Chapter 4

"Be advised you are approaching Alliance territory. Identify yourself." The voice spoke coldly and matter of factly over the comms.

Morgan Gaisler sat in the Excalibur's operations room, flanked by command crew at their stations. He casually tapped at the control panel on the arm rest. A beep indicated the channel opening.

"This is Captain Morgan Gaisler of the Starship Hellbent Federation Excalibur. We have been authorized to enter Alliance territory for a joint operation with Alliance Avalon."

Another beep indicated the end of transmission.

The crew waited patiently for a response.

Jorge Rutan, the compliance officer on temporary posting, was fidgeting with his grey uniform. "What's taking so long?"

Morgan looked back over his shoulder. "They're just confirming with the Avalon."

"It shouldn't take this long."

"Relax."

Jorge seemed to be growing more nervous. "What if something's wrong? There's a reason we try to minimize contact outside the Federation."

"You worry too much."

Morgan console beeped. "See?" He tapped a command into the armrest, and a large screen showed an older woman with short red hair, standing and looking towards the crew through the display.

"Captain Mariam Lancaster of the Alliance Avalon."

Morgan stood. "Captain Morgan Gaisler, Hellbent Federation Excalibur."

"Pleased to meet you, Captain. I'm looking forward to working together."

"Likewise."

"You're only a few hours from Delta gate. You can meet with us there. Unfortunately, the gate is currently offline."

"It's offline?"

"Yes, the timing is quite unfortunate, but it's completely out of my control—it's undergoing transmission upgrades."

"How long will that take?"

"No more than two days. In the mean-time, I would like to take this opportunity to extend an open invitation to you and your crew to join us on the Avalon. It would be good to meet face to face. It's going to be a long trip to Clarion, and we should get to know each other."

"That's not a bad idea."

"Great. I think you might find the Avalon to be a nice change of pace."

****

Yureky walked across the airlock towards the Muramasa. The second gate opened with a hiss, revealing the interior of his ship. The airlock opened directly into the cockpit, a spacious chamber with five chairs, one of them larger, built for the alien Tuj, and two of them fitted with neural link-ups. Yureky's engineer, Anjo, sat in the third. Anwar was a new member of the team, and he stood out from the rest by looking compeltely ordinary -no implants, bionic enhancements, or tattoos, and no weapons slung over his body. He was inconspicuous, light brown skinned with a small frame. Anjo looked over to Yureky as he entered the ship.

"What's up, Annie?" Yureky smiled as he met Anjo's eyes.

"Wish you wouldn't call me that." Anjo looked mildly offended.

"Why not?"

"It's not my name," Anjo answered quickly. "And it's a girl's name."

"It's just a nickname," Yureky replied.

"But it's not even shorter." Anjo threw up his hands. "You might as well just call me by my real name."

"It's a little easier to say," Yureky grinned wryly. "Annie. Rolls off the tongue a little better."

Yureky sighed defeatedly. "So how'd the deal go?"

"Well," Yureky hung on the open doorway, "looks like we worked something out -two month job. Low-risk—maybe. Still waiting to hear from Lujin. She in yet?"

"Haven't seen her."

"Cutter on board?"

"Yea, he's in the shop."

"Alright," Yureky stepped away from the airlock and towards the hall that extended from the back of the cockpit.

"Tell Lujin to come talk to me when you see her."

"Will do."

Yureky walked down the length of the hall to the rear of the ship, and opened the door to the chop-shop. The room was used for surgery and cybernetics operations. It was a worthwhile investment for the crew—an onboard room for medical procedures and maintenance for all of Yureky, Lujin, and Wojek various implants. Yureky hired Cutter years back to work full-time from the shop on the Muramasa. Cutter was an experienced hacker... he'd spent most of his life illegally modifying human bodies and brains. He specialized in wetware computing and cybernetic systems, and dabbled in bionic enhancements. Most of his work was for the crew, but lately he'd been taking private clients to the shop to earn a little extra on the side.

The door slid open and Yureky leaned in. "Good news."

Cutter's stubbled face looked up from the screen at his desk. "What's up?"

"We're two months on call—that means you got some time to clean this place up." The chop-shop was a mess.

