Hornet's Nest

The Unwanted Job

Karis was where it all started. They had touched down with the urgent need to find work, and Karis was one of those cities where work could be found. As usual, Daigo gathered the whole crew before heading out.  He sat them around the same table they ate out of, in the only room big enough to properly fit all of them. They called it the mess hall.

“Okay, so,” Daigo started, “we’re pretty much out of fuel, and I want everyone out there working on fixing that.”

“I’m staying,” Kiyin said, crossing her arms, as well as her shoulder tentacles. Extending out of the cavities in the shoulder-pads of her pilot uniform, they made her shoulders look wider. Her face looked determined under the blue bangs that frequently flustered her.

Daigo knew better than to defy her. “Okay. But everyone else.”

Kiyin stood up and left, manifesting her usual mood. It was all the more apparent whenever the ship was in bad shape.

“Before that.” Hannes looked at all of them with eyes grayed out from seeing too much of life.

 It was common for him to inadvertently show off the scar he had on the left side of his face, and looking around, that’s what he did. It was a bit disturbing because the scar was so deep that it revealed the inside of his mouth whenever he smiled.

Fortunately, he wasn’t much for smiles. “Ya keep forgettin’ my caramel schnapps.”  Surprisingly, however, Hannes had a sweet tooth.

“Disruptors more important,” Spinz commented. “Cheaper too.”

They had been without gravity disruptors for a while now. It made landings and lift-offs a much rougher experience.

“Not for me,” Hannes argued, crossing his arms. “If I don’t get some…”

“What?” Sára asked, bent over as if lying on the table. She wore a long dark cloak, and her dark hair draped around her head like a curtain, hiding her face from most angles. “You’ll kill us?”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Hannes asked harshly.

That is what Sára would have them all believe. The only reason she was still alive, apparently, was Kyle.

“Of course, she wouldn’t!” Kyle rose his young voice. Whether he was in his late teens, or his pre-teens, Daigo wasn’t sure. No matter which, his voice carried a very dismissible childish tone. “Who would like that?”

Sára raised her hand.

“Sis…” Kyle whined.

Sára was the most talented cybernaut Daigo had ever met. It more than made up for her off-putting bouts of depressing demeanor.

Still, they were getting off-track. “What do you plan on doing, Sára?” Daigo asked.

“I dunno?” She lifted a wondering hand, but not her face, so her voice was still being muffled by the table. “Try to hack something, I guess?”

“And we’ll also look for a longer range transmitter, right sis?” Kyle asked.

Her hair nodded, so Daigo turned to Spinz.

“Spinz?” Daigo called out.

Rodentis, a race of furry rodent humanoids that sported bunny ears and a short stature, were known for being clean freaks. Consequentially, such a grimy hands-on profession like mechanic was rarely interesting to them. Spinz was an exception to that, and thankfully so because Daigo had met maybe one other person who could rival his skill.

“Sell parts we not need,” his high-pitched voice pointed out, absentmindedly. “Maybe get pay at fix some things.”

Daigo nodded. Spinz wasn’t wearing his mechanics’ apron and had his gray fur groomed and cleaned up, meaning to look presentable since he was leaving the ship. Despite his level of comfort with being dirty, he still didn’t like to be seen as such in public.

“I’ll try and find us a good job,” Daigo said with shrug. “Hannes?”

“’m lookin’ for schnapps, I said so,” he said so.

Hannes was a mercenary Daigo had hired a couple of years back. The man had a really mean, very infamous reputation. So much so that even after all that time, the crew was still coming around to trusting him enough to be at ease.

That most certainly included Daigo, so he didn’t argue. “Right, of course.”

Daigo’s prosthetic eyes focused on Spinz. He had pulled something out while they were talking, apparently having gotten bored in the middle of it. It looked like a book.

A book made of paper.

“Spinz, is that a book?” Daigo asked.

Spinz looked up at him. “Yes?”

“Of paper? You read paper?”

“Yes.” He was also confused. “Vivacities of Vitality. Is romance good.”

“Huh,” Daigo stated, surprised.

“You’re the only one who doesn’t read, Daigo,” Sára pointed out, “don’t make others feel odd just because you are an uncultured philistine.”

Daigo scoffed. “Hey, Hannes doesn’t read either,” he protested, however lightly.

Hannes grunted in proud assent.

“And such a fine example he is,” she insulted, gesturing with her hands as if she was dealing with a heavy hangover. Like they were giving her a headache.

Hannes and Daigo looked at each other. It was always odd to find similarities between them., but the truth was that it wasn’t that rare.

“Sure, yeah. Ok.” Not knowing what to say to that, Daigo moved on. “Let’s go.”

He wasn’t one to think too hard about anything. Daigo preferred lessons to come from life as it was instead of going into a book to try and interpret whatever lessons it might contain.

For instance, Daigo had learned to trust his crew, and not because of what they said they could do. Every one of them, except Kyle, had been singularly responsible for their survival. On several occasions.

Kyle cooked well, but that was it.

Daigo had rarely felt much anxiety whenever their lives hinged on his decisions. For the most part, he just trusted it would all turn out alright and didn’t give it much thought.

Unsurprisingly, it all began with alcohol and a game of cards.

The establishment, packed full with the criminally depressed, had a band playing in the dark-lit corner trying to provide background noise without standing out too much. The barkeep looked threatening, the Rylani maidens going around serving everyone their drinks and meals looked enticing, and the patrons looked unstable.

All and all, everything looked as it was.

