Chapter One - Revised (1.3)

Jeremiah lands at Sedna to sell some products and look for new work.

 

Animus - noun

 

1. Hostility or ill feeling.

 

2. Motivation to do something.

Chapter One

Sedna Station

Dwarf planet 90377 Sedna

Sol System

Jeremiah was lying in his bunk staring up at the top bulkhead.  A single light fixture in the center of the cabin was flickering in sync with the rhythm of the ion engines hum.  He had been on a slow burn from the gate for the last twelve hours.  The Core Systems Alliance strictly forbid warp drive operation in Sol System and in general anywhere with in such close proximity to a military installation without government tags. The speed limit also gave system security the chance to scan down passing ships for any cargo they could put a tax on.

His recent run to Tau Ceti and Cigni Prime had proven fruitful if a bit dull. But honestly, he didn’t mind the lack of excitement, especially when he was dealing with the black markets.   In fact, the less excitement around psychotic drug lords and gang leaders, the better.  He had managed to gather a nice load of new products, which he was hoping his doctored manifest would help cover up during the scans.   Shouldn’t be a problem, he thought as he began performing a mental checklist of his cargo.  Medicine, check.  Cell therapy, check. Illicit drugs, check.  Exotic non-vat grown meat products, check.

An alarm in the distance suddenly drew his attention.  His ship had been on auto pilot since passing through the Kuiper Belt, and was finally letting him know they were on final approach to Sedna.  He sat up and set his feet on the cold steel floor as he slid out of the bunk.  The room was a mess.  Clothes were scattered everywhere. Empty boxes of food were tossed about, and a few empty bottles were lying here and there.

Jeremiah bent down and pulled on a pair of pants, walked over to his makeshift wardrobe and pulled out a shirt.  He wiped some grime off a small mirror hanging on the adjacent bulkhead and looked himself over for a brief moment. Not bad. He thought.  He was a tall, fairly well built man.  Not overly muscular, but the military grade genetic cocktail he had been given during the Plague War had bulked him up nicely and given him quite a bit of strength and agility.  His hair was still thick and full, still the same dark brown it had been for the last five decades. His skin was a little more wrinkled and worn that it ought to, but he wasn’t that great at keeping up with his cell therapy.  All in all, not bad for a fifty seven year old man.  He slid on his boots and walked towards his door.  A beep sounded as he swiped his hand over the terminal, but nothing happened.

“Son of a…” he muttered and swiped again.  

Nothing.

“Open.  Open.  Open!”  He shouted swiping each time and finally kicking the door as his swiped again.  This time it opened.

“Thank you.”

The chirping alarm continued as he made his way through the galley and to the cockpit.  Damn girl. He thought as he ran his hands along the narrow corridors.  You sure could use some love.  The bulkheads were a patchwork of different repairs he had made over the years.  Each one its own story.  Several of the lights along the corridors flickered like the one in his cabin.  But he had neither money nor time for that right now.

“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya.” He pulled himself in to the cockpit and began swiping through screens and turned off the alarm.  He navigated his way through a few more screens and pulled up the main camera display.

Nothing but static.

Damn it all… He sighed and smacked his fist on the console.

“Ah, there you are.” He said as the visuals of Sedna focused. The dwarf planet was still too far to see so the cameras displayed an enhanced live feed.  Several centuries ago, Sedna became the location of humanities first deep space colonization project.  A tiny rock at the edge of mankind’s home solar system turned research station, turned booming city in space. But it wasn’t looking all that busy today.  Typically there would be countless freighters were orbiting around in queue for dock, and several CSA warships wandering in a larger orbit, but today the ships sparsely dotted the spacescape before him.  Hopefully he could still find some solid work this round.  Things had been getting scarce in the Central Systems, and venturing to the fringe systems was just more trouble than he felt like dealing with. He shut off the video feed and let the shining disk of light that was Sedna grow in to view.  A small light began flashing on one of the ships consoles. Jeremiah tapped it.  A slightly metallic voice said over the coms.

“Unidentified craft, you are approaching secure space, Sector A1-10.  Please send ID tags and Docking request.  Hold position until notified.”

Jeremiah cut power to his sublight drives and fired up his control thrusters to slow his approach.

“Sedna Station, this is Reverie Captain, Jeremiah Massey.  Sending tags and D.R. as well as manifest.” Jeremiah replied in an overly serious voice.  A few moments passed.

“Transport R-837 Reverie, you are cleared for dock in Section 3, Port 9.  Transmitting script.  You may proceed.”

He began uploading the docking script to his navigation system and joined the queue of ships waiting to dock.

Despite the short line, it was nearly an hour before Jeremiah was able to make his way to his assigned port.  The docking bays were littered with people.  Countless crewmen guided in ships as others walked around from ship to ship presumably making repairs, looking for work, and making inspections.  Some were loading and unloading cargo, others appeared to just be hanging out with their ship crews.

