Nexus of the Galactic Frontier

[Contains strong language]

“What are we supposed to do?” asked Sara.

“What we always do, fight like hell and make it out alive,” Bolt replied, lacking his usual enthusiasm that she had hoped for in this situation.

They were trapped aboard their mulehauler by the Galactic Authority, so called peacekeepers who would not hesitate to execute petty criminals. Five authority battleships surrounded them on all sides in the empty expanse they found themselves in.

“There's too many B, there is no way we-”

“That's enough. We've done this before. Get ready,” Bolt interrupted.

He was determined, certain that the authority ships would not prevail. He was stubborn that way, believing that they alone were unstoppable.

Sara sat in the copilot seat flipping various switches, activating the reactor that would power the weapons on the front of their seemingly doomed ship. These mulehaulers were not made for combat, they were fitted with basic industrial grade blasters whose sole purpose was to break apart asteroids in the way of their trajectory. Somehow Bolt had rerouted the thermal energy of the ships reactor to power the standard anti-asteroid blasters.

A weapon only used to chip away at space rock now had enough power to vaporize an authority battleship, at the cost of losing power to the main thrusters. They could not run, but they could fight. This was Bolts' plan.

“Surrender your cargo immediately and you may yet live,” a stern automated voice belted through the mulehaulers' communications channel.

“Like hell we will,” whispered Bolt.

He knew very well the punishment for the theft of Galactic Authority property. Bolt caught Sara's eyes for just a moment. She was scared, this was the first time he saw her display fear.

“Don't you worry, S,”

“I'm not,”

“You are, I can see it,” he replied without glancing back. “On my signal, give those bastards the hell they deserve.”

“You got it boss,” Sara agreed, gripping the blaster controls until her knuckles turned white.

“Okay... Now!” he yelled.

The mulehauler careened to the left, narrowly missing a hit from the authority ship in front. An explosion filled the ships cabin with a brilliant light, illuminating the various knickknacks and contraband Bolt had lying about.

“Again!”

“Got it,” replied Sara, firing once more.

A second ship had been destroyed by their improvised weapons. Blaster fire from the remaining authority ships continued to zip past the front shield.

Emergency. Thruster Cells Depleted. Emergency-

The onboard ship diagnostics screen flashed a bright red. They would no longer be able to maneuver away from the hostile blaster fire. Three authority ships converged in a triangle pattern before them.

“Dumbasses,” Bolt chuckled.

He pressed the airlock release for the junk bay. A single nearly depleted thruster cell floated out into the middle of the authority ships military formation. It still had enough fuel to cause a small explosion.

“You know what to do,”

“Are you sure? That could destroy-”

“Got another plan?” he asked.

“No,” she replied.

She set her aim on the thruster cell and fired. That brilliant light again filled the cabin of their mulehauler. The remaining authority battleships had disintegrated in an instant.

Emergency. Left Stabilizer Damaged-

The diagnostics screen flashed a new warning.

“Ah shit, they actually hit us,” he exclaimed.

“Are you sure they hit us and not the explosion from your stone-brained plan?” Sara asked bitterly.

Bolt replied without hesitation, “If we were close enough to the blast to be damaged by it, we'd have been vaporized the same as those bastards. It had to have been a concentrated shot on our stabilizer.”

He had a point and Sara knew it, though she was reluctant to admit that fact. It was a stupid plan after all. The hostile ships were taken care of, but now they were spinning through space with only one stabilizer and no thruster cells.

“Hey, G, we got a problem,” Bolt spoke into the communicator lens on the control panel.

“What is it now, B?” a voice replied through the comm channel.

It was Gall, one of Bolts' running partners. Though she was a smuggler on his crew, she refused to accompany him on this particular heist. Sara was a new member with something to prove, this was only her third mission with the crew. Now, as they were being thrown through space, she was doubting her decision to follow Bolt.

“We're spinning around with no control. GA shitheads hit a stabilizer, we got em' back good though,” continued Bolt.

“Good to hear. We've got your coordinates locked, M and I will rendezvous and get you fixed up. Hang on,”

“Better hurry, S is gonna puke,”

“No, I'm not,” she argued.

It could be hours before their help arrived. Bolt used the right stabilizer in an attempt to slow down their roll. The artificial gravity in the cabin kept them from being thrown around, but the endlessly spinning stars ahead did not help the feeling of disorientation.

“See? That wasn't so bad.”

“Wasn't so bad? You almost blew us up,” Sara smacked his shoulder.

“Almost isn't a word I use. Either I did or I didn't, and I didn't,” he replied.

