The Wooden Box

I found my second-in-command and best friend, Mercy, in the kitchen, polishing off a veggie wrap and watching a show. I tiptoed in and slid into the chair next to her. She gave a little jump but quickly saved face. I felt a little bad, not because I successfully startled her, but because she was due for a vacation soon, and my request for her to help me would put it off a little longer.

“You’ve either come in to spook me because you’re bored, or because you need something from me. Which is it?”

“You’re good. So good that it makes me so glad that I have you by my side when I really need it.”

“So, it’s the latter. Will it get done before I leave for vacation?”

“Probably not, but I think you’d get mad at me if I didn’t take you with me,” I said, getting up to grab a drink.

“And someone else can’t go because…”

“Everyone else has other things they need to do. Besides, when was the last time it was just us completing a job together? It’ll be fun.”

Mercy slid her eyes my direction and sighed, “What’s the job?”

“We need to go to the New Sapients of Earth Space Station. Our contact didn’t specify what the job was in the message, just that it’s sensitive, urgent, and they’re willing to pay us more than our going rate.”

“Before I ask how much more, what’s the catch?”

“It has to be completed in one day or less… preferably less.”

Mercy produced the same wince and the same look that I did when I read the message. Before she could say no, I passed the tablet her way so she could see how much we were going to get paid. Her eyebrows shot up, and a small smile grew.

“Okay, moneybags! Do you know what we could buy with these funds? To start, we could upgrade the computer system and then replace all of our old tablets with some that don’t look like they’ve been given to those super toddlers that we saw on Azr. When do we start?”

“We’re actually en route now.”

“Wait, how did you know I would say yes?”

“I didn’t.”

The NSE Space Station may be one of the most peaceful space stations in the galaxy, but the security checks were so tight that Mercy and I were worried that we’d be turned away. One of the personnel peppered us with so many questions that I was ready to give up. Before that could happen, another security personnel, who looked less stern, relieved him and sat down. Instead of asking us questions, she quietly tapped away on a tablet.

“Excuse me, is there anything else you need from us? We’ve been here a while.”

“I’ll be with you in just a moment,” she said, not looking up at us.

After a few moments, there was a series of clicks that were so faint, you wouldn’t have been able to hear them if anyone was talking or moving.

“Captain Knight and Second-in-command Jordan, welcome to the NSE Space Station. I apologize for the inconvenience. I was supposed to be the one handling your docking and security processing, but I got held up,” She had a baby face, a pleasant smile, and wore a fitted navy-blue uniform. Her black hair was pulled back into a tight bun. “I’m Jae. I suspended visual and audio feeds so that we can speak freely.”

“You must be pretty high up on the ladder to pull off something like that. Are you our contact, Jae?” Mercy asked.

“No, I’m just the liaison. All I can say is that your contact is higher up than I am and is in control of sectors that the public is not privy to.”

Mercy and I exchanged glances.

“So, when do we meet them?” I asked.

“As soon as their private transport arrives. I’ll ride with you all, and from there you’ll be on your own,” Jae said.

“Transport? We could just walk there. It’ll give us a chance to really see the place.”

“You’d be walking for a couple of hours then. The meeting place is on the other side of the space station and on the top levels. Plus, your contact insists that you utilize their private transport to make sure that you’re on time, and that no one bothers or follows you.”

“Jae, do you know anything about what we’re supposed to do?”

“I don’t have that information. Again, I’m just the liaison,” she paused and then spoke again when her communicator chirped, “Transport’s arrived. Follow me, please.”

The ride through the “tunnels” was uneventful and mildly awkward. We were unable to see anything outside of the transport vehicle, and Jae, even though she was sweet and pleasant, wasn’t up for much conversation. We couldn’t see what the building looked like, but after a long walk down a hallway and an elevator ride later, Mercy and I found ourselves in a spacious and plush sitting room. The walls were pastel-colored, and covering the white tile was a large, ornate rug. Standing with his back to us at a drinks cart was a human male, bald with rich, umber skin. His slacks were sharp, and his suit coat was long.

“Thank you, Jae,” the man said in a deep and clear voice.

