Hair of the Wolf: Open for Business

[Zebulon]

This was not the sort of day that he had planned. Sure, things were about to get interesting, but in a way that "interesting" had never been defined in any dictionary that Zeb had ever picked up.  Red Eyes. They always took a bit of getting used to. Oddly enough it was the fact that Vengeance had used contact lenses to hide them that had taken Zeb by surprise.  The knife play was always on the slow side round here and Zeb had just gotten used to the fact that the technology of Arghs had made the "Hair of the Wolf" a little safer than most bars in this quadrant, but there are some things that you can still get round.  Zeb felt the hidden sheath by his right thigh.  His own blade was a composite carbon plastic with a decorated bone handle, no metal parts. Registered on most scanners as "scar tissue and bone".  In the right hands this weapon could puncture any armour, bar solid titanium or plate steel.  He had only used it once in anger.

His shock at the tales told by C and Vengeance came from his own face to face with the Nomads and their minions. It had been many years ago but the memory was a recurring nightmare that sat in the back closet of Zebs, ever so tidy mind. It was his one and only "BOO!" factor.  It had been a normal, run of the mill plod about New York. Weapons, Machine Parts, Luxury Goods and the occasional passenger. He had taken a family of three "pilgrims" as they had called themselves, a father, mother and teenage boy on a flight to Ptolomey in Alexandria. The father had an odd twitch about him that, at the time, Zeb had failed to register as a problem.  That kind of twitch was now registered in Zebs mind as a Kill on Sight issue.

Flight had been fine. Heading for Barsine things got real nasty real quick. There was a comotion in the cargo compartment of the Zeuge and the alarms had triggered, auto pilot was set so Zeb grabbed the gat from the rack and headed for the hold.  The scene in front of him as he entered the hold was a little bizarre. Marcus Deely , Zebs engineer, was on the deck in a pool of blood. At first it looked as if he had fallen as his body was all twisted about. "What the fu....?" Crouching over the body was the boy, or at least what appeared to be the boy. There was a writhing motion under the kids clothing. He turned and faced Zeb. Zeb gasped.

Now you hear all sorts of tales out here in the Black and there is always someone around, who, for the price of a beer, will try and tell you one that will scare you witless. This was the first one Zeb had seen face to face.
The boys head was more like a hat as the large and long tenticle protruded from what had beeen a mouth in the boys face.  There was blood everywhere.  The eyes had rolled back in their sockets and there was an odd keening sound coming from the creature. Over his initial shock, Zeb let rip with the gat.  The boys body shattered into blood, flesh and bone, but it was just like peeling an orange. What was underneath was far from pleasant! The keening sound grew to a high pitched wail.  Zeb kept firing. All he could think of was "thank God for low velocity plasma based rounds". The remains of the creature slumped into a pile of puss and slime that stank to high heaven.  "Now, where are the other two?"

Luckily the bridge of the ship had a security system that contained a few surprises that automatically set as soon as Zeb left the cockpit. The Klaxon sounded, and the syrupy female voice announced, "Intruder alert. Bridge is under attack. Intruder alert. Defence systems activated."

Zeb turned on his heels and ran back towards the bridge. In the narrow corridor he could make out two figures by the cockpit entrance, the door had sealed but not before the laser system had cut the woman in half. Again the same scene of a human body cracked open like a broken fortune cookie and the remains of a still living creature writhing and wailing. The other one stood and faced Zeb.  His eyes had rolled back and his body was twitching all over. Zeb raised the gun and fired. The man moved with agility. leaping up to grab an overhead conduit. The last remaining rounds hit the already wounded critter in the deck and then the gat went dead.

They say these things happen in slow motion although they apparently only take a few seconds to play out.  Zeb felt like he was moving through thick mud.  He threw away the useless gat and grabbed for his blaster. At the same time the Nomad swung straight for Zeb, feet first. It caught Zeb square in the chest, knocking him backwards into the bulkhead.  The blaster spilled from his hand and clattered down the corridor behind the creature, who had reached for the now prone Zeb.  Zeb rolled and sprung to his feet, inches from the Nomads grasp.  Thankfully this thing was still vaguely human, no tenticles yet.  Zeb guessed that any transformation took a bit of effort and strenght that this character was not prepared to expend and it was just going to take care of Zeb the old fashioned way. It came at him again, all sightless eyes and drool, grasping and kicking out at him with grotesque puppet like motions. Zeb pulled one of the manual fire extinguishers off the wall and swung it at the creatures head.  It didnt duck. There was a sickening crunch as the skull split and the neck broke.  It still kept coming at him.  A stink filled the air and the lolling head started to convulse as tenticles tried to push up out of the neck cavity. A sickening pop sound as the head swung to one side still attached by the human flesh as the creature fought to be free of the body.  Zeb took his moment and lept at the creature, with the only things left in his arsenal, one combat knife and his wits.

It was a mess. Nomad physiology was not one of  Zebs top subjects. He punched and cut and sliced all he could. The tenticles grabbed at him.  He did watch for the ones with the venom injection teeth. This much he did know, one of those gets you and its lights out time.  Two of the temticles lay severed on the floor. The top of the human torso had now started to split as the slug like creature swung its remaining venemous tenticle at Zeb.  The knife struck home.  Zeb had no idea where it had punctured but it felt good. The blade bit in hard.  It took Zeb a good minute to realise that he was still stabbing at a now lifeless Nomad corpse. Despite his apparent calm train of thought he could feel himself hyperventilating in a very detached manner, like it wasnt happening to him. He suddenly felt tired and he slumped to the floor.

As with all things some good comes out of terrible situations.  Zeb was alive and the AoF emergency beacon had activated. The ship had dropped out of the jump rings.  This had been an automatic proceedure on most of the AoF craft as there was no need to attract the unwanted attention of the law when things went a bit "pear shaped". Mostly this was to avoid legal issues and piles of paperwork along with the inevitabel fines and bribes to be paid.  Next thing Zeb knew was that he was lying in a bed, medic droids and beeping sounds all around.  Argh was sitting next to the bed. "Aha! You are up! About freekin' time you lazy SOB...!" His infectious grin made Zeb realise two things. He was alive and the nightmares were over, at least for now.

