Dark Sector

          “So, how is it?”

          There was no immediate answer. Somehow, the crew ate silently without even conversing with each other. Dairyu occasionally flicked his eyes to the food in front of him and to Xsatuki, the newest crew in his ship. He took another bite, amused. Xsatuki could see that he was both in awe and disbelief, which was something that he liked. He flicked his tongue to indicate his satisfaction to the reaction of the crew. He wasn’t that ignorant to their disbelief.

          “I’ll take the silence as ‘yes’, then,” said the snake Saurian while returning to the stove.

          As he cooked, however, Rose, who looked at the food in disbelief, turned his gaze towards Dairyu, who said, “Don’t ask me. Ask him.”

          “Hey, Tuki, how do you cook something this delicious?” said Rose while Xsatuki was stewing an alien creature.

          “I like to cook,” replied the snake. He took another one and gave it to Calventis, who sat beside Rose and was surprised on how the food could be as delicious as he knew back in Adonis I.

          “So, that’s it? I don’t want to be rude, but you seem to be someone who doesn’t strike me as a professional chef.”

          “If I’m not, then why your captain took me in? Hey, I know that I barely start my space travel, but that doesn’t mean I can’t cook, right?”

          “What Rose meant, Xsatuki, is about your appearance,” said Dairyu. “Snakes don’t have that much taste bud as evolved species do. I know we don’t have nagas back home, but lizardmen have this problem with food and they mostly cannot cook delicate meals like you.”

          “I am not a lizardman. I’m a Saurian,” replied Xsatuki. “Just because I look like a Terran critter doesn’t mean I’m also like them. Yes, I know snakes, captain.”

          “Still, you are quite lived in already. Never thought your whole body can fit inside the kitchen. I mean, well, snakes can curl.”

          “Even for standards, this place is bigger than most kitchen I know. Even places in my planet are reserved for Drosaurids and other races while Sslathas have their own community. I’m glad that I can actually cook in space.”

          “Hey, sorry to interrupt your rest, Ryu, but I think you should look at this.”

          Dairyu nodded as he heard the speaker with Capisa’s voice, and left his unfinished food. Xsatuki hissed and said, “Why don’t anyone ever finish their foods?”

          In the cockpit, Dairyu walked into a scenery full of asteroids and meteors, causing hard maneuverability. The Orient looked at the interface and said, “How the hell did we end up here?”

          “I think we snagged an uncharted area here, Dairyu,” said Capisa while typing in some command to find space coordinate. After a holographic image rose from a panel, Capisa said, “Huh.”

          “Huh?”

          “The coordinate indicated that we’re at least five light years off course from a nearby space station. This place has no charted maps at all. It’s like no one even bothered to go here and started to draw any map.”

          “No wonder, considering how this place is basically asteroid fields. I doubt even my colleagues ever have any base here.”

          “Do you think we can go through a space to initiate safe FTL?”

          “Let’s see…There’s a Quantum Gate on the edge of this area. I think it’s sector C. If we can maneuver through this area, we can get to the gate and go closer to the center. We can cut at least two weeks of travel.”

          “If we can pay the massive toll.”

          “I’ve got it covered. Now the only thing I need is…”

          “Unidentified ship, state your business or be eliminated.”

          Dairyu and Capisa were surprised by the sudden hail. It was as if someone knew their hailing frequency and called on them. Capisa wasn’t sure what to say, but he said, “This is the Wind of Change. I request that you explain for us the matter.”

          “Wind of Change, this is Base one of Asteroid Oberon-231. You are trespassing Federation-controlled space. Return back before we shoot you.”

          “Yes, please standby.” Capisa held the connection and said, “Somehow this place is supposed to be uncharted because of something. Do you know anything about it?”

          “How about contacting your boss? I thought your division is specialized on things like this.”

          “I know we have that in our database, but the fact that I don’t even have a map of this place tells me that even Mako Agents like us can’t know. The Federation can also be very protective of some details, you know.”

          “And here I thought you have everything…”

          “Nobody’s perfect, Ryu. Now, let’s test them about this.”

          Capisa then resumed connection and said, “Oberon, we are drifting in space and we are conserving fuel for our travel through the Section C Quantum Gate. It’s 12 light years to the sector behind us. Will you be so kind and grant us temporary pass?”

          There was a slight silence before the voice said, “We will give you the coordinate to our asteroid. Stand by.”

          As the coordinate came to the interface screen in front of Capisa and Dairyu, Seiryu, who had just finished eating his fill, came to the cockpit and said, “Is there something wrong…oh, fuck me.”

          He walked to his seat while saying, “Asteroids. Why does it always have to be asteroids?”

          Dairyu and Capisa moved aside for Seiryu to maneuver through the asteroid field (grumbling along the way). The two of them proceeded to the bar and discussed the asteroid base.

          “It is something, though. I’ve never heard about any Federation asteroid base before,” said Capisa while eating a fried egg (he used nano enviro-suit). “I mean, maybe only the higher-ups know about this.”

          “Or maybe it’s a black site,” said Dairyu.

          “Black site? They’re still doing that in this century?”

