Ravens of Eternity

136 The Flow of Coin, Pt Eva saw nothing but a bright blue sky as she laid down on a soft patch of grass. It was a supremely nice day, and so the city decided to open up the dome during daylight hours. This allowed all of its birds to fly around and stretch their wings.

Drogar with the clearance and the equipment also had the same ability to enjoy the skies. Some took their most exciting and agile jets and performed trick after trick for hours on end. Way up high, beyond Eva’s reach.

She did her best to ignore such displays and buried her jealousy deep down. Being a grounded pilot was the closest thing to hell.

Luckily, she had her distractions. And they came with their own rewards.

She scanned her ledger through her DI, and noted how much wealth she had accumulated thus far. It wasn’t hundreds of millions or anything like that, but she was getting there.

She had a few hundred thousand Federal Credits, as well as a few hundred thousand Imperial Krohn.

“I think I’m going to sell my Krohn,” said Eva. “I mean, once we get back into Federation space. That, plus what I’ve got, plus the Admiral’s payout is gonna get me close to 2 mil.”

“I may do the same thing,” said Miko.

She was also laying in the grass next to Eva, but was pointed in the opposite direction. She was also in her DI, but mostly she was organizing her personal data inside a massive three-dimensional mind-map.

.....

“I am wondering,” she continued, “are we still aiming for B-ranked loadouts? Or should we instead try for a corvette?”

“A corvette isn’t a bad idea,” said Eva. “But I don’t think we need a ship that big yet. There’s only two of us right now, so it’d be a waste. We can get it later though, when Amal joins up.”

Eva turned her head towards Miko and took a look at her outfit. She had spent a good amount of her time shopping and had swapped out her entire wardrobe bit by bit. Miko now wore a sky blue Drogar-style robe, and had little lightning bolt adornments made of milled metal dangling from storm-grey decorative cords.

Beside her was a fancy new bag as well.

“I dig your new outfit,” she told Miko. “It really suits you.”

Eva then looked down at her own workout gear. Which, after having worn it more or less nonstop, had become faded and a little frayed at the ends. Her flightsuit had also suffered similar wear and tear.

Worst of all, her two outfits also began to develop their own unique smell – that of actual blood, sweat, and tears all combined together. They seemed to have seeped into the fabrics over time.

“You should design an outfit as well,” said Miko. “I think... you would benefit greatly from it. Not just from having something else to wear, but because you are in need of a break.”

“But I’m taking a break right now,” countered Eva.

“I mean a real one.”

Eva looked past her ledger and up at the Drogar playing in their jets high in the sky.

She had been working a bit too hard ever since they first arrived. All she had really been doing was fighting and dancing and fighting some more.

The coliseum and its sandy arena floor had consumed her so fully that she was able to temporarily forget the skies. But her fight with Orsethii reminded her that she existed to fly, not dance.

“I hate shopping,” she said eventually. “All those people pushing each other around just to get stuff they don’t need... The whole concept just bugs me.”

“Perhaps you concentrate on other people too much,” said Miko. “And besides, you are trying to exceed your old self, right? So you should go shopping as a challenge to yourself.”

Eva frowned at the suggestion. Miko was right, of course. Didn’t mean she had to like it. She sighed deeply into the air.

“Alright, fine,” she said. “I’ll go shop for a new outfit. I wanna note that I’m agreeing to this, but with massive reservations. Massive.”

Miko looked at her friend and smiled widely as she spoke with resolute confidence.

“If you do not smile even once,” she said. “I will buy your chosen outfit for you.”

As they spoke, they were interrupted by a rather weary-sounding female voice.

“There you both are,” she said. “Been looking everywhere.”

Both of them perked their heads up and looked at the source – it was the Admiral. Eva waved with one hand as Miko greeted her verbally.

“Hello Admiral,” she said.

Over the past few weeks, they had only seen the Admiral sparingly. Though she wasn’t exactly in command of anything, she was still technically the boss. She kept everyone stitched together tightly, and did what she could to keep their morale from falling altogether.

And now that the two of them had a better look at her, she certainly looked more than a little worn out.

“Would the both of you take a walk with me?” she asked.

Eva and Miko agreed, and stood up to follow the Admiral on her walk. They didn’t go anywhere particularly fancy, just a lap around the compound.

“I know it’s only been a few weeks,” said the Admiral, “but negotiations aren’t going well already. I suspect infighting among the High Admirals. Fucking assholes. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that we could be here much longer than we anticipated.”

Eva sighed deeply.

“Well, I suppose that means I’ve got time to climb that ladder,” she said.

“Retholis told me that you’ve been playing some deadly games with the Drogar,” said the Admiral. “Is that what you mean?”

“Yeah, been going underground... er, under-dome getting into pit fights.”

“For money,” added Miko. “Plenty of it.”

“Ah, I see,” said the Admiral. “I was hoping it wasn’t true, but just try not to get yourself hurt, please. Your work with Prometheus hasn’t exactly concluded yet – you’ve got obligations to my project first and foremost!”

“Now that you mention it,” said Miko. “We could use a medical technician from your staff. The Drogar do not have any knowledge regarding human medical treatment.”

“I can send my broth-”

Miko didn’t allow the Admiral to complete her sentence before she interrupted her with a stoic firmness.

“We will not need him,” she said.

The Admiral blinked in response, then looked at Eva quizzically.

“Whatever my manager says,” said Eva.