Zeb tried to speak, but couldn't.  Arghs face became serious. " Buddy you just had a lucky escape. The "Phoebe" is in dry dock. I got the Cleaner to remove any trace of those beasties. No questions asked.  The Law started sniffing around but we told them it was a breakdown and the AoF lawyers are dealing with the police and the insurance folks. They wanted to see your medical reports but we are treating those as confidential right now.  Mikey in Accounts is working on a false set to satisfy the paperwork and the Law."
Zeb raised his head.  "Nope, buddy you sit still and dont move a muscle. You took a scratch from one of the beasts. The doc reckons you will be fine, but they are a worried looking bunch. Seems no one has survived a full on tangle with Nomad incursions like this, so we are keeping it "in house". Can't have you carted off to the nearest research facility can we...." Arghs voice trailed off as Zeb started to fall back into a deep sleep.

Back to the bar. Zeb sat with the other two. They downed the port. "Whats this all about ?..." The question hung in the air. "Look, the only difference between us is that I didn't drink the blood.  I remain in the category of "normal" for now, but whatever that venom did, I might never know as the docs have no idea.  Odd things happen. My hearing is a little keener than before and I still retain the stamina I had twenty years ago." Vengeance and C both grinned at Zeb. "Mucky devils! You know what I mean...!" Zeb had to smile despite himself.  "I get the urge to kill Nomads after what happend.  I find that all my efforts have been poured into the AoF and I have avoided the worst of clan politics till now.  Things are a little unsettled of late and this place is one of the few havens that I have from all the wildness out there in the Void, but it still has a draw and a call.  I do crazy things just to feed the craving to fight."  Vengeance nodded, "That explains your commission with the Navy then does it?"  C grunted and raised one eyebrow.  Zeb looked uncomfortable, "How did you know about that?" Vengeance laughed. "Its your fighting style, or at least the lack of it  that gave that game away!" C joined in the laughter and Zeb couldnt help himself.  

To any onlooker this would be an odd scene indeed.  Three people sitting at a table. Two of them looking like they would eat you as soon as look at you and the third, tidy dressed and with an air of ownership about him, drinking and laughing casualy at a joke between friends.  

Vengeance nodded in satisfaction, "My friend, things are about to get interesting...."

[-Vengeance-]

Zeb’s story was enlightening to say the least. I’d listened, rapt. I’d had no idea he’d been around so much. His almost mild demeanor lied, I decided.

Their faces were expectant. “Well…?Just how interesting?"  Zeb prompted. C raised an eyebrow.

“I went back to the Park,” I began. “Where I found Wolf’s ship. What a beauty. And I tell you, she doesn’t just talk, I swear she cried. She kept asking about the Boss. Wolf, I figure. When I went to climb out the hatch closed on me. No joke! Shut me in. Demanded I take her to the Boss. I had to explain long and hard that I was trying to find him. She made me promise to bring him to her right away before the hatch would open.”

Zeb nodded. C stared.  

I looked at him with a grin. “It’s a long story… Here.” I pulled out the data pad with Wolf’s journal in it, passed it over. “Check this out, maybe it’ll help.”

He took it and tucked it in his jacket. “Later…”

“Zeb reached over and poured another drought of Port, pushed it toward me, looked at me pointedly.

“OK. So when I was leaving the hangar I ran into this weasel guy again. He was all excited and jumping up and down like his panties were on fire. I heard him yelling at the security guard about some guy named Mike. And Wolf! He wanted to know where they went.”

“Geez!” Zeb breathed. “He’s got to be close by!”

“That’s what I figured. So I followed the little guy. He’s a quick little rat, though, and I lost him.”

“”Drat!” Zeb exclaimed. He opened his mouth to say something else when the door flew open with a crash.

Everyone stopped and started at the shadow in the doorway. Then he staggered forward, as raggedy a guy as I had ever seen. My mind had just registered that I knew this guy when a voice bellowed:

“ZEB!”

[Watchwolf]

Once it started there was no stopping it. Memories flooded my aching mind like the sea into a sinking ship. I was drowning, caught in an undertow of images, feelings and dreams. I moaned as I was dragged down into the abyss.

To lose your memory is to lose yourself. But regaining it is not at all like finding yourself. It's like finding a stranger within you. It didn't take me long to see this guy was a piece of work.

Waking up in a dirty barroom latrine, wondering if I was dead... watching one ship tear down the whole Liberty fleet like it was made of paper... learning the ropes, as tangled as they were, from a guy named Pit Viper... dying at the hands of some gun happy rogue and waking up again... hopping from ship to ship with just a thought...  Monkeys who know more about me than I do... a ship that talks, smart cracks and all... picking up a fugitive, delivering him in New York... getting the crap beat outta me for my trouble... watching him disappear into a giant sign... trying to follow... more darkness... fighting Death himself and killing him... being hauled in front of men of power who weren't men at all... dreams, awful dreams...bloodthirsty nightmares of killing and dying... a long dark journey into a forgotten corner of my soul... sitting down with Death for a drink and a game of dice... fighting him hand to hand, blade to blade... looking Death in the eye and watching him die... feeling myself die with him... feeling as though I was ripped apart... watching myself walk away as I lie helpless on the floor... waking up in the hold of a dirty ship... a friend who'd sell his soul for me,... a "friend" who tried to sell my soul... opening my own bar... being dragged out of the ship... a Shadows ship!... running a pub for the best time of my life... running from a bar for my life... a gunfight with Shadows... a gunfight in the shadows... Nomads... so many Nomads... where did they come from... a Nomad gun... a Nomad ship...  a walk to the Star Park... running from the Star park... a man in the shadows... so familiar... hiding in the shadows... grabbed from behind... pulling him into the alley... desperate struggle... the sound of cracking glass... the sound of my cracking skull... ... hands lifting me... tying me... a long painful ride... more darkness... more pain... faces... Mike... who the hell is Mike... memories... a flood of memories...  Mike...