As his ship touched down, the docking crews ran over to secure it and begin decompression.  Jeremiah flipped a few switches and began shutting down systems.  It would take a while to get his shipped moved to the correct spot in the port and equalize the pressure, so he used this time to prep his cargo hold for the inspection and notify his buyers of his arrival.  When the loading door finally opened a weasely looking man was waiting for him at the bottom of the ramp.

“Inspector Nelson.” Jeremiah said with a tinge of disgust as he walked down the loading door ramp.

“Mr. Massey.  How have you been?” Nelson asked.

“Same s**t different day.” Jeremiah said.

The inspector smiled.

“Have you anything to declare?”  He said looking over the manifest Jeremiah has sent ahead of time.

Ever since the end of the Plague War when the CSA took control of the Wan-Ren trade routes, they had been trying hard to enforce their own laws and regulation.  In general, they were too undermanned to do anything effectively.  But in Sol they managed to do a slightly better job.

“Just the usual, Inspector.  I’ve already sent in the manifest�"”

“Yes, yes, I have it right here.” The inspector interrupted.   “It seems there are some… questionable entries here.  I’m sure a quick inspection should clear this right up, though.”

Jeremiah stared him down for a moment then walked further down the boarding ramp towards him.

“As I said, Mr. Nelson,” He pulled a credit stick from his pocket and touched it to a similar stick Nelson had been holding next to his tablet. “I believe you’ll find that everything is in order.”

Nelson eyed over Jeremiah then glanced down at his tablet noting a message of received funds and accepted it with a finger tap.

“Ah yes.  So it would seem.  So sorry to delay you, Mr. Massey.” He said with a twisted grin on his face.

It disgusted Jeremiah to see how corrupt the Alliance was becoming since their crusade against the Wan-Ren.  The war was supposed to improve the lives of everyone, free them from the oppressive monopolies the Wan-Ren had placed over the galaxy and their fellow man.

Something’s never change. He thought.

Inspector Nelson motioned for the docking crew to continue their work.  Jeremiah hoisted his bag over his shoulder and walked towards the station lifts.

“Scum.” He muttered under his breath.

In all fairness, Jeremiah was no saint himself.  Times were tough.  The Earth’s United Nations, the figureheads of the Core Systems Alliance, had won their trade routes and was funneling the riches straight to the politicians’ pockets.  Certainly not the Great Hope that he signed up for.  People like Inspector Nelson were getting to be a serious problem. But they had their purpose, easy to manipulate.

Sedna Station was essentially divided in to three major districts, the Housing, military, and the markets. The planet had developed a lot like the old trail town of the ancient Wild West.  People were traveling and needed a place to resupply.  Eventually it evolved in to a self-sustaining entity: homes, shops, police, and an annoyingly extensive and convoluted transit network.

Fortunately, Jeremiah had been working out of the station for nearly fifteen years now and knew most of it pretty well.  He wasn’t far from the first shuttle when his terminal chirped.  He glanced down to see a message notification.

Where are you?  Simon is getting impatient. The note read.

He touched a finger to his terminal and began transmitting a reply via his neural connection.  Tell Simon to go �" Suddenly he felt a massive pain surge through the back of his head he fell in to darkness.

“Tell Simon to go… what?  Tell me. To go. What, Mr. Massey?”  A voice called to him from the darkness.  

Jeremiah felt like he had been hit by a ton of tungsten bolts.  His head was pounding.  His eyes opened and realized he was lying on a rather nice patterned carpet.  Suddenly someone standing next to him kicked him hard in the side.  He cursed in pain.

“The hell, Simon?” He asked the man who was speaking.

“J.  I’m getting a little tired of your attitude.  I like to think I’ve been very generous with you.” The man called Simon said.

The goon next to Jeremiah kicked him again.  Again he cursed in pain.

“Damn it Simon, call off your b***h. I’m right�"” Another kicked to his side interrupted him.

“Ah, damn it!”  He turned to the big man kicking him, “You kick me one more time I’m gonna break you f*****g knee!”

The man grinned and pulled his leg back for another kick.  Jeremiah rolled and grabbed the mans foot, twisting it outward to a locked position then shifted up to his own knees and jumped, tossing his forearm and entire body weight on to the man’s exposed knee.  The large man buckled, screaming in agony as his tendons tore and his leg hyper extended out past jeremiahs face.  Jeremiah continued his full body roll past the man, now screaming in pain on the ground, and stumbled to his feet at the edge of the squishy carpet.  That’s when he noticed three other men in the room all pointed guns at him.  Simon shot up from his desk.

“Easy now!  You kill him, I don’t get paid.”

Jeremiah struggled with his balance as he held his aching side.

“I thought you were a business man, Simon!  Since when do you use muscle?”

Simon stepped out from behind his desk and walked towards him, motioned for his security to lower their weapons.

“Things are getting a little rough out here, J.  There’s a new guy in town.  He’s been getting some of the lesser gangs to step up their game, They’ve gotten more violent. I’ve had to hire some… extra help, to keep things running smoothly. I am a business man, as you say, and as such I must adapt or be…” He paused, lowering his voice, “bought out.  Someone get him out of here” He said motioning to the crippled hired help.

