Chapter 1: Ad astra: And so it begin
Huff, huff, huff huff Theo tried to catch his breath behind a bin in an alleyway. The dark alleyway was a great contrast from the neon lights, loud music and bright holographic ads that filled the streets of Darak behind him.
"Find him, no matter what or you'll find yourselves as shit stains in sector D-9," a gruff voice says from the busy streets. Pushing himself deeper into the shadows of the alley Theo held his breath, it was supposed to be an easy job, wasn't it? Pick up the package and drop it at a specific location inside the station and a cool 20k credits would be his reward but just his luck, things had to have taken a turn for the worse he thought as he clutched the case close to his chest.
A thump pulled Theo from his thoughts as he looked to the entrance of the alley and his heart dropped. It seemed one of the thugs had stepped into the alleyway, luckily he hadn't been spotted yet.
"Fucking kid should just come out and get floored already, all he is doing is delaying the inevitable" the thug complained while casually walking beside the bin. 'But from what Samael told us finding the fucker shouldn't be too hard' said a second thug from the mouth of the alley.
A gasp nearly escaped Theo's mouth. "Samael? that fucker sold us out. But why? Wasn't he the one who gave us the job? Why would he send the Crow's goons after me, aren't they the rival gang?"
"Since it's already come to this, I should just get this job done and make myself scarce after collecting that cash. What they do is none of my business" Theo thought. To his surprise he heard a trickling sound, peering over the bin he saw the goon pissing with his back facing him. It had to be now or never, slowly but quietly he picked up a bottle lying on the ground and silently walked over to the back of the man. He raised the bottle high and swung as hard as he could, but before the hit could connect the goon noticed the shadow and let out a scream "HE'S …" there was a thud and the goon fell landing on the shattered glass from the wine bottle. "Fuck fuck fuck " Theo dropped down on the body of the goon, searching for anything that he could use, he found the black sleek-looking pistol and a data chip with some credits…
Theo adjusted the holster and at that moment heard the thumping of feet coming in his direction, without a second thought he proceeded to run in the other direction before they could get a glimpse of him. No good taking on more than one. I'm no trained fighter or marksman. Looking at his hand the thought occurred to him to drop the case or throw it far away and escape since he felt this was more trouble than it was worth. But Theo needed the cash, nights spent sleeping in alleys and beside buildings, the ravenous pain of hunger he hadn't felt till leaving his homeworld Persephone 5-9. All of this propelled him to keep running and he would be damned if they think a few goons and some bastards would stand in his way. He quickly made his way through the busy night streets, occasionally getting an insult thrown at him as he bumped into the drunk and horny denizens of the red-light district. The drop-off point was located in a warehouse just on the outskirts of the red light district, a member of the organisation would be present to take the package and give him the credits and hopefully provide him with a way of escape or help him fight against his pursuers.
As he ran the erotic ads, alluring perfumes and scantily dressed men and women got less and less till they were replaced entirely by the metallic sheen of factories and warehouses, the area significantly had less human traffic and was eerily quiet at this time of the night. A large rundown warehouse slowly came into view, it was rusted, with broken windows and its only painted wall crumbling from age.
"Finally here and it seems I lost those guys too" Theo arrived at the warehouse and passed through the rickety deteriorated fence, arriving at a thick blast door which he knocked on in a certain repeating pattern after which the sound of the metal door unlocking rang out. The door opened to reveal a short but well-built man with black hair and a very hard facial expression.
"Hey, kid are you coming in to deliver the package or do I have to kick your shins before you remember what you are here for" he hissed after noticing Theo doing nothing but staring at him. Theo gathered himself and entered the warehouse and immediately grimaced as the smell of rusted iron and cigarette smoke hit his nose, " Kid, I hope you weren't followed cause that would be an issue" the man asked him. "I was attacked on my way but managed to escape my pursuers" Theo pondered telling the man about what he heard from the thugs about Samael's betrayal. "Pass me the package, kid" the short man walked, bolted the door, and started heading towards Theo. "I'm not a kid, I am already 21. My growth spurt is just coming late" Theo grumbled as he pulled the package from his bag.