I opened my eyes. "MIKE!"

There was no one there. I was alone in a small dreary room.

Nomads... so many Nomads...

I tore open the door, ran down the hall, grabbed the first person I saw. A woman with way too much paint on her face and way too little clothes on her way too skinny frame.

"Where am I?"

"You lost, Mister? You drunk? Or just crazy?"

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean... where ARE we? I mean, exactly!"

"Hotel Attenborough. New London City. South East 12400. About a kilometer from the East Star Park. Why?"

Nomads...

"What time is it... no, what day? What ... oh hell... what's the date?"

"I got plenty of time, Sweetheart...." she winked at me.

"WHAT DAY IS IT!?"

"7 Seventeen 807," she pouted.

"Schutz!"

“Well excuse me!”

I ran down the stairs, out into the street. The night was clear and cold. Like a slap in the face, it helped. I looked around, got my bearings. Yes, there was the Star Park. There was the Tower. I turned to my right... "This way!" I yelled to no one and took off running.

Nomads! O gawd... so many fookin' Nomads!

The narrow alleys were the best way I knew. I  flew through them like a winter storm. People dodged out of the way. Lights in windows streaked past, uncaring. They'd seen it all before. Another fool on the run.

There! The sign. The door.

I burst through the door, panting. The light was blinding, the air warm, smelling of bread and ale.

I stepped inside and looked around desperately at the shocked faces all turned my way, all frozen in a moment of time...

I took a deep breath...

"ZEB!"

[Zebulon]

The shout from the ragged man in the door way caused a distinct and immediate silence. Vengeance had stopped the glass of port mid way to his mouth. C had turned slowly to peer at the figure in the doorway with his blood red eyes.  Far to many others in the bar were paying attention to man for Zeb's liking. Quick as a flash he nodded to the Bouncers and they quietly moved into positions of cover making sure that the newcomer had room to manouver.  Zeb was out of his chair and across the room towards the tattered figure.  "Wolf?"

Wolf's eyes were wide. He grasped both of Zebs forearms. "Nomads! Its the Nomads, they are doing this to me!"

Zeb led the Wolf to the back office.  Without an invite and without even a flinch, the other two followed. C watched to the rear.  Wolf was muttering now, and the bar went back about its business.  As they walked past the counter, Zeb leaned towards Liz and Vikki.  "Check for observers and watch the room for anything of interest. Get me the playback from the security feed.  I want to know if there were any overly interested parties in our little exchange." They both nodded silently.  Zeb moved the Wolf onto the big leather sofa in the office.  He gestured to C. "Shut the door, please."  Zeb grabbed a stool and sat opposite Wolf.  Vengeance grabbed a comfy chair and C stood behind Vengeance, covering the door.

Wolf had calmed down. He definately recognised Zeb, the other two looked kinda familiar. Truth was he felt safe, at least for now.  Zeb reached over and pressed the coms button on the desk. " Cherry, can you bring in Wolf's usual, the man looks half starved."  

"Right oh, boss. Will do!" came the reply from the kitchen.  

Wolf started to talk. Zeb got him to skip over the stuff that Zeb had remembered from the journal. As Wolf was talking, Zeb noticed something in the top left shoulder pocket of Wolf's flight jacket. He gestured to Wolf to take it out. Wolf did it and handed it to Zeb.  It was a card, almost lilke a business card. The holographic image was very clear and Zeb sighed.  He reached into his wallet and produced a very similar card.

"I've seen the Non-Men.  I have visited with the Guardians of the Viod. Seems we have more in common than you knew...."

Zeb noticed the other two starring. He went back to talking to Wolf. "Vengeance found your ship. She is all safe and well, just missing you.  There have been a few changes but nothing too serious."
Wolf nodded to the big guy who was pretending to be mildy disinterested.  "Many thanks my friend, I thought I had lost her for good....."  

Zeb was worried. The Respawn Pop, as Zeb called it, had taken Wolf badly.  It took a lot of getiing used to. Life upon Life upon Life...or at least thats how it felt,

Cherry walked in with a plate of food and the conversation from Wolf stopped for a bit. Zeb and the others let Wolf eat.......

[Carnival]

"So, is someone gonna fill me in?" I asked. "Men don't act like that cos they've just been on a pleasure cruise."

"I think we will have to let him explain it himself," Vengeance said. "He needs to recharge first. You can see he is past the point of exhaustion."

I examined Wolf out of the corner of my eye as I spoke. He seemed on the edge of sanity, something had ripped him apart on the inside. He was relieved to be back, I could tell but... What the hell is that?!

I heard a crash come from the kitchen, and bolted through the door.

"Vengeance, don't let him die man. Don't even think about it." I ran into the kitched to find one of the girls struggling to fend off a tall robed and hooded figure. She smashed it in the head with a tray and ran behind me. It hissed and stared at me, sizing me up.

"To hell with this." I wasn't pulling any punches with this thing. I took my blade out of its sheath at my side and held it in front of me. "Get out, or I swear I won't be responsible for my actions."

The figure stared at the knife, and then at my eyes.

"Abomination." It growled, and leapt toward me, arms outstretched. A hand grabbed at my shoulder as I thrust forward with the blade, and I felt hot pain searing through me.

"Aaaargh, thats it you piece of scum!" I rammed the thing backwards and stabbed upwards into its chest. It staggered back and started screeching. Deep, dark blood seeped out onto the floor.

"You, girl. Get into the back room and tell the others its been taken care of."

"But -"

"Now." I snarled as I advanced on the creature bleeding its life out all over the floor. "So... what are YOU then?"