Equipment was lying around haphazardly. A tangle of wires extended from several computer consoles. The surgical table was covered in syringes, vials, and spare implants. Medical tools hung from hooks on the ceiling, some of them grotesquely spotted with dried blood.

Cutter looked around the room. "I've been busy lately."

"I know you're taking on extra work... but try to keep the place in better shape."

Cutter looked slightly offended, but smiled. "Hey, I don't tell you how to do your job."

"Yea, well, when you start paying me then you can."

"You don't wanna get on my bad side," Cutter joked, "I mean, I'm probably gonna be opening your head soon—wouldn't want something to go wrong."

"Very funny. But seriously, I feel like we should keep the place a bit cleaner. I know you're busy, I just thought I should mention it before it becomes problem."

"But it's my shop, right?"

"Yea, but I'm the captain."

"Yea, but the shop is mine, right?"

"Yea. That's right."

"Well then?"

"Okay. I'm not telling you as your captain, then. I'm asking you as a colleague."

"Why do you care?"

Yureky stopped to think about it. "I guess it's becauseI don't know if this makes sense to you. But the 'Masa feels like part of me -it's like a part of my body. When I'm plugged in, it is my body. It just doesn't feel right with the mess in here."

"I never really thought of it like that."

"Yea, it's kind of like..." Yureky grinned, "You wouldn't take a shit without wiping your ass, right?"

Cutter laughed. "So what you're saying is this is the asshole of the ship?"

"Why do you think I put you in the back?" Yureky and Cutter laughed. "Seriously, though. Maybe this is a better way to explain it. Next time you feel like you need a showe... that's kind of how I feel when I come in here and see stuff lying around."

"Alright, I got it. But you know, I've been really busy. High demand around here lately."

"It's okay, I get it. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty or anything. Just try to find some time to keep the room in better shape."

"Okay."

Yureky paused in thought for a moment, "you think it would help to get another pair of hands in here... a permanent assistant?"

Cutter slowly formed a one-sided smile. "That could be alright."

"Well, we got two months on Blue Sky. Shop around, see who's looking for a job. Maybe we can work something out."

"Sounds like a great idea, actually. I'd be in charge, of course?"

"Right." Yureky nodded. "I'm sure Lujin could appreciate having a 'borg tech around."

Yureky heard the sound of heavy approaching footsteps from behind the metallic noise echoed in the chamber hallway. He turned to see Lujin, Wojek's twin sister, walking towards him.

"Speak of the devil."

Technically, Lujin was genetically identical to Wojek but it was impossible to tell. Unlike her sister Tuj, Lujin had nearly fully replaced her frail biology with mechanical upgrades. She was visually indistinguishable from a metallic android, with a shiny, armored outer core, and permanently attached weaponry. Her brain remained, and most of her spinal column. Beyond that, she was entirely machine. Like Yureky and her sister, Lujin had similarly styled "tattoos", but lacking flesh, hers had been laser-etched on to her metallic body. Lujin wore combat armor like the rest of the crew, even though her metallic body offered more protection, and her extensive modifications left her without a need to wear clothing for the purposes of modesty.

Lujin opened her robotic mouth. "Hey 'Tek," the simulated voice matched the one that her former vocal cords had produced.

"What's up?" Yureky asked. "Any luck?"

"Yes."

"So—what's the scoop? What'd you find out?"

"She's a wormhole hunter."

"Sure about that?"

"Pretty sure." Lujin nodded. "She's got dual wormhole drives and a few dozen probes on board. Minimal weapons... a few defensive systems. Good long range scanners and comms. Stealth systems, jammers."

"Fits the profile for a wormhole hunter."

"Yep."

"Any thoughts on who she's workin' for?"

"No soctel, sorry. But, based on the specs I'd say she's independent. Maybe a contractor but I doubt it. Looks like a highly customized ship. Modifications done over ten years at least, parts from different sectors. If she was working for someone I don't think she'd be moving around so much and doing all the mods herself."

"Okay, so we're working for an independent wormhole hunter."

Anjo had leaned into the hall and was listening in on their conversation. "Is that good or bad?"

"There's pros and cons." Yureky stopped for a moment. "It means she was telling the truth when she said she was tryin' to lay low. But if she runs into trouble, it could get real messy."