[RIXX - This is a piece of fiction I originally wrote back in 2010 and recently updated, expanded and edited as a submission to a Just About bounty. And I thought I'd share it here for you to enjoy.]
Day One
I am trying to enjoy a much needed vacation on New Caldari Prime with my beautiful wife Ana and our two pod rats. It isn’t easy being back planet-side after so many years in low security space, but my wife wanted to spend time with her extended family and I can deny her nothing.
It has been very strange to feel the dirt of a planet below your feet and the vault of unprotected sky above you. Not to mention the wind and sun on your skin. And the smells. It has taken some time to orient to the expansive sky and not constantly worry about being exposed without shield or armor to protect us. I’m not certain that I will ever get used to it again, or that it will ever feel normal. My home is in space now. If it weren’t for her family, I think Ana would’ve agreed to a more comfortable zero gravity vacation.
I have to admit that I am a little concerned today. I saw several Shuttles racing across the sky with markings that made my stomach churn. I’m probably over-reacting and letting my pirate instincts run wild. I have to keep telling myself I’m in civilized space now. Under-cover of course. Our new identities were not cheap to come by.
Day Two
Unfortunately my instincts have once more proven to be correct. This morning Ana and I awoke to find both of our children missing from the apartment. At first we believed they may have gone downstairs to be with her parents, but that was quickly pushed aside when we saw the state of their quarters. They have been kidnapped. Of this I am certain.
Ana and I both agreed to keep the local Planetary Enforcement out of this for now and handle the situation ourselves. The last thing we need is local interference and challenging questions. Her parents weren’t as easy to convince, but Ana talked them into going along with us for now. If what I saw yesterday has anything to do with this, heads are going to roll.
It wasn’t difficult to throw some bribes around and locate the two shuttles from the day before. Those distinctive markings stood out like a sore thumb. But locating the shuttles gained us nothing, they were abandoned and it quickly became obvious the markings were nothing more than a distraction. A ploy.
The ringing comm notice came sooner than I expected. They want money of course, but I can’t shake the feeling that there is more to this than simple ransom. I have so many enemies. If they know who we are, then the list of potential culprits is rather large. They want the drop to happen tomorrow morning. That’s fine for them, but I want my children back now. Even if I was willing to wait, Ana would not be.
Unknown to them however, I had already hacked a sisters combat probe earlier in anticipation of their contact. If you know what you’re doing those can make for a great signal tracker. Even though they take up half the damn room! So Ana and I rented our own atmo-shuttle and are headed cross-planet now. We’ll see what happens tonight when we get to our destination. Wish us luck.
Day Three
A quick note while we have a break in the action. Ana and I have been up all night and it has been a harrowing journey. Our shuttle was immediately targeted and shot down before we could even reach our destination late last night. We’re both fine, but the kidnappers must have known we were coming somehow. We managed to salvage enough from the wreck to fully arm ourselves. But the trek to the nearest village took longer than we expected and we arrived slightly before dawn.
I say “village” in the broadest sense, it’s really nothing more than a single building surrounded by a few scattered and seemingly empty homes. According to the local new feed, this area was recently condemned due to a rogue extractor incident and no one has been allowed to return to their homes. It made it one of the few rare places on Caldari Prime that would be empty enough to hide without being detected. But it also made it extremely difficult for us to determine where the kidnappers might be holding the children.
We shouldn’t have worried, they found us soon enough. Twelve of them came for us, they must be using infrared sensors, our shields were lost in the crash, and they could see us just fine in the low light of dawn. I have to give it to Ana, she is much better at fighting under gravity than I am. Without her at my side I don’t think I could’ve handled twelve of them. We wanted to keep at least one alive and we managed to make that happen. They work for Noir. That’s who they are. But who is paying them? Guy was good, I’ll give him that much. He died without giving up much.