Jeremiah stepped back towards the room’s wall and leaned against it.   There was a large window next to him and he managed a glance out.  Below he could see the entire market place.  A vast multistory network of vendors, bars, restaurants and clubs.

“I get it.  But your prick over there was uncalled for.  Look in my bag.” He motioned his shoulder towards the backpack he brought from his ship.  “I’ve got some new product.  Should fetch a pretty penny out here.” he glared at the big man writhing on the pain as another goon helped him out of the room. “Between that and a few other things I brought in, you should have your money in no time.”

Simon grabbed Jeremiah’s bag from his desk and pulled out one of the bottles in question.

“Interesting.  The hell is it?” He asked.

“It’s a new designer drug.  Straight from Cygni Prime.  You know those guys are always making some kind of crazy stuff.  It’s a modified extract from one of their custom crops or something, real hard to find stuff.  Something about the terraformed atmo makes it good for growth, slightly higher O2 count I think.  Supposed to give you a real nice high.  The guy just called it, Liquid.”

Simon looked back to Jeremiah and tossed him the bottle.  He barely managed to catch it.  He guessed one of his ribs was likely broken.

“Hmm.  Those rich twats in Cygni sure know their chemistry.” He cocked his head back towards Jeremiah. “Let’s have a demonstration, shall we?”  He leaned back over his desk and swiped a button. “Is Zennie around?  Send him in would you?”

The room went quiet for a bit until a knock at the door.  One of the goons opened it and a scrawny and sickly looking man was escorted in by another goon.  The guys face was beaten and swollen, his mouth taped shut and he hands were bound behind his back.

“Damn Simon.  What did he do to piss you off?” Jeremiah asked.

“This is Zennie.  He’s one of my sellers.  He’s also an addict, and can’t seem to keep his own supply out of his blood stream.”  Simon motioned for one of his goons to hand him something and a syringe appeared.

“You should only use a small amount.  Couple milligrams.” Jeremiah said with warning.  Simon just stared at him with cold eyes as he filled the entire syringe with the drug.

“Whoa, Simon, that’s gonna kill him.” He said.

“He’ll enjoy it, won’t he?  You said this stuff was good.” Simon walked over to Zennie who was being held by the goons and looked terrified.  He tried to scream but only a muffled groan came out. The needle sank in to his arm and Zennie quickly gave up his struggle.  His eyes went peaceful and calm and his body went limp, but the goon caught him.  Simon reached for the drugged man’s face and pulled off the tape.

“How do you feel, Zennie?” He asked.

“Good.” Zennie dragged out.

“Excellent.  Kill him.” He said to the goon holding the man and quickly walked back to his desk.

Before Jeremiah could protest, the goon pulled out a knife and cut the mans throat.  Zennie was so drugged he didn’t appear to even notice he had just been murdered.  He just smiled as his blood spilled to the floor, followed quickly by his body as the goon dropped him.

“Not on my new carpet, you idiot! I just bought this!” Simon screamed as he turned in horror. “Damn it, Tommy!  My god, I’m hired morons!  Get him the hell out of here.”

“Simon, what the…” Jeremiah tried to speak but Simon cut him off.

“How much of this stuff do you have?” he asked, trying to calm himself but still yelling.

“I’ve got two hundred bottles, enough to start the market.  My contacts say they can have another batch ready for shipment in a month.”

“Well, then.  Carry on, Mr. Massey.” Simon walked back to his desk and sat down.  

Jeremiah cautiously walked up to the desk, stepping around the now blood soaked carpet, and grabbed his bag.

“You know, I know a guy that can clean that rug for you.”  He said, almost mockingly.

“Mr. Massey, I know everyone you know.” He said, clearly losing his patience.

“Alright.” Jeremiah put his hands up in surrender, “I was just saying.”

As he walked out the door and began heading for the Market, again, he received another message.  This time from his friend, Thomas.

Hey, I heard you just got back.  Stop by.  And watch out for Simon.

Great.  Thanks for the heads up.  He thought but didn’t reply as he held his ribs in pain.

Author's Note

First round edit. Comments and critiques are welcome. A lot of things to work on for sure...

Reviews

[EileenM]

Good start! Like the premise, character development, interaction between Jeremiah and Simon. Jeremiah's reaction to Simon's casual cruelty is well done!

As others have mentioned, grammatical clean up is necessary later on, when the story's finished. Don't bother with it now!

[Skywatcher]

Except from the few grammatical errors as "Chui" pointed out, it's an interesting, well described story. I was living the story all the way. I found Simon to be an interesting vilain and Jeremiah to be realistic. Real fun to read. Well done

[Chui]

And I believe you meant to say "his" right here: “Easy now! You kill him, I don’t get paid.”
Jeremiah struggled with his balance as he held is⬅️aching side.

[Chui]

You forgot the ' " ' here: He touched a finger to his terminal and began transmitting a reply via his neural connection. (")Tell Simon to go " Suddenly he felt a massive pain surge through the back of his head he fell in to darkness.