Tag: Pegasus

Pegasus (Part 113)

The door swung open.

“Jarlath’s my name. You never asked on the way up.”

He was holding a baseball bat in his right hand.

“You really did come at a bad time. Right when a major operation against smugglers and infiltrators was under way. Bad, bad man. So are you just a smuggler or something worse?”

He lifted the bat over his shoulder and brought it down on my lower legs. A searing, immense pain engulfed my body.

“That’s a nice woman you brought with you. The boys are going to love her.”

Removing the cloth wrapped around my mouth I shouted, “Leave her the fuck alone!”

Jarlath laughed.

“Now, why were you trying to get to the Emperor’s habitat? And don’t fucking lie.”

“It was to trade…”

Another blow came crashing down.

“That’s not what Tabitha said, well after she got a few slaps. Oh yes, you were out cold so we started the process with her some time ago. A feisty woman. I sensed a real dislike of the Emperor. So, stop fucking around. I have places to be. Meeting a nice girl called Sharon in an hour so don’t delay. Funny enough, she’s the kind of person you were looking for. Ah well, too bad.”

Pegasus (Part 111)

It didn’t take long for that first drink to turn into two, then three. I knew one of the myriad of men would eventually bite and they did.

A burly, bald man dressed in fading clothes came over to us. He addressed us in English.

“What has brought you two here? I caught a word or two of English being spoken between you. I haven’t heard it being spoken in years.”

Tabitha looked at me wide eyed. I took the initiative.

“You don’t get away with too much around here. And where did you learn it? You seem quite fluent.”

“My mother is from Aruna V. She insisted we use it to communicate. And you never answered my question.”

“No, I didn’t. We’re here on business.”

“What kind of business?”

“We need to get a package onto the Emperor’s habitat, and we’re prepared to pay big.”

I let him glance at our bitcoin balance.

He murmured something to himself and then left to go to a backroom.

I could feel the sweat on my brow and took another gulp.

Then the man returned and said to follow him. We got up, leaving what remained of our drinks. It was action time.

Pegasus (Part 109)

It was difficult to make headway but I persisted. Every now and then, I would glance behind me to make sure I didn’t lose the others. They followed closely behind in a line to take advantage of every step forward I made.

The wall of people was made up of people from throughout the system. There was every hue of skin color – white, black, purple and orange, you name it. Humans were evolving to their various habitats, and some were starting to not look like humans at all.

There were large shopping malls on each side, followers by floor after floor of apartments and offices.

The streets that had been chocked by people, gradually became easier to navigate, and I soon broke out into a brisk walk.

I heard Chrissie comment about the thinning crowd from behind, but I was just anxious to reach our destination. I would look up the majestic, tall buildings, that seemed to rise up forever and ensure that the next was getting closer and closer till the light started to dim.

We had arrived.

There was little point in us staying as a group. It would complicate the matter of building trust.

I turned around to the rest.

“Tabitha, myself and you will head into that place called Toibins.”

Then Casey interjected.

“And, what are we supposed to do?”

Pegasus (Part 108)

As we left the ship, we stepped onto a platform that led to elevators on the wall. Chrissie walked ahead of us and pressed the button. Nothing seemed to happen at first. Then we heard a whizzing sound coming from below; it grew gradually larger. Then someone saw the elevator just before it arrived,

An artificial voiceover speaking in Irish told us to take a ticket, to remember where our ship was parked and that it would bring us to ground level. Hearing that the ancient language once more made me feel warm inside. I took the piece of pink paper and put it in my wallet.

Much to my surprise, I felt nothing on the way down. The opaque doors stopped you from seeing any movement also. The doors opened and we walked out to a packed street and a cacophony of sounds. People brushed up against our shoulders as they tried to get past. Large buildings looked almost magical as they stretched upwards. I realised I was feeling queasy, and took a moment to get my bearings. We needed to go towards the centre of the city, and see if we could do some sort of deal to get to the Emperor’s habitat.

In one direction, there was definitely an increased density of buildings.

“This way,”

Pegasus (Part 106)

The bridge went silent as our ship descended into the back of the convoy, the habitat growing ever larger in our translucent screen. For the first few moments, Tabitha looked warily into my eyes.

Then the sound of chatter started coming in and out over the comms –

  • Come in Delta V, come in Delta V. State the nature of your business
  • Delta V here. Delta V here over. We are transporting Lithium 95 over Code 415356 over
  • You are cleared Delta V. Your convoy is to proceed

“That’s all yall have to do to get in?”

The intricacies of my calculations were lost on her. They had flown into one of the most corrupt parts of the Empire, and had taken advantage of it. The code provided was too short to be anything other than criminal. It avoided the financial pain of them having to pay their own.

They were now approaching the thin red atmosphere of the habitat.

“Buckle up,” Tabitha commanded.

Everyone complied without hesitation.

The ship began to vibrate.

Leanne and Casey held each other’s hand.

Then it stopped, and our target city of ten million souls appeared in the distance—a sea of skyscrapers jutting up to heights almost out of the atmosphere.

Pegasus (Part 103)

“It would be very dangerous,” Casey said with a smile.

