Dominion - Chapter One

Dominion

Chapter One
by Marshall Cameron



He stepped free of the airlock with a careless charm to the soundtrack of
the space-station's artificial throb of systems and the click of his boots
on the polished floor. He dropped his rucksack with a thud onto the ground
and it echoed about the small room, the lock behind him hissing quietly
closed again. His long hair was pulled back of his face, one rogue strand
framing his features as he paused to glance about with piercing blue eyes.
Nobody was there, just bland white walls, a small metallic table and two
chairs.

He'd spent too long in that transport ship out there in the cold reaches
of space. Time was he’d loved the serenity space offered but he couldnt
wait to feel his feet on solid ground. Here he was on this space station
with only the most basic of documentation to fill in before he could catch
a shuttle, impatient for the custom’s official to arrive to he could get
planetside.

His vision slid through one of the long portholes that ran alongside the
docking bay, allowing his gloved right hand to rest up against its glazed
surface as he stared through his owned reflection. The purple mists of
Obsidian IV were clear stretching out below him and it stood out like some
vivid gem here amidst the endless void that was space, almost violet in
intensity.

His vision shifted to consider the various trade vessels that plied their
way through the blackness towards the commercial docking bays. This was a
colony zone, or at least it had been about a century before when the
Terran Confederacy had begun its long retreat backwards towards its home
systems. What had once been a key outpost at the fringes of the burgeoning
human empire had been left behind, too far to effectively control and too
expensive to man with soldiers or a strong fleet. As the resources they
needed dried up so did the political will to defend them, a tiny isolated
bubble of humankind in the ocean of stars.

It hadn’t been long before other powers stepped into that void and brought
their collective will’s to bear, bringing with them their own people and
customs. The Lavidian Republic. It had been year's since he'd even heard
of a full blooded human, let alone seen one and they where all classed as
Lavidian even if the so called resistance banged on about defending terran
heritage. The Lavidian High Command had embarked on a ruthless campaign of
crossbreeding, military incursion and cultural repression. He brushed a
hand against his solid jaw, before pushing it into the top pocket of his
jacket to fish out his cigarette packet. He tapped a single smoke free
before he reached up to tuck it behind his ear easily.

And then there was him. He straightened and rolled his broad shoulders,
taller then the average man and built like an armoured personnel carrier
he carried about him the look of a man of violence. When he shifted to
move it was with a careful, patient confidence that bespoke his sheer
effectiveness. His hair was shock white, long and often pulled back
harshly off his face to expose what could only be called predatory
features as he rolled his head lightly until he heard it click a little.
Piercing blue eyes, a thin mouth with a jagged scar that carried over the
left hand side of his lips and rugged features that hadn’t shaved in the
last week while had been in transit.

"You know.. I'd kill for a beer about now. Or a cigarette. " His gravely
voice grunted as he slowly eased his way through the room with a patient
step to nudge the light metallic chair out from the table, grimacing to
himself as he settled down into it. He'd have to wait until he got down
onto the planet before he could spark up.

Beep. The door locked flashed green and popped open with a rush of air as
almost on demand to his impatience and there was a rustle of long robes as
the lavidian official eased her way into the room. Her hair was trimmed
short and her features fine, almost feline in nature as she clutched a
small tablet in her elegant four figured hand. With a certain aloof
arrogance paused to glance him over with dark iris free eyes before
nodding a brief greeting. “ Ashanvor, greetings to you traveller. Name?”

“ Ashanvor to you as well, my name is.. Slade 9P3451891. “ He replied
briefly and offered his hand to the administrator after having tugged off
the supple leather glove. The female simply held out the tablet over his
hand and light flashed over the back of his fist before it beeped as it
scanned his implanted chip.

“ Welcome to Obsidian IV Slade. You are listed here as (9) meaning you are
having fifty percent human heritage, be aware as you already know that it
is illegal for you to be in contact with or in reproduction with any
person of human or at least part human heritage. You can identify these
people because like you.. they retain the human feature of an iris or a
five fingered hand. They also are required by law to identify themselves
as members of the human subgroup. YOU are required to identify yourself.
Failure is punishable by execution. You are listed here as (P) for penal
on your records as a discharged criminal, bounty hunter and mercenary. Has
your status or employment changed? ” She spoke with a lilting accent, a
certain sharpness to the end of each sentence.

He had quietly studied the table as the woman spoke, bristling under the
burden of the stigma his parents had genetically passed onto him. He was a
rarity. One full blooded lavidian parent and one full blooded human
parent. The offspring of a Lavidian male Subjugator and a human woman
caught in the dark one night, raised in a world that wished he would
simply disappear. He played lightly with the soft shell packet of
cigarettes, spinning it between his fingers before he tired of it.

His hand delved back into the warmth of the vest and he tucked the
cigarettes away, his attention returning to the woman as he spoke.

“ No. I'm still a business man. I hunt individuals if the credits look
good.” He spoke the words with slow venom. " Is that all?"