Quantum Chaos: A Roak: Galactic Bounty Hunter Novel Read online

  3.

  Roak found himself standing on a moltrans platform in a room filled with Cervile troopers. All troopers had their weapons casually held down by their legs, none looking even the least concerned that the galaxy's most deadly bounty hunter had just been transported instantly before them.

  Roak wasn't surprised. The Cervile ego was legendary, at least amongst the elite. Roak would have to kill a quarter of them before the others truly became alarmed.

  "Nice moltrans," Roak said. "I don't feel like puking at all. You have the new tech."

  "There have been great strides these last few months," the Cervile from the tavern said. "It's helped us with our exodus."

  "Exodus?" Roak asked.

  "Not my place to tell you," the Cervile said. She stepped off the platform and smiled at Roak, making sure he saw her very sharp teeth. "Meshara. Personal attaché and security companion of Queen Tala Berene, at your service."

  "She became queen? How?" Roak asked. "There were quite a few before her in the line of succession."

  "Yes. Were," Meshara replied. "Come along, Roak. The Queen awaits."

  Roak had no idea what was going on, but he shrugged, stepped off the platform, and followed Meshara as the woman led him to the moltrans room's exit. The Cervile troopers watched him walk by with practiced indifference.

  As soon as Roak was out of the room, he was plunged into chaos.

  There were Cerviles everywhere. The corridor was lined with cots and belongings with many of the cots occupied by not so healthy looking Cerviles. Young Cerviles ran wild up and down the corridor and the adults let them, no one admonishing them or telling them to go run somewhere else, which was very un-Cervile-like.

  "Something happened," Roak said.

  "It did," Meshara replied, but didn't offer any further explanation.

  "Hessa?" Roak tried calling over his comm. "Hessa, can you read me?"

  "Sorry, Roak, but comm transmissions are blocked," Meshara said. "All transmissions are blocked, actually. We took an enormous risk moltransing to the ship, but it was the fastest way to get you here and speed is of the essence right now."

  "Why is that?" Roak asked. "Are you being hunted? Because it looks like you're on the run."

  "You really haven't heard?" Meshara asked then shook her head. "I'll let the Queen explain it all."

  Meshara led and Roak followed as they navigated their way through the disheveled throngs of Cerviles that filled each corridor. Even the lifts they took were filled with Cerviles trying to find a little space for themselves.

  It took a long while, but they finally made it to a cleaner area of the ship. The numbers of packed together Cerviles dwindled and the quality of the attire grew. Roak recognized a couple of faces here and there, faces belonging to the Cervile ruling class, as he and Meshara walked the last few meters to a set of massive, ornate double doors.

  Two Cervile guards opened the doors and Meshara gestured for Roak to take the lead. He did and was not surprised to see the massive receiving hall usually reserved exclusively for the queen was also filled with cots and belongings, as well as several depressed and harried looking Cervile nobles.

  At the far end of the receiving hall was a dais that should have had a throne on it, but instead there was just another cot. Although, the cot was more of a four-poster bed.

  Sitting on it cross-legged was a Cervile woman. A Cervile woman staring daggers at Roak.

  "Tala," Roak said. "How deep is this terpigshit I'm in?"

  "You will address her as Queen Tala or Her Majesty!" a guard shouted.

  "Pal, you'll want to just back the fuck down," Roak said without taking his eyes off Tala. "This is my ex-wife, so I'll call her-"

  Several plasma rifles were pointed at Roak's head. Meshara held a blade down close to her leg. Roak could tell out of the corner of his eye she was ready to strike as soon as she needed to.

  Roak waited for Tala to call off the guards and Meshara. She did not.

  "That deep, huh?" Roak said. "Great. Care to tell me why?"

  "Your Majesty?" Meshara asked.

  Tala sighed, uncrossed her legs, and stood up from the bed. She glanced casually at the guards, at Meshara, then finally at Roak.

  "He lives for now," Tala said. "We need him."

  "It's good to be needed," Roak said.

  The guards tensed, but did not fire.

  "Weapons down," Tala said. She stepped from the dais and walked past Roak. "Follow me. I feel the need for a walk. We can talk along the way."

