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Chapter two

The Brothers Gael

Morgomite City was once a thriving mining colony, centered around harvesting the mineral for which it was named. But when deposits of the ore dried up, the Klaknari Galactic Conglomerate pulled out, taking its workers with it. The businesses and infrastructure that had moved in to service the miners of the mega-corporation were suddenly bereft of a source of income. The commerce guild had done everything it could to find a new backer, but Chrilon 5C simply didn't have anything desirable to offer. Frantic to preserve their businesses, local merchants would throw themselves at whatever beings happened to stop over in Morgomite City.

The colony quickly gained a reputation in the galactic underworld as a friendly place to lie low. As long as one didn't harass the locals, not only were no questions asked, but the locals would protect their patrons from law enforcement and bounty hunters as well. This policy soon became official when the commerce guild set up a security detail to protect Morgomite City's patrons from extraplanetary authorities. Visitors were free to rob, cheat, kill, or do whatever they wanted to each other, so long as they left the locals alone.

Kiole Enkal was therefore unconcerned about any legal repercussions from the homicide he had just committed. However, he wasn't sure if the man he killed had friends, so it was best to leave before his face became recognizable. Besides which, his line of cash was running low, so it was time he got back out into the galaxy to make some more.

The corridors grew drastically larger as he entered into the original settlement from the area that had been converted from mining tunnels. The 'Old City' was decidedly nicer; better lighting, better air recyclers, better sanitation, and even a better smell. This part of town was inhabited mainly by permanent residents of the moon, and catered to upscale criminal types, like those belonging to a syndicate.

As he made his way to the docks, Kiole passed through the most exquisite and busiest part of the Old City. A row of ten-story-high windows opened up a vista of the lunar trench into which Morgomite City had been built. The pavilion was lined with parks, cafés, outdoor bars, and artificial ponds. The pavilion was the only area of Morgomite City that ever saw natural light, when once a month, Chrilon 5C's orbit around its gas giant would bring the system's twin suns into view of the canyon. It was always a cause for a celebration, as well as an excuse for the locals to jack-up the price of their services.

Kiole did his best to blend into the crowded pavilion. He wove in and out of the bars and cafés, and even doubled back a few times. He didn't think that he was being followed, but one could never be too careful. Kiole sidled up to one of the bars and ordered a beer. He scanned the crowd to see if anyone was taking an interest in him.

A flicker of movement caught his eye, and he could see a body pushing its way through the crowd toward him.

"Hey!" a shout came from the body, a male voice. Kiole's right hand dropped to his blaster, though he continued to sip his beer casually. "Hey, bro!" the voice came again, but this time Kiole recognized it, just as the man materialized out of the crowd before him.

"Gael Aech," Kiole greeted his old friend, cracking a grin. Leaving his blaster holstered, he brought up his right hand to shake Gael Aech's offered hand.

"Hey bro-bro! Long time, no seeing!" Gael Aech said in his heavily accented Martian. He was a tall Aeripan Human, with a chiseled jaw line, crystal-blue eyes, and a neatly trimmed goatee. In keeping with Aeripan tradition, his blonde hair was styled in a mohawk that ended in a long braided tail. The bald areas of his scalp were tattooed with Aeripan script that recounted the glorious history of the Gael clan.

"You should be more careful, buddy," Kiole joked, "I almost vaped you."

Gael Aech grinned, but leaned in close and warned Kiole in his native language, {"You should be more careful as well, my blood-brother. There are several unsavory characters that have been following you. What is it you have done this time?"}

{"I had to vape some kid who was a sore loser at cards,"} Kiole replied in Aeripan. {"I guess his friends didn't take too kindly to my killing him."} Kiole shrugged and took another swig of his beer.

Gael Aech let out a hearty laugh, "HA HA! You are too much, bro, really! Same old Kiole!" He spoke once more in his heavily accented Martian.

Kiole grinned and took a sip of his beer. He scanned the crowd, trying to find his would-be assailants. {"So... what are we looking at?"} Kiole resumed speaking in Aeripan to throw-off any eavesdroppers.

