Shadow Cipher

7. Jake

This girl is going to be the death of me. I recheck the system to see how the flight plan is going. When I notice our destination changed, my sstomach sinks. It sinks even farther when I notice WHERE we are going. Did she seriously set our destination to the Death Planet? Nobody makes it out of there. I try to alter the plan to our original destination, but it refuses. f**k! This f*****g woman!!! She's good, a very good hacker. There are only a handful of people who could get into my ship's system like she did, and they're all Star Touched. Wait... Did he hire me to take out a Star Touched individual and not even tell me about it?! s**t. This is bad.

We don't have magic in the sense the old human stories told it. Star Touched are individuals with enhanced abilities. Hackers capable of inhuman tech skills, fighters capable of fighting an army on their own, stuff like that. They can't cast a fireball, or send down lightning, but what they are able to do, they do well. It's bad enough she's a Promethian. Long ago there was a group of humans who wanted to enhance the human race, so they genetically altered themselves and bred in a way that created a race of individuals that were human, but more. Faster, stronger, smarter, enhanced reflexes and senses. They're remarkable to tell you the truth. Most Promethians have one trait that sets them apart of humans. I would assume for Nova it would be her intelligence, although from some of the security photage I was given, her dexterity and reflexes are pretty top-notch too. I bet she gets underestimated all the time. Hell, even I underestimated just how good this girl is at what she does.

I race down the hall and bang on her door. "Nova, open up"

She responds with one word, "No."

I wipe my hands down my face, frustration getting the better of me. "Open the door, or I'll open it anyway."

I hear her groan and stomp towards the door. It opens to an angry Nova. "What do you want, Jackass?"

I blink a few times. Most people are scared of me. Why isn't she afraid? "I need you to move that amazing ass of yours into the command room and change our destination back to Toresqoro."

She folds her hands over her chest, which makes her boobs squish together, and that sight will definitely occupy my thoughts tonight. I shake the thoughts of Nova's boobs out of my head as she says, "Why? Either way, I am going to die, might as well be on my terms, fighting it as much as I can."

I sigh. I have to respect what she's saying. Hell, I would do the same thing. Then the ship's alarms start going off and Franklyn's voice comes over the com system, "Captain, we're being hailed by a ship belonging to Levon Jekyl."

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. This is bad. Levon Jekyl is the biggest mobster in the galaxy. He's got people on multiple planets. Nobody messes with him if they want to live.

Nova looks excited and that worries me. "Why do you look happy about this?! Don't you know who Levon is?!" I ask incredulously.

"Of course I do. Kevin works for him. He came for me!" Before I realize it, Nova is dodging me on her way to the command room. I follow her as close as possible. As soon as she get into the room, I reach out and grab her arm, pulling her towards me.

"Listen, Nova. I don't feel like getting on the wrong side of Levon today, and I don't want to get into a star ship battle right now. Keep your mouth shut, and behave. You understand me?"

She actually looks a little afraid of me at the moment, so I turn towards the monitor and tell Franklyn to open the hail from the other ship. A human man with dark features looks directly into the camera. "Nova! I'm glad I was able to catch up to you! Are you okay?"

"She's fine," I respond before Nova can open her mouth. She glares at me out of the corner of her eye.

"I'd rather hear that directly from her, if you don't mind," Kevin says.

"Kevin! Get me out of here! He's taking me to-" Nova starts, but I cut off what she's saying by cutting off the communication with the other ship. Then my ship jerks. s**t. That's the feeling of a docking clamp.

"Franklyn, cut the lights. Nova, if you don't want to be stuck in the middle of a fight, get down," I say.

Everything goes dark and gunshots start blasting. s**t, this Kevin guy doesn't seem to actually care about Nova's safety if he's coming in guns blazing like this. Then, as I'm hit by one of the projectiles, I realize just why Kevin doesn't seem to care. They're using tranquilizers. Then everything goes dark.