"Our deal and your plan were that his father would suffer the same fate as I." The baroness had coiled up the whip in her hands as she stepped closer to Alec. Two of her elite guards took a ready position beside her. She confidently waved them off and stood toe to toe with Alec. "You are without a child, you would not know." Alec felt the sting at this; he had, lifetimes ago. She would not know this, though; that was a secret even Quip did not know.

  The baroness continued eye-to-eye with Alec. "A parent knows, even if they can't see them. A parent knows if their child lives or dies. A parent knows when their child feels mortal pain and then is gone." Her tone was punctuated by her pressing the whip into Alec's chest for emphasis. "Your purpose is fulfilled when his father," she pointed to the boy, "wakes as I did in a cold sweat knowing he shall never see the boy again."

  Alec felt a pit in his stomach; he knew where this path headed, and he felt stupid for not seeing this ahead of time. Did the need for amaranth and the overflowing contracts cloud his judgment this much? Alec looked to the troupe of guards around the courtyard, the royals and then to the party that lay between him and Quip. Alec could make it out in a firefight, saving the boy in that. The chances were none to impossible. This boy was dead either way.

  "The deal? The deal you say?" The baroness had now stood on her tiptoes so she was almost looking down on Alec. "The deal was this." Baroness Veiss snapped her fingers again, and a small box was produced for her. She took it and held it up to Alec, opening it up to reveal four small vials of Aamaranth, glowing soft blue. She snapped it shut loudly in front of Alec and then pushed it into his chest. Alec took one look at the boy, still pleading with his eyes and turned his gaze to his payment.

  "The plan I put in place kept this child in servitude to you." Alec tried to play on baronhood vanity. "How much better to see the fruits of your revenge than to watch it struggle day by day in a hard life." He finished off by looking to the crowd, observing, hoping to draw some calls of approval. They knew the baroness, and the quiet was resounding.

  The baroness snapped her fingers one last time, and her two guards picked up the boy by the arms. He called out in pain. He called out for his father. In a moment of desperation, he called out even to Alec. Each sound punctured something in Alec's heart in a way that had never happened. His fingers itched to reach for the revolver loaded with whistlers. His mind calculated every day he might make it out of this with the boy intact. There were none. Alec's need for survival and a future of more contacts would end if he defied them. And then there would be no Aamaranth left for him.

  She walked over to a branch of the Grape-berry tree and pulled a chair over under it. With one motion, she snapped the whip securely around the brand. She knotted the bottom end into a circle and motioned to her guard. They stood the youth on the chair and fed the circle around his neck. The boy's eyes were wide as he came to realize what came next. He stared at Alec, not the baroness, with accusation that cut his ancient bones deep.

  Alec didn't need to stay for the show. His business was complete, and the baroness seemed much more interested in tormenting the prize Alec had brought her. At first, the officer tried to stop him, then saw the look in Alec's eyes, thought better of it, and motioned for the two who escorted him here to walk him back to Quip.

  The baroness had begun another theatrical and near-fanatical speech on the merits of revenge. Of how the baronhood had its toy of the trade, Alec, and how none better cross her. It was the whimpering of the boy that got to Alec the most. As he exited the courtyard, Alec heard one final crack of the whip and clatter of a chair. He heard a body fall, and the struggling coughs as those in attendance to Baroness Veiss cheered her cruel appetite on.

  Alec rushed his pace, and the guards were struggling to keep up. His shoulders knocked minor baronhood patrons in his speed, but upon seeing his expression, they all allowed the interruption. His fingers kept tapping the Aamaranth box in his left hand, and his heart rate only slowed a fraction when Quip came into view. The few militia members admiring the vehicle startled as Quip opened the door for Alec so that he could hop in directly to the driver's seat.

  The door hissed shut, and Alec punched Quip into gear.

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  "Alec, your heart rate..."

  Alec hit the mute switch in the cockpit of the vehicle. He let his thoughts run faster than Quip as they worked their way down the red gravel road back to the rift station. His thoughts were like the thunder on the far moon of Karrath IV. His contract back then had attempted to disappear there. His body was not met for it, and Alec found him dead on the ice. That death didn't bother him like what just happened. None of the deaths he had faced outside of one had impacted him like this.

