Excerpt: Conspiracy's Doorstep

Zy'Soln approached the bar first to order himself a drink. He kept his head down and his collar up, still hiding his face from anyone that would care to look. Most of those here didn't care to look, however. This was the kind of place where witnessing anything could get you killed, so they chose instead to mind their own business. Zy'Soln got his drink, a cheap, local concoction, he was more than a little hesitant to try, then he turned, and meandered into the crowded floor.

He took a round about path, which probably drew more suspicion than he would have liked. Then again, most of the people here were suspicious of something. They wouldn't be here if they weren't up to no good. Zy'Soln finally reached the table with the flower on it, and took a seat casually, setting his questionable drink down.

The contact looked up at him. She was an older woman; lines of age showing through on a face that had a little too much make-up. Long, ringlets of blond streaked down the sides of her head, but her hair was clearly thinning, and had a dirty residue of smoke. She took a puff of her cigarette, then coughed as she exhaled. “So, you're Gossin's boy?” She blinked, looking over Zy'Soln as he nodded. “But you ain't all Tivensalian.”

Zy'Soln shook his head, and reached up to push his collar down a little more. “Our mother was from Kaanish.”

“Figures,” the woman said with a hacking laugh. She stabbed the cigarette out on the table, leaving a stub and a burn mark, next to several others that had been placed there previously. She had been here for some time. “He always liked off-worlders best. Especially the soft, fleshy ones.”

Zy'Soln nodded slowly. He had heard quite a lot of his father's exploits through their journeys. There didn't seem to be a planet he hadn't visited and found some kind female to bed. Proof of that was sitting here in front of him. She went by the name “Jassiual,” and had been best among whores in her day. She had seen and done it all, including his father. “I was told you had some information for me.”

“Not much for foreplay, are you?” Jassiual laughed once more, her fetid breath making Zy'Soln cringe as it washed over him. “Ah well. It's really a matter of what you already know. So, what do you know, boy?”

Zy'Soln reached up, rubbing his face to rid his nostrils of the smell. “Not much, really,” he replied, leaning back in his chair. He could never get comfortable in a place like this, but he needed to be further away from the old whore. He had met several of her kind on his journey, and they all said pretty much the same thing. “Our father used to visit the inner planets regularly, sometimes on business, but always on pleasure. He had liaisons with several different women, and a habit for drinking and gambling. No one's seen him in years though. They just know where his typical haunts were.”

Jassiual laughed again, breaking into a fit of coughing that drew the attention of several nearby drinkers, who quickly looked away again once they spotted the disturbance. She didn't seem to care about the stares. There had always been stares. Once the coughing ended, she wiped the corner of her mouth, and looked back up at Zy'Soln. “You don't know nothing, boy.” She reached into a pocket, and pulled out another long cigarette, lighting it up as Zy'Soln watched her. She took a long puff of the offensive smelling stick before continuing with her story.

“General Zy'Gossin,” she mused. “Now, he was a man. You must take after your mother, 'cause you sure ain't no real Tivensalian. If you was, we'd be having this conversation in a more private place, if you get my meaning.” Zy'Soln nodded slightly, understanding her meaning well enough. And she was right, as far as he knew. Tivensalians had a reputation for promiscuity, and he had never embraced that part of himself, it was there to begin with. “Yeah, he used to come by here regularly, and no, I ain't seen him in about 10, 15 years. Maybe more. But, I know why.”

Zy'Soln blinked, leaning in a bit closer now. No one else had even the slightest clue where he might have gone, or for what purpose. He reached out with his mind, scanning Jassiual's for any trace of a lie, but he found none. Her mind was a jumble of drugs and alcohol, and years of what most would have called abuse, but on this matter, she seemed quite certain that she knew what had happened. He watched her closely, remaining quiet as she continued.

Jassiual smiled. What were left of her teeth were crooked and yellow, but her dim eyes held a hint of sharpness, which made that smile eerie and cruel. “You ain't just been searching have you? You been running too, I'll wager.”

A chill ran up Zy'Soln's spine as she said this. Did she have the gift too? He could detect none of it in her mind, at least not in the way he could feel Zy'Lin's mind. He pressed his lips together, not sure what he should reveal to this woman, though he had an idea that if he didn't share, he would get nothing in return. “Uh...yeah,” he said, glancing around the room to make sure no one was paying undue attention. “Someone...they killed someone we knew. Tried to make it look like we did it. We figured this had something to do with our father, which is why we want to find him. Or at least find out what happened to him. Please, if you know anything...”