“I’ll send my best, then,” the Admiral told mIko

“No need to send your best,” Miko relied. “Only someone who is not infatuated with Freya, and is dedicated to medicine.”

“I... understand,” said Admiral Chase. “I’ll find someone.”

“Great,” said Eva. “Thanks for understanding. Anyway, you oughta come watch a match sometime. You might enjoy it.”

The Admiral nodded.

“If I find the time, sure,” she answered.

As they talked, they passed by one of the open social areas. A number of Federation service members mingled with a handful of Drogar guards next to a large stone wet bar. Nearby, a similar group was cooking up various dishes on a Drogar kitchen furnace.

Each of the dishes smelled absolutely divine.

And as they walked, Eva noticed that the Admiral fidgeted with her hands and arms more and more. It was clear she was anxious about something, and nudged Miko to pull her attention towards her behavior.

“Is, uh, something bugging you, Admiral?” asked Eva.

“Oh, sorry! Yes, I’ve been trying to say,” she answered, “can I confide in you? Both of you? I need your word that you won’t speak a thing to anyone about what I’m going to say.”

Eva and Miko nodded to each other, then quickly agreed with the Admiral. The distress on her face visibly diminished.

“Are you perhaps worried about your lab?” asked Miko. “Or the secrets inside?”

The Admiral shook her head, realized that wasn’t true, then nodded quickly to correct herself.

“Sure, I don’t know what’s going on with the asteroid. I imagine there’s crazy Drogar spies inserting all kinds of undetectable tech into every crevice. Little bugs crawling all over the place, listening and recording everything... I honestly don’t want to think about that.

“But what’s really been bugging me is... Retholis himself. Or at least, what he’s doing. He... he’s using us as bait.”

Eva and Miko were taken aback, but perhaps not as surprised as she expected them to be.

“Bait?” asked Eva. “For what?”

“He’s after some powerful people,” she said. “People he thinks are more dangerous than my guns – can you imagine? Anyway, he’s put us here to draw them out. To make them stick their heads out, so he can cut them off.”

Eva nodded. From her experiences with Drogar, even the nice ones, that seemed to be on par with their society. They typically treated their enemies with immediately hostility. Thus the beltknives and the dueling laws.

“Sounds efficient,” she said. “I hope he gets them.”

The Admiral’s voice immediately shot up.

“That’s exactly the problem!” she yelled.

A few others around them glanced at them, and when the Admiral noticed, she quickly lowered her volume to a hush and leaned in to Eva when she spoke.

“That’s exactly the problem!” she said. “I used the word ‘bait’ for a reason – they don’t usually live through the catch! If he succeeds, that means we’re...”

The Admiral couldn’t even finish her sentence.

“I do not believe anyone would be so brazen to attack us,” Miko said. “We are not defenseless, and are protected by high walls and trained soldiers.”

As she spoke, Miko shook her head and pointed at the walls at the compound’s perimeter, along with the armed and armored soldiers guarding them.

“Plus the training the Feds are going through,” added Eva. “If anyone attacks us, they’re gonna have a hell of a time doing any damage.”

“Sure, we’re training,” said the Admiral. “Hand to hand training, at least. I’ve seen what those thugs wield. Guns and swords and who knows what else? Are we gonna parry their bullets and knives with bare hands? No, hell no.”

The Admiral’s worries dawned a little on Eva.

“Hmm. And we can’t arm ourselves either,” she said.

.....

“It’d be a violation!” said the Admiral. “Our terms of surrender state we can’t take up arms for any reason. We can’t even defend ourselves if we’re being attacked. The second we do, those terms are voided immediately!”

“I understand now,” said Miko. “We are in a rather tight bind in the event of an attack. We have nowhere to run or hide and cannot fight for our own lives.”

“Even worse, if Reth’s plan fails, we stand to lose terribly. We might end up here permanently, you know what I mean?”

The three of them stopped walking as they neared the entrance gate. Multiple guards were stationed around each of the towers that flanked it.

A handful up top, who looked out for trouble – inside and outside. And a handful below who were rather more lackadaisical with their duties. But they were still equipped and ready, should anything happen.

Eva looked out at the guards as she absorbed the Admiral’s words. She nodded in understanding.

“Then we’ve gotta do what we can to make sure he doesn’t fail,” she said.

“Ugh! But he’s clearly just using us for his own gain! Or at least, for his own purposes! I feel... I feel used!”

“What’s more important to you, Admiral?” asked Eva. “Your life or your morals?”

The Admiral bit her lip as she absorbed the question.

“And besides,” continued Eva, “we all do questionable shit just to get by. Sure, it doesn’t feel great to be at someone else’s mercy, especially if we’re potentially in danger. But there’s nothing we can do except roll with the punches right now.”

Miko realized something the moment Eva said that they needed to weather the damage. Perhaps that was exactly the answer. And perhaps the Admiral simply needed something to do.

She ran in front of the group a few steps, then halted them both with her palm out. Once she had their undivided attention, she lowered her hand then spoke with a sure tone.

“Just because we cannot cause damage does not mean we cannot prevent damage,” she said. “Admiral, it is time to build your temporary lab. We need to build something to protect ourselves with.”

“Reth isn’t gonna just let me build an arms lab here,” said the Admiral.

“You are wrong. He will let you. All you have to do is negotiate for it. The Drogar love nothing more than an irresistible deal.”