Chapter 43
Trove
Trusting Tanin was something they all did inherently.
He had forged their bonds through violence and blood – both theirs and others – while on Rik-Vane.
They devoted themselves to him completely even now that they were out, and he kept them safe and free.
Nowadays, there was less violence and blood, but it was still an option.
Point being, Trove wasn’t very happy about Hyde, but if Tanin agreed to work for him, then Trove would devote himself to completing the job like it had been his own idea. They all would. That was part of what made their bonds so strong – they refused to let them be broken.
So, really, he was only listening as Hyde talked. He was curious as to what the strange person would be offering them, but at the end of the day, it didn’t really matter to him. It was up to Tanin what they were going to do.
“I have a goal,” Hyde started simply. “I have my own ambitions.
Separate from my title as High Imperium.
I am honored to serve in this role, but it is confining.
I command armies, but they cannot move for me as I desire.
I am kept in check by my brethren. If I begin selfishly using Coalition resources for something they consider pointless and wasteful, I will be removed from my position.
And I have many things I still want to do in it, so it would be a great loss to me.
“The funds I have gathered, however, my personal resources are another story. I can use those as I please and they can think it wasteful all they like, but they cannot stop me from doing so.”
Trove couldn’t stop himself from looking surprised. It was the first time he had heard the Imperium speak of other vitulli. Theoretically, he knew there had to be others. They were replaced at times, and they couldn’t be immortal. There had to be other vitulli.
But the Imperium had never confirmed that before. They spoke of their people as a concept, not as real, living beings with thoughts and opinions. It was strange to hear.
“Another thing that limits me, however, is myself. I cannot simply go wherever I want. I cannot do the things needed to accomplish my personal goals. I am bound to my position. In ways you perhaps would understand very well. But I won’t bother you with the explanations.
You only need to know that I have the power to make others move, but not the power to move myself.
“And that is where you come in. I need you to work for me as Hyde, not as the High Imperium.
I need you to become my hands. I will not ask you to die for me, though I will ask you to put yourself at risk.
I will not demand you do something if you absolutely refuse, but I will ask you to do things that are very difficult.
“I will also compensate you greatly. I will pay for all of your expenses while you are working for me. I will clean up any messes you make – within reason. But I trust you not to become wild and out of control. You have proven your self-control to me, so I know you will not do something you can avoid. But if you cannot, you don’t need to fear the end of your free life. ”
Trove shared a look with Sway. Both of them were trying to keep their expressions blank, but he understood exactly what Sway was thinking, just as he knew he understood what he thought as well. It was obvious to both of them.
Because Hyde was saying a lot of good things. But he hadn’t given them details yet. Which meant he wanted them hooked and interested enough to not refuse when it came to what all that would cost.
“What do you want, Hyde?” Tanin asked bluntly.
“Three things. First: I need you to fetch something from a forbidden part of space where no one is allowed to travel, take nothing else from that area, and tell no one the things you see there.
“Second: I need you to bring something to the head of an organization of assassins that I do believe you, especially Sorbet and Tebros, are very familiar with.
“And finally: I need you to infiltrate and destroy Rik-Vane.”
The entire group froze.
Trove stared at the black cowl of the High Imperium and tried to think of something to say.
Destroy Rik-Vane?
“These are not easy tasks, I know. But I will compensate each completed assignment greatly. You can negotiate all the credz you want. Enough to let you all retire for the rest of your lives if you want. But that’s not enough to move you, I know. For each job, I will give you a different prize.”
“For the first job: I will give you your identities. I will make it so that the names you use now are the only ones that exist. No further hiding. No further worries. The peacekeepers, no matter how hard they look or dig, will never find your original identities. It will be like they never existed.”
That was no small prize. The false identities they purchased were good ones. They were great ones, in fact. Captain Ikvar of the peacekeepers needed quite a bit of time and resources to look through them to the real people beyond.
But they were still fakes. Except for Tanin, all of them were at risk.
If someone who wasn’t as merciful as Ikvar or Hyde figured out their identities, their lives could be forfeit.
They wouldn’t be able to be licensed to do anything, buy homes, or live simple, easy lives.
Being the crew of a starship was really their only option because it was the only lifestyle that didn’t come with identity investigations.
He was giving them options. Opportunities. An open future. Like their pasts had been completely wiped clean and they had anything they wanted ahead of them.
“For the second job: I will give you the resources and supplies that you need in order to build Alred his body.”
Once again, they all froze.
How much did Hyde know?
Alred was an AI now. But before his brain and consciousness had been transplanted into code, he had been a real, living person.
His species had long gone extinct. Those that remained were all like Alred – technological people.
They were all content with that life. Alred had been content with that life for thousands of years.
Until their females came into their lives.
When Garnet and Goldie arrived, the two of them brought a great many changes. Including a new dissatisfaction to Alred’s existence.