Due to humanity's journey through space, some humans adapted and mutated in some cases more than others. The short man was almost the same height as a dwarf even though he wasn't one of them. "Haha that's what you all say and before you know it, you are 40 and are still a short bitch" the man laughed, there was some self-depreciation in that statement. The man collected the package and dropped it into a case picking up and marking something on a device in his hand, and suddenly there was that repeating knock from the door. The man immediately moved towards the door to see who was there. Theo was still contemplating whether to tell the man about Samael and what he heard when the door opened.
"Samael! Sir you almost gave me a heart attack you know only the courier is supposed to show up".
"Well I heard there had been some commotion and most of the other decoys we sent had been killed by the Crows to get the package, so I came as fast as I could to ensure the main package reached its intended place," Samael said with a smile.
"Well you could have just called, an official of your level shouldn't worry yourself with such trivial things, " the short man said with a smile plastered across his face, if anything the short man was an ass kisser.
Theo was lost in thought as he looked at the man before him. Samael was a specimen of a man, he was tall at least 6'3 and was built like an athlete, he had an adequate amount of muscles not the bodybuilder big and boisterous type but that of an MMA fighter, functional and lean the sign of a fit man. He had dark skin and sported silver dreadlocks with defined facial features lined with a nice trimmed beard. His eyes were dark as the suit he was wearing adorned with gold accessories and a watch. This was the man who hired him a few days ago and the last person Theo wanted to see now.
"Sir he sold us out I heard the attackers saying he gave them the routes of the couriers' Theo shouted in a panic.
"What the fuck are you saying boy" barked the short man "do you know who this is, he is one of the highly respected and loyal members our organization has and is soon to be an executive of the organisation ".
" But I am telling you sir I know what I heard '' Theo was getting frantic now, he started looking for a way out of the building.
"Foolish boy gets on your knees and apologises to him before I blow your brains out, do you even have proof? Do you know what you're implying?" the short man was red and furious, he had finally been able to meet Samael once on one and now this useless hired rat was about to spoil the mood. He felt an arm on his shoulder as he started moving towards him, his hand reaching for his gun.
"I think the boy is just exhausted and paranoid, he just survived a life-and-death encounter you know so why don't we just take it easy," Samael said as he looked at the short man giving a smile and then looked at Theo curiously, who was moving further back into the warehouse slowly. The short man was pleased, at least Mr Samael wasn't annoyed and he can use this to butter up to him, to hell with the kid.
"Mr James, would you kindly bring me the package? So I can make sure everything is in order and undamaged." James was surprised as he thought Samael didn't know his name but now he could see the promotions finally rolling in, he could stop being just the drop point manager. "Wait until Maria and the boys hear this," he thought as he quickly brought the suitcase over. Samael picked up the suitcase and after checking to make sure the package was in it, he smiled and said "You know that the drop-off manager isn't supposed to give the package to anyone aside from the collectors in the organization". James started blushing as he realized his mistake and quickly answered in an attempt to butter up
" But sir I think you are the most qualified to handle the package if you can't who can".
"Well well… dumb and an ass kisser, no wonder you never went far in the organization," Samael said as he pulled out a pistol and blasted James right between the eyes. The short man didn't even see it coming as with a thud he was on the ground still blushing from what Samael said before. Theo could not hide his shock as he thought Samael wouldn't kill James in such a cold manner.
Next Samael turned to him saying "hey kid can you come over here for a sec" in such a casual tone you would not believe he just murdered someone. Theo was too stunned to move or speak and just kept staring at the body lying on the floor. Before he knew Samael was in front of him, he startled Theo and fell to the ground trying to scamper away.
"Look kid this could have been avoided if you just kept quiet you would have walked out of here credits richer, James over there would have still been alive but oh well can't leave any loose ends"
Samael levelled the barrel of his gun at Theo's tear-streaked face. Is this the end, he hasn't even seen any other planets and his whole space dream is coming to an end before it even started in a shitty warehouse far away from any loved one.
Mum, I'm sorry it seems like I will reach Elysium before you. He heard the gun's blast and the ozone smell from the air around him. Looking down he saw the blood pouring from a hole in his gut. "Fuck I even died a virgin....."
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StellaVati
StellaVati A newbie author just hope to get better as i write more
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