Jassiual nodded, holding up her aged hand. “Calm down, my boy,” she said, her foul smile easing some. “Don't matter anyway, 'cause there's nothing you can do about it. This goes a lot deeper than you might think.” She reached down grabbing her glass and taking a deep drink of the liquid. She savored the drink for a moment, seeming to drift off into her own little world before she came back. “Yeah, you're daddy liked the ladies. He also liked to gamble and drink, and generally find any kind of trouble he could. He was a fun guy, but no one took him seriously outside of Tivensal. They didn't know what he was really doing when it came to business.”

The old whore leaned forward now; close enough that Zy'Soln could see small tendrils of smoke rising from the corner of her lips. “He was into some deep things, boy. Deep things. He didn't get to be a general by just looking pretty. He knew people, and he knew things. He was the head of a covert group that was trying to take down the Syndicate.”

“The...Syndicate?” Zy'Soln blinked again, trying to process what she had said. He had heard of the Syndicate. Everyone had. They were an underground group that ruled the universe through blackmail, extortion, and violence. They had ties to governments and religions, and if you were their enemy, chances were you wouldn't last long.

Jassiual grinned again, sitting back, and taking another drag on her cigarette. “S'right,” she nodded. “Last time I saw him, he was chasin' them down. Came to me, 'cause he knew I had dealin's with them in the past. They like a little pleasure once in awhile too. I told him to give up on findin' them. They ain't the sorts to be found, unless they're huntin' for you. But he said he wouldn't stop until he found them.”

Zy'Soln took a slow breath. Only the Syndicate would be powerful enough to sneak into the Eiger's home and kill the last remaining member of the family without being seen. They had probably had someone on the inside for years, waiting for the right time to strike. That was the sort of people they were. They had infinite patience when it came to dealing with their enemies. “Did...did he say why he was looking for him?”

“Sure,” Jassiual replied, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. “He'd changed, you know. He wasn't the fun-lovin', carefree guy he used to be. Nah, I could see right away, he had something stuck in his craw, and it had to do with them. They'd got to someone he cared about. Your mother, I'd guess.”

And that was the final piece of the puzzle. Their mother had disappeared shortly after she had become pregnant with them. There had been plenty of rumors; some pointing the finger at Zy'Gossin, saying he had gotten rid of her because of the pregnancy, while others said she had run away because she was afraid of him. Several months later she was found in a cargo container, emaciated and unconscious, but still very much pregnant. Despite what many people thought, Zy'Gossin had remained by her bedside until she had died, and the twins were cut from her body. Zy'Gossin had left Kaanish shortly after that, abandoning his military post, and disappearing into space.

Zy'Soln nodded, understanding that they would now need to follow the same path Zy'Gossin had taken, if only to clear their names. “Where did you send him?” he asked quietly.

Jassiual sighed, taking on a different demeanor now as her eyes saddened. “Don't do it, boy. You got your whole life to live. Don't throw it away by chasing after shadows.”

“We have to clear our names,” he replied, seeing no other way to do it. “Otherwise, we won't have lives. We'll just keep running forever.”

The old whore nodded, finishing off another cigarette and pressing the smoldering butt into the table with the others. “Don't say I didn't warn you. You're too cute to be wasting your time on this, and it'll be a shame when they get you. But, you're a fool, just like your daddy, and if I don't tell you, you'll find someone who will. Look for a man named Tollis Shul on the Encary Moon. He's old now, but still kickin'. He'll know what you need to know.”

“Thank you,” Zy'Soln said, standing up. “Is...there anything I can do to repay you?” It was a question he hated to ask, but one he knew he had to. Information never came free, especially good information. And if word spread that he wasn't good about payment, then the information would dry up completely.

Jassiual laughed and smiled up at him. “Just one thing. Give his little old lady one more thrill. Just a kiss on the cheek'll do.”

Zy'Soln licked his lips as he considered it. What could it hurt? It was certainly the cheapest he had ever paid for information. He nodded. “That seems reasonable to me,” he said leaning down as she raised her cheek up for him. He placed a small peck on her cheek, smelling the mix of caked on make-up, booze, and smoke.

In a motion far to quick for the old woman, she reached out, grabbing Zy'Soln's arm. He gasped, trying to pull away, but her grip was strong and urgent. “Listen,” she whispered into his ear. “The EPs are coming. Go out the back door, and run. I ain't going to tell them nothing.”

She let go of Zy'Soln's arm, and he stood up, looking at her for a moment. Jassiual stared back with an urgency he hadn't seen on her face before. He glanced back over his shoulder to the door as five uniformed men entered. Perhaps she had the gift after all. Zy'Soln glanced back at her, then nodded. “Thank you.”

“Just go,” Jassiual said, pointing toward a dark entryway at the back of the room.

Zy'Soln smiled to her once more, then turned and moved quickly for the door, disappearing from sight.