Hard Luck Hermit

Kamak slammed the cockpit door shut. He had to make some calls, and he really didn’t want to deal with the peanut gallery right now. If that purple ship was so intent on drawing him into a fight, he’d fight, but he wouldn’t fight like an idiot. Kamak needed information. First, he needed more information on what exactly had happened on Centerpoint. He pulled out one of the blank datapads he kept just in case he ever needed a burner and made a call to an old acquaintance.

“You’d better have a good god damn reason for calling me, Kamak,” Ghul spat. The half-faced head of the Centerpoint Bounty Hunter’s Guild had answered the call, at least, but she wasn’t happy about it.

“Because I think I just got framed for killing a cop and I need to know what the story they’re trying to sell is,” Kamak said. “If you believe me, that-”

“Of course I believe you, you fucking moron,” Ghul said. “You’re too lazy for all the trouble killing a cop would cause you.”

Kamak didn’t know that that was true, but as long as Ghul believed he wasn’t a cop-killer, he didn’t really want to argue about why.

“So then what are they trying to make you believe? What’s the story?”

“Listen, Kam, just because I believe you doesn’t mean you’re not a fugitive,” Ghul said. “Why would I help you?”

“Because you owe me half a face and I’m cashing in,” Kamak said. “You’re as sick of me as anyone else, so here’s your chance to wash your hands of me. Answer a few questions and we’re even.”

The silence from the other end of the line was long enough that Kamak got worried she’d hung up. Ghul spoke again eventually, however.

“You’re lucky I don’t want you getting Doprel killed,” she said. “Look, it’s a developing story, so I can’t tell you much. Word is you went rogue, took an assassination contract from some underworld dealer. The cop had you in her sights, so you killed her and ran.”

“Complete fucking nonsense,” Kamak spat. “Isn’t there a video of the cop getting shot? Me and Corvash didn’t shoot the bitch, and the rest of my crew was on the ship. How could I have killed her?”

“If there’s a video, no one’s seen it,” Ghul said. “Just the corpse you supposedly put a hole in.”

“Shit.”

There wasn’t a video in the universe that could completely absolve Kamak and the crew of guilt, but the very obvious evidence would at least make it harder to sell the lie. Covering up the video entirely would make the cover story an easier sell -but erasing a Centerpoint security feed was no easy task.

“Guild’s got you blacklisted, if you were wondering,” Ghul said. “You and your crew.”

“I figured, but thanks for the confirmation. What about the cop? To Vo So La?”

“To Vo La Su,” Ghul corrected. “She’s on your ship, Kamak!”

“And I don’t give a fuck about her,” Kamak said.

“This attitude is why no one’s standing up for you right now, you know,” Ghul said.

“I called you for info, not shitty therapy,” Kamak said. “What’s the story on the cop?”

“They’re saying you took her as a hostage,” Ghul said. Kamak nodded along with that perfectly sensible story. There was no universe, real or imagined, where To Vo La Su was a criminal.

“A hostage, okay, has this imaginary version of me made any demands, or am I just keeping the cop around as a hostage for the hell of it?”

“Come on, Kamak, you know this trick, you keep an innocent person on the ship so they’re less likely to shoot you down,” Ghul said. “That...the guy with three eyes you shot, he did that trick while we were chasing him, you remember?”

“Fuck, right,” Kamak said. “Didn’t work out very well for him, though.”

“You still waited until he was planetside to shoot him.”

“Barely,” Kamak said. “Any other clues for me to work with here, Ghul?”

“Just one, and it could be very good news or very bad news for you,” Ghul said. “Last reports had you heading to the Hekim galaxy.”

Kamak took a quick glance at his star charts. The Hekim galaxy was millions of lightyears away, on the opposite end of the universe. Either somebody running this scam was very stupid or, more likely, they wanted to prolong the chase, keep their distraction going as long as possible.

“Pardon me if I don’t tell you where I am right now,” Kamak said. “Less material for you to sell me out with later.”

“Naturally. I am recording this call, though, and the minute anyone asks I’m handing it over,” Ghul said.

“As you should. I wouldn’t die for you, don’t go dying for me.”

“Don’t plan on it. Anything else, Kamak?”

“Not much. Uh...Things are heating up, Ghul, and I don’t think it’s going to stop at me and mine. Keep what’s left of your head down. Stay alive.”

“Same to you, bastard,” Ghul said. “And if they do get you, I hope it’s quick.”

“Gee, thanks.”

The final dash of sarcasm went unanswered, as Ghul ended the call. Kamak might’ve appreciated a slightly more heartfelt goodbye, but he wasn’t picky about it. He had other calls to make anyway. Kamak double checked that the cockpit door was locked and sealed, and then called up Apall. The call lingered unanswered for a while, and every second that ticked away made Kamak more and more nervous.

“I was expecting you to call sooner,” Apall said. He sounded almost amused.

“Been a little busy trying not to die,” Kamak said. “I assume you’re up to speed?”

“As I can be,” Apall said. “We’ve been keeping an eye on your situation.”

“Great. Any chance you can tell me who’s after me, where to find them, and how best to kill them?”

“Unfortunately no. That is, however, a clue in and of itself. There aren’t many people with the skills and resources necessary to keep out of our sight.”

