NINETEEN

"Wow." Arissa leaned back, as if she was trying to distance herself from the entire topic of conversation.

"I know," Jack replied, eyes wide and turning to Jaeek. "That was insanely dramatic. You should really get into theater. I mean it. At least to some voiceover work for holo-movie trailers. Bravo."

"I spend a great deal of time pondering the Black Veil," Jaeek replied. "I suppose words come easily with this particular topic."

"Is it just me," Jack said, "or did we finally get a clue as to what's going on here?"

"The pieces are fitting together," Talia said, astutely. "They're fitting together into one absolute monster of a problem, but at least we know what we're looking at right now. The most powerful authority in the galaxy is working against us with a tech corporation that is thirty years ahead of our time. That lovely ogre of a problem wants to retrieve the girl we're in the room with right now. We can assume that if they're willing to abduct and experiment on an innocent girl, then they will do anything else to get her back. Especially since there is no form of law enforcement to keep them in check."

"Who says I'm innocent?" Eden asked. She smiled, weakly.

"You've been hanging out with us too long," Jack said, amazed that the girl took a stab at humor under the circumstances. "Soon you'll be quipping with the best."

Eden shrugged. "Not much else to do, I guess."

Talia went on. "There's still one element to this puzzle that does not fit." She looked over at Kane, who was seated in the corner with his gaze fixed downward. If he didn't nod in response to Talia, it would have looked like he wasn't paying attention at all.

He looked up.

"The guy who hired me."

"And the mercs that are chasing us," Arissa added. "Hopefully they're the same person because I'm really tired of counting masterminds."

"Can I ask what we know about this man?" Jaeek asked. "Your employer?"

"Sure," Jack replied before Kane could. "He hired Kane to nab Eden and he probably hired the Black Ops mercs that are after us, too."

Jaeek shook his head. "Any… additional information?"

Kane shrugged. "The pay is nice. Or, it was going to be nice."

"I see. Is there a way we can gather more data on this man?"

"Hey," Jack said. "How come you're suddenly the one that's steering the ship and asking the questions?"

"Apologies. I'm a scientist. Questions are my business." Jaeek motioned to Jack. "Please. Feel free to take over."

Jack nodded appreciatively and turned to Kane. "Is there any way we can dig up some info on this guy?"

Kane shook his head. "Not really. He's pretty into the whole 'shadowy figure' thing, and I'm not exactly in his inner circle of trust these days."

"Ok," Arissa said. "I guess that rules-out calling him up and asking for his name and address."

"I'm not so sure it does," Talia said. "Kane, are we sure our employer is still aware that you've abandoned the contract? I say we because let's face it, I am technically apart of you." Bonus is they don't know I even exist." Kane shrugged and nodded in acceptance.

"Not sure, but I'd say the mercs he's sent to kill me…and you are a good indicator."

"Hmm. Question is, were they sent to kill you? Or get her?" She motioned to Eden. "My point is, this man might believe you're still on the same side."

"How? I shot at the mercs back at the docking hub and I just won the Afterlife Race."

"You actually came in third," Jack said.

"Second," Kane replied. "And what I'm saying is a guy with resources like Mr. Shadow could keep tabs on me even if I wasn't running around blowing up his employees and becoming a pro-racing celebrity."

"We're still not certain that you and the mercs are working for the same man," Talia said. "And the race broadcast did not include your image or identification. Let's just say that I made sure that they had some technical difficulties with their video feeds. It's a shame, I probably got at least six television producers fired for that."

"That's good," Kane said, then added, "about the technical difficulties, not the guys you got fired. But, it still doesn't matter. Even if this guy still trusts me I don't think he'll give up any information if I call him. Why would he?"

"You have a way to contact him, though?" Arissa asked.

Kane nodded, reluctantly. "Talia has the private channel and encryption saved."

"Then maybe this guy doesn't need to surrender any information at all," Arissa turned to Talia. "If I remember correctly, we have the most advanced A.I. in the universe onboard. Maybe she could do some digging while we talk to the guy. You know, trace the call and all that."

"That won't be easy…we did try that once before." Talia said, "Nothing is impossible, it will be fun."

"Great," Jack said. "Let's set up a holo-call. Kane? Think you can convince this guy that you two are still buddies?"

"I'm no actor, but I'm a pretty good liar."

"Same thing," Jack said. "Maybe grab a few performance tips from Jaeek before we set this thing up, just to be safe."

Before placing the holo-call, everyone was given a task, some more important than others. Eden would stay far out of sight. Arissa would keep an eye on ship's sensors in case someone managed to track them down. Talia would dive deep into cyberspace and attempt again to trace the call. Jaeek would monitor the comm relay to ensure the same wasn't being done to them. Kane would try to act as natural as possible. Jack would head to the kitchen and put on a pot of Hype.