I raised the hood and stared into the mans eyes. As I watched his features began to fade. His eyes, mouth, nose, they all blurred and began disappearing in front me. The body too was becoming blurry and insubstantial. As I watched I noticed that some of his blood was still on the knife.

"DO IT."

The voice was like a hurricane ripping through my mind. I put the blade up to my face and licked the blood off. I looked at the slowly fading body of my bloody victim and smiled.

When the girl came back in, she stared at the floor in disbelief.

"Where did he go? Wheres all the blood?" She asked, looking around fearfully.

"I cleaned up." I pushed past her and rejoined the guys in the back room. Vengeance took one look at my eyes and shook his head. He leaned over to me.

"We need to do something about you." He looked pointedly at my eyes again. "They're even worse."

"The intruders dead. And I really, really want to know what the hell is happening." I leaned against the wall and started playing with the knife, watching blood drop off the blade, and catching it on my hand. "Wolf, you're safe again."

He turned to me, and looked hard at my face. He turned away again and opened his moutn...

[Watchwolf]

I'd been going on and on, I realized . I had to regroup. I sounded kind of strange to myself. Like I was listening to someone else talking with my mouth. I shook my head and opened my mouth to speak again when we heard the crash. My instincts kicked in and I started to rise. Vengeance's big hang gently pushed me back. "We got it, Bro."

I didn't want to move. I felt so tired. I let myself be pushed back into the soft leather.

It happened fast. The new guy was quick. After the commotion died down he returned. I caught a glimpse of a sinister-looking blade as he moved it from in front of his face  and started toying with it. That blade... I'd seen one like that before. Recently.

Very recently.

I stared. Who IS this guy? ... I didn't even know I was bein' followed and he takes 'im out like he knew they guy was there. Hmm...

"You're safe now." broke in to my thoughts.

"Safe." I repeated, looking into red eyes. A sharp slap across the face couldn't have straightened me out faster. I swallowed. "Safe. Huh. Right." I tipped the glass in front of me, drained it, felt the warmth start to spread from the pit of my gut. I pushed it back across the low table in from of the sofa at a worried-looking Zeb.

"Safe. No one's safe, pal. None of us..."

"What are you on about, mate?" Zeb said as he pushed the refill back my way. His voice had gone up an octave.

"Yeah. What the hell you talking about?" I knew that voice. Vengeance. I turned toward him.

"You don't w..." I started, stopping mid-sentence. Red eyes.What the...

I looked back at the new guy. Evil, I thought. Evil in a skinsack. Then I looked back at Vengeance with a new point of view. Evil...  just when you think you know someone...

I needed a distraction. I drained the glass again, the warmth beginning to give way to a welcome numbness. I slammed the glass on the table.

Zeb jumped. Vengeance raised an eyebrow. The new guy leaned back, crossing his arms.

"Dammit, Zeb! Gimme the good stuff!"

Zeb looked surprised. "That IS the good stuff, mate.

"Bull. I want... aw Schutz. If ya want anything done..." I lurched to my feet, grabbed Zeb by the arm, dragged him out of  the office. Outside, I turned toward Zeb, jerking my head meaningfully toward the bar. He followed. I slammed the door.

"What the futz, Zeb!" I yelled, too loud, grinning at him. I gestured with my hands, frantically. "Come on, mate!" my hands said. He looked confused, then the light came on.

"The hell you say, Wolf!" he yelled in reply.

The place grew quiet. "Now what?" I heard someone say.

"Geez it's good to see you again, my friend," I whispered. "You're a sight for sore eyes!" Then, much louder, "Don't give me that crap!"

"I've been worried sick, mate, " he whispered. throwing his huge arms around me in a hug, slapping my back. "What's gotten into you!?" he yelled.

"You don't wanna know," I said in a quiet voice, grinning. "But I suppose you're going to want to anyway."

"Right."

"Right here! Don't hold out on me!!" I yelled back. I pulled open a cabinet door under the bar, eased a box from the back, set it carefully on top. Then I kicked the door shut. "Here!" I yelled.

I opened the box, tenderly pulled out one of two bottles. It was my Special Reserve, all that was left of what Shipper'd given me, what seemed so long ago.

"Well I'll be... " Zeb whispered. "Who's holding our on who?" He accused with a grin.

"Been saving it." I placed the box under the bar. Then, "Zeb, who is that guy? And what's wrong with V?"

"Wrong? What do you mean, 'wrong?' "

"His eyes. What's with the eyes? Both of 'em."

"Not sure, Wolf. That's a recent development."

"Well, I do..." I growled. "Come on. Just stay cool, follow  my lead."

I jerked open the door, headed back to the sofa, Zeb close behind.

Plopping myself back down I pulled the old-fashioned cork out with my teeth, spit it out, and recklessly poured, letting some splash onto the table. Zeb looked absolutely horrified. I have to admit, it hurt me too. I took a long pull, set the glass down, wiped my mouth on my sleeve and let out a big "Ahhhhh!!!"

"Feeling better?" Zeb asked sarcastically.

I looked at my precious bottle. "It'll do..."

"Come on, Wolf," Vengeance said, then with a grin of his own,  "Spill it."

I gave him a quick look, That familiar lopsided grin of his almost made me forget my fear. But no...

"Nomads. That's what I'm talkin' about.  Hundreds of Nomads. More'n I've ever seen."

"My God, Wolf! Where?" That was Zeb.

I glanced over at Vengeance, gauged his reaction as I said, "Right here. On New London. Just a big as you please."

He looked surprised. I hoped he was...

"My God!" Zeb exclaimed again.

I swallowed my Port, poured myself another, more carefully this time. "Not just Nomads, either. The biggest Nomads I've ever seen."

"What!?" Zeb, Vengeance and the new guy (still don't know his name!) chorused like they were in a production of Pirates of Penzance.

"Yeah. Big. And Mean. With mean ships and mean weps like I've never seen. And from what I heard, there's more on the way. Lots more."

