“By the by-laws of this station and Krakow Agreement, I am ordering you to face me!”
The man looked up slowly, revealing a scarred face and thick beard. The bounty hunter stared carefully at him, mentally checking his details against those on his file. It seemed to take an age before he stepped back and replaced his firearm.
“Thank you, sir, just a routine check.”
Footsteps announced the arrival of the mysterious blue-haired girl. She rushed inside and looked about as if trying to find someone. She spotted Glaucon but didn’t seem to acknowledge his presence.
“There’s trouble outside, some escaped Alliance rebels or something!” she said excitedly.
The bounty hunter moved passed her and out through the door. His two accomplices followed directly behind him, drawing their weapons and checking them. As they left, the girl tapped her head in mock salute and then danced away. As Xenophon and Glaucon looked at each other in surprise, she popped her head back around the door and towards them.
“Well?”
Xenophon moved first and approached her as discretely as he could.
“We met, last night.”
She laughed at his odd introduction.
“I’ve signed up with the Laconians, under Teleklos. You looking for a crew?” she asked.
Xenophon looked to Glaucon who seemed more concerned at the return of the bounty hunter than what she had to say. He turned back, but she was already making to leave.
“Look, I saw you both and your friend in action last night. If you’re looking for a good crew, you’ll want to work with the Laconian commanders. They have the best gear and training.”
“What about Xenias?” Xenophon asked.
“Xenias? He’s a showman. Yeah, you might make more money, but are you here for that or to stay out of the public for a while?”
“Why do you care?”
“Let’s just say I’ve heard rumours about trouble back home. All isn’t what it seems, Xenophon, son of Gryllus. If you’re interested, meet at Hangar seventeen in twenty minutes, and don’t be late, the last recruits are signing up.”
Xenophon tried to chase after her, but two more men entered the room. He moved back to Glaucon and the shadows.
“What do you think?”
Glaucon looked around and back at him.
“We need information and that means time and money. Alliance space isn’t safe, and neither is here. Either we find a way off this rock, or we hand ourselves in. I don’t know about you, but I want some payback. Your father was killed, and a warrant is out for us.”
Xenophon smiled grimly.
“Agreed. We sign up for the first ship we find. We get out of here and make enough money to return to Attica. But we go back on our terms.”
Glaucon nodded in agreement.
“What about Roxana?” he asked.
“You’re kidding, right? You try holding her back from another lucrative contract!”
The hangar area was on the other side of the station and far from the recruiting areas being used by the other merc outfits. The distinctions were obvious. For starters, there were over twenty Laconian soldiers, all in full battle attire and watching their equipment carefully. The second even more obvious sign was that an armoured transporter sat in the hangar. It was large enough to carry thirty or more people and looked very heavily armoured. Multiple turrets instantly marked it out as a military vessel. Unlike normal Laconian vessels, however, this one was marked up with the personal symbols of a man, presumably the Laconian officer in charge of this contingent. Xenophon made for the group of soldiers, but Glaucon pulled him back.
“Look, I’m sorry about last night. If we’re going to do any paid work for mercs, I agree with you, it would be best to stay with the professionals. The last thing we need is to get dumped on some crappy freighter when we could have worked with professional crews, better weapons and military ships. Just let’s try and not end up on his personal ship, okay?” explained Glaucon.
Xenophon nodded politely.
“No problem, hey, they probably won’t let us in anyway, and if they did, do you think they would even let an ex Alliance officer serve on one of their sacred Titans?”
“True,” replied Glaucon.
There were only three more people in front of them, and they were being processed with alarming speed. Glaucon was about to speak when a gap appeared in front of them to show a Laconian officer waving him through.
“You military?” asked the soldier.
Xenophon nodded but said nothing. The soldier turned his head and looked to Glaucon.
“What about your friend?”
Xenophon answered before his friend could say something he might regret.
“We both served in the Alliance Navy.”
The man raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“A little young aren’t you?”
Xenophon wasn’t quite sure what to say when Roxana pushed past them.
“They’re with me. We crewed on the Valiant. I’m Lieutenant Roxana Devereux.”
The man looked at the three of them but didn’t check anything on his computer system. The harder Xenophon looked, the more he realised the man didn’t have any electronic devices near him. It was as if he was just giving a simple face-to-face interview.
“Valiant, huh? I didn’t think anybody made it off her?” said the man.
“Not many, but some.”
“Okay, you’ll do,” he answered and turned to point to a series of doors behind him. “Take the second door, and join the rest of the potentials. Next!”
The three looked at each other, all surprised that they had reached this stage without any trial or test. Roxana moved first and made straight for the door. The other two quickly followed, not wanting to hold back in case the man changed his mind.
“You got my message, then?” asked Xenophon as quietly as he could.
She ignored him and pushed open the door to reveal a small room with about twenty people inside. They were an odd mixture, mainly human but all rough and angry looking. Some of the men wore old military uniforms, others security guards and at least half in scruff civilian clothes. Xenophon leaned towards her and whispered.
“Not exactly special forces, are they?”
“And you are?” she whispered back.
Glaucon did his best not to laugh, but a large Laconian soldier pushed inside the room, bumping him slightly as he move inside. Behind him moved the blue-haired girl from the night before. Two more soldiers followed who then closed the door shut behind them. She ignored them and moved off to the side. A man cleared his throat and called out from the front.
“My name is Lochagos Teleklos, and I am here to recruit experienced mercenaries to join the stratiotes in the Armada.”
The audience of prospective recruits quietened down as they listened to the words of the Laconian soldier. Xenophon was probably the only person there that even realised a Lochagos was a military rank, the leader of the Lochos. This was a particular type of formation used by the Laconians. To the best of his knowledge, it was used for a force of around three hundred warriors. Not a large amount by any standard, but when combined with light infantry it was a force capable of a great variety of missions. He could only assume Teleklos was looking to bolster the numbers in his own small force.
“As you already know, Lord Cyrus of the Median Empire has undertaken a programme of mercenary recruitment for service outside of the Terran worlds. It means you will be technically in the service of a foreign power. This may have implications for your legal status back home. This is an issue for you to examine, not us.”
Xenophon looked to Roxana and Glaucon who appeared disinterested in the comment. It might not worry them, but to Xenophon it meant another barrier to be broken before he could redeem his name and avenge his father.
Like our status on Attica could get any worse!
“It is a massive military operation to clear a number of threats, ones that are causing problems to both people and the main trade routes. The campaign will be a rolling offensive to clear out pirates, raiders and a number of alien incursions into Median territory. This is where the bulk of the raiders are hiding out, and that’s why this is a commercial volunteer operation rather than a military one. As you might expect, Artaxerxes and his Imperial forces wouldn’t look too kindly on a Terran operation on their own soil. This will be paid for out of the treasuries of the Empire. The money is good, damned good, but the risks are equally high. There are stations, ships and colonies that will need to be pacified, and we expect there will be casualties.”