Destiny's Call: Cosmic Endeavor Book 2 by Richard Ross

Author:Richard Ross [Ross, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Strangefate Studios
Published: 2021-08-15T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Ambush

Record Dates: 325.357 – 352.377 PGST

Rikki fiddled with her auditory implant as she continued to work on what was supposed to be her next big hit. It had the basics, a hypnotic beat, snappy rhythm, and a catchy chorus, it was just missing that last part to guarantee a place in the top hits. It had been so hard to beat the chart-toppers of her previous clone’s cycle. No matter how hard she tried, she always fell short of what she was looking for.

Her chair shook, causing her to scream. She turned to find her primary assistant waiting to be hit for disturbing her. She slugged the timid man in the shoulder for her fright. Rikki enabled the surrounding noise on her implant. She hated the sound of his crying. “I told you never to disturb me when I’m working.”

“I’m sorry, Miss T,” cowered her faithful servant. “But you told me to report to you immediately when I found some of the locals that Race befriended while he was here on Ruston.”

Rikki spun quickly around in her stool in anticipation of the news. “What did you find, Zeep?”

“Well, there was one gentleman that Race spent a considerable amount of time with. One Eldredge Foster, but he’s one foul individual. He made many rather obscene comments about… well, in general.”

“That’s not helpful,” Rikki said sourly. Zeep’s failure to do anything regarding Race was starting to bring his employment to an end.

“No, but there were also two kids. Orphans, I think. Besides Eldredge, they had the most contact with Race. They were the few allowed in the spaceship to visit him. Race even gave the girl an experimental breathing apparatus.”

“Really?” Rikki felt her senses tingle with pleasure. It was easy to get information from kids. At least she thought it was. Clones were sterile to prevent reproduction, and all her clone cycles had been mature upon activation. Rikki at least knew that children made excellent media content. “Bring them in. And get a reporter.”

“They’re outside,” Zeep said, sheepishly. “They’ve got a good layer of dirt on them. I didn’t want them making a mess of the place.”

“So? Run them through a scrubber first,” Rikki scoffed, turning back to her music.

“Well,” Zeep objected.

“What?” Rikki clenched her fist, ready to slap him again.

“I just thought it might make a better humanitarian show if the cameras actually showed how bad their living conditions are,” Zeep offered, preparing himself for another beating.

Rikki didn’t care about how filthy they were, but the humanitarian aspect would make for more publicity. And if she failed to get Race on board with her plan, some ‘humanitarian relief’ might help her score one last clone regeneration. “You might be on to something. Very well,” Rikki said, leaving her station. “Take me to them.”

“As you wish,” Zeep scurried off in the lead.

“How much longer until the relief supplies are unloaded?”

“About another hour,” Zeep answered. “It’s a pity we couldn’t bring more.”

“Right,” Rikki mocked. “Tell them to hurry so we can get off this dust ball.

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