          “That’s the beauty of it. You can’t know it until you discover it yourself. One thing for certain. Whatever waits for us in that asteroid can be so secretive that they don’t want anyone to know it. And for that I mean alive.”

          “So, safety off, then.”

          As they looked at the bleak scenery of dead space full of asteroids, Dairyu wondered if there were ever any spaceships that got wrecked in this particular region and their debris would still be around. If so, then the crews who perished would be all around them. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any. The only ‘ghost’ in concern was Seiryu.

          As they neared the coordinate, the sensors picked up tractor beam towing their ship towards the biggest asteroid that came up on screen. Oberon-231 was three times bigger than the chunks of asteroids around it. Upon closer inspection on some of the asteroids, the crew could see that some of them had communication relays that kept this asteroid ship to be able to communicate with nearby space stations. The ship, or more specifically mobile space station, moved in place, rotating around as it collided with another asteroid. What was surprising was how an asteroid could be made into a space station.

          The ship docked, in which the tower said, “Wind of Change, your docking procedure is completed.”

          After Seiryu said ‘thank you’, he grabbed Dairyu’s arm as Capisa walked towards his suit. The older Orient knew that Seiryu, ever so paranoid, was trying to say. He sighed and said, “If you think I’m going to be in danger that badly, you can come with me. Of course, considering how you were a relic of the Empire’s tyrannical enforcer, I don’t think they’ll accept you.”

          “Shut the sarcasm and listen to me. This place is in a giant asteroid for a reason. I know there’s a secret they cannot tell us, so if you find one, let me at it.”

          “Are you trying to make me a federal offender?”

          “This is for your own good.”

          Dairyu sighed and got out of the way and outside. Seiryu, when he was out of Dairyu’s sight, activated a beacon from the cockpit, detailing the conditions of the away team, consisting of Capisa, Dairyu, and Rose. He planted them when they were doing the first leg of FTL in each of the crew member, including himself (despite the fact that he was a ghost). Even though Dairyu told him many times that it was peace time and nothing could go wrong, Seiryu knew better. It was an acute paranoia that drove him. It was his desire to protect his only friend from being harmed. He extended this to the rest of the crew because he knew they could not die, not because of a ridiculous situation of supernatural outbreak.

          Meanwhile, outside, the people who greeted the three people were surprised by the sudden appearance of a former Warrior. Not only that, but also three of the legendary crewmembers of the Azure, which they thought was the sister ship of the one they had (which was actually the same ship, rechristened). Their coming was not unexpected, though, for when they walked towards the door, at least three people, all of them from different Federation races, greeted the draconian and said, “Welcome to Oberon-231, Dairyu Tsukasa.”

          As he walked inside, accompanied by Capisa and Rose, Dairyu started asking questions, which he thought at first would be something that the Aqura officer would want to disclose. But surprisingly, he said, “This is a prison, Tsukasa.”

          “A prison? Doesn’t look like it has the best of facilities.”

          “I did not say it’s a rehabilitation center, Tsukasa. I’m the warden here, Ateran Fas’ren.”

          Capisa, who heard the name Fas’ren, immediately thought his superior. He then said, “Do you happen to be related to Kotine Fas’ren?”

          “That would be my cousin, Capisa S’hor. Just like your family’s business, The Fas’ren family has been serving as As’karans for generations. What does Kotine has with you?”

          “He’s my boss.”

          “Hmm…”Ateran turned and looked at the younger Aqura and said, “You do look like his protégé, Capisa S’hor. I can see it clearly.”

          Dairyu could see that Capisa was embarrassed and looked away. He was speculating that this warden knew about Capisa’s real occupation, but he stayed silent about it.

          “I am not trying to sugarcoat everything to the three of you, as I am speaking the truth. This prison is to put prisoners away from general public, and is reserved for the worst of the worst.”

          “So basically this place is a supermax.”

          “If that’s how you interpret it in Terran, then I should say something like that. What different is that this place is not as dirty and bloody as most places you know. Say, Tsukasa, are you familiar with prison planets.”

          “I know that moment in history, Fas’ren. I’m as old as you are.”

          “Glad to know that you are one hardened warrior,” said Ateran with a smile. “Even if your cravings for violence still remains, this place is not a killing ground. No, we do not emphasis violence.”

          “Surprised that this place can stay aloft without burning down.”

          “I have a team of accountants that I can trust to administer the funding of this place. And yes, I am not planning to make this place a hellhole, but I’ll make sure those people know despair.”

          “Don’t that make you soft?”

          “Soft?” Ateran scoffed. “I don’t think so. My office is to the right. You can see the proceedings clearly from there.”

          The two guards escorted the three of them into the warden’s office, which actually doubled as his apartment, too. There was a wide screen window as they walked into the room. The two guards stayed outside while the sliding door closed. The three of them approached Ateran, but instead of surprised, all they saw was something not as worse as they thought it would be.

          The prison was very well-structured and pretty much a sustainable place to life. Even if the cells were small 5 meter cubes, it had all the basic amenities of a studio apartment, even how small they were. What made it unbearable, though was the fact that there was always a big window that opened to both sides. One side was facing the warden, while the other was facing the point where they were being put in, as demonstrated as an officer walked a prisoner into a vacant cube. It wasn’t that much of a privacy, but it was effective.

