A

sleek ship sailed its way through the deepest reaches of space. Its shape was sharp like the head of an arrow as it pierced its way across a nebula, its sights firmly locked onto

the small planet of Quurtha. This slender spacecraft was the Vagrant, a Recon-class Federation starship. Though it was routinely assigned to patrol the border of Federation space, it was now entering the orbit of Quurtha in order to resupply.

When the ship reached the orbiting space station, it slowly eased its approach, preparing to dock. Shaped like a diamond and having the color of an aquamarine, the station was like a celestial jewel. Embedded at the corners of the station were black pincer-like thrusters, which were only used to move the station in case of emergencies.

On board the Vagrant, Lieutenant Rex Galvin was lying in his quarters, resting comfortably on the couch. It was his fifteenth birthday and his idea of celebration consisted of a good long rest. He did think of other ways to enjoy his day off, but this was the least complex and most satisfying. Besides, there were no recreational facilities that he could visit because Quurtha was a military base.

The computer beeped. “Lieutenant,” the computer said, “I’m sorry to disturb you on your day of rest, but Commander Blazon wishes to meet with you.”

Rex groaned as he got off the couch. Taking his time, he tried to wake himself up by rubbing the tense muscles in his face. A slight yawn broke free as he stretched. “Tell him I’ll be there within the hour.”

Rex massaged his eyes as he stepped into the shower. The showers on board the Vagrant were typical of Federation ships. In order to conserve water for drinking, a cheap synthetic liquid called Vapex was used for showers. Vapex was useful because it was recyclable. Ten gallons of Vapex were allotted to every shower. Soldiers could take showers for as long as they wanted because there was no fear of wasting the liquid. The small tubular shower room was riddled with holes where the Vapex would come out in short bursts. For convenience, soap was also dispensed on command with the Vapex. The shower was designed with comfort in mind, so all of the settings, such as temperature and strength of the burst, were customizable.

Rex didn’t like Vapex showers much. It just wasn’t the same as the real thing. The synthetic liquid was stickier than water and was accompanied by an odd odor. Rex hopped into the shower for only a few minutes before running out, eager to dry himself.

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, he took a slick razor and shaved off any extra hairs along his cheek. His hands rubbed the skin beneath his chin, feeling for any hairs he may have missed. While he took a good look in the mirror, he realized how much he had changed in three years. He was no longer a scrawny, useless runt. He was becoming a man. The rapid transformation startled him.

Rex had just turned twelve the day he had walked into the Navy recruitment office. At that time they had said he was a year too young to begin the physical training, so they had placed him in a training program for enlisting children. During his days at the military academy, he had often wondered if he would be able to handle the intense training that would follow. But no matter how hard things were, one thing always pushed him forward: being weak and regretting it. He would never allow himself to be weak again…to be helpless again…never. Things were different now.

Without wasting anymore time, Rex blew dry his red crew-cut hair, put on his glasses, donned his green uniform and left his quarters.

Rex walked by the side of the hallway nervously, twiddling his thumbs as he went. Whenever his fellow officers passed by, he straightened, gently smiled and waved a greeting. But when they were gone, he went back to his nervous state. Rex tried to calm himself down by looking out the windows that lined the corridor.

Throughout his years of service it was not often that his commander, Dionus Blazon, would call him down to his office. Even seeing the commander face-to-face was a rare occurrence. While he had always seen him during large ceremonies and public appearances, it was quite a different thing to see him in person.

The thing that disturbed Rex the most was the commander’s young age. The commander was only twenty-nine years old and yet he was highly honored. It was hard for Rex to respect such a young commander. He doubted Dionus’s motives, ambition and qualifications.

Regardless of his doubts, Dionus had already proved himself worthy in the eyes of the Federation. He was a brilliant tactician. With a single battleship, he had cleared the Hapnos system of the infamous pirate crew, the Soulless Marauders. From that one incident alone, Dionus had become a household name across the galaxy.

Still, Rex always had an uneasy feeling about him. Dionus had been making radical changes to the Federation. As a matter of fact, it was because of Dionus that young recruits were allowed officer ranks in the first place. Was it something to be thankful for, or would be it a great mistake in the end? Rex wasn’t sure.

Rex’s mind wandered back to the outside of the window where he found peace. The serenity of outer space was what made him join the fleet in the first place. All the thoughts of the difficult operations and monotonous writing of reports seemed to fade away every time he observed the pristine beauty of the galaxy. He had a deep and inexplicable love of the freedom of outer space.