  "Talking and walking is good," Roak said. "Better than bleeding and dying."

  "That may still happen," Tala said. "It will depend on our talk and if you are actually worth keeping alive."

  "Pretty much the theme of our marriage," Roak said. "It'll be fun."

  "Like old times," Tala said. "But with a legitimate option of me killing you at the end."

  "Like I said, it'll be fun," Roak replied.

  He followed Tala as she left the receiving hall. Meshara followed, but the guards were left behind. Roak knew there would be plenty of guards close by as they walked the corridors. Even if he wanted to harm Tala, he'd have a slim to none chance of making that happen. And a zero chance of surviving afterwards.

  They walked down one corridor in silence then another and another.

  Roak waited patiently. He had no choice and knew it.

  "We are divorced, yes?" Tala asked finally.

  "Last I checked," Roak replied.

  "So we are no longer family?"

  "According to Cervile and GF law."

  "Then why, if I may ask, am I still dealing with fucking in-laws?" Tala shouted.

  The Cerviles lining the corridor cringed at the queen's outburst. Some ducked under their cots.

  Roak really wanted to know what in all the Hells had happened to these people.

  "In-laws?" Roak asked. "What do you mean? I don't… Oh… Father."

  "Father," Tala agreed. "He paid us a visit and took our planet. It is gone, Roak."

  "What do you mean it's gone?"

  "Gone. It was there and now it is not."

  "He destroyed it?"

  "Were you not listening? I said he paid us a visit and took it. Took. It. The planet is no longer in our galaxy. It is gone."

  Roak studied the Cerviles around him. They were normally beings that could handle almost anything thrown at them with calm and quite a bit of nerve. These beings were traumatized, terrified, and broken. They'd seen some shit.

  "Tell me what happened," Roak said.

  Tala did.

  She explained how Father had shown up in the guise of one of the Cervile ambassadors returning home from a diplomatic mission. By the time she or anyone realized that the ambassador was not who he was supposed to be and was instead some malicious entity, it was too late.

  The planet shook with severe earthquakes for days. Millions lost their lives before Tala could implement an evacuation plan. She and her council handled it perfectly and got every single remaining Cervile off the planet.

  Then the planet disappeared. It was there one moment and then not. No trace. Nothing.

  "He took a planet?" Roak mused. "Why in all the Hells would he do that? And how in all the Hells did he manage it?"

  "That is why you are here," Tala said. "Why in all the Hells would your Father do that and how did he manage it?"

  "First, not my father," Roak said. "He's just some asshole that raised, trained, and tortured me."

  "And your siblings," Tala said.

  "They aren't my… Fine, sure, and my siblings."

  "Just some asshole or not, he identifies as Father and identifies as your Father, so you better have a solution to this problem."

  "A solution?"

  Roak stopped walking. Tala did not.

  Roak stood there and waited. Tala continued walking.

  Roak kept waiting, Tala kept walking.

  "Eight Million Gods dammit," Roak snarled then jogged to catch up with the queen.<
br />
  "What do you mean, a solution?" Roak asked.

  "What do you mean, what do I mean? A solution. A solution on how you get my planet back."

  "Are you joking? I can't get a planet back. How the fuck would I get a planet back?"

  Meshara hissed from behind them.

  "Show respect," she stated. Nothing but menace dripped from her words.

  "How the fuck would I get a planet back, Your Majesty?" Roak said.

  Meshara pounced. Roak was ready.

  He flipped her over his shoulder, took the knife from her grip, and placed the tip to the fallen Cervile's throat. His eyes stared hard at Tala.

  "Knock it off," Tala said and walked away from them.

  Roak flipped the knife around and offered it to Meshara, handle first. She took it, sheathed it, and held up a hand. Roak grabbed the hand and helped her to her feet.

  He was ready for the punch to the face and dodged that, but he didn't expect the knee coming up at him. Blood exploded from his nose. The Cerviles in the corridor that were unfortunately a little too close to the action began hissing and growling as they wiped Roak’s blood from their fur.

  Roak eventually caught up to Tala once again.