Because he might have more power and ability than he could ever imagine as a computer. But he couldn’t hold his female. He couldn’t mate her. He couldn’t please her.
And having recently discovered how incredible that was, Trove understood much more now just how desperate he was to make that happen.
In theory, Alred could easily rebuild his body. He had a sample of his own DNA, preserved for all these thousands of years within his core, which he could use to regrow all of it.
But what they lacked was the ability.
The technology did exist to regrow organs and limbs. But those sort of medical grade facilities were far out of their reach. And they tended to focus on one thing at a time, not an entire body. The sheer amount of power, raw ingredients, and technology necessary to build Alred…
It was a long goal of theirs that they very well might never realize. One they had been working towards knowing full well it could be impossible.
But someone who could give them access was a person as wealthy and well-connected as Hyde.
“And for destroying Rik-Vane, I will be more personal. I will offer each of you a favor. You may ask anything of me, and if it’s within my power, it will be yours.”
Those were all big promises. The last one wasn’t as stunning as the second at first glance, but the possibility of it was as incredible as Trove’s imagination could allow.
Whatever he wanted that the High Imperium could give.
There were a lot of things in that category.
Trove could think of many immediately off the top of his head.
The problem wasn’t thinking of something to ask for, it was narrowing it down to only one.
That wasn’t an inconsiderable offer. Adding it to the other two things made those three jobs suddenly seem not so bad.
He wasn’t a fool though. He knew very well that any place called ‘forbidden’ was called that for a reason. The people Sorbet and Tebros used to work for were currently, actively, trying to hunt them down, and bringing their leader something was certainly going to be difficult.
And destroying Rik-Vane…
Honestly, that was the only thing that seemed relatively easy.
They had already survived and conquered that place.
It was an old, run down station that was barely being kept functioning.
The only reason any maintenance was performed there was because, as terrible as all those people were, they still wanted to live.
Going to Rik-Vane was the very last option for those who, no matter what, wanted to preserve their lives.
Surviving there was a constant struggle.
It wasn’t a good life. By all measurements, there was nothing really worth fighting for to keep living there.
But they all did it anyway. Once you reached Rik-Vane, you’d already done so much to live, you were already in deep enough to keep fighting to continue doing so.
And because people there still wanted to live, it behooved them to make sure the station’s vital functions continued.
Vytln had learned his mechanical skills being one of those who repaired the station.
The only things that were really kept running smoothly were the power core, the gravity generator, the air circulators, and the water recyclers.
Beyond that, there were no attempts by anyone to keep the station going. And the maintenance that was done was almost always repairs, not actual maintenance. People like Vytln kept things going, but nothing was truly stabilized.
If they wanted to undo all that, to break that station, truly, it wouldn’t be hard.
But still, hearing that request made Trove pause.
He wasn’t the only one either. The others were all exchanging glances. There was a lot to read on their faces. Sway almost looked eager at the idea. Rok seemed uncomfortable. Tanin, as he ever was, remained impassive.
“What do you want from this forbidden spot in space?” Tanin asked simply.
“I will tell you if you accept the job. If you do not, I will not reveal the secrets of that place or what it means.”
“What do you want given to this assassin head?”
“Let’s call it a message.”
Tanin grunted in understanding. “What do you gain from destroying Rik-Vane?”
“The core.”
“The core?”
“Space stations are incredibly complex pieces of technology. The species that builds those do not reveal how they’re created.
It’s fully proprietary, completely secret, and fiercely protected.
Typically, if a space station is decommissioned, they will send people to dismantle all of their technology and equipment, and to harvest the core.
“The only one they have given up on, the only one they have considered lost, is Rik-Vane. Any attempts they’ve made to go there have ended in death. Rik-Vane, therefore, is the only station where I can get my hands on a station core.”
“Why do you want a station core?” Tanin asked.
“I need it,” was all Hyde said, and Tanin didn’t press further.
He got the information that he needed.
To get their identities confirmed and solidified, they had to go somewhere dangerous and get something secret and take that secret to their graves.
To get Alred’s body, they had to deal with an assassin that wanted to kill them.
And to get their boons, they had to destroy something they all hated anyway.
They’d done worse for less.
That was Trove’s first thought as he considered what they would be getting in return.
Because it wasn’t just the boons, they were still getting paid as well.
Even better, their expenses were covered.
Hyde was offering more than anyone ever had, or ever would, for dangers they had taken on for much less in the past.
Trove knew he wasn’t the only one to have the same thought. A quick look around told him that most of the others had been convinced by the offers Hyde had given them. Goldie, in particular, looked particularly determined.
Tanin looked to one side. Then looked to the other. He caught their eyes and, without asking a single question, understood their stances.
He looked back at Hyde.
“Okay. You have a deal.”