"How do Nomads get away congregating here on New London?" Zeb whispered hoarsely.

"How? Cuz they look just like us. Like you and me. Just like You " I gestured at Vengeance. "And you." I nodded toward the new guy.

"Then how do you know they're Nomads?" said the new guy. Perfect. Right on cue...

I looked right at him, lower my voice menacingly. "The eyes," I said. "They got red eyes..."

[Carnival]

Wolf stared at me, his voice deep and threatening. "The eyes," he growled. "They've got red eyes..."

I could tell where this was headed, and I didn't like it one bit. I'd just saved this guy from some freaky ass guy in a robe, had my favourite jacket ripped and was bleeding from my shoulder. And now...

Wolf started to stand up, and I pushed myself away from the wall. I toyed idly with the blade in my hand, and stared him down.

"Don't even try it man." I said softly. "You're in no fit state to take me on. And you wouldn't want to even if you were. I'm not your enemy."

"Oh yeah? Wana explain to me and Zeb why you've got those eyes then?" Wolf challenged me.

"Zebulon already knows." I faced him directly and asked him outright... "Well Zeb. Are you gona use that gun you've got hidden under the bar? We both know that tech isn't standard round here... Its probably all you have thats capable of killing me as well."

Zebulon looked at me with shock in his eyes. "How do you know about that?"

"I can feel it. Its like an itch on my mind." I leaned toward him. "You were shaken up by my and Vengeance's little tales weren't you? And now, even though you know full damn well that we're not a threat, you're wondering if you should call the girls in to shoot us down."

"If Wolf thinks something isn't right, then usually it isn't." Zeb stared at me defiantly.

"Well, what do we need to do to convince-" I broke off midsentence. I looked around, blinking furiously and trying to clear my vision... I couldn't see anything! Everything was red... pure, deep blood red. I could hear voices, shouting, hands grabbing me, but the panic was too strong.

Watchwolf looked on in fear as I writhed around on the floor. I was mouthing silently for help, but no one could hear me. As he got up to try and hold me still, I screamed... A flash of molten agony speared through my veins. It felt like stabbed everywhere at once. It happened again, and again, and again, and the screaming got louder and louder. Then, the screams turned to roars of pain and anger. I yelled defiance at the crippling pain that was shooting through me... and everything went black.

[Zebulon]

C's body went limp. Zeb and Vengeance helped Wolf get him onto the couch. He felt cold to the touch and his skin had gone pale. The outline of his veins could be seen highlighted against the drained color, their livid red like a highway map.  Zeb looked and Vengeance.  The big man was looking at C in a very thoughtful way. Wolf looked worried.  "What the hell is going on here, Zeb?"

Zeb sighed and gave Wolf the brief rundown. Vengeance then spoke.

"Wolf, my old friend.  Some things have changed and I am one of those 'things', as is the man you know as C. Zeb got lucky and escaped the bloodlust," the man infront of Zeb and Wolf looked positively ancient as he tried to explain. " We are still who we were, but with an added dimension, some of which we can't even begin to guess at. Zeb has been affected too, but not drinking the Nomad blood he has escaped the worst ravages of this transformation." On finishing it was almost as if a great weight had been lifted from the man's shoulders. Then Zeb began.

"Whatever has happened to us Wolf, we are still with you. You should not fear anything from Vengeance or Carnival, and certainly not from me.  We are united in one thing and that is the destruction of the Nomad presence here in the Sirius system. Vengeance and Carnival are more easily able to move about in their circles because of the conditional changes that are occuring to them.  It masks their humanity from the probing gazes from the enemy, Me, on the other hand? I'm stuck with my humanity and I am very much bait.  Nomads can detect my "otherness" but my humaity is not masked, so I dare not get too close without the proper equipment."

Wolf seemed to be taking it all in and rather well at that.  Zeb remembered the conversation earlier with Wolf. " You have nothing  to be immediately concerned about from the rest.  Respect given and respect recieved." .......

[SLicer]

I opened the doors to find ten dots on my chest.  "Remove your weapons please"  said the robotic voice.  I removed my enhanced blaster pistol from its holster along with a sheath with a small sword, carefully placing both in a container.  This place has gotten gloomier  i thought to myself.  I walked over to the bar.  "diet coke please" i muttered to one of the girls.  " Sure thing sir."  Then she turned and asked " Why dont you ever get any  real drinks?"  I knew this was gonna happen some time, so i came prepared.  "ehh, its my religion."  She looked at me with an odd sort of face.  " What religion are you then?"  "um...  im...  a mormon."  i replied.  
"  Ahh.  Explains everything huh?"

" yep"

" have i seen you before?"  She asked.  "Uh... yeah.  But its been a while....."  I turned to get a good look at the scene when all of a sudden, a figure came to the other side of the bar and started harrasing one of the girls.  And out of nowhere (most likely from a hidden back office) a man with a knife ran to the scene.  The two personages seemed to freeze in time for a few moments and then, the second stabbed the first brutally, blood spilling everywhere.  the man crouched over the body, blood on the knife when after a few seconds, he DRANK the blood.  He then walked happily back to the office.

I stared in horror.  " Is that legal!?!?"  i muttered to the bartender  "  Or even RIGHT!?!?"
"dont worry"  the bartender lady said while sliding me my diet coke " its just another typical day at work".  " typical?  is this like a fight club or something?"  I took the can, left the money on the table, walked cautiously around the body, and took a seat in a not-too-dark-or-bright corner.

And then Pi came over and took a seat in front of me.  " Hey Slice!  long time no see!  where have you been?"  "  Ehh, on vacation, trying to get my racing Super License.  Its been tough though.  they make you do some tough tests."  I was still a bit shaky after that weird showdown.  But Pi seemed fine for some reason.  "  well good for you. Anythign else?"  It took me a second to register what was going on but i finally noticed a red tinge in Pi's eyes, like i was looking at one of those bad amature photographs.  " uhh...  learning sword fighting and uh.....  cross country training and uh...."  i was getting a bit uneasy.  Those eyes were getting a little evil.  maybe it was me.  I had been working too hard on earning my license.  Or maybe this "dude", whoever he was, was gonna kill me or something.  "  uh can you excuse me for a sec."  i said.  