  "Tell me everything," Tala ordered.

  Despite his inclination to tell her absolutely nothing since he flat out refused to be ordered around by his ex-wife, Roak decided that the Cerviles deserved some explanation of what was going on.

  So Roak explained.

  He explained about Father taking over Bishop, about Father ambushing him time and again, about Father stealing hundreds of millions of chits from the Skrang, about Father's order for Roak to find Mother, and he explained about how he was now working loosely with the Galactic Fleet, although more specifically with the Fleet Intelligence Service and Agent Prime, to try to track down Pol Hammon.

  "There's a Mother as well?" Tala asked.

  "Stands to reason," Roak said.

  "Interesting."

  "Could be. Pol Hammon is the priority right now, not Mother."

  "Why Pol Hammon?" Tala asked. "What do you need that dark tech for?"

  "Two reasons," Roak said. "He can crack Bishop's files and I'm certain he's developed tech that might even the playing field."

  "Do you mean the quantum travel tech?" Tala asked. "This ship is equipped with it. The Galactic Fleet obtained that tech after Pol Hammon extorted most of the wealth from the galactic elite, including several Cervile nobles and business beings."

  "No, it's not the quantum travel tech," Roak said. "We have that. Admiral Gerber of the FIS shared that with us. No more trans-space travel through portals. Snap a finger and we're there."

  "Slightly more to it than that," Tala said, sounding a lot like Hessa.

  "Yes, I know," Roak said.

  "Then what is the tech?" Tala asked.

  "That I can't say," Roak said. "And before you get your hackles up, you need to trust that the reason I'm not telling you, or even the FIS or GF, is for everyone's protection. Father has his fingers in too much GF crap that I can't trust that he won't find out. If he does, he'll find Pol first and then we're all screwed."

  "Will this tech get my planet back?"

  Roak thought for a moment then nodded and shrugged.

  "It might. I don't know, but it may be the best shot you have."

  "So helping you find Pol Hammon is in my best interest. Fine. I will help you."

  "What? No. I don't need help. I just need you to let me go. I have a lead."

  "You have a lead?"

  "I have a lead."

  "Is it solid?"

  "As solid as any lead can be. I won't know until I track it down."

  "Which is the one thing you are actually good for."

  "I'm good for a few things. I've grown since we were last together."

  "Grown?"

  "Okay, maybe not grown, but I've…improved."

  "You didn't kill Meshara, so I will partially agree with you."

  "I don't kill if I don't have to."

  "Right…"

  "He wouldn't have stood a chance if we'd continued fighting," Meshara said from behind them.

  "The fight was over as soon as we let him on the ship, Meshara," Tala said. "Roak is the galaxy's best survivor. It was that strength that attracted me to him so long ago."

  "I'm just not a fan of dying," Roak said. "Maybe one day, but not today."

  "Will tomorrow work for you?" Meshara hissed.

  Tala laughed. "I wish I could have a holo feed of the two of you over the next few weeks," Tala said. "It would be more entertaining than Galactic Steve."

  That brought Roak to a screeching halt. Literally, his boots squealed on the floor as he stopped walking. Meshara almost ran into his back.

  "Tala, stop," Roak said. She kept walking. "TALA! STOP!"

  Instantly, Roak had no less than a dozen plasma pistols pressed to his head. He expected that. He knew the route Tala was taking him on had been prepared ahead of time. Meshara would have been shit at her job if she didn't have guards stationed every meter of the way.

  Tala stopped and turned slowly to face Roak.

  "You aren't saying what I think you're saying, are you?" Roak asked.

  "Meshara will be going with you," Tala stated.

  While their marriage hadn't been long, Roak knew the woman well enough that he didn't even try to argue with her. He had zero doubt that if he balked at Meshara traveling with him, he'd have his head filled with plasma.

  "There will be some serious ground rules," Roak said. "The first being that I am in charge at all times."

  "From what I have heard, your AI is the one that tends to be in charge most times," Tala said with a smirk.