  His hand went from flipping the autopilot switch to hover over his revolver and the box of his precious Aamaranth. He settled on the first, clenching it to start and looking at the rearview projection, but then realizing it was already done, he did as he intended and stored it. He grabbed the Aamaranth and cracked open the hatch that led to his living quarters. Alec looked around and settled on the now-empty cell. Feeling the weight of the silence, he walked to the internal panel and allowed Quip to have his voice.

  "Alec, what happened? Your vitals are stable, but your cerebral patterns are projecting differently than your usual state of mind." Alec could hear the concern in Quip's voice; like so many things today, it was a first. Something must have happened in the stars, and now all the planets in the system were slightly off their axis.

  He slammed his fist down on the table to exhaust what was left of his frustration at the lack of control he had. Sure, life had purpose, but what terrible purpose was this? A part of Alec wished he had gone out in a blaze of glory, taking that entire party and the baroness herself with him. It would have served no purpose, not in this.

  "The deal went sideways, Quip."

  The pause was felt. "Did you get the Aamaranth?" Quip knew his existence depended on Alec. Without him, Quip would be stripped for parts and his illegal intelligence completely erased. That's why they understood and worked alongside each other. "Alec, I feel I shouldn't, but I know I have to remind you, that is the last of the current contracts. Well outside of THAT one." This was in reference to a job so far that Alec had been able to afford not to take.

  Alec slammed the Aamaranth on the table beside his aching fist. "Four vials, Quip, just four."

  "With the three you already have and those you could rest up, give me some much-needed repair attention. With the fear of the baronhood now completely spread across the systems, our contracts are becoming fewer and fewer." Quip was factual. "Mind you, you would need to go into reserve use if you want these seven to last."

  With the thought of the hanged boy fresh in his mind, the mention of the baron's control over the systems was like sandpaper on his wound. The statement about the reserve ground brought his brain to a halt. Alec hated reserve use; he had to toggle off most systems internally, and he truly felt mortal at those times. He found he needed to rest often and his brain felt like mud. Everything hurt during those times, every muscle, bone and tendon cracked with each movement. He'd only done it twice, and then he was highly motivated to find a new contract.

  Alec breathed deep; the dent left in the table from his fist was nearly as deep as a stew bowl. He crouched and punched his fist upward; it was close to flat now. Neither actions hurt with his impact suit. He felt childish nonetheless. He knew Quip wasn't human and didn't think like one, but regardless of the answer he got, Alec needed to say it out loud.

  "They killed him, Quip. All that work and planning, and they killed him slowly and painfully. She called it revenge, but it was petty and unnecessary."

  "Did you expect different? Alec, it's been hundreds of contracts. Those come from the most uncouth of patrons. The barons in the inner systems use subterfuge and assassination in their plots. They have rarely little use for you anymore."

  "And that one is a particularly viperous woman. Remind me again about that contract." Alec didn't need reminding; they both knew it. Alec did need something to fill the silence until he left this planet far behind.

  "Seltar III, a baron, is facing an uprising of the local peoples. It appears to be one of the oldest planets and baronhood families, so there is a significant reward of Aamaranth. The planet's classification is for mining."

  Alec had never gotten that far down the list. He'd always stopped Quip at the mention of quelling an uprising. "Local Peoples" was the Baronhood's name for the Teretha peoples. There weren't many of them left, indigenous to the planets the baronhood would land on. They were kind and communal, eager to share all they had. They believed in peace and co-existence fervently, even unto death. They were often threatened or removed so the company could advance the word of God Almighty Oil.

  Ending a rebellion meant ending the lines of those willing to stand up and defend themselves. It didn't appeal to Alec. Neither did reserve mode until his own painful death. Aamaranth is life, life is purpose and one day this empire would fall, and Alec would continue on into the next.

  "What do they mine?"

  Quip paused, taking a deeper look. "You've never shown interest; I have never even opened it past the title and description. You know, opening it will alert them to your interest. Would you like to proceed?

  Alec grabbed the box of Aamaranth and walked to the small smuggling area he had in the back. He combined it with the three vials in there and locked it up. He looked at it longingly and felt an itch in his arm. "Pull it up, Quip."