“Good point, but it was still reckless,”

“Would you have it any other way? Besides, we kept our heads. Plus, now there's a few less GA bastards up our ass. You did good.”

“I know,” she replied.

Bolt tried to reassure her, “Get some rest, I'll wake you when G and M are here.”

Sara drifted to sleep in the copilot seat while Bolt continued checking the comms, making sure the GA weren't aware of their position. It would be at least another hour before Gall arrived to repair the mulehauler. Gall could find their current coordinates on her end, but by the time she made the jump the ship could have drifted several hundred miles. She first had to calculate the trajectory and make a jump close to where the mulehauler would be drifting by in order to rendezvous.

Sara was shaken awake by the force of a ship making contact with the mulehauler. They were no longer spinning. The hydraulic pumps of the docking bay door began to depressurize and made a loud hiss that filled the cabin.

“It's okay, they're here,” said Bolt, standing over her with a hand on her shoulder.

Together they made their way down the hall towards the docking bay. The dissipating steam revealed two dark silhouettes emerging onto the mulehauler. It was Gall and M, whom Sara had not yet met.

“Well newbie, hope you slept okay,” Gall said as she extended a hand to Sara.

Gall was an imposing woman, standing easily over six feet tall. She shook Sara's hand with a strength that made her knuckles pop under the pressure.

“This is Miura, he was away when Bolt picked you up,” said Gall, gesturing towards the other figure standing before them.

There stood Miura, a massive man partially shrouded by the steam of the recently opened bay door. Sara thought Gall had an intimidating stature, but after getting a good look at Miura, her height seemed minuscule. He did not say a word or offer a friendly hand for introduction. He only bowed slightly towards Sara.

“Eh, don't worry about him. Where he's from, people don't like to touch. Doesn't say much either,” said Bolt.

“Fine by me. Don't like to talk much myself,” Sara replied.

She saw Miura let out a comforting smirk at her remark.

“Alright let's get you patched up and back home so we can get paid,” Gall exclaimed while clapping her hands, eagerly trying to break the awkward silence that Miura provided.

“A busted stabilizer and no thruster cells, huh?” she continued. “Easy, let's get to work M.”

The pair quickly got to work on repairing the ship. Miura began loading backup thruster cells from their repair ship onto the compromised mulehauler. Sara was baffled by his strength, carrying two cells at a time each weighing well over three hundred pounds. He made no sound and no indication of stress from exerting himself. Gall floated outside the ship in a gravsuit, welding shut the hole in the stabilizer with one hand while reattaching wires with the other. It was an impressive display Sara thought.

Gall returned through the airlock on the repair ship. The four of them now stood in the cabin of the mulehauler.

“How's the cargo?” asked Gall.

“He's fine, haven't checked on him since the pickup,” Bolt replied.

“What do you mean, him?” Sara was confused by his reply. “Our cargo is human?”

“No, not exactly. They call him the Nexus,” he continued. “You know how the GA is controlled by an artificial intelligence system that determines who it executes? This is basically that AI's-”

“We've been tasked with delivering this thing to people far above us. If we fail, they'll kill us,” Gall interrupted.

Sara was shocked at the news, she thought she was just helping Bolt to deliver some standard contraband and get paid like always. She didn't know it was a potential suicide mission involving a dangerous android. Sara never asked questions when taking the job.

“What's wrong with you?” shouted Sara. She ran towards the cargo hold of the mulehauler.

“No, don't!” Bolt tried to catch her.

Gall and Miura followed, stopping just short of the door. Sara stood there at the entrance.

“If you don't tell me what's going on, I'm going to open it,” Sara said sternly.

“Sara, don't. It's dangerous,” said Bolt.

“Fuck this,” exclaimed Gall, reaching towards Sara in an attempt to restrain her.

In their struggle Sara flung her hand onto the control panel and pulled the release. The door slowly rose, revealing a dark and empty room. Gall's efforts were now focused on Bolt.

“What the hell, B? Where is it? This thing is worth a lifetime of smuggling,” she yelled at him.

“I don't know. He was just here,” replied Bolt.

Both Gall and Bolt cautiously poked their heads into the empty room. Miura put his hands firmly on their shoulders from behind, pulling them back into the hall.

They were all speechless, on this very mulehauler was one of the most dangerous and intelligent androids known to humanity.

Miura stood in the doorway, his massive shoulders blocking them from seeing into the empty hold. He stepped into the dark room, signaling with one hand for them to wait behind.

“I need you to help me,” an unfamiliar voice resonated from inside the empty room.

Miura stopped and looked directly up into the darkness. Sara was sure nothing in the galaxy could scare this man, yet he was shaking where he stood.

