Chapter 123: Tracking a Ghost
“The Nova Rim is so vast, with so many little crevices and corners so far out of the way of anyone who would ever bother to look. Some may try, many, even—but there’s always more places to hide than there are people willing to look.”
—Thief King Dandra Vyert on how he avoided capture for decades
The white blanket of the void receded from Zaina and Baeus’s rental ship as they exited into regular space within Calkhor’s orbit. The planet was gorgeous, a mixture of greens and blues, with the occasional tan patch of desert or silvery cluster of tundra.
“Calkhor,” Baeus said. “A wayward place, to be sure.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It’s hardly industrialized,” he replied. “That’s not such a bad thing by itself, mind you—but Calkhor’s placement in its sector and lack of a native sentient species make it perfect for, let’s say, invaders, specifically those from the criminal underworld.”
A surge of anger flushed through Zaina’s body and then dissipated. The last time she’d encountered someone from the criminal underworld, it hadn’t gone well. “You think we’ll find trouble?”
“We may, but I find it unlikely. Atlande isn’t known to be a hub of that sort of activity. Though the Order tends to not know much about the comings and goings of the criminal underworld.”
Zaina snickered.
“What’s so funny?”
“You guys know so much about everything, but not that? Sounds like kind of an important blind spot.”
Baeus sighed. “Call it what you will. We do try—we have informants on payroll in many different organizations, though most are like to give us bad information or none at all. We keep ears to the ground where we can.”
“Still,” she said, “it’s weird, isn’t it?”
“Well, it’s not like they enjoy volunteering information. And it doesn’t help that much of their history is oral, only told amongst trusted members. Besides, lancers have had little trouble in the past infiltrating whatever underworld scene they need to. That’s our advantage—the underworld is much bigger, so it’s easier for us to sneak through the cracks.”
Zaina shrugged. “Well, my leg’s out of commission, so let’s hope it doesn’t come to a fight.”
Baeus gave her a concerned look. “I never hope it comes to violence.”
They were close to landing by now, pulling toward a circular patch of dirt carved into the forest. There were numerous such dirt circles arranged in neat lines, though most others had a ship parked on them. Not far from that was a small settlement made up of haphazard wooden structures with thatched roofs.
That must be Atlande.
The ship landed atop the dirt, a softer touchdown than Zaina was used to; then, Baeus and Zaina departed. Once they stepped out, Zaina took a deep breath of the fresh, forest air—the crisp, minty scent of needle trees filled her nostrils.
A sad chord plucked at her heart. It smells like home.
Baeus’s voice snapped her out of it. “Everything all right?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, no, it’s fine. Where are we going again?”
He chuckled. “It’s a good thing I came along, isn’t it? We’re looking for Pilizara’s Wellstop. Shouldn’t be too hard to find.”
She took in the small settlement—there were maybe ten total structures. Atlande made Demelia look high-tech. “Should we go building to building or ask a local?”
Baeus smiled. “Let’s ask a local. There!” His bed-pod turned toward a large wooden cart with barrels of fresh fruits and vegetables. Behind that was a Gamadaran, and a rotund one at that; his flesh-horns were only an inch from his cheeks, and his gray skin looked pallid for his species. He wore a black shirt two sizes too small, revealing the ridged bone shape on his lower back and all down his arms, and red pants. “Hello, my friend! Excuse me!”
The Gamadaran looked over and jumped, apparently startled to see a scholar and a lancer. Zaina saw him pull out a radio and whisper something into it before turning to Baeus and replying, “And what business might the Order of Riiva have here?”
“We’ve come seeking information about a particular individual who’s known to frequent Pilizara’s Wellstop. If you could point us in that direction, we’ll be on our way.”
The Gamadaran, glaring with his pupil-less white eyes, didn’t break eye contact as he stretched his arm out to point at one of the larger and more disheveled buildings. It was shaped like a dome and had fruit trees planted in rows all around it.
