gigantic Ker'tar skeleton with bonfires lit around it. The dual suns that circled the planet were descending upon the horizon with their light dimming into a whimper before fading completely. As night came around, the sky would light up with the rest of the galaxy. It was always my favorite part of that planet. Down here, the void I feared seemed so small as the stars filled the gaps between it. We entered the skeleton of the monstrous creature through its mouth. Jagged teeth lined its long mouth and bonfires lit up its four eye sockets.

Inside was a small settlement, unlike the shantytown. This one had had a tower straight up the middle of the skeleton that connected the ground to the creature's spine. A small colony of buildings around its base made up houses, shops and storage containers. A mass of people swarmed the town in what appeared to be a shopping district. Vehicles like Pathfinders and vagrants filled the air above the town transporting people around to landing zones like taxis. At the back of the small city were many mining vehicles chipping away at the bone and lugging it to storage buildings.

The Ker'tar bone, being extremely dense, was often refined and used in melee weaponry like hammers and swords. It would be refined and ground up before being infused into the metal that made the weapons, making them extremely hard to break. Only a few minerals on the same level as diamonds were able to even mine the stuff. With all the money made from mining this stuff you’d think Del Vahn could afford to make his settlement into a city. Obviously he has other uses for his money, probably personal. Either way, he was someone to be feared. Our ship pulled up next to the tower landing pad and slowly descended to the platform. Personnel guided us down with their glowing sticks. I shut the engines off and hopped out of my seat, walking past Kol.

He grabbed my arm as I passed,  “Do you think we will be okay?” His voice was shaky.

I smirked, “We'll be fine. Dad knew this guy and has done business with him before. This should be a breeze"

Kol’s composure was still uneasy but he seemed to trust my words. Poor kid, he was shaking in his boots. This was the first transaction we would have done together and it was with a big-time crime lord. For both our sakes, I had to believe my own words and reassure myself. Before we dealt with small-time thugs but this guy was the real deal. Dad dealt with him so surely we can. 

We aren’t dad though.

A negative thought invaded my mind driven by anxiety. I pushed it to the back of my mind and regained my composure, appearing as confident as I could manage. For someone like Del Vahn, I couldn't show any fear. Approaching the loading bay I asked Kudo to open the bay doors and extend the ramp. Once that was done, Del Vahn’s men entered and began unloading the cargo we'd been carrying onto the dock, while Kol and I walked out to meet with one of Del Vahn’s men. He was a Taxilarian, his face resembled some sort of goblin with a drooping nose, pointy ears and a few teeth protruding from the sides of its mouth. He wore a fancy suit but was short. Without a word he beckoned us to follow him through a large metal door and into some hallways filled with fancy paintings and antiquities. White marble lined the walls and was almost blinding to look at. We entered an elevator at the end of the hallway and watched as the Taxilarian thumbed the elevator button for the penthouse. 

Of course, he has the penthouse, I thought.

We watched as the elevator buttons lit up one at a time as we were lifted to the penthouse. 

The doors slid open and straight ahead was a lounge room. It was wide open and had a water feature to the left as we entered. A large open window replaced the wall straight ahead, with a view of the settlement. In front of that window was a very large holo TV and down a small set of steps was a Lounge with a mans head, bobbing with laughter over the top. He had short, refined hair but I wasn't able to make out much else. On the sides of the room were guards in tight suits that barely hid their hulking bodies, watching the man like hawks. A woman approached us, she wore glasses and had her red hair tied up in a bun at the back. A small beauty mark was just under the right side of her lip and her skin a soft caramel color. She also had a fancy suit on, wearing a skirt and leggings rather than pants. She held a holopad in her hand and looked up at us after fiddling on it for a bit. She was very attractive. 

“I assume you are the Jin brothers?” She asked, her voice confident and professional

“yeah, we are. And who might you be cutie?” I replied coyly.

Kol elbowed my ribs. The woman didn't react 

The woman didn't react, “I am Kira, Del Vahn’s assistant. I am very well respected around here as well. I'm going to assume you didn’t know since you made such a remark," She pursed her lips slightly, "I'll allow you to apologize." 

I scratched the back of my head upon realising my mistake and apologised. Kol scowled at me. 

“Thank you. Follow me please," She said quickly and turned, her heels clicking on the floor.

We followed her. 

Kol leaned into my ear, “What is wrong with you? We meet a girl at a transaction and you can’t help but try flirt with her?” 

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I don’t know what came over me" I replied quietly.

It was true, that the moment I looked at her my anxiety seemingly disappeared, the words simply rolled off my tongue. Perhaps it was young naivety but my brother didn’t seem to feel the same so maybe that wasn't the case at all.

What happened back there?

