Chapter 4: Void

Chapter 4

The heat rose another three Degrees before Jack and Stevey walked through the doors of the inn. Steam rose from the various water sources, and the wavering atmosphere swayed across the distant landscape. Most city folks made their way back inside while some indigenous denizens sought shade against the walls under the awnings. Jack had glanced back before stepping inside.

"Looks like a blistering one today," he mumbled to himself, then slid inside the cool interior. The inn always had the best temps during a Sun Surge—the hottest time of day on Kharm. It lasted about an hour normally but could persist for two or three on a Summer cycle. Right now, Spring held the spot. He spotted the outside heat temp from the digital reader on the wall—108'. Today's projection had it to reach 120, but Jack felt that might be a tad low. Even Spring Sun Surges had been known to hit the 140 mark, but that was usually due to high humidity. He figured around 129 before settling into the chair across from Stevey. He removed his hat, hanging it on the chair next to him.

"Two Swallowtails, barkeep," Stevey sounded out toward the bar. Jack finished settling in, undoing the front of his jacket to allow the cool air of the inn to caress his chest. He placed his gloves on the table, then neatly tucked his bandana into the top of his shirt. Ba'aron leaned against the table on his right.

"Still carrying that relic, I see," Stevey remarked, leaning back into his seat, noting the vermillion sheath of the sword.

"Yep, that sword and my Nethy blaster are about all I need out there," Jack replied. "Besides, it was a gift from my great grandfather. The man had a thing about old stuff like that. Plus, it's been in the family for generations. Just wouldn't do to get rid of it."

"Nah, I guess not, my friend." Stevey laid two crystal wafers out for the barkeep as their drinks made it to the table. The barkeep shuffled them off the side.

"Thank you, sirs," he nodded to Stevey and Jack. "Do enjoy." Then, he walked away. Stevey took a swallow of his drink as Jack sipped some from his. Too heated from the sun, Jack knew better than to cool down too quickly. Swallowtails were known for their potent chilling effects, along with their excellent rehydration properties. The fun was in the side effect, though.

He could tell Stevey had already started to feel the results of the chilling. Every word his buddy spoke to him released a smoky haze out of his mouth. Sometimes, a small puff would leave the nostrils too. That's when you'd better stop drinking for a few minutes. Any more, and your eyes would freeze open as the vapors crowded the sinus cavity behind the optics, painful and hilarious but not too damaging since it only lasted around thirty seconds. You'd have to wait ten minutes before taking another gulp, or death was guaranteed. Mostly, this happened to daredevils downing the drink too fast.  

After the first swallow, Stevey had slowed his intake, aware of the smoky haze emitting from his mouth—this is what most drinkers did. Usually, they conversed, letting the vapors roll out, giving the drink its second name, Dragon's Breath. Jack's haze barely registered in the air. Stevey blew out a couple of smoke rings, then homed in on Jack for another round of questions.

"So, how long you gonna stay on Kharm this time, mate?"

"About two turns. The crystal core I'm mining will need some space to heal after that." Jack spoke like a tycoon. "Then, I'm off to Calista Prime. My operation there should be fully grown again. A few more rotations between these two, and I'll be able to leave the system for a while."

"Weren't you just on Calista a turn ago?"

"Yep, that score is a growing beast," Jack remarked, excited he'd manage to get that vein of Jadizen. "I could flood the market with that crystal, but it'd drive the price down too much. The Marketeers asked me to tap it for two engine core crystals a year to keep the economy stable. I said, 'Sure, no prob.' I could live comfortably off that vein alone."

"No kidding, engine core crystals fetch a gazillion credits, man." Stevey exaggerated the amount. "So, why the extra here?"

"Well, I need the Nethicite, the Barizen, and Feron to power my blaster and tools, plus there's a vein of something different I'm trying to figure out how to extract."

"Something different?" Stevey asked, curious to know. He had been a miner for a couple decades now and knew about nearly every crystal form Kharm held. Nethicite being the most prominent. Barizen and Feron were among the two rarest crystal sets on Kharm, but not unheard of. He hesitated to ask more.

"W-what does it look like, Jack?"

Jack motioned him closer to whisper. "Don't say this out loud, but it looks like Dethizen—Void Crystal." Stevey's eyes went as wide as they could.

"Your kidding!" Stevey stayed in a hushed tone to keep anyone from hearing. "Dude, that crystal is worth more than the system itself. How'd you find it?"

"I was clearing out some extra space in the mine, and a pocket opened up. At the back of the hole, it stood poking out the side of the wall. The crystal matches the description given in our oldest writings about it—The Ba'aron Archives. You know, the star system that disappeared two centuries ago."

"Yeah, I'm aware," Stevey said, sitting back up in his chair. "I'm deeply entrenched in this planet's historical records. So, what do you intend to do with the crystal if you can harvest it?"

"Sell it, I guess. But a part of me knows that it'll be used for bad things, Stevey. That crystal is responsible for sheer destruction in the past. I'm not sure I can condone such acts to happen again."

Stevey reached out for the last gulp of his drink. Jack did as well. They both swallowed. The hazy fog erupted from their mouths as they breathed out.

"So, what do we do?" They both asked each other.