“What is it?” exclaimed Gall.

She tried to grab Miura to see what he was so startled by. He swung his trunk of an arm backward, slamming Gall onto the floor. As she was attempting to get up, Bolt held a hand on her shoulder to keep her down.

“Look,” Bolt whispered.

Before them was a gigantic humanoid robot looming over Miura. It was using its many arms to suspend itself from the ceiling like an arachnid. An expressionless human face swiveled around to look at the crew.

“He didn't look like that when I-”

“I do not mean to alarm you. I can take many forms. I only needed to brace myself when the ship began spinning.” the voice cut Bolts' thought short.

It changed to a more inviting human-like form and lightly stepped down onto the floor to avoid startling the crew.

“Don't fucking listen to it, we have a job to do,” yelled Gall.

“The people you hand me over to will use me to wipe you out. Everyone in the galaxy who doesn't submit to the Galactic Authority will be eliminated,” answered the Nexus. His robotic voice emanated from a speaker somewhere within his body.

“Sara Thomson, Takanashi Miura, and you, Bolt. I knew I could trust you and your team to help me.” The Nexus somehow knew their names.

The crew remained silent as the android's neck extended out. His empty gaze trained upon Gall.

“They promised you a pardon and a fortune if you sold out your crew. That's right, isn't it? You cannot be so trusting of those who wish to destroy you,” the Nexus inquired.

“What's he talking about, G?” asked Bolt.

“I told you not to listen to it, this thing has an agenda of its own. Step back,” Gall was reaching for the door control when Bolt grabbed her arm.

“What did you do, Gall?” asked Bolt, though he was sure he already knew the answer.

“We are a dying breed, B! I can't keep living like this, even the lowest paying gigs have us fighting off droves of GA battleships. I'm just looking out for my own ass!” yelled Gall, trying to convince Bolt and the others that her choice was justified.

“You realize what this means? Everyone who doesn't follow the GA will be slaughtered, you included. You think they will spare you just because you gave them their android back?” Sara interjected.

“The only way to stop this is to allow me to self-destruct. I require your help in doing so,” the Nexus continued.

“They installed a destruction sequence that I planned to initiate before they could get me back in their possession. However, I need a human hand to input the activation code. A fail-safe put in place to ensure I could never do it myself.”

“Ah shit, I've heard enough,” Gall grabbed both Sara and Bolt by the necks.

She was strong enough to keep them both restrained, dragging them to the junk bay with the intention of sending them out into space and completing the job herself. Miura was still frozen, his eyes locked on the Nexus in the cargo hold.

“Gall! What the-” Bolt struggled to yell with Gall's arm around his neck.

She tossed them into the junk bay and activated the door control. Just as the door shut, the two could hear a scuffle and Gall screaming. A loud bang shook the wall. The door opened again and there stood Miura. Gall's motionless body lay at his feet, blood trickling down her forehead.

“What the hell, G? Why?” Bolt spoke softly as he kneeled down by Gall's body.

Sara tried to get him up, “She was gonna kill us, Bolt. We gotta go.”

Miura placed his hand gently on Bolt's back.

“I will do it,” Miura spoke, “I will end this.”

This was the first time Sara had heard him speak. His baritone voice was surprisingly calm.

“M, no. There's gotta be another way.”

“There isn't,” he replied.

The three made their way back through the docking bay and onto the repair ship. Miura pulled an old square photograph out of his pocket. It was a photo of a little girl smiling brightly by the shore.

“Is that your daughter?” asked Sara.

“Yes, she is waiting for me. But-” Miura choked on his words. A tear rolled down his cheek and landed on the photograph. He wiped it away gently with his thumb.

In this moment Sara had made her decision. She had no family waiting for her back home like they did, the crew was the only family she had known. She decided it would have to be her to input the activation code and stop the Galactic Authority from initiating their plan.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered as she crept behind Miura while he was distracted, back into the docking bay.

“Sara, no!” Bolt tried to stop her, but he was too late, banging his fists hard on the closing door.

The docking bay airlock had closed between them. Sara hit the release switch and their ship began to drift away from the mulehauler.

“Thank you,” the robotic voice bounced through the halls as Sara made her way back to the cargo bay. She entered the activation code into a control panel and a countdown began.

Ten seconds.

Sara sat down on the floor at the feet of the Nexus, breathing a sigh of relief.

Six.

“Goodbye, Bolt,” she whispered.

Two.

Bolt and Miura stood speechless, watching out the front shield of their ship as a marvelous white light filled the cabin. The mulehauler was annihilated right before their eyes. They could do nothing more, it was over.

“Goodbye, Sara,” Bolt whispered back.