Gyaros Book One: The Mice Eat Iron (YA 17+ Sci Fi Adventure) (9 page)

Miles cautiously stepped through the door and examined the inside of the establishment. His
anxious expression soon shifted to one of surprise, this bar was probably the most well maintained thing Miles had seen since arriving in the Yellow Districts. Though relatively small, Wolf's Den had a lively and welcoming atmosphere. The customers were from a variety of different sub cultures and no one seemed to be causing any trouble. Behind the bar, four young women rushed around busily, mixing and serving drinks.

“Hey, Wolf!”
shouted Ryker over the loud noise of the room as he and Miles approached the bar. Upon hearing her name one of the women quickly looked up, she was the tallest of the four and wore a black leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows revealing several colourful tattoos on her arms. Her dark black hair settled just below her shoulders in a natural and messy fashion.

“Woa
h! Ryker, you look like shit!” she said loudly over the music, her eyes widened in both shock and amusement.

“It's nothin'
you
can't cure,” replied Ryker as he took a seat at the bar, prompting Miles to do the same.

“Heh, damn straight! I got just the thing
,” said Wolf with a sly smile as she finished pouring a large beer for a previous customer before preparing something for Ryker and Miles.

“Who's your
boyfriend?” she asked jokingly as she reached under the bar for a bottle.

“This is Miles, he started working at the cinema
a few days ago. He's from the Green Districts,” explained Ryker.

“The Green Districts? Fuck me, I knew there was something different about you,” Wolf stared at Miles, her eyes
 narrowed into a look of intimidation before the devious smile returned to her face.

“Well Miles, let me give you somethin' they don't serve up in the Green Districts anymore,” she said as she placed two shot glasses on the table and filled
them from a large blue bottle.

“First one'
s on the house boys,” she added.

“Alright!”
exclaimed Ryker before downing his drink and slamming the glass back down onto the table. Wolf and Ryker both looked expectantly at Miles as he carefully examined the clear liquid in his glass, he brought the drink up to his nose to smell it before finally pouring it into his mouth and swallowing hard. It had a strong, bitter taste and seemed to burn all the way down Miles' throat.

“What is this stuff?” Miles asked with a twisted face, trying not to cough.
              “Raxxin,” Wolf replied raising her voice over the loud music, “finest in all of Elissa,” she added with a grin. Miles could feel the effects of the drink starting to kick in immediately as a wave of dizziness washed over him and the pain of his many injuries began to subside.

“Keep it comin' Wolf! We got a 25% bonus from the boss
man today,” said Ryker excitedly.

“Shit, is he tryin' to kill ya?” Wolf jested
. “Tell ya what, palm me fifty creds and I'll let you keep the bottle.” Without hesitation, Ryker placed his right hand on one of the credit transfer terminals on the bar and completed the purchase.

“Thanks boys, now if you'll excuse me, I have other customers to attend to
,” Wolf said with a wink accompanied by her usual smirk, and she turned her attention to one of the busy bar’s many other patrons. Ryker took the bottle of Raxxin and poured Miles and himself another shot each. Miles was prepared this time, he quickly downed the drink without too much discomfort.

He
looked around to witness a club full of the most diverse and colourful group of people he’d ever seen in any part of Elissa. Up on the brightly lit stage both men and women danced sensually and suggestively to the loud electronic music as some of the patrons watched on.

As the night continued and
the Raxxin slowly depleted, Miles began to tell Ryker about his four year old son, Chet. This was the first time Miles had discussed his personal life with anyone since losing his job at The Energy Department.

“He sounds like a
good kid,” Ryker said sincerely.

“I just wish there were some way I could talk to him again, just to tell him his father will be home soon, to let him know that everything's going to be alright
,” said Miles, burying his face in his palms.

“Can't you call his sc
hool or something?” Ryker asked.

“He was
transferred to another school after I was sent down here and I'm blocked from the data network so I can't find him
or
make any calls,” Miles replied, frustrated.

“That sucks
man,” Ryker said, pouring them another shot of Raxxin. But then Miles had an idea.

“Wait a minute
,” he said turning to Ryker, “
you
could access the network for me! Please Ryker, you have to help me out,” Miles begged.

“Sorry Miles, I'
m blocked too. Four months for possession of illegal substances.” As the words left Ryker's mouth the brief spark of hope inside Miles was extinguished.

“But
,” said Ryker quietly, closing the distance between him and Miles, “there could be a way...” Ryker's expression was deadly serious, “it could be dangerous though, like stuffed-in-a-shuttle-and-shipped-to-Gyaros kind of dangerous.”

Miles probably should have stopped listening right there and changed the subject but if there was a way to contact Chet he needed to know.

“Just tell me Ryker,” he said looking Ryker straight in the eyes.

“
Okay, so Mr Grayson has a network terminal in his office, if we could put him to sleep, then we can use his prints to access the network.” Miles thought about what Ryker just said.

“Put hi
m to sleep?” he asked, confused.

“I know a guy who can get me so
me dreamscape.” Miles knew exactly what dreamscape was, it was the street name for a powerful sedative drug often used on patients undergoing surgery. It also served as a pain killer with the inadvertent side-effect of giving the user vivid and powerful dreams while under its influence.

“Do we really need to put him to sleep? Couldn’t I just ask him to access it for me?”

“Come on Miles, he’s not going to risk his business helping someone banned from the network talk to his kid who he’s banned from talking to.”

Passing up another
opportunity to end the dangerous conversation, the intoxicated Miles continued.

“When can you get it?
The dreamscape.”