“It’s a pleasure, sir.”

Jae nodded to us and quickly left.

“Captain Imani Knight and Second-in-Command Mercy Jordan. Can I get you anything to drink?”

“If you’re our contact, then yes. We’ll take whatever you’re having,” I said.

“I am indeed your contact,” he turned around and smiled. “This is Sweet Wine from Krix. It’s harvested from berries in fields soaked in the light of their two stars, which I can’t pronounce what they call them. The fermentation process takes a minimum of 15 Earth years.”

“That’s a long time,” Mercy says, wincing at the taste. The intensity of the sweetness hits you at the back and bottom of your mouth. Then it had a familiar warmth on the way down.

“It is, but it’s worth the wait. A little like this job,” she continued

“Hold up, hold up. If we’re going to do business, things go a little better when both parties know each other’s names. You know us, but I only know you as a bunch of numbers from your message. What’s your name?” I said.

“My apologies, you can call me Timothy.”

The way he carried himself and held the glass up to his lips told me that was the only name he was going to give us, and it probably wasn’t real. Timothy put his glass down and walked to the desk on the opposite end of the room, motioning for us to follow him.

“I’m going to keep this brief because I have a series of engagements after our meeting. I expect that you all won’t need to contact me, though. This project has been in the works for quite some time. I’m near the very end, but I’ve hit a snag. I need your help seeing things through.”

A few taps on his desk and a hologram of a wooden box. He spun the image around so that we could see it properly. The box was plain and looked to be roughly the size of my fist. As I turned and rotated the hologram, I couldn’t tell how anyone was supposed to open it. It was clear what part of the box was the top and front because there was a small carving of a seven-pointed star on a long side and towards the edge where one side met another.

“All you need to know is that I need this box by any means necessary.”

“Let me guess, you hired a bunch of mercs to get this for you because you all probably use outside help all the time, and no one would blink twice about who you hired, right?” I said, feeling slightly annoyed but also intrigued. I had a hard time believing that we came all this way for a wooden box. I was expecting to smuggle someone.

“Incorrect. Again, all you need to know is that I need this box and a lot of people are counting on you to get it.”

“What does this mean?” Mercy asked.

“That’s confidential.”

“So confidential that the people you’re hiring don’t need to know if the symbol will attract the wrong kind of attention.”

“You can handle it.”

“Well then, you might have to—” Mercy started, but I cut her off.

“Fine. Where are we supposed to find it? And please don’t say that you don’t know.”

“I’m sending you the coordinates of who has it now. I’m also giving you access to an account that’s only good for one day to pay for it. When you come back, have Jae handle the package.” Timothy said. We received the coordinates and left.

The coordinates took us to a small moon that, from the description, appeared to be nothing more than a desert with a few scattered marketplaces.

“Captain, I have a bad feeling about this. Let me go with you. I’ll stay away at a distance and be ready in case anything goes wrong,” Rosalyn frowned.

“If something happens to the ship, we need you to keep her and the rest of the crew safe. Besides, Timothy entrusted just me and Mercy. We’ll be fine, Rosalyn. I promise.”

At first, neither Mercy nor I could understand what the big deal about this place was until we stepped out of the ship and were met with three masked people with weapons pointed at us. We were at a temporary outpost associated with the Intergalactic Shadow Market. I understood why we needed to get this job done so quickly. Places like these only exist in one spot for so long. When time is up, the place and anyone who didn’t get out fast enough are blown to pieces.

“What’s your business?” One person, a male voice, in a mask said.

On instinct, my hand went to my piece on my hip to see how they would like it if someone shoved a weapon in their faces.

“Hands where we can see them. I’m not going to ask you again, what’s your business?”

“We’re mercenaries. Just being told to pick up an item for a client,” I said.

“Nah, we haven’t received word of any incoming mercs. Who sent you?” The masked person asks.

“Timothy,” I respond.

“Lady, there are lots of names around here. Try again.”

“What do you know about a seven-pointed star?” Mercy interjected.

“Lots of folks have been asking about stuff like that for a while now.”