I walked quickly to the doors, took my weapons and went outside.  I started walking towards the landing pad, noticing that most of everyone was getting red-eye.  Then i heard vicky shout"  Slice,  hang on!".  i turned and came back.  "  whats wrong?"  she asked.  "  this might seem weird to you but im noticing that everyones eyes are getting red and evil."  i tried to explain.  "  dont worry i notice it too.  its nothing serious,  its just a bar"  She said.  "i guess i agree"  i said as i turned to go back into the bar, remembering the security system.  I went to the other side of the bar, Pi not noticing me.

This is gonna be a long night.......

[Skulll]

great story

[Zebulon]

Vicki came into the office. "You all ok in here?"

"Sure, honey, we will be fine. Just sorting out some of the fine print. Keep an eye out for any unwelcome guests though, that last one slipped through the net." replied Zeb.

Vicki turned to leave and then glanced back at Zeb. "Boss, the racer boy is back. Slicer? Remember him. Asking for that coke stuff you keep stashed at the back of the fridge."

Zeb had a quick thought and realised she was sweet on the boy and he smiled. "Don't worry honey, we wont hurt him. He may even have a use given his racing connections.  If he has left go get him back somehow, we need to talk."

By this time C had started to come round. The Wolf had settled down and was talking animatedly to Vengeance. Sounded like they were catching up on much that had passed between them. The thought "Critical Mass" came into Zebs head. Too many of the same sort of people in one place causes an attraction of the same or opposite sort and the result is a "melt down".  Time to get moving. Time to get these lads back out into the Void where they belong. Time to go hunting, cos if we dont get to them they will come to us. Zeb liked the bar and had no intention of it becoming another wreck hole in the long history of space taverns!

Zeb motioned to Vengeance who got Wolf's attention. Carnival was rubbing his sore head and his natural "colour" had returned.  "Suit up and tool up, its time we were out of here. " Zeb explained breifly what he was afraid of.  The others nodded and flight bags started to be unpacked.

Zebs flight suit was a little more snug than he would have liked but the truth was that out in the Void the excess gained in the bar would soon be shed.  He opened the SureLok safe with the voiceprint and retina scan.  The smell of the treated leather and the gunoiled metalic taste of weaponry greeted his senses. One low slung gun belt and a S&W Mark3 plasma projectile pistol (the triple P). The laser carbine folded and clipped to the rear sling attachment and the Browning rotary six barreled mini rail gun, "front slung and belt attached for ease of support and use" just like it said in the manual.  The combat knife was in its usual place. Out of sight and virtualy undetectable.  The needle gun was hip slung on the opposite side to the Triple P.  All suited and booted Zeb entered the office and grabbed his crash hat.  It showed the years of use with many scratches and dents all with a memorable incident attached.

He hit the comlink, "Rosie, get the baby ready to fly - I want that 'Nubis ready to rock!  We are going hunting...!"

"Sure thing boss! Whooooohoooooo!!!" came the retort.  Zeb loved his mechanic, she was a brassy and bold genius when it came to mechanics and other things in life.

The others were all equipped and ready to roll. They came out of the office and Zeb was about to get Liz to switch down the Security System when it happened.  The first indication that something was amiss was the alarm that sounded, highpitched and loud.  The systems voice stated: "System interference. Viral attack in progress.  Weapons detection interface offline."

The group of commrades fanned out as they exited the office. People started reaching for the floor and the girls got behind the bar, cracked out their weapons and prepared to defend the till. There were shouts and the sound of fighting from outside the bar. Viki came running through dragging a rather perplexed Slicer behind her.  "Boss! We are under attack!"  She bolted for the bar as Liz threw the 50cal rifle to her and a blaster in the direction of the racer boy.  They grabbed the weapons mid flight and hit the deck, locked, loaded and ready to roll.  Two of the remaining four "Door Clerks" limped through, firing back at the unseen assailants as they entered the bar.  "Zeb, its Nomads!!" yeld the first one.  A rattle of returned fire cut down the limping guard and the second one shouted a curse as she tumbled down the few steps to lay still on the floor.  Vengeance jumped forward and grabbed her arm draggin her behind the booth partition that he and Carnival had set up shop behind.

Zeb was thankful that Shippers knowledge of bar work had given the "Hair of the Wolf" a few extra security details such as the armour plated glass and the double thick titanium alloy booth partitions.  Zeb and Wolf were to the right of the bar with Carnival and Vengeance on the left. The Girls and Slicer were in the middle. Well if the boy was going to die he would at least do it in some of the prettiest & toughest company Zeb had ever known!

They came through the doorway. The first two dropped to laser fire from the bar and the second two were cut down by Carnival and Vengeance in a blitz of plasma projectiles. There was a pop and a metalic tinkle sound as the smoke bombs rolled down the steps. "Switch to lenses!" yelled Zeb. The opaque smoke became a thin veil as the bio lenses filtered out the required spectrum. A little enhancement that Zeb insisted that his employees have done.  Six more assailants tried to get through.  Zebs rail gun rattled off several rounds as the Wolf's twin plasma revolvers cut down several of the attackers - it was like the old black and white Texas space ranger movies that Zeb had watched as a kid. What was more of a concern was the grin on Wolf's face and Zeb could feel his own elation.  "We have been away from this for too long!" Zeb shouted as the Wolf and he blasted away at the Nomads. All four companions were standing and they advanced towards the door where the bodies were now in a small pile.

