Do
not worry, Captain Atomic will be fine until we get back to killing him. He is in good hands.
The
following writing is from a novel about two spies for the Occupancy of Man. It’s
so far in the future man has dominated the galaxy and made so many
technological advances we would not recognize anything. One technology we have
discovered is transferring a human mind into another being’s body. When Agent
Vermillion is mortally wounded on a mission the only way to save all the
secrets he knows is to transfer his consciousness into the body of a small red
dog.
His
partner, Agent Magenta must figure out a way to save them both.
CHAPTER FOUR:
We
had no problems landing on the station.
Vermillion was pacing nervously in the cockpit, it looked as if he had
found his ship legs.
As
we made our way through the station no one paid any attention to us. We were in the minority on this
station. The Galactic Occupancy of
Man had built the station so long ago as a means of controlling this area. But after discovering no real value in this
area of the galaxy, the station was abandoned and left to the aliens.
Thousands
of different alien races gathered here to trade legal and illegal
merchandise.
There
were the Anunan, a frog-like race from a swamp world known for its illegal
narcotics that produce strong hallucinogenic affects. Their merchant booths were shrouded in thick clouds of
humidity.
The
ProRouds, a cybernetic race of aliens, were busy implanting patrons with the
latest microchips and wiring.
While perfectly legal, many of the patrons had been denied legitimate
implants because they meant to do nefarious things with them.
We
walked among the aliens unhindered.
The thing that slowed us down was Vermillion becoming distracted by all
the smells.
“Can
you not smell this,” Vermillion asked as he moved through the crowds.
“No,
it stinks like Xenos.”
“Agh,
it all smells so good.”
“Where
is your guy at?”
“Ummm,”
Vermillion looked around. “He should be around here somewhere.”
We
searched for a few more hours and Vermillion finally found his contact.
“Can
I help you,” He stared at us with a painted eyeball. He held it in a wand and pointed it at us as we entered the
store.
This
Xenos had no head for which to interact.
It was a collection of arms from various alien species connected to an
amorphous blob of wires with blinking lights wrapped around and through raw
flesh that undulated from inner muscles and organs. It all looked very disgusting and smelled worse.
The
voice that spoke emanated from the wand that was held in a webbed hand on a
very scaly arm.
“Crina,
It’s me, Vermillion,” the dog’s nose immediately twitched and he licked his
lips.
The
Xenos pointed the wand at me then at the dog.
“What
is that,” the wand asked.
The
unblinking eye was inches from the dogs’ nose.
It
happened so quickly there would have been no way to stop it even if I knew it
was going to happen. I don’t think
Vermillion realized it was going to happen and when it did I wanted to burst
out laughing.
The
dog’s tongue flicked out and dragged across the painted eyeball.
Crina’s
many arms and tentacles flayed around in surprise.
Vermillion
shrunk back behind me. His tail
tucked between his legs, his ears pressed back on his head.
“Crina! I’m sorry.”
“Get
out! Get that foul creature out of
here.”
“Crina,
It’s me, Vermillion.”
Crina
had thrown a barrage of items at us.
Arms were chucking anything nearby to drive us away.
“What
the hell was that,” I asked.
“He
is a Reion, they don’t have physical forms so they create them using a
collection of flesh and other things.”
“Not
what I meant. I mean you licking
that creepy eyeball.”
“I
don’t know. It just happened,”
Vermillion said as we made our way through the crowds of aliens. “I think the smells made it so
appealing. I couldn’t help
myself.”
“Well
do you know of any others who will help us get information or contact Mr. Red?”
“Xus
is a big station. Let me think
about it.”
I
had noticed the tag alongs awhile back.
And it didn’t bother me until I saw it again after the unsuccessful
meeting with Crina.
“I
can’t believe he kicked us out.
Didn’t even give me a chance to explain.”
“Vermillion.” We were being followed and my partner
wasn’t realizing it.
“I
mean, come on. I’m still getting
use to this body. I still can’t
crap without stumbling around.”
“Hey,
we are being followed,” I interrupted.
If
everything had been normal, Vermillion would have noticed the Xenos following
us. Instead he was distracted and
it took me awhile to figure it out. So much had happened in the last few days I
was losing my edge.
“You’re
Magenta, squawk! aren’t you,” the small, feather covered alien choked out
through its soft beak. The
colorful plumage on its head became fluffed out and frazzled as I wrapped my
hand around his throat tighter and slammed him against the wall.
“Who
are you and why you following us?”
“Us,”
the xenos’ eyes grew wide. “Is
Agent Vermillion with you?”
The
bird-like alien fought against my grip.
“I’m
down here,’ Vermillion said from next to my feet.
The
alien looked at Vermillion as best he could with my hand choking him and
pinning him against the wall.
“What
kind of squawk! trick is this,” the bird asked.
“It’s
no trick, just a long story. Tell
me who sent you and why?” I squeezed harder.
“Okay,
okay, squawk!, Mr. Red sent me. My name is Dae’lo,” the bird said.
“How
do you know Mr. Red?”
“My
family runs a delivery service. We
deliver groceries and other things.”
The
little bird eyed his satchel that he dropped when I grabbed him.
“Check
the bag, V.”
Vermillion
left my feet. I watched as he
stuck his nose into flap of the bag.
“Smells
like vegetables and bread,” Vermillion said. He tried to paw the flap open but it resisted his effort.
“I
told you I deliver groceries.”
“Bring
it here.”
“You
won’t be able to open it. It’s
synced to me and me alone.”
“Why
would you have a sync-bag,” I asked as Vermillion dragged the bag over to me.
“I
told you, squawk! we deliver groceries and other things.”
I
lowered the Xenos and nodded toward the bag.
“Anything
funny I’ll smash your head against the wall before you can get a shot off.”
“I
didn’t smell any sort of firearm,” Vermillion said.
“I
would never. Mr. Red is my friend.”
The
bird reached down to the bag and the flap fell open.
He
stuck a feathered hand into the bag and pulled out a diskette.
“He
said you would be rough but he paid me well. Although, he said nothing about your partner being a dog.”
“Why
did he have you deliver it?”
“It’s
my job.”
“As
a delivery boy?”
“Yes. We deliver things. Not just groceries but other things.”
“What’s
on the disk,” Vermillion asked.
“I’m
not paid to know that. I’m paid to
make deliveries. It’s my job.”
“You
weren’t followed were you,” I asked.
Agent
Vermillion looked around. His ears
rotated and his nose twitched.
“No. Me and my family are good at what we
do. We deliver groceries and other
things and we deliver them well.”
The
bird handed me the diskette.
“Well
this isn’t going to help us much.”
Vermillion
tilted his head to the side.
I
lowered it so he could look at it.
“Holy
cow! I haven’t a X-drive disk since I was little.”
“How
the hell are we going to access the information on it?”
“I
know someone who can help us. And
he’s on Xus,” Vermillion said.
The
door slammed shut in our faces.
The
little bird xenos ruffled his feathers and squawked.
“Damn
it,” Vermillion snarled. His fur
was standing on end down his back.
“No
one recognizes you. And seeing as
how we are in a very unique job, they aren’t going to deal with a dog claiming
to be a secret agent.”
“May
I go now,” the bird asked.
“Yes,
go ahead.” I waved the bird away.
“You
think he’s going to tell anyone we’re here?”
“No,”
I said. “I’ve heard of his
families business before. Handlers
use them to get deliver sensitive things.”
“Well,
what now?”
“You
can’t think of anyone else who can help us?”
“Not
off hand. Wish my memory would come back.”
“I
might know someone who will have no option.”
“You
going to get rough with someone, Mags?”
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