“Our contact sent us here to pick up an item with that symbol on it. He threatened our crew and us with death if we didn’t retrieve it in time and promised us a big payment if we did. We’ll give you a cut if you let us go,” Mercy continued.

“It’s true,” I added, going on with the half-truth. There was a pause before they lowered their weapons.

“Twenty percent,” another masked person said, this time a female voice.

“Ten percent,” I responded.

“Fifteen percent.”

“Twelve and a half.”

“Deal,” the masked male said, “But remember, if you screw us over, we have your details, and we will put a bounty on your heads.”

Mercy and I both nodded. They let us through, and we were on our way to the coordinates. It didn’t take us long to get to the exact location. When we described what we were looking for, the merchant explained that she had just traded it to another vendor. She didn’t know where the vendor was located, but she did give us the name. We walked around and asked a few people if they knew the name of the merchant, but the only thing we got were ‘no’ gestures and pointing in different directions. After a while, we opted to split up to help cover more ground.

The merchant stalls were bathed in colors and lights. Merchants used different shades of fabrics to decorate and entice buyers to spend their money with them. The smells varied from different types of foods, incense, oils, and many different smells of drugs. My senses were slowly being overwhelmed, going from stall to stall. The one thing that I could appreciate about a place like this: there were no children. From all the things that I saw and the types of people I ran into, it was, for sure, no place for children. I dodged someone who tried to spray me with something to try to convince me to use their sexual services when I received a message from Mercy. She found the merchant.

“Imani, you smell like,” Mercy sniffed the air around me, “an aphrodisiac spray? Where did you go?”

“Unfortunately. If you can smell it, then some merchant got me, and we’ll have to take a different route out of here if I’m to keep my clothes on and sanity intact. Where’s the box?”

“There’s a catch: there’s more than one box with a seven-pointed star and the merchant doesn’t know what’s inside or even how to open it.”

“So why would they collect them?”

Mercy shrugged, “They wouldn’t answer that question.”

The merchant ran a claw through the feathers on their head, perhaps as a nervous gesture, before gesturing to us to look at their inventory. I tried to remember if there was anything about the schematics that could tell us which one was ours. All the boxes on their counter, except for a few, were the size that we needed: the size of my fist.

“That one,” Mercy pointed at a box that was a darker brown than the others. They picked up the box and placed it in front of us to look at. It was smooth, warm to the touch, and heavier than I expected. It hummed when I ran my fingers over the edges, but, as the hologram showed, I couldn’t determine how or where it was supposed to be opened. Perhaps the star was part of a key.

“Are you sure?” I asked her.

“No.”

“Well, how much would it cost to buy all of them?” I asked the merchant.

The merchant paused to let their translator finish, then tapped away at their screen and showed me the figure. Nope. That was more than the amount in the account plus most of the ship’s savings. We also didn’t know what was in the boxes. For all we knew, there could be something harmful in there.

“Okay,” I nod to Mercy.

We made the transaction and left orbit. A few hours later, we dropped off the package to Jae, then waited for a message stating when our fee had been deposited. We started heading back to the moon to grab more information on items with seven-pointed stars etched into them when an automatic message came through that everyone was being evacuated. I wanted to hang around some and see exactly how they planned on blowing up that moon, but our pilot assured me that would be a bad idea.

“Oh well, looks like our buddies won’t be getting paid,” I said with a shrug. I then instructed our pilot to take us to Mercy’s vacation destination.

A few days later, when we were hours from our destination, our computer alerted us that someone armed was following us. As soon as we tried to hail them, they fired a warning shot close enough to the ship to rattle us. We hailed them again and got a response:

“Remember us? We’ve changed our minds. We want our cut and the package. Failure to comply with both parts, and we’ll go through with that bounty.”

I sent a message back, “We’re sending you your cut now, but we don’t have the package anymore.”

“Bounty it is, then.”

As soon as they left, we got an alert: “Wanted Dead or Alive: Captain Imani Knight and crew of the H.S.S. Black Widow.”

We carried on, hoping that they were just bluffing, but as soon as we docked to drop Mercy off, we were met with military personnel from the Earthen Space Alliance.

The leader gave a sly smile and said, “Take them in. We finally got them.”