Slingers (The Slingers Trilogy, Book 1)

Chapter 9

Andress stared in awe at the light shooting out from the sphere in the spaceship. It illuminated the space around them in the cargo bay. Everyone had stopped to stare at the Dorado Piece, and it's glow was hypnotizing. Andress looked at where the ray of light was aiming out at. She ran up towards the cabin where the light was aiming out from, with Nolun and Dante close behind. They made it into the cabin and saw that the light was pointing out past the window and out into the starry blackness. "What is it doing?" Andress asked, looking confused. Nolun looked out and then his eyes widened. "It's a compass. The light points the way to the next Piece!" "Are you sure about that?" "Think about it! How else would the Markers be able to locate the other Pieces if they ever got lost or taken from their intended spots?" Dante nodded and stared at the light. "He's right. It's like a tracking beacon. If we follow it, we'll find wherever the next Piece is." Andress looked at the sincerity on both of their faces. "No." "What? What do you mean no?" "I'm not risking my life for some stupid legend." "It's no legend! It's clearly real!" "The whole GDF is looking for us, and you expect me to just follow a stupid beam of light to go find some ancient treasure I know nothing about and risk getting killed?" "I'll split it!" Andress looked at Nolun. "What?" "When we find the treasure, I'll give you an equal share!" Andress looked at him, then glared. "I don't accept bribes."

She walked away from him, moving to her private cabin. She sat down on the edge of her bed, her head in her hands. She sighed. What was she going to do? The whole GDF was after her now. She kept flashing back to that day...the screams still echoing in her mind. Not again...she couldn't fail her again... "Hey, you alright?" She looked up and saw Bunker walking into her room. "Yeah...fine." She sighed and Bunker gave her a knowing smile. "It's never really fine, is it? You still remember." Andress flexed her right hand instinctively. "Boss...I'm not one to decide...but I think we should take this deal. If the kid is right, we could stop worrying about...y'know." Andress looked up at Bunker. "You sure?" Bunker sat down beside her and sighed. "We've been through worse. We can do this. You've never failed me before." Andress looked at Bunker. "Come on B. You know that's not true." "Don't beat yourself up over that. It's all in the past, Andress. We can't change what happened. But we can change what will." He put his hand on her back, and she looked up at him. Ever since the worst day of her life, she had always considered Bunker her friend, kind of like her own big brother. And she had always listened to his knowledge. If he thought it was right...then maybe it was. She got up and walked out the cabin and over towards Nolun who was sitting on a crate. "I'll do it." She said.

As the ship's thrusters shuddered, the Renegade came to a slow halt over the atmosphere of a small planet. The surface was purple and black, filled with rocks and crystals. Nolun looked out the window and saw the light pointing towards a point on the rocky terrain. "This must be the place." Andress pulled up the planet's info on the ship's computer. "Looks like this place is called Nementia. It's a mining colony run by the Obsidian Dragons." "Did you say the Obsidian Dragons?!" Nolun and Andress looked back into the ship and saw Edvard coming forward. "I thought I told you to stay in your cabin!" "Listen, Red, you had me tied up for the past hour and a half, and I have some information that will keep everyone on this ship alive, so listen." Andress clenched her fists, but pressed her lips together tightly. Nolun noticed that Andress's right hand was covered by a glove, even though her left hand wasn't. It was interesting, but he didn't think any more of it. Edvard kept talking, with Elicia standing behind him. "Me and my sister... we used to work for the mafia back on Rykkak. They talked about the Obsidian Dragons tons of times. They were regarded as some of the most powerful members in the business. They have bases and operations across the galaxy. If they run this mining colony, it's impenetrable and ruthless. No one gets in. Not even with your cloaking device." Andress and Nolun looked at Edvard and sighed. After a moment of silence in the cabin, Nolun lifted his head. "Nothing's impenetrable. You know these guys so well, there has to be some exploit you can use." Edvard and Elicia looked at each other, then back at the group, smirking. "Fine then." Elicia said. "We'll help. But we want a share." Nolun sighed and shook his head. "Fine! Both of you will get an even share." The twins nodded. "I take it you have some sort of plan?" Andress was looking up at Nolun. Nolun gave his smirk. "I'm getting one."

Caligulus Hendro sat at his desk overlooking the colony, the cigar in his mouth smoking as he puffed it. Being the leader of the Obsidian Dragons was hard enough, but being stuck on this backwater planet mining was even harder, and much more boring. When he had been approached with the opportunity to mine on the colony, he was skeptical at first, but after he had been convinced by some certain higher-ups that he would be rewarded a large sum of credits for completing the job and mining in a certain area, he had gladly accepted. As long as there was a large group of zeroes at the end of the sum number, he was happy. But they had been mining for several months, and had met with several setbacks. His buyers were getting impatient. He had kept pushing his workers, but they kept either dying, or they quit and therefore had to be killed. It was a waste of men. As he was about to order more whiskey, a call came from his front guard. "Mr. Hendro? We have some visitors at the front entrance who wish to see you. They say they're from Rykkak." Rykkak? What were Cypher's boys doing here? And what did they want? "Send them up." He waited, and saw with a bit of surprise two blonde twins, a boy and a girl in business outfits, walk through the door. The boy adjusted his glasses and smiled. "Ah, Mr. Hendro! A pleasure to see you!"