That would have been a stupid boast coming from anyone but a Timeka executive. They had connections in every corner of the universe, from high society to the lowest of the low, and had such a menagerie of shell companies and false identities that many who worked as informants for Timeka didn’t even know it. Anyone who could escape their notice had to be equally resourceful.

“Alright, so you’re useless on the who what and where, maybe you can help me figure out the why,” Kamak said. “Somebody’s using this manhunt for my crew as a shell game. You got anything that might explain why someone wants to distract Council security, the Sturit, and a whole bunch of assholes who hate Doccans?”

Yet again, Kamak found himself facing an uncomfortably long silence, but this time he was the one to break it.

“Come on, Apall. Last time we met you mentioned a ‘changing universe’. I know you know something.”

“It’s about what it’s always about,” Apall said. “Money. Commerce, in this case.”

In his office, Apall toyed with his computer, and pulled up a holographic display of the universe.

“I don’t know how closely you’ve looked at a map lately, Kamak, but you might find yourself noticing that Centerpoint is no longer the center point, so to speak.”

Kamak pulled up a copy of his own map. The vast network of galaxies sprawled out in an uneven array, bordered on one edge by the supermassive black hole called the Maw. Sure enough, when Kamak measured from end to end, Centerpoint was slightly closer to the Maw than it was to the other edge of the known universe.

“So help me gods if this is all some cosmic real estate scheme...”

When construction had started almost two centuries ago, Centerpoint had been intended to be the universal hub of trade. Scouts and explorers would search for new galaxies in every direction, ensuring that even as the known universe expanded, Centerpoint would stay in the middle. The Maw had shattered that plan like glass. With a gravitational influence spanning billions of lightyears in every direction, the Maw made the formation of nearby galaxies impossible, and formed a solid wall on one edge of the universe.

“I’m afraid that’s what it comes down to, Kamak. The next round of Bang Gates are nearing completion. When they’re done, Centerpoint will be that much further from the center of the universe.”

“And what the hell does any of that have to do with me?”

“Look at the map, Kamak, see the bigger picture. Look where the Sturit and Doccan are located.”

Kamak double checked the map, focusing on the trade routes, and highlighting Turitha specifically. He already knew the Doccan homeworld was situated on what would otherwise be a useful trade route, so he could see the angle at work there. It was already a dangerous route, and if that danger escalated, it might be shut off to trade completely, dealing a crippling blow to an already weakened Centerpoint. Turitha, however, remained an unknown piece of the puzzle, until Kamak saw it light up at the edge of the map -near the new Bang Gates being built.

“Oh, so that’s the play,” Kamak said. “Someone wants Turitha to be the new Centerpoint.”

While not perfect, Turitha was well situated to be on the forefront of galactic trade and commerce for the next few decades, if not centuries. A little infrastructure, and a few Bang Gates, and whoever controlled Turitha could become obscenely rich.

“It all comes back to money in the end,” Apall said. “Timeka has been keeping a close eye on the situation of course.”

“Yeah. Hey Apall, follow up question.”

“Ask away.”

“What happens if this new arrangement turns out to be the more profitable one,” Kamak began. “And Timeka needs to make a deal with the same people who have a manhunt out for me?”

Of all the long silences Kamak had endured recently, this one was by far his least favorite.

“Alternatives would be discussed, of course,” Apall said. Kamak knew the “corporate bullshit” voice when he heard it. If it came down to his life versus company profits, Kamak would get a single half-hearted protest as a courtesy, at most. Timeka didn’t get to be a universe-spanning corporation by putting people before profits.

“Thanks for the tip, Apall. If I survive this, I’ll see you around. If I don’t, I’ll see you in hell.”

“Good luck, Kamak. We’ll be in touch if we find out anything useful to you.”

And you’ll leave me in the dark if the info is more useful to your profits, Kamak thought to himself. The really sad part was that Timeka and Apall were still probably the best friends he had outside this ship.

The friends Kamak had on the ship (and also Tooley) weren’t very excited to hear they might be pawns in a universal scale real estate scheme.

“Of course it’s got to be trade routes and shit,” Tooley snorted. “The least sexy kind of universal intrigue.”

“At least it’s not taxes.”

“It might not be anything,” Doprel said. “Why would someone be trying to usurp Turitha as a trade route by putting a xenophobic regime in power? Seems counter-intuitive.”

“Because the endgame isn’t to leave the Structuralists in power,” Corey said. “It’s an old school move. Instigate and fund a civil war, keep it running as long as possible, and when the two sides have torn each other to pieces, swoop in and take control of them when they’re all too weak to resist.”

“You do that a lot back on Earth?”

“Well, in America, mainly.”

“What’s an America?”

“Not important right now,” Corey said. “Point is, somebody wants to break the Sturit so they can pick up the pieces for themselves.”

“Cool, let’s let them do it,” Tooley said.

“Tooley’s right in the wrong way, as usual,” Kamak said. “Much as I want to know what our mystery cunt is up to, the Sturit are going to be armed to the teeth and willing to kill us on sight. We should start somewhere they’ll only kill us if they have a logical reason.”

“The Doccan,” Doprel said.

“Sorry buddy,” Kamak said. “Time to visit the family.”

“They better not eat me.”