“Thank you, friend,” Baeus said.
Zaina, suspicious, kept an eye on the Gamadaran, who definitely wasn’t their friend. She hoped Baeus knew what he was doing. While they walked toward the wellstop, she leaned over and whispered, “I think he called for someone.”
“I saw that too,” he replied. “Maybe Atlande is more connected than the Order knows.”
“I’ll stay vigilant,” she said.
“I think we’ll be all right. Few in their right mind would dare pick a fight with a lancer—even an injured one.”
Zaina looked around at the handful of people shuffling about—a lot of these people didn’t seem to be in their right mind. Sitting by the wellstop was a Cytomoid, her fur stained a sickly green, using shaking hands to steady a pipe as she heated the darklung within. Two humans, half-empty bottles of some alcohol or another sloshing in their hands, walked by while speaking loudly in a language Zaina didn’t know. One brandished a bloodied hacksaw in his spare hand, and they both cheerily entered the wellstop, walking through the leather flaps to replace a door that had been broken off ages ago. Rotting pieces of the wooden door still hung from the rusty hinges.
Zaina’s hand twitched, ready to summon her cipher at a moment’s notice. She didn’t want trouble, but she was ready for it.
They entered Pilizara’s Wellstop. There were about twenty patrons or so spread out across the maze-like bar that took up the interior of the building. The lighting was dim, with the only source coming from glowing bulbs on strings secured to the ceiling. A lone Edunabrian woman worked the bar, her four spindly arms reaching every which way to find ingredients for the drink she was mixing. She had deep blue skin and was hunched over, with a body that walked on four short legs, as was typical for her species; by the wrinkles on her face, she was old, but her features were otherwise normal for Edunabrians: a bulbous nose, round face, and light, pearly blue eyes to go with a toothless mouth on either cheek.
Not a single patron paid any mind to Zaina or Baeus—to Zaina, it was a novelty. Usually people either paid her negative attention or weird attempts at positive attention. It was rare she was ignored, and she cherished it.
Baeus whispered, “I think that woman is Pilizara.”
Zaina nodded, and then followed the scholar to the bar. The Edunabrian woman quickly finished mixing a drink and slid it across a bartop to a customer before trudging over to greet her new arrivals.
“Welcome,” she said, her mouth-flaps shaking. “What can I get ya for?”
“Pilizara, I presume?” Baeus asked in a friendly tone.
A deep sigh came from the woman. “We don’t deal in names here. Ya drink or ya leave.”
“Oh, no—we’re here for information,” Baeus replied.
“Information?” Two of the woman’s arms crossed; another snuck beneath the counter, and she laid the fourth down in front of Zaina and Baeus. “Ya here for an investigation?”
He dipped his head and said, “Something like that. We’re looking for a person of interest. Not to apprehend them, mind you. We only want to speak to them. Goes by the name of Kazlo Kamu, but you might know him as Ghost.”
“Something like an investigation?” the woman asked, her tone sounding aggravated. “It’s either an investigation or it’s not. So what is it? Do I legally have to talk to ya, or can I tell ya to fuck off back to Kaado?”
The other patrons were paying attention now, their eyes fixed on the two. Zaina’s fingers rubbed together in anticipation of one of them trying something stupid—all hands in the room moved to weapons nearby, but none fired a shot.
Baeus frowned. “Of course. We’ll be on our way.”
Though frustrated, Zaina knew it was the best course of action to leave. They turned and made their way to the exit.
“Well,” Baeus said, sounding dejected, “that wasn’t ideal at all.”
“No,” she replied, “but I’m sure there’s another way.”
Zaina stepped outside. Her heart skipped a beat—without a moment of hesitation she summoned her cipher and stood at the ready to activate her hex-shield. Her blood was boiling at the sight of the person waiting for her.
Reida Qarys tilted her head to the side with a coy smile and said, “Hey there, Zaina Quin. Long time, no see.”