Book One: Ergo Infinitum Chapter One [66036] Isabell Otso Station Isabell’s mind buzzed with a static crackle as her synapses fired—hot and fast like snaps of lightning in the raging storms of Jupiter. Cloaked in a demonic visage, in an alleyway at the edge of Arcas station, high above the surface of Calisto, in the Jovian system, she hid behind something deeper than a shadow. Her obsidian black armor was sharp, angular, violent, and hid her face beneath a monochromatic Oni mask. Everywhere she looked, she saw green and purple flags, emblazoned with the rising stars motif—the war flag of the Homeworlds. For the hedonistic crowds drawn to this district, the symbol implied the faintest edge of social and political menace. They came here for a perception of peril only, just a little edge of excitement, and that amused Isabell. Her modified cold gray eyes saw their truth. This was not a place of danger, not really. It was a thoroughly gentrified section of a station in the heart of the Solar system, plastered over with empty signifiers of danger. The flags around the district were nothing save a mere marketing ploy, designed to draw people to a sad little district tucked between the more stable habitats and the station’s superstructure. These crowds were being exploited by the most cynical of Homeworlds refugees displaced during the war, and the crowds deserved it. Isabell was different. She was here for a righteous mission. And she prepared herself accordingly. VIPs have arrived. Isabell subvocalized with a growl across her quantum encrypted communications system as her eyes tracked two Martian scientists entering the district. For these lanky Martians draped in traditional shawls, the danger in the district was very real. Sitrep. We’re in position, Ninya Blanca. The hisses of her operators sounded like whispers just behind her ear. OPFOR shuttle is in our scopes. Ready to follow your lead. She heard the tension in their voices. She heard their unanswered questions in the pauses between words. Contracted to protect two scientists—critical research assets for the United Planets Navy—her most elite operators of Grayson Services Group puzzled why they had allowed an abduction attempt to get this far?