"Watch out. They will try and draw us out of the bar." said Carnival. The Nomads had stopped coming through the door and were firing from outside.  Wolf and Zeb glanced round and noticed that Vengeance was fitting something to a large plasma bolter. "Oh Crap!" thought Zeb. It was a heavy calibre rail gun.
"Everybody! DOWN!" cried Vengeance. He leaned into the doorway. The crackle and  bark of the massive weapon along with the plasma flashes filled the small door space. "YAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" they could hear vengeance yell above the racket. "EAT THIS SCUMBAGS!!!"  Concusions and detonations were heard and as Zeb lifted his head to look outside, bodies were flying everywhere, parked vehicles were exploding and masonary and bits of building were launched in all directions. The shooting stopped. The whirring sound of the rail gun stopped. Time stopped.  They all stepped outside. Sounds from inside the bar indicated that most of the clients were still alive. The Girls plus Slicer joined them.

"Wow!" was the first thing Slicer said. They all turned and looked at the massive figure of Vengeance standing with the rail gun on his hip and a rather self satisfied grin on his face.  Sirens could be heard. As always the law was slow to react to anything of note in this downtown area - however the sound of the rail gun must have got there attention.  

Zeb turned to Vicki. "Girl, I need you to run things for a bit.  Keep the law off our tail as best you can. They will hopefuly be more interested in how the Nomads got here than in pursuit of us. Its time we were gone  for a bit." Zeb glanced round.

Carnival was licking his knife again. Vengeance was looking hungry and eyeing up one of the corpses. Wolf looked at me in disgust, but shrugged his shoulders. "Lets go. We better find out where this lot came from and clean out the nest."  

Carnival sheathed his knife. Vengeance dismantled the gun. Wolf packed his shooters and they followed Zeb to the launch pad.  The hunt was on.......

[SLicer]

As soon as i sat down, the alarm rang, telling us the security system had just turned into crap.  Next thing i knew, i was next to the bar, the scumbag Nomads barging in, Shotgun and pistol ablaze as i started shouting " BOOM!!  HEADSHOT!!" as i downed 2 of them with good-sized holes right between the eyes.  Then smoke started entering the room.  At least thats what i thought.  For a second there i saw the smoke but then it disappeared, although i could still smell the smoke.

Ignoring this, i blew the head of a Nomad off with the shotgun.  And then it was over.  it took time for me to realize that the girls were surrounding me.  it took me some more time to remember that these girls were robots, not actual human beings.  But time was awasting.  There seemed to be more of them outside.  But after all of that thinking, by the time i got there, Vengeance and his rail gun had already tore apart half a city block (reminds me of Destroy All Humans)

After a quick exchange of words from the group, they started heading for the launch pad.  I followed closley......

[Watchwolf]

I'd seen enough. The storm assault back at the bar was all I needed, to know what I thought was going on was exactly what was going on.

Yeah, I knew enough that I hadn't told anyone yet.  I knew more than I wanted to admit. I knew too much. I had to say someting. These guys had to know.

As we walked from the bar to the Star Park I made a decision. It was like a flash of instant light in my head, like when you take a holo-pic in a dark room. There, in the artificial light of the room, all the colors are faded and shadows hide the details from sight. Then suddenly the light flares and everything is brilliantly illuminated. Then, the true colors pop out and every corner lights up. Then, nothing can hide from close scrunity and everything becomes starkly clear. Then the light is gone as fast as it came, but the after-image remains, printed on your retina so everywhere you look you still see the truth of that moment in time when everything became clear.

I pulled the glove back from my right wrist and muttered into the comlink for several moments. Zeb heard me talking and gave me another of his curious looks. I raised my other hand in the universal sign.. "Wait a minute," my hand said. Then it pointed at Vengeance and spoke again, "I need to talk to him." Zeb nodded. He nudged Vengeance.

V drifted my way as I wrapped up my communiques. We talked in low voices at length as we continued toward the glow of the launch pads and the hulking shadows of the hangars that loomed in front of the bubble of light against the dark of night. He listened intently, grunting occassionally and asking questions as the picture became evident, much the same as when you're putting together one of those jigsaw cubes.

When we arrived at the field our little group stood in the glare in the middle of a square made up of three hangars, the fourth edge being the taxi-way to the launch pad.

"OK, listen up, guys," I said like I knew what I was talking about. What scared me was, I did. Slicer trotted up to join us just as I began to talk.

"Here's the deal. That little party we just crashed back at the bar was nuthin', fellas. Those guys wanted one thing, me on a spit. That's cuz of what I saw and what I heard and what they figure I know. And this is what I know...

"It;'s coming, guys. An invasion. Bigger than anything Sirius has ever seen. The Nomads have gotten 'hold of some Dom Kavash technology and it's not pretty what they're planning to do with it. They're also bringing a few friends along. Big, ugly, mean-ass friends.

"Friends?" said Slicer. "Since when do Nomads have friends?"

"You're right, my friend. The only thing a Nomad likes is another Nomad...." I let it trail off. It sunk in.

As if he was my straight man, Zeb asked, "So if Nomads got other Nomads for friends, where'd they come from? What makes them different?"

"Well I don't know where they come from, but I do know they got a few surprises in their pockets. And I'll tell ya, the Void isn't big enough for all of them and all of us. And they know it. And we don't. And that's their advantage."

"What sort of surprises?" C asked

"All I know is, it's not gonna be pretty. All I know is, they're coming. Lots of them. And they're bringing friends. And their friends got a few new toys and they want to play. For keeps."

"But we've got them pretty much sealed off," Vengeance said. "The ones we see we know where they are and where they come from and where they're going. Where are they coming from that we aren't ready for?"

"Look," I said with a little impatience. "It's not like they sat me down and briefed my on their plans, OK? All I know is this is going to change things around here. Enough to make this a whole new game. And they're not playing by the same rules we are."

"That doesn't sound good..." Slicer trailed off.

"Exactly."

As I said that a couple of rougish guys joined our group. These guys looked like they knew their way around a barroom brawl. Vengeance and C sized them up and I could see the looks, like four Kusarian fight dragons in the circle. Four hands flicked four snaps off four holsters and rested on the butts of four blasters.