{"There are five of them,"} Gael Aech explained, {"They have been following you for at least the past thirty minutes, that is when Gael Ewhele and I spotted you,"} he said, referring to his twin brother. {"Gael Ewhele is tailing them at this very moment."}

"Hmmm..." Kiole pondered the situation as he took another gulp of his beer. {"Do they look tough? Their friend was pretty green."}

{"They could be trouble. As I said, they are five; two Humans, a Martian and a Faenir, I think. They carry blaster carbines, and the Faenir has a large axe as well. They have a Mohtehran with them; it carries no weapons, as well as a Verisian and a Pyraxian. Both look very seasoned."}

Still scanning the crowd, Kiole quickly picked out the Mohtehran. The hulking primate was not hard to miss. At more than eleven feet tall, it stood well above most of the crowd. Kiole was not surprised to see scars covering the giant ape's back. Mohtehrans were a slave species in the Martian Hegemony, and were often brutalized because of their independent nature.

Seated to the right of the Mohtehran was one of the Humans. He was a dark-complected man of medium height and build, and looked very similar to the young man Kiole had shot earlier. His head was shaved bald, and he looked to be in about his mid thirties. He wore a tight, white T-shirt, which showed off his muscles, with a black, military-style utility vest over top. His khaki cargo pants were tucked neatly into his black leather boots. A 'Boxer' blaster carbine was slung around his shoulder. It had been modified from the standard military version with a folding wire-frame stock and a high-capacity drum-style energy clip.

Seated directly across the table from the first Human was the other. He was most definitely a Faenir, as Gael Aech had suggested. The large, ceremonial battle-axe he wore on his back was a dead give-away. Faenir were yet another variety of Human apart from Martians and Aeripans. They were typically a fair-skinned people with blonde or reddish hair. This one was no exception. His hair was fiery red and about chin-length, though he had it tucked behind his ears. He had a bushy beard which he scratched thoughtfully as he listened to his comrades speak. He also carried a 'Boxer' carbine, but his version was in the standard military configuration, with a solid rifle stock, and a smaller energy clip inserted into the weapon's pistol grip. Kiole guessed that this was the leader of the group, as he looked to not only be the oldest, but the most experienced as well.

Seated to the right of the first Human, was a Verisian with jet-black fur. Hanging below its chair, hovering just above the floor, the feline alien's tail twitched erratically, a sign that the being's adrenaline was pumping. The feline wore only a waist-wrap, and carried no weapons from what Kiole could see, but Verisians seldom needed any weapons other than the ones that nature provided them with.

Seated between the Verisian and Faenir, facing Kiole, was a Pyraxian. The insectoid alien had no clothing over its shiny black exoskeleton except for a pair of ammo bandoleers filled with spare energy clips criss-crossed over its chest. Two of the alien's four arms greedily clutched a glass of some exotic beverage, which it drank through a straw. The insect's other two hands were folded on the table in front of it. The Pyraxian's antennae were twitching and moving, and its glassy compound eyes stared blankly ahead, indiscernible.

Clever,_Kiole thought, _have the guy watch you, who you can't tell where he's looking...

{"I wonder why they haven't moved on me yet..."} Kiole said more to himself than to Gael Aech, {"A group of bruisers like that could have dropped me easy..."}

{"They were about to, my blood-brother. That is why I approached you. They backed off when they saw I was Aeripan. They will not attack you with witnesses present, for now they know they will incur the wrath of an Aeripan clan."}

"Thanks, brother," Kiole smiled at Gael Aech and shook his hand again, "You always seem to bail me out in the nick of time."

"HA HA," Gael Aech laughed again, "Hey, no problem, bro-bro! That is what I am being here for."

"Hey bartender!" Kiole called over the counter, "Get my brother here a beer!"

Gael Aech leaned back against the bar next to Kiole and took a big gulp of his beer when it was brought to him. {"The question is, what are we to do now, my blood-brother?"} Gael Aech asked, falling back into Aeripan to conceal their conversation once more.

{"Do you still have the Sunhorse?"} Kiole responded, inquiring of the Gael brothers' starship.

{"But of course. Gael Ewhele and I were going to lift off within the hour. We ran across you after we had settled our bill at the hotel."}

{"Mind giving me a lift as far as the nearest KGC outpost?"}

{"For you, of course, my blood-brother. I believe there is one located on Obantin Prime."}

{"We'll be alright until we get to the docks, but there are plenty of places they can jump us without any witnesses once we're there."}

{"What do you suggest?"}

{"Does Gael Ewhele still have Kuja?"}

{"Yes..."} Gael Aech answered, raising an eyebrow.

{"Then we jump them first."}