  Roak sputtered for a second, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

  "Hessa is my partner, but I am in charge," Roak said. "No argument. No choice. If Meshara comes with me then she falls in line just like everyone else. I can't have variables around that I can't control. Not with how powerful Father is. There is no room for error. Especially if the asshole is taking planets now."

  "Meshara will respect the chain of command," Tala said.

  "I'm the top of that chain, not you," Roak said, pointing a finger at Tala. "She comes with me and her loyalty is to me, my ship, my crew, and the mission."

  "Mission?" Tala laughed. "Don't you mean job?"

  "I have to call it a mission or the FIS won't play holoball," Roak said. "Agent Prime thinks calling it a job makes it too mercenary. I don't give ten terpigshits what it's called as long as everyone knows that they take orders from me."

  "Of course," Tala said. She looked to Meshara.

  "Of course," Meshara agreed.

  "Right…" Roak rolled his eyes and winced at the pain. "Any chance I can get my face fixed? I'm snorting down half my body's worth of blood right now."

  "Lovely image," Tala said. "Meshara? Show Roak to the med bay. Then let him get cleaned up, fed, and ready for you two to travel to his ship."

  "You'll need to let me comm my ship," Roak said. "So they know where to meet us."

  "No need," Tala said. "We have been in contact with your AI and a rendezvous has been arranged. Now, go get fixed, cleaned, and fed. You never know when your next meal will be, right, Roak?"

  "Or when you'll die," Meshara said as she walked past Roak.

  "She's going to be great to work with," Roak said to Tala.

  "I am sure you two will have a grand time," Tala replied and gestured for Roak to follow Meshara.

  Roak followed. He had no choice really.

  And he was a little hungry.

  "You have any gump stew?" Roak called after Meshara. "I could go for a bowl of gump stew."

  4.

  "Their jamming tech was of excellent quality," Hessa said as soon as Roak and Meshara had been moltransed onto Roak's ship, a Borgon Eight-Three-Eight stealth incursion ship. "Of course, not quality enough to keep me out."

  "So you were able to listen to the whole t
hing?" Roak asked. Meshara gave him a look of annoyance and alarm. Roak gave her a smug wink and Meshara's annoyance quickly turned to anger. "What are your thoughts?"

  "Oh, I have many thoughts, Roak," Hessa responded. "The planet's disappearance changes things considerably. That is a factor we have not prepared for. If he can take a planet then what's to stop him from taking a ship? Or many ships? And what tech is he using?"

  "My thoughts exactly," Roak said.

  "I do not enjoy being left out of what sounds like an important conversation," Meshara said.

  "My apologies," Hessa said as she accessed Meshara's comm implant. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Meshara Trelalla."

  Roak was about to leave the moltrans room and head for the bridge, but he stopped just before entering the corridor and turned slowly to face Meshara.

  "You're Trelalla Clan?" he asked.

  "Is that a problem?" Meshara replied.

  "Not at all. Your clan is one of the few Cervile clans that I actually respect," Roak said.

  "Time and date," Hessa said.

  "We live to serve," Meshara said.

  "And kill anything that moves," Roak said. "You're the youngest of your family."

  Meshara looked taken aback.

  "How can you know that?" she asked. "Did your AI tell you that?"

  "Um, the name is Hessa and I am not Roak's AI," Hessa said. "So, unless you feel like waking up without oxygen in your quarters, you'll want to call me by my name."

  "I'd do what she says," Roak said.

  "A ship's AI cannot remove oxygen from a being's quarters," Meshara said. "It goes against all laws of programming."

  "Care to test that?" Roak asked.

  Meshara paused then shook her head. "No."

  "Good call," Roak said as he stepped fully into the corridor and cocked his head for Meshara to follow. "How I know you are the youngest is because I was able to take you down fairly easily. A member of the Trelalla Clan with more experience would have been a bigger challenge. Also, Tala let you leave and come here without a second thought. How long have you been protecting her?"

  "Since just before our planet was taken," Meshara said, following Roak to the lift at the end of the corridor.

  "Yeah, Tala knew exactly what she was going to do with you," Roak said with a laugh. "Don't get pissed off over it. That's just Tala. One of the many reasons we didn't work out."