"The Skeleton Queen"

"Let me show you, Tel."  Evane said, turning his back and moving down the hallway.  There was a mixture of weariness, excitement, and fear in his voice, and Tel knew that trouble was most likely coming their way.  Reaching into his pocket and clutching the handle of his M&P, he grunted an acknowledgment and followed his partner down the dreary alley.

ARS-4, or ARSIV, was a planet some locals referred to as a "dumping ground."  Here, pollution was the norm, and a long, peaceful life was often a rarity.  Criminal underground networks pushed drugs, women, and children with startling efficiency, and most large-scale law enforcement turned a blind eye to the planet, unless the contagion of violence began to spill outside the local orbit.  For all of it's dangers inside the sprawling city-home of Turren, the wilds beyond the gates offered little solace.  Continuous radioactive spills from the island-sized power plants produced disfigured and odd creatures filled with rancor and disease.  Evane would rather face the perils of the Deep Planets than go outside of Turren.


Still, he knew the alleys of the Lower City very well, since some of the most lucrative Contracts were for rare minerals turned into even rarer drugs.  These substances were then sold to the ultra-wealthy for their own pleasure, providing large windfalls for the pushers.  The owners of these networks were secluded,  well-guarded, and difficult to find.  Turning a corner, a fist emerged from the shadows with the intent of re-arranging Evane's face, but the mercenary was prepared.  In a single swift movement, Evane pulled the hand toward himself and pushed away from his body with a twist, taking the large man to the floor on his back.  Before his assailant could say a word, Evan's Desert Eagle was pointed at the man's forehead.

"Donna," was all Evane said.  The man gave a slight nod and motioned toward an orange, rusting door.  Tel followed the mercenary through the door and down dim stairs.  Throughout the cramped passage, Tel felt the eyes of people in the shadows watching them.  Evane seemed unaffected, giving Tel the realization that even though they had been together for almost half a decade, he knew very little about Evane from before they met.  The smell of a Rothman filled his nostrils as the passage expanded.  Evane stopped briefly to exchange brief words with someone standing in a doorway.  Tel could make out some hand motions and heard the words "interested" and "good price" just before the figure melted back into the shadows.  Evane turned his head and flashed his companion a brief smile nodded his head further down the hallway, and continued on.  After a few more minutes, Evane stopped in front of a door and paused with his hand on the knob.

"DonKai the Skeleton is one of the most powerful dealers in Turren.  Some have told me she owns more than half of this planet.  Whatever she says, we agree to.  Death is the only other option."  Evane didn't wait for Tel to respond.  He opened the door and stepped inside to a large, mostly dark room.  Tel followed closely behind.

"Evane Blue," came a voice that rung sharply inside of Tel's mind.  Shaking his head, Tel looked around as his eyes auto-adjusted to the darkness around him, filling in the blanks with computer generated images.  "And you brought Tel, how wondrous."  Tel stopped mid-step as his eyes met what was left of DonKai.  A brain half-exposed through a robotic exoskeleton while a screen projected the face of a beautiful woman.  All around this outer shell was a long, expansive series of tubes connecting other parts of a human around the rest of the room.  A heart, beating in a plastic chamber, lay protected by robotic humans in one corner.  In the opposite edge of the room were lungs that squeezed in and out silently, encased entirely in glass.  Tel could manage no more than a half nod.

Evane took a long drag of his cigarette and watched the smoke exit his lungs as he breathed.  "Those will kill you, eventually," DonKai said in her robotic and melodious voice.

"You will kill me first," Evane whispered as his gaze met the intent stare of the computer image.  "I've heard there is a large payout involved for an inside job."  The robotic eyes on the exoskeleton scanned up and down the mercenary's body, and eventually settled on Evane's bogu, the bio-implant surrounding his left arm.

"EverLife Industries is prototyping a new bogu design, and I was slighted by an insider who promised me "early access" to the design, so to speak.  Get me the prototype, Evane."  Evane lowered his head and let the cigarette fall out of his mouth.

"I'm not a criminal, Donna."  DonKai's words were sharp, and cut through Tel's mind like a finely sharpened knife.

"The new bogu, or your arms will have to be a worthy replacement.  And do not call me that again.  Donna died when you betrayed me."