“Indeed,” replied Leanne, “But it was the Emperor soldiers who killed our father and robbed us of a home. I say fuck ’em. Let’s do this.”

With a simple nodding of heads, it was agreed that they too were rebels.

“So what now?” Leanne asked with wide eyes.

I felt now was a good time for me to speak.

“The plan is to get to the Emperor’s habitat and to launch an explosive device to kill him. I am one of his distant progeny so I will be more trusted. Still, I can’t just fly there or I’ll be shot down. I need an official invitation of some sort. We will need to get incrementally closer. Our next stop is the Taurus V Military Complex.

Once there we need to bribe our way to a habitat closer to the Emperor’s. It will not be easy but it’s the only way.”

Tabitha then took control.

“The two of us have been through so much already. At times, things have looked really grim, but we persevered. With your help, I now truly believe that we can make this happen.”

Chrissie went to walk to the controls.

“I’ll input the details of our next destination.”

Pegasus (Part 102)

“Well, what are you two going to do?”

Casey was suddenly looking right at me.

Balls, I should have stayed asleep.

Tabitha replied, “We are rebels, and have only one goal – The end of the Empire.”

Wow, that went much further than what I would have divulged. Damn, she’s looking right at me.

“Don’t look at me like that. We have the money, and now we need help.”

There was sustained silence apart from the beating of the craft’s engines.

“Your fuckin’ serious,” Casey interjected, “You want to destroy the Empire. And I had you down as lowly drug dealers. I shouldn’t be so quick to judge.”

Leanne got to her feet, the medical device having done its magic. “What do you think Mum, should we join the rebels? They did save me. A swashbuckling adventure perhaps. What do you say?”

Chrissie looked up at the ceiling, then pouted her lips.

“It’s like this girls, we’ve lost all our product. And I couldn’t bear making you the product. We’re bang out of options. But everybody I know that was a rebel, died shortly afterwards. I’ll leave it to you two to decide. There’s no stopping you anyhow.

Casey and Leanne looked at each other.

Pegasus (Part 101)

“Come on Casey,” I roared over the din of laser fire.

She fired another salvo, before quickly looking back at me. Then she sprinted towards the craft. Once inside, I quickly pressed the button for the cargo bay to close as I saw the uniformed men aiming their weapons.

“Get us the hell out of here.”

Laser fire started hitting the ship as the sound of its engines came online.

I went to Tabitha and Leanne, ensuring they had their belts on, before turning my attention to my own.

The thrusters ignited, and I could the ship moving much to my relief. I felt exhausted. There was a familiar smell of drugs.

I must have drifted off for a while because when I woke up everybody, including the supposed pilot was sitting in front of me, and deep in conversation. Casey was holding a medical device in her hand, and a blue beam emanating from it, healing Leanne’s wound. She would be back to full fitness in just a few minutes.

Casey was in deep conversation with her Mum.

“What now? We have lost all our product, we’re wanted criminals, and have nowhere to go?”

“I don’t know Casey. Just concentrate on your sister.”

Yes, they have major problems, I thought to myself.

Pegasus (Part 100)

We ended up dragging her along by her feet.

“Come on Leanne, try to help us. Keep taking steps,” Tabitha implored.

“I’m trying,” she sobbed,

The laser fire was continuing unabated behind us.

I looked up and saw the ship we were heading to. It was not exactly what I had been expecting. It was a medium-sized craft, totally pink, with a large cargo bay entrance to the rear.

As we got close, I stopped helping to hold up Leanne and ran forward to press the button to open it. Tabitha and Leanne immediately fell unceremoniously to the ground. I then ran back, and carried Leanne over my shoulder to the ship, before gently placing her inside. Tabitha stayed tending to her, while I looked out to see if I could see the other two.

For a few moments, all I could see was the flashes of laser fire in the distance. Then, Chrissie appeared out of the corner of my eye sprinting towards me. Then she shouted.

“I’ll get us out of here. Don’t you close up till my Casey is inside.”

She darted past me.

There were more flashes of laser fire.

Then I saw Casey. She was walking backwards towards the ship returning laser fire.

Pegasus (Part 98)

Well fuck me

The blonde didn’t hesitate and immediately opened fire, and then shouted.

“You treacherous bastards, come and get me.”

Then, I heard the sound of laser fire coming from behind me. Myself and Tabitha ran behind some cargo boxes for cover, trying to keep our heads down. A barrage of fire then came from the other direction in response.

A squeal of pain.

Tabitha popped her head up.

“It’s Leanne,” she whispered with a frown, “she’s been shot in the leg. Looks pretty bad.”

I nodded wondering if there was anything we should do.

Then Tabitha made a run for her.

What’s she doing doing?

I peeked to see her struggling to pull Leanne to our position.

Damn it

I leaped up and helped pull her behind the cover. Leanne was sobbing.

Tabitha took charge, while I looked on in dismay wondering why we were helping a stranger.

“It’s okay, Leanne. You are going to be alright. It’s just a laser wound.”

She then pressed down on it with her hands, but blood gurgled in between her fingers.

Wide-eyed she looked at me.

I took off my shirt, and tightly tied it around her injured leg knowing that her life depended on it. The firing continued, and distant roars of pain ran out.