We approached the lounge and sitting there laughing was Del Vahn. He wore a dark purple suit with a short golden shoulder cape slung over his left arm. His face had red tattoos and his eyes were mismatched. He had a very thin, angular face with a large grin. His feet were up on a small glass coffee table, one crossed over the other. He saw us and gestured for us to sit and we did. He continued to watch his show without speaking. The show appeared to be a comedy cartoon, we sat as his laughter and giggling rose and lowered. After a short time, he turned off the tv and sat forward. 

“Don’t you just love cartoons?” 

I tried to appear confident and nodded, but it was clear that he saw right through me. 

“So. You’re the Jin brothers," 

He said pointing at me with a bony finger.

“I have to say you look so much like your father... uh."

“Aine."

His assistant filled in the gap and Del Vahn clicked his fingers with a smile and pointing at her. 

“Aine! That’s it. Your father told me so much about you.” 

He let out a laugh. There was something about this guy that was unsettling to me. He was notorious for being dangerous and vicious but the man in front of us was friendly and upbeat. My mind raced with uncertainty, trying to pick apart the man in front of me, attempting to find what was frightening me. It’s like my brain was trying to prepare me for the crime lord to be this big bad guy, but it didn’t know where to start. 

He sat back with his smile widening, “You seem shocked."

He hit the nail on the head. I attempted to speak but my voice wouldn’t come out so I cleared my throat and tried again. 

“I just... didn’t expect this."

The man laughed once more, “Well this is your first time doing business with me, and I wouldn’t want to scare away potential business partners” 

He leaned forward. His upbeat composure breaking. 

“Although I can assure you," His voice lowered, "Everything you may or may not have heard about me is true. I am not someone you want to fool around or mess with" 

That’s what I was looking for. His serious, menacing attitude. That’s what my brain was trying to prepare me for. He crossed one leg over the other. 

“So what have you brought me today? I was told that it is something I’d be very interested in"  

My eyes locked onto his, I didn’t want to miss anything if he decided to act out.

“We brought you some refined Arkdust. Fresh from Arkadus seven” 

I pulled a small vial out from my pocket of the stuff. It glittered in the light like a liquid with flecks of metal in it. Del Vahn seemed interested so I let him know him what it could do. 

“As you know liquid diamond is very good at cutting away the bone of the Ker'tan fossils lying around this place. But this refined Arkdust can cut through it like butter" 

Del Vahn was definitely interested, a grin came across his face. 

“And how much have you brought me?”

“Enough to harvest a whole skeleton," Kol said suddenly, his voice breaking a little. 

Del Vahn raised an eyebrow, “Well well if that’s the case I’d say we have a transaction." 

Kol and I smiled at one another.

“Except”

Our smiles were lost as Del Vahn rose from his seat. 

“Your father and I had done business in the past and before he disappeared he decided to mess with me." 

Dad did? What did he do to this guy?

Del Vahn turned to us. A frown accompanied his face and he unbuttoned his shirt revealing a large scar running down the middle of his body. I felt my jaw drop. 

“It appears you understand now," He muttered.

He approached us with his shirt flowing behind him. His face began to morph into a vicious sharp appearance with fangs and glowing red eyes. He grabbed Kol’s collar and lifted him up into the air. 

“You are going to pay for what your father did to me,” Del Vahn growled.

I moved forward on instinct and attempted to lunge at him but before I knew it I was pinned to the floor by his assistant. Her knee pushing between my shoulder blades and my right arm twisted behind me. I gritted my teeth in pain and looked up seeing Del Vahn raising his hand to Kol’s throat, nails extending. 

“Wait! I can repay you!” I called out with the last of my breath.

I drew Del Vahn’s attention, whimpering as I struggled to breathe. Del Vahn flicked his head and the assistant got off me and stood me up. Del Vahn dropped Kol and his guards quickly surrounded him. He lifted a sharp nail from his bony finger to my throat.

“How will you repay me, hm? I can go to Arkadus and simply take the Arkdust if I wanted so what have you got to offer me?” 

I looked down at Kol who was exasperated and looking back with wide eyes. I returned my gaze to Del Vahn. 

“Take the Arkdust, free of charge”

Del Vahn snarled at me and pushed his claw to my throat. I attempted to lean back and avoid them. At that moment a voice crackled over a radio clasped to the belt on one of the guards. He was speaking fast and fanatically, the guard quickly hushed it but it caught Del Vahn’s attention, thank God. 

“What did they say?” He snarled.

The guard turned his radio back on and asked the person on the other end to repeat. The voice came in and out of static crackling

“We found... it looks old... building... temple... people dead... need help." 

Del Vahn looked away then back at me. His face returning to normal and a grin covered his face ear to ear. 

“I know how you can repay me."