          “And you call this place a prison?” said Dairyu sarcastically.

          “They are not allowed to get out of the cells in most times, anyway. Just one hour each for three times meal, two hours for exercising, and three hours for work. The rest of the time they stayed in their appointed cell.”

          “Still better than most prisons, though. As if a prison has a private shower.”

          “I can’t just change Federation rules, right?”

          “Nah, I’m just kidding, Ateran,” said Dairyu smiling. “But I don’t think you giving us clearance to a black site is something out of my reputation, right?”

          Ateran, serious as always, looked silently towards Dairyu, then Capisa and Rose. Rose, in particular, felt uneasy around Ateran. She felt as if this Aquros had something he did not want to. But after seeing how the Aquros did not feel suspicious at all, she relented.

          “Your ship is the only one who come here for a long time. Supply ship comes here every three months to deliver spare parts for food replicators and filters for the carbon. When it fails, however, this place is self-sufficient enough. Still, your ship looks like a bounty hunter type, so if you are willing, I have something that needs your expertise.”

          “And in return?”

          “Take our produce for your travels. I know your ship does not even have a replicator. Before you ask, let me tell you that Aqura have an instinct in engineering.”

          “You did not see any signatures that indicated molecular reforming used by the replicator system, right?” said Capisa to Ateran. The older Aquros, despite of trying not to look satisfied, was obvious on his satisfaction of his own race.

          “As I was saying, I have a simple, but confusing favor to ask you, Dairyu Tsukasa. The knowledge of this prison is something that I still feel disturbing. No one actually knew this place and it lost most of its reputation already and becoming a…black site, as you said.”

          “Apparently rehab centers are better alternatives than prisons.”

          “This place does not even look like a prison in the first place. Now, what I want you to do, however, is not to make some illegal mess in here. All we want is a favor to fix something.”

          “Like what?”

          “We have been having problems with an abandoned part of this complex for so many years. I was thinking that if we can reopen that part, we can put in more inmates instead of cramming four into a two-person cell. It’s not up to standard. But, years of neglect has made the section a breeding nest for a particular species we called ‘space worms’. These worms thrive in an anaerobic environment not exposed to space, which is what our abandoned section is full of.”

          “I assume pressurizing the whole complex does nothing.”

          “That’s the problem. I want you to get in there and pressurize the whole place manually. I’ll give you the map to go through the whole complex and the general direction to the control room in that particular section. And don’t worry about the worms, they are quite harmless…except the big ones.”

          “Right…” Dairyu did not want to know the details of those who failed to restart the oxygen system. He had a feeling that his crew was not the only one who attempted it, but dared not to ask Ateran.

          “If you don’t have any…”

          “No, we’re fine. Most of us are not humanoid anyway. I’ll ask my crew, see who wants to do this job.”

          “Glad you can do it. My men will escort you to the hangar. Let me know if you are ready.”

          After a while, they walked towards the corridor, flanked by the two people who followed them. Rose, who was silent all the time, finally said, “Who will you pick to do this job, then? Just so you know, we have suits in the locker by the shower.”

          “I am well aware of that, Rose, but seriously, how are you going to ask anyone in the group to wear a suit that small? Calventis has his own suit, but it’s bulky and is intended for repairs outside. Dajar and Capisa are the best people for this job.”

          “But you need one more just in case.”

          “Hmm, you’re right. I’ve got one good candidate for that.”

          Sometimes later, after Dairyu explained the mission and who he would choose to go, Seiryu, who was the one chosen, said, “Are you fucking with me?! You want me to go into a vacuum room without a suit?! What the fuck is in your head?!”

          “You’re dead. That suit won’t fit you anyway. It’s for human.”

          “Really? Just because I’m a ghost doesn’t mean you can ask me do things like that! You are abusing me!”

          “I don’t see the difference of you sitting on that console eavesdropping on our conversation.” When Seiryu looked surprised, Dairyu pulled out a hidden camera from inside his suit. “So you’re not a paranoid. You’re just a stalker. Is that a new hobby in your one week in heaven?”

          “Dude, fuck that sarcasm…alright, you want me to go with them, I’ll go. But don’t blame me if suddenly I disappear out of thin air because I exhausted my spectral energy.”

          “You’re dead.”

          Even though Seiryu wanted to argue more about this, he relented, knowing his threat was not taken seriously by Dairyu due to his status as a deceased solid ghost. He went out with Capisa and Dajar, who were the only ones in the ship with environmental suits. Seiryu was quite surprised that no one recognized him, despite of his notoriety in space stations and on Terra. He felt like the prison had been so secretive for a long time that they did not know about things and events outside this asteroid.

          But Seiryu felt something unpleasant the moment he approached the supposed airlock towards the depressurized section. It was like hands simultaneously tried to pull him away, as if he had overused his time in the world and they were pulling him in. Seiryu knew that this was the same cold sensation every time there was supernatural happening around him, especially now.

          There were so many ghosts behind the airlock, and those ghosts were none  ready for things to come.