The Parallels

2 - Morak

2 - Morak

Time crawled between one meeting and the other. Transactions with the Toferite were always tricky. Morak didn’t even understand why anyone bothered to deal with them, the thieves. Some people admired them for their business noses, while others considered them mere scum of the galaxy. Morak fell into the second group.

‘Did you close the transaction?’ Admiral John Levits’s voice arrived at Morak Borton’s ears loud and clear through the comms.

Sitting in the bunk of his cramped quarters on the MakeItSo—a freighter belonging to an old acquaintance—Morak massaged his bald, uneven skull. The vehicle had been his residence for the past three weeks.

‘The Toferite representative asked for more money. I’m sure that bastard knows how much we need their cobaltium.’ Morak let go of the stress of endless days of talks with the alien. If only he could release his stress in other ways! But there was nothing entertaining to do while waiting for the next meeting on the mercenary vessel that hosted him. Anger and depression assaulted him at the same time.

‘We knew what we would be dealing with. The Toferites are excellent businessmen,’ Levits said.

‘I understand, but his requests are ridiculous,’ Morak said, standing up and pacing the cramped cabin assigned to him.

‘How ridiculous?’

Morak sighed. They needed to extract that cobaltium from the Mines of Deneb.

‘Three thousand tokens, besides what we already offered,’ he replied.

‘Accept the deal and give him ten entertainers to deliver at a location of his choice. I’m sure he’ll appreciate the present,’ Levits ordered.

Three thousand tokens and ten w****s.

Lucky bastards!

Why did the Toferite get a reward he could only dream of? He was the one doing the hard work; he deserved a reward too.

‘As you wish, sir,’ Morak said, keeping his voice even.

‘Is there anything else?’

There was, but Morak didn’t want to talk about it over the comms. It could wait Levits’s arrival.

‘No, sir. What’s your ETA? That b***h Wang is growing impatient, and she doesn’t entertain me.’

‘I don’t care if you’re getting laid or not, Barton. Get me that deal done by tomorrow when I get to the rendezvous point. Levits out!’

***

Since the smugglers didn’t want guests on the bridge, the only way Morak could talk to Li Wang, the human-Maian woman who owned the ship, was stopping her in the kitchenette. Li consumed a great deal of a human beverage called coffee. If she wasn’t in the galley now, she would get there sooner or later.

Climbing up a ladder from the quarters’ level, Morak reached the main hallway. He peeked to the left, where the bridge was located, but the door was shut. Heading to his right, he entered the kitchenette.

Instead of the hybrid, he found Pérez, the human second-in-command, a broad-shouldered male with a dark pigmentation.

Rumour had it that Pérez and Wang were having an affair, but Morak wasn’t jealous. He was willing to share.

‘Did you talk with your boss?’ Pérez picked a bottle of a brownish liquid from the cabinet.

Rum. It smelled rancid.

‘I did. Once I meet with the Toferite representative for another round of talks, we’re free to go. I scheduled the next encounter in forty-five minutes time. Be ready for him.’

In that instant, Wang walked in and went over the synthesiser to get her usual mug of hot, black coffee.

That body cries out to be f****d! Morak’s eyes went from the curves of the hybrid’s cleavage to the plump thighs revealed by her tight outfit, then moved to her fleshy lips, imagining the wonders they could impart.

It had been a long time since he had humped a Maian female, and Li Wang was the closest thing to it. Her human traits didn’t fizzle out her Maian ones; the bald, see-through skull revealed the two hemispheres of her brain, the most obvious trait to identify one of his species. That and the absence of hair. Maians were completely bald. The presence of eyebrows on Wang’s face was off-putting, but Morak didn’t need to look at her face to f**k her.

‘I must remember that making a deal with you is an inconvenience, Barton. We’ve been stuck with you for days. Even Sneak is becoming grumpy,’ Wang said.

Sneak, another Toferite bastard.

‘Enlighten me, was there ever a time when Sneak wasn’t grumpy?’ he asked, raising his hairless eyebrows.

Pérez smirked, but said nothing.

‘Probably not,’ she replied, grinning.

‘Tell him to stay put. I’m paying you a lot of tokens for this piece of junk, and I’m not even getting any entertainment.’ Once again, he eyed Wang’s curves. ‘Tell Sneak I’ll make him watch. I wouldn’t mind.’

Pérez swore under his breath.

‘As the old human saying goes, your hand is your friend.’ Wang sashayed away, pushing Pérez out—the woman with her coffee in her hands, the man with his bottle of rum.

‘You’re not getting laid, Barty.’

Jorelle’s voice. What was she doing there? She should be on Rigel Prime.

Surprised, he turned his gaze towards the door. She stood there, peeking in and giggling as if she were playing some sort of game. Too distracted by Wang’s body, he hadn’t heard the popping sound Augments made when orbing from one place to another.