There were two things keeping Daigo’s attention. The card game in front of him and the conversation behind him.

“I got cargo n’ a need to bolt. As fast as possible,” the would-be client said.

The would-be service provider clicked his tongue to show disapproval. “Well, I’m not getting my crew involved unless I know what that cargo is. I’m sorry.”

“You said I could pay for discretion,” the man aggressively whispered. 

“From others, friend, not my crew.”

“Boom,” Daigo shouted, and put the cards on the table for his opponent to see and despair.

He didn’t know why but Daigo loved seeing a frown on a Liyard’s bird face. It looked so sad, the way they contorted their expressions like a puppy while still retaining those predatory eagle eyes that were never not menacing. It was an amusing contrast.

The man sighed and threw a resource card at Daigo, shaking his head regretfully.  “There. Goes ruin someones elseses life pleass.”

Daigo grabbed the card and held it up for appreciation. “Don’t mind if I do.”

Turning around at once, Daigo faced the mysterious man looking to transport the mysterious cargo, just as the captain he had tried to hire was walking away. Daigo was momentarily stunned by the man’s red cape, which was unapologetically large.

Only momentarily, though.

“Hey there, couldn’t help but overhear your business.” Daigo nimbly took the now vacant seat in one swift move, and then leaned in to establish appropriate intimacy. “I’ve got a ship and I’m used to doing runs, no questions asked, extra fee depending.”

The man was human and burlier than Daigo was comfortable with. His shoulder line was especially intimidating. The helplessness reflected in the man’s face, however, clearly betrayed his desperate need.

Daigo formed a smirk under his golden prosthetic eyes, which he knew would gyrate. “The name’s Daigo.”

Desperation made for the best kind of client.

“John,” he said, “I have cargo to transport out of this system.”

Daigo smiled helpfully. “So I heard.”

“Its contents need to be kept a secret. You can’t know them either.”

“My friend, the Hornet’s Nest offers only the most stalwart and loyal of services to anyone who is willing to meet its price. All I need to know is the danger and distance! Are you perhaps being chased?”

“I will be, but it is extremely unlikely that you’ll have to worry about it.”

He stole it, but nobody’s noticed. By the time they do, he’ll be at his destination, Daigo thought, nodding meaningfully, but only if he can get transportation fast enough.

Daigo grinned. I’m at so much of an advantage here

However, an advantage was worthless when the other party just didn't have that much to take from. The pay wasn’t nearly as good as Daigo assumed it would be. It would only cover his ship’s maintenance for a few days, and a couple of weeks’ worth of fuel, but they would finally be able to afford a proper fix to their grav-disruptor.

Shamefully, that was all John had to give, so that was all Daigo was able to take.

Better than nothing was the lifeline of smugglers like Daigo. It had to be.

The cargo itself was a type of container. One big enough to hold a person, which didn’t bode well, but was not a deal breaker. As of yet.

Daigo led him towards the docks, particularly to reach the hangar where his ship was located. The container had small anti-gravity thrusters which facilitated moving it around. Those were very rare, actually, so they were the second hint that Daigo would be better off finding out exactly what the cargo was, and how to better profit from the situation.

However, Daigo had to be careful. John carried himself like a veteran in violence, and looked very willing to practice it. Daigo had the feeling the man was a soldier.

“This is your ship?” John asked, looking displeased.

“Beauty, isn’t it?”

The man paused and just watched unimpressed. “…it’s a ball.”

“A sphere,” Daigo corrected, looking at it proudly.

It was pretty dirty and rusty at parts, but the Hornet’s Nest was indeed unique. Spherical in nature, it had little tracks spiraling across its surface, as well as a few choice depressions. Those were windows, and the spirals were rails for the g*n emplacements to slide around. The cockpit was impossible to locate.

The ship wasn’t made to function within an atmosphere, which was why it lacked in aerodynamics. It was part of a dying breed of privately own spaceships designed exclusively for space travel. They needed carrier shuttles to get into and out of worlds.

However, the Hornet’s Nest was special in that regard, too.

 “What is this now?”

Daigo looked up towards the disdainful voice of Kiyin.

She looked as spiteful as ever. Hands on hips, shoulder tentacles crossed in front of her chest. The Rylanis were such a pleasant people, but Daigo had the honor of facing maybe the only one who wasn’t.

“No questions asked,” Daigo told her with a shrug, before walking up the ramp towards her.

“Last one didn’t really benefit from that, Daigo,” Kiyin pointed out.

“What’d you mean? We got paid, right?” Daigo gave her an easy smile. “John, this is Kiyin, my second in command.”

“Second to be commanded, he means,” she complained, blowing blue hair out of her face.

It was naturally black, but that was the color of Daigo’s short afro, so she dyed hers blue. Also because of him, she kept the back short and the front long enough to almost cover her eyes. It was apparently a sign of protest only people from Rylani would understand.

Daigo wasn’t from Rylani, though, he actually thought it looked good on her. 

“I guarantee that there will be no trouble regarding this package,” the burly man said, with his in-no-way-trustworthy voice which nevertheless was produced by a pretty polite facial expression.

Kiyin raised an eyebrow at the man, sizing him up.

She sounded unconvinced. “What’s with the cape?”

The polite frown on John’s face flipped at the speed of light. “It’s mine,” he said, and marched past her.

Daigo followed pushing the crate, and shrugged as he walked by her.

“What room will he be staying in?” Kiyin asked.

Daigo replied with a knowing smile. “The special guest room, of course.”

Kiyin rolled her eyes. “Of course."