Kane stilled his thoughts. Normally, his mysterious employer would block all visual details on his end of the call, making him appear to be nothing but a silhouette. Before, Kane thought it best not to ask questions or stick his nose where it didn't belong. He never paid any attention to his employer's dark figure. Now, things were different. He would be examining every edge of the man's holographic silhouette, searching for defining features that might help them uncover his identity.

"Kane?" Talia asked from the loud speaker. All processing power that would normally go to projecting her image was already dedicated to another purpose. It was coiled up like a digital spring, ready to leap into action the moment the connection was established. "Are you ready?"

"Ready," Kane said. "Arissa, everything look good out there?"

She checked the scanners. "All quiet. For once."

"Jaeek?"

"Ready."

Kane cleared his throat and told Talia to initiate the call. In an instant, the image of a man flickered to life. The speed with which the call was answered lead Kane to believe that they were waiting to hear from him.

Amazingly, the silhouette filter had been removed from the stream. Every detail of the man on the other end of the call was coming through just fine. There was only one problem. It wasn't Kane's employer. AKA Mr. Shadow.

This guy was huge. Enormous. Everything about him was blocky, especially the parts that had been upgraded with some kind of synthetic technology. He was so thoroughly covered in implants and enhancements that he could possibly be classified as a cyborg. It was tough to tell through the holoprojection, but the man's eyes might have been glowing, ever so slightly. Either that, or it was just his powerful gaze.

Kane had a plan on how he was going to play the call, and decided this little hiccup gave no reason to deviate.

"Who the hell are you?" He barked. Amazingly, the snap seemed to catch the synthetic man off guard, but only for a second. Soon after, the enormous man grinned.

"Hello, Kane."

"Are you going to put the boss on or am I going to have to bite your head off instead of his? Do you have any idea what I've been through trying to track down this girl he's after?" The performance aspect of the call was going surprisingly easy. Kane was expecting to have to force his brow to furrow and to raise his voice to appear as though he was angry, but that wasn't the case. He was already furious enough about the circumstances, and he just had to let those emotions fly with slightly altered dialog. This was how Kane discovered that he was, in fact, a fantastic actor.

"I'm sure it's been difficult," the man said. "Are you calling to give us an update on your progress? Or just to complain?"

"Progress," Kane said. "I'm following my leads, but the target is way too hot. Some bounty hunter keeps getting in the way, and I've been knee deep in Black Ops Mercs. If your boss has something to do with those goons, he better call them off so they're out of my way and I can get this job done. This whole thing is a god damn mess. At this point I might just cut my losses. You can find someone else to do the job."

"Backing out of your contract would be… unwise."

Kane wondered how a man with a body like a gorilla could possibly have a persona that was so snake-like. He also realized he was losing the conversation. The large, mostly synthetic man's words were short and to the point. Kane adjusted his performance to fit that rhythm. He leaned in, confidently.

"Did your boss send the mercs?"

"Yes," the man said.

"Why?"

"Perhaps he lacked faith in your abilities." The man shrugged and glanced somewhere to the side of the holo imager. Someone was in the room with him.

"If he didn't think I could do it then why would he hire me in the first place?"

"Oh, he believed you were the best man for the job, at the time. You've recently given him reason to think otherwise."

"Any failure I've had is from him stirring the pot."

"Is that so? Because from here, you seem rather incompetent. What kind of hired gun can't track down a girl that has been flying around with him on the same ship?"

Kane did his best not to show that his stomach had just dropped, knotted itself and tried to make its way up his throat.

"What are you talking about?"

"Unless there are two identical ships called 'Odin,' you've been incredibly close to your target for some time. Perhaps you should check the next room over from yours." This man really was a snake, and he was wrapped all around Kane. "So, which is it, Kane? Are you blind? Or do we just have to kill you for betraying us?"

"I don't think our contract said anything about murdering me if I failed to deliver."

"Oh, Kane. You know this has gone far beyond pens and paper. If you tell me where you are now, I can still pull some strings on your behalf. You might even survive the coming transaction, though your debt will be significant."

Kane pretended to consider the proposal. The call was clearly about to end, but every second he stretched it would give Talia more time to work.

"Can you guarantee my safety?" he asked.

"I've made it far in life, Kane. If you think I've done so well by making promises and keeping them, then you're incredibly naïve. No guarantees. You've done a very bad thing, and we don't make deals with unsavory types."

"You're not much of a negotiator, are you?"

"This is no negotiation," the man said. "All we are determining right now is whether we will get the girl sooner or later. Personally, I hope you make us chase you a little longer. You've made for some fantastic entertainment thus far." His grin suddenly slipped away. Someone off-screen was talking to him. "What?" he responded.

The other end of the conversation was difficult to discern, but the look on the man's face said it all. He had just been informed that their system was being hacked.