Crazy Augments! They appeared and disappeared whenever they wanted, and uninvited too.

‘You’re not supposed to be here,’ he said exasperated.

I told her a thousand times not to call me Barty!

‘I’m masking my life signs, silly,’ she said, strutting in. ‘And if you don’t want me to read your thoughts, try not to think out loud. It’s like being forced to hear cats fart on the couch of my living room.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘Besides, if I’m so f*****g crazy, why don’t you f*****g fix me?’ she said, wiggling her hips as she neared him.

Morak kept his expression straight, but he knew Jorelle could read how much the offer tempted him.

Levits had told him women would get him into trouble one day or another, but he was too addicted to s*x to be hassled about his boss’s opinion. Shagging was the only way to chill out while doing Levits’s dirty job. But Jorelle was just playing with him.

‘I know you want it, Barty!’ Jorelle insisted, moving in fast and caressing his chest with her index finger.

‘Why are you here?’ He ignored his physical reaction to her touch, his long tunic hiding his arousal.

Jorelle shrugged. ‘I thought you wanted more data about the awakening of the Augment LEN0R. I bet you’ll find a report from Larson as soon as you get off this heap of metal.’ She batted her short eyelashes at him.

‘I bet I will, which makes your trip here useless. Get back to Rigel. Larson will need you.’

Jorelle rolled her eyes. ‘I don’t need to be at the lab to help Larson with that tiny thing. I’m telling you, she’s a waste of time. She didn’t even remember we’re telepaths.’ She brushed back her long, dark hair with a quick gesture.

‘No wonder, eggs aren’t aware of their abilities when they wake up. It’s your duty to test the clone with Larson and see if it’s defective like the others.’

‘I told you, she’s a waste of time,’ Jorelle said, drawing her finger across her throat as if slitting it.

‘Your place is not to judge its performance, but to test it. Now, get out of here before that Sneak finds out something is fishy here.’

‘You’re a disappointment, as usual, Barty.’

This time, the distinctive popping sound of her orbing out was loud and clear.

***

The short Toferite representative massaged the holes he had instead of ears. These aliens looked like wizened, disfigured humanoids, like someone in their eighties when they’re eight. Ugly to say the least, in Morak’s opinion. And their skin, it reminded him of rotten, wrinkled flesh. Just as disgusting as the real thing.

When standing in front of the businessman, he had no choice but to gaze down to meet his eyes.

They had another endless meeting—the Toferite pretended for a while his offer dissatisfied him—and all along Morak thought what a shame it was to lose that cargo of entertainers.

Only once they had signed the contract and the representative left the MakeItSo did Morak take a deep breath of relief.

They had the means to continue their experiments with the Augments. If only they could control the president of the Federal Council, their lives wouldn’t be so hard. Covering Bureau 42’s operations was difficult with Federal Coalition Security putting its nose where it shouldn’t be. Every time they did, the agency had to use an Augment to atomise them.

And the Augments were always trouble.

The MakeItSo left him at Astral Station, long before Levits arrived. As he boarded the mushroom-shaped vessel, Morak chuckled. He had time to finally get some required and deserved entertainment. He knew a girl who lived on Astral who would be happy to see his tokens again.

***

Levits caught up with Morak at the office arranged for them during their sojourn on the station.

‘Good to see you, Admiral Levits.’ He saluted, standing and bowing his head. Being a civilian, Morak didn’t have to use the military salute to greet his employer, but Levits liked to think of everyone working for him as military personnel.

‘Is the room clean?’ When the door closed behind him, the admiral inspected the room.

‘Yes, sir. I scanned it for bugs when I arrived, but our standard scrambler is in place, just in case,’ Morak said.

‘Very well, then. Let’s start. What do we have?’ Levits sat at the head of the table.

Morak chose the seat to the Levits’s right.

His boss loved being in power. No wonder the idea to create the inhibitor came from him.

‘Doctor Lanees Leicester, thirty-three-year-old human female. Graduated in bioengineering, biology, and genetics at Nova Paris University on Kastra II at twenty-one. Married to Matthew Grafton, a successful antiquarian. Human as well. They have a child, a boy of eleven, named Robert Loris.

‘She has been working on a project called Regeneration for the past eighteen months. Doctor Mirna Bakula invited you to the conference they’ll hold on Kastra II in three days. Rumours have it that Leicester thinks the Internal Bioethics Board will oppose her project. She is looking for an investor.’

‘She is seeking fame. Scientists.’ Levits shrugged. ‘They all crave to be remembered for saving the day. I’ve read the invitation. Leicester claims her medical research project will be able to eradicate the Giacarta Syndrome,’ Levits said. The man enjoyed testing him. He did that with everyone though.