But at least now we know what we’re up against. The rumble of shuttle engines shook the ground as it made a rapid retreat, they got away right in front of us. So they are once again moving the children. I was grateful it was just another atmo-shuttle, at least for now they are not trying to get them off planet. Not yet.
Now where in Hell are they taking them? And who is behind this? I’m determined to find the answers or die trying.
Day Four
The news you’re probably hearing about a thermonuclear explosion on Caldari Prime is a lie, a smokescreen to cover up the truth. That’s because we found out who was behind the Noir contract and it wasn’t any of the usual suspects or enemies... but I’m getting ahead of myself.
We managed to find the shuttle thanks to some help from a former corp mate of mine who works in the Planetary Control Center now, used to be a great capsuleer but couldn’t hack the pod noise after ten years of it. It happens to the best of them. But he gave us the location and we went in hard and fast. The Caldari Navy is missing a planetary interceptor but I didn’t care, we needed some firepower. Noir didn’t put up much of a fight, but to their credit I think this was getting to be more than what they were paid for. Or else something more than mere reward was involved.
We found the children and they are both fine. Turns out my son had already managed to strangle one of the guards earlier. The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree I am pleased to tell you.
This was all too easy. I should have heeded my instincts. But once we were all together, that’s when they gassed us.
When we came around we were all bound. And it looked like we were surrounded by Gallente? The old man who stood before us was sure dressed the part, but he was born Caldari. The scars and the wear and tear of age couldn’t hide it, that much I could see with my own eyes. I could also see that he had a gun pointed at my daughters head.
What happened next dear reader is one for the history books. The man threatening my children and now my wife, the man behind the Noir contract, the turn-coat Caldari in Gallente garb, was none other than my own Father. I knew it as soon as he spoke, words I hadn’t heard since I was four years old. The day the Gallente had taken our backwater world and killed my entire family. Or at least I thought they had killed my entire family. Turns out they had captured my Father and used him ever since, holding the fate of my Mother over his head like a sword.
But what could he possibly want from me? That’s going to have to wait until I have time to write again. They’re coming for us now, I can hear the footsteps in the hall. This should be interesting.
Day Five
We’re all dead. Officially we died in the “thermonuclear” explosion you’ve heard about in the news. It turns out my Father is dead after all and the Gallente were using a Sansha doppleganger. We’re still not sure why, or why they were after me and my family. But the important thing is we’re all right.
That makes it all sound nice and tidy, but it isn’t. Hundreds of thousands of innocent Caldari citizens lost their lives in that explosion and those are the hard facts. And it is something that weighs heavily on all our souls, even though we had nothing to do with it. Honestly I’m as confused as you are at this point. My “Father” didn’t recognize me or anything about our family history, and that was my first clue that something was amiss. The second was when he started demanding access to my leadership passwords and the “Titan”. I had no idea what the hell he was talking about. First of all I don’t have a Titan, second of all I don’t use leadership level passwords. Not any more... and then it slowly hit me. It all started to make some sense. At least a little.
The rest fell into place when the other Sansha came running when he started shooting up the room we were in. They weren’t happy and it was easy to see why. We were being held in the containment room directly underneath one of Caldari Prime’s fusion power stations. His errant blasts were not working well with the machinery and already several indicators were running into the red. He lost the “Father” face then and that’s when he lost his entire face from the Neutron Blaster I had hidden in my boot.
We managed to free ourselves and get out just in time. The Caldari Militia had arrived and escorted us out of the blast zone just before all Hell broke lose.
The important thing is we’re all fine. But this entire vacation has left me wondering many things about my life among the stars and the implications that life has on so many other lives. After everything, it was the fake identities that caused all the trouble. I hadn’t paid much attention to them until now. The Militia was understandably confused as well. But I learned a long time ago how easily a few billion isk can make any problem vanish in the more “civilized” parts of New Eden.
Maybe taking the name of the leader of the Gallente Factional Warfare corporation as my vacation cover wasn’t the smartest idea after all? I’m going to have some choice words with my contact when I get back to Ouelletta.