"Whoa... whoa...whoa...whoa" I said, coincidentally four times. "Take it easy. Lemme introduce a couple of friends of mine. This here's Fear and this is Ravage."

"I've heard of you, Fear," C said. Your rep's gotten around. You're a rogue..."

"Yeah? You don't say..." Fear smirked. "Nothing bad, I hope..."

Vengeance peered at Ravage. "You look familiar. Where do I know you from?"

"Heh, " came the reply. "You hang around the Brit navy much? I used to be in with a bunch of enforcers out of Thames. Bad boys. Real space dogs"

"Yeah I heard of them."

"I used to go by the name of Rabid. But I didn't like the way things were going so I went off on my own. Hooked up with a friend of mine, Reever."

"Ahhhh," exclaimed Zeb. "So you're that rogue pair who's be roaming about."

"Yeah."

About then another guy ran up, puffing, out of breath. "Well lookie here!" he said between breaths. "Looks like a party."

I slapped him on the back and said, "And this is Dub. That's what I call him. He's the little brother I never had. Best trader you'll ever meet.

Dub grinned, blushing. "Aww come on, Wolfie. Been out of the trading game months. Me an' Galaxy do munitions now, you know that."

"Yeah well, once a Freelancer, always a Freelancer. Anyway, we're not here to chat."

"OK, I'll bite," C said. "So what are these guys all here for?"

"OK, here's the thing, guys. You gotta get things rolling on getting people geared up for war. Like I said, it's not going to be pretty. Things are gonna change around here and if we're not ready for it, there's nothing in all the Void that'll save us."

"Alright, mate. But what's this about 'you'? What about  you?"

"Well, that's the sticky part, ol' buddy. I got something else I need to take care of. Me and Vengeace here and the rest of these guys, we're going off in a different direction. We got other business."

"Other business?!" C exclaimed. "Here you're telling us the fate of mankind rests on our heads and you've something more important than that going on?"

"Yeah. That's what I'm tellin' ya. We gotta go looking for something."

"Like what"

"I can't say."

"What. Is it a secret?"

"No, I can't say cuz I don't know."

"Hold on, mate," Zeb interrupted. "You're going off looking for something and you don't know what it is? How will you know when you find it if you don't know what you're looking for???"

"I'll just know. Like you know you're gonna like that other bottle of Shipper's. Like C here knows he's gonna lick the blood of his blade next time he kills. Like Slicer here knows he's gonna win a race. It's just something you know. And it's just something I know."

"Alright then, l guess I'll have to trust you. Always have, always will."

"There ya, go, partner. Trust me. So anyway, where we're going no one else can go, so we're going off on our own. Maybe I'll get a message through to you once in a while but I expect we'll ge gone a while. But I figure we'll be back. Some time. Maybe....."

"Sounds ominous..." C said.

"Yeah, well... we'll see," I let it trail off.

We stood there all looking at each other for a moment frozen in time, til it started feeling a little uncomfortable.

"OK, then," I said with more enthusiasm than I felt. "Let's get moving..."

We all said our goodbyes and slapped each other on the backs. C and Slicer headed off toward their ships. I gave Zeb a hug which he returned with sincerity. Then without another word I turned to go. Vengeance, Fear, Ravage and Dub all followed.

Zeb watched as we disappeared into the hangar. He stood for a moment as if he could see us around the corner. But just as he turned to go something caught his eye.

A shadow detached itself from the darkness just to the side between the hangars. It slid across the front of the hangar door, then paused at the opening. As Zeb watched, baleful eyes seems to appear out of nowhere, turning to peer directly at him. For just a moment, it seemed to see straight into his soul. Then the moment was gone and the darkness disappeared around the corner, following Wolf and his companions into the unknown.

"Goodbye, my friend," Zeb whispered to the night. "Good luck. Hope you find what you're looking for..."

[Zebulon]

It was time to move. Given what they had just been told and had witnessed following the group to the hanger, Zeb decided there was not time to go home and pack.

Slicer and Carnival were already on the move. Zeb blipped them on the comlink.

"Rendevous outside and we will head for Dresden. We need to split from Wolf. To many of us in one place tends to attract attention."

They responded, agreeing to fly together for the moment and they all agreed that Dresden was as good a place as any.  There were some folks that Zeb wanted to see and Dresden was the best place to meet with them.

Zeb got to the hanger and was pleased to see that the Anubis Mk2 was all set up and ready to go. The loading of the munitions was all but done and Rosie was doing some last minute checks as Zeb approached. She turned and grinned at him with that worldly knowing look that Zeb loved so much.

"So where are you Cowboys off to now?" she questioned with a lear.

Zeb smiled, "Never you mind, you minx. Just make sure its all in order here for when I get back!" and he pointed his finger at her in a "shooter" motion. Rosie laughed and slapped Zeb on the butt as he passed her.

Zeb slung his bag into the hold and pulled on his flight gloves. Grabbing his helmet and the back up pressure mask, he climbed into the cockpit of the Anubis. Everything switched up ok. Hums and clicks all sounding familiar and not a glitch in sight. HUD was up and working and the internal AI managment system was registering as active. All good to go.

Zeb exited the gate and was pleased to see that Carnival and Slicer had postioned themselves to cover Zebs exit.  There wasn't much you could teach these two.  Computers went to automatic as the destination had been prekeyed by Zeb, and they were off.........

[Carnival]

My head was spinning. Too much information. This Watchwolf guy was either mad or really did have a severe problem he needed help with.

Right now though, I didnt care which.

I'd just killed another man. I stared, dumbfounded, as we seperated, Zeb running over to his fighter and Wolf vanishing as quickly as he'd appeared. As I looked round, trying to calm the screaming voices in my veins, a voice spoke, low and threatening.

"I am Seraphear. Your name is Carnival, and you are mine."

My vision went red and I started to walk forwards. I stepped into my fighter... and the world went black.