‘Yes, they want fame, but from the intel I got, someone says her solution for that syndrome can also heal wounds. Any kind of wound. Imagine soldiers recovering instantly from wounds during a battle … and I bet she’d sell us her research without a second thought about moral implications. Besides, we don’t have to tell her how we would use it.’ Morak smirked.

‘Well, I hope we aren’t wasting our time there. We need to settle our new lab on Deneb. The experiments on the last Augments were a failure. We lost the whole lab, with all the DNA samples and one of our best scientists. Get this Leicester on your side. If she wants a job, give her one!’

Straight to the point as usual.

‘Her husband is off-world for a week; that leaves me a few days to work on her,’ Morak explained as he considered ways to seduce the human female to their side and into his bed.

The Admiral leant back, grinning. ‘I know that look. You have something in mind. I’m not sure I like it.’

Morak leant forwards, staring straight into his boss’s eyes. ‘We have a rather young and ambitious woman. Smart, attractive, and alone. Her husband is never home and is older than her. During the last year, Mr Grafton spent ten days on Kastra II. Of course I have a plan, sir,’ he went on with his reasoning.

‘Good. You always have a plan. Make sure it works and that you don’t screw up at the last minute just to have fun. Your job comes first. Now, let’s get back to business. Tell me more of the Toferite deal.’

Morak studied his boss for a moment.

Did he have doubts about him and his abilities to get what he wanted? Morak had never failed him so far.

‘It took me a lot of time to get the deal signed,’ Morak said, crossing his legs under the table. ‘Those Toferites are greedy. Despite the cargo I offered them as a sign of our friendship, they’ll rob us of a substantial amount of money for the next ten years. After that, if we don’t deplete the mine, the colony becomes our property,’ said Morak.

He thought of that cargo filled with slaves and all that money.

‘Money is not an issue, Morak. The President signed the Patriot Bill: there is plenty of money to use for defence. She doesn’t have to know we’re using most of that money for war,’ Levits said, smiling.

Morak widened his eyes. ‘You were in London, sir?’

Levits grinned. ‘I needed to push the Council to vote. The Lyrans got in the way, but the ballot was favourable and we have the money now. I’ll divert most to Bureau 42, as usual, and you’ll make sure our augmented army is strong again. If we let the Council take over, the Federal Coalition is doomed to fall in the hands of the Manderian Directorate.’ Levits rubbed his chin.

He still can’t forget when Cressel and Rogar sacked us and kicked his a*s off Mander Prime.

‘Nevertheless, I think we should use one of those Augments with special mental abilities. They can influence people,’ Morak said.

‘I’m afraid that was never an option. First, all the eggs of that batch are dead. We only have one subject capable of mind-controlling someone, but—and here we go with the second issue—I’ve been reluctant to try again with this kind of experiment. You can’t control someone who can influence your will with just a thought. That kind of manipulation is too dangerous. What would happen if one of them became like Ryma Waters?’ Admiral Levits wrinkled his nose.

He’s disgusted. Is he aware of how much Ryma likes me? Unlike Jorelle, she used to play for real fun, not just to tease.

‘Ryma Waters is defective,’ he replied.

‘That’s the excuse of the scientist who created her. All Augments are defective, one way or another. Their DNA is messed up; what would you expect?’ Levits shook his head.

His boss had a point, but they needed the Augments to win against the Manderians. With their superior strength and their various powers, they were the perfect weapon to win a war. Sure, Ryma was messed up badly—DNA manipulation played with people’s brains on more than one level—but not everyone was as uncontrollable as her.

‘Using them will always be a risk, sir.’

Levits leaned forwards, his elbows on the desk. ‘It’s a risk we have to take if we want to destroy the Manderian Directorate. We were helping them recover from the war—a war they had caused—and become members of the FC; to live in peace together. They cheated.’

And you didn’t see it coming. Yeah, the way you lost burns, Morak thought.

‘It’s pointless to talk about this now,’ Levits said. He continued changing the subject. ‘So, the deal with the Toferite is closed. Is there anything else to report?’

‘Actually, yes. I had a visitor when I was on the MakeItSo. Jorelle came by.’

Levits’s eyebrows rose.

‘She popped out of nowhere and with no warning, as usual. She reported the awakening of the Augment LEN0R. Larson had already sent a report about it, but Jorelle felt the need to pay me a visit anyway.’

‘Did she say anything relevant to us, or just her usual babble?’ The Admiral rubbed his eyes. Dark circles lay under them.

‘She complained about her own mission. Training a failed experiment is a waste of her time, time she could spend doing something better,’ Morak explained.

Levits shrugged. ‘Like I said, her usual nonsense. She would spend her time making trouble. We must eliminate her. She is a liability. Tell Larson to off her, once the clone is ready to fly on its own.’

‘As you wish, sir.’