“Tomorrow, on the way to work
,” Ryker replied. The crazy, drunken scheme actually seemed solid, except for one detail.

“How are we going to get Grayson to take it?” Miles inquired
. Ryker thought for a few seconds before coming up with a plan. He picked up the blue Raxxin bottle.

“Let's save him a little something to say thanks for the bonus
.”

It all made sense, they had a plan and the means to execute it. Still, in Miles
’ currently precarious situation, attempting something like this could mean instant exile to Gyaros without trial.

“Are you sure you wanna do this, man?”
Ryker asked squinting, looking bothered and unsure. “You know if something goes wrong that’s it for you, man I don’t even know if I should be helping you do this,” continued Ryker, suddenly regretting his decision to suggest such a perilous plan. Miles paused silently for several seconds before finally answering.

“I
don’t want to do this Ryker, I
have
to do this. I have to see Chet's face again, whatever the risk. I have to tell him that his father still cares, that I’ll be home soon. He can't spend the next six months of his life thinking that his dad just ran away, or died or who knows what Hellen told him! It’ll be fine Ryker, the whole thing is going to take a total of fifteen minutes. We’ll be in and out and Mr Grayson will just think he drifted off for a while and it won’t raise any alarms because Grayson isn’t under surveillance. Fifteen minutes and it’s done.”

Ryker sighed
, “alright Miles, but however unlikely it is, you could get shuttled for this, you have to understand that man,” said Ryker seriously.

“I understand, and I'll take full responsibility if things go wrong. But they won't, we can do this, and once it's done, once I've talked to Chet I can get on with counting the days and playing it safe.
No more messing around,” Miles replied.

“Now, I know you don't believe that I was ever on Gyaros
,” Ryker said as he began to reach into his backpack, “but even if you think I'm lying, I want you to take this,” he pulled out a small metal cube and placed it in Miles hand.

“This plan should work Miles, but if we fuck it up somehow, if you end up on Gyaros one way or another,
whether it’s in a week or ten years from now, I want you to remember this,” Ryker paused briefly before continuing, “get to New Fortune and find someone called Mesa, show them this, they might be able to help you out. I know it's a stretch, but it'll be your best chance.” Ryker spoke so seriously that Miles actually began to believe him in his drunken state. Though still sceptical, Miles took the silver metal cube and placed it into the top pocket of his shirt. Ryker took the bottle of Raxxin and poured another two shots.

“But we can worry about that tomorrow, we still have the whole night ahead of us
,” he said with his usual carefree expression.

And that's the last thing Miles could remember about that night.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 6

Miles painfully opened his eyes, expecting to see the familiar ceiling of his small hotel room as he did the previous three mornings. Instead he found himself laying awkwardly on a cold wooden surface. Ryker was lying next to him and was still asleep, snoring loudly. With a painful headache and a ringing in his ears, Miles looked around at the dark environment. It wasn't long before he realized exactly where he was. Miles and Ryker never left the bar! They had spent the night on the stage of Wolf’s Den where only a few hours ago the dancers performed their act. Miles and Ryker both had pillows under their heads and big old leather jackets covered their torsos, presumably something from the lost and found.

“Okay boys, party's over
,” Miles heard a piercing voice call from a doorway marked Staff Only. He looked around to see Wolf dressed in nothing more than a white tank top, a pair of underwear and some fluffy slippers, her hair even more scruffy than it was the night before. She stretched and yawned as she walked casually through the room turning on several lights and picking up a few empty bottles to throw in the trash. Apparently, Wolf didn't just own the bar, she actually
lived
there too. Miles' body felt so stiff that he could barely move but with a great effort, he struggled to his feet.

“We've been here all night?” he asked, rubbing his
red eyes.

“Yup
,” replied Wolf, “you guys got seriously fucked up,” she added with a chuckle. Ryker was still passed out on the hard wood surface of the stage. Wolf strolled over to him.

“Come on sleeping beauty
,” she said poking Ryker with her foot.

“Uuuhh...wuthufuck?” Ryker mumbled as his eyes slowly opened.

“You guys should probably get to work, right?” said Wolf, Miles frantically searched the room for a clock. He ran to the till where the time was displayed in a bold digital font. It was 9:42. Miles and Ryker had less than twenty minutes to get to the cinema!

“Shit!” exclaimed Miles
, “Ryker, we have to go right now!” Ryker hastily stood up as Miles made his way towards the door.

“Let me open that for you
,” Wolf took a key from behind the bar and unlocked the heavy wooden door. Miles looked back to see Ryker packing the blue bottle of Raxxin into his backpack and he was suddenly reminded of the hair brained plan they had hatched last night while under the influence of the powerful alcohol. Butterflies flittered about his stomach as the details of the drunken plan came flooding back. He was about to yell to Ryker to tell him that the plan was off, but visions of his young son quickly reminded him of why he must go through with it. He swallowed hard and readied himself to put the scheme into action. ‘I have to do this, for Chet.’ Ryker quickly zipped up his bag, threw it over his shoulder and rushed out the door with Miles.

“Do you have time to get the dreamscape?!” Miles asked in a
muted and panicked voice.

“I think so, head to the cinema and I'll meet you there!” Ryker
shouted as he started to run down the street. Miles’ heart was beating furiously. Not only was he hung over and almost late for work, he was about to drug his boss in order to access the data network. Miles’ head was still pounding as he walked briskly through the narrow lanes and alleys back to the cinema. The heavy rain falling on the umbrella above him sounded like machine guns being fired inches from his ears and the various bruises and cuts from the previous day’s fight forced him to limp and wince in pain.