When he reached Dionus’s office, Rex firmly pushed the button by the door.
“Come on in.” A small screen on the side of the door flashed on and depicted Dionus’s friendly young visage. His long golden blond hair was slicked back with gel. His uniform was neatly ironed to perfection without a single speck of lint to tarnish its appearance. His body was lean and strong, showing no signs of negligence to its fitness.
Dionus grinned. “Galvin, I’ve been expecting you.”
Rex laid his hand flat on a thin panel that was on the center of the door. A faint red flash was emitted from the panel and it scanned up and down, from the tips of his fingers to the lower edge of his palm. After it recognized the unique pattern of his hand, the metal door slid open.
Dionus was standing there to greet him. “Please have a seat.” He amiably led Rex to the closest chair by the desk.
“Care for a drink?” Dionus cracked open the fridge and pulled out a few cans of Neetros, an energy drink popular among Federation soldiers.
“No thanks.” Rex declined the drink politely. He hated Neetros. It always left a gross, lingering aftertaste in his mouth. For some unknown reason, the aftertaste always brought to mind bug guts— not that he knew what bug guts tasted like.
Dionus smiled. “Just take it. That’s an order. Think of it as a…birthday present.”
Rex glanced at the can and felt his stomach cringe. “Yes…sir. Thank you, sir.”
He lifted the can and stared apprehensively at it before taking a few sips. The viscous, foamy drink oozed into the back of his throat. He could feel globs of Neetros roll down his esophagus and land on the pit of his stomach. Muscle spasms coursed their way through his body as the thick fluids flowed into his bloodstream. Rex felt like he had lost control of his body. His legs began kicking the desk ahead, and occasionally, his shoulder would pop up.
“Now about the situation at hand.” Dionus sunk into his chair, amused by Rex’s reaction to the drink. “Were you notified about the Judges?”
“Notified about the Judges?” Rex repeated. “You mean the story of the Judges? Are you talking about those fairy tales? I’ve heard of them. The Judges are supposedly monsters in human form. They live in the world of the shadows, stalking and executing people who commit crimes.” He laughed and said, “They really are quite ridiculous stories, aren’t they? I mean, it’s been told for hundreds of years, and yet no one can prove they exist.”
“Ridiculous?” said Dionus. “Teleportation was long thought to be impossible by the miracle of science. It was believed to be a territory that only masters of anti-law could enter. The notion that we could teleport ships across long distances was ‘ridiculous’ but now we are more than capable of it! Is it not possible that there was a truth in all of the lies? If someone did see a Judge and told everyone about it, he’d get ridiculed regardless. Then don’t you agree that even if it were true, no one can truly prove or disprove such a wild claim?”
Rex scratched his head. “I don’t quite understand where you’re going with this.”
“Sounds to me like you’re still skeptical.” Dionus leaned forward. “But not to worry. We’ve already got the evidence we need to prove they exist.”
Rex said nothing for a moment and then cleared his throat. “Is this a joke, sir?”
“No joke.” Dionus’s expression was as serious as can be. He reached inside a drawer, pulled out several folders and laid them on the desk. “Take a look at this.”
“What’s this?” Rex slowly picked up a report and flipped through the pages, knowing that within these pages he would have to read something he’d dread. “This can’t be real,” said Rex. “The incident at the MTRI colony was done by one person? Impossible.”
“And that’s just the beginning,” said Dionus. “As you well know, the MTRI is one of the largest mining corporations. All their colonies are secured with a small but strong militia. The soldiers they employ are about as well trained as any Federation soldier, and in regards to weapons, they’ve got quite an arsenal.”
Rex placed the folder on the desk. “I don’t understand. This is just pure speculation, isn’t it? I mean, how do we even know it’s a Judge? There are hundreds of skilled assassins capable of this feat. They could be from any organization. Maybe it’s a hired from the Assassin’s Guild.”
Dionus cleared his throat before continuing. “Well, it is true we don’t know exactly who they are, where they come from or what they call themselves. We have merely dubbed them Judges based on the stories of old. But what we do know, based on the reports, is that the perimeter was not breached, many of the soldiers were killed without firing a single shot and there was no evidence of anyone leaving the premises. In other words, they came from within and escaped without using conventional methods. Even if these are not Judges, they are still a threat that needs to be neutralized.”
Rex took a few more chugs of Neetros and eased more into the ideas that Dionus was discussing. “Okay, let’s assume it is a Judge. Why would he attack a mining facility? As far as I understand, there’s no reason to do so unless he was in dire need of their resources.”
“It seems you still aren’t catching on.” Dionus smiled. “Our investigation has found several survivors near the remains of the facility. These survivors are native to the planet. Apparently, they were enslaved by the MTRI and were forced to endure hard labor.”
“So you’re telling me that the motivation for this attack is—”
“Justice,” Dionus said. “And as proof of this, the natives were allowed return to their homes unharmed. If we were dealing with thieves, the facility would be missing something—resources or equipment, but it is untouched. If we were dealing with any assassin or even a crazed psychopathic killer, there is no reason for them to let potential witnesses live.”
Dionus got up from his chair and paced back and forth near the window. “This is what I believe: we are dealing with vigilantes— and of the worst kind I might add. They are deadly, idealistic assassins with no regard to the laws we have established. Only God knows how long they’ve been operating. For all we know, they may have done this for several hundred years. Worse yet, they continue to do so right under our noses and we are helpless about it. If word gets out, we may have a crisis on our hands. People will doubt our competence as a military force.”
The light on the intercom buzzed and flashed red. It was an emergency call.
“Excuse me,” Dionus said to Rex, as he activated the intercom.
Dionus sat back down. “This is Commander Blazon speaking.”
“Commander, there’s a news broadcast that I think you should see,” said the male voice over the intercom. “May I relay it to your monitor?”
“Very well,” replied Dionus. “You may do so.”
The entire sidewall flickered on, revealing images of a local news reporter reading a report. “This just in—workers at the largest penitentiary on Yulguren have reported that all the prisoners on death row are now confirmed dead. The murderer is still unidentified. From the current details of the investigation, it is now known that the use of a weapon is apparent. As of now, there is no word from officials as to whether this incident is related to the mysterious MTRI colony attack of last week—”
Dionus turned off the monitor with a remote. “Talk about bad timing. It won’t be long before the wolves of the media will breathe down our necks for answers.” He turned to Rex. “I called you here because I believe you are the best man for the job. You have earned my trust over the past year with your excellent performance. Galvin, I want you to deal with this. The culprit must stand trial for his crimes.”
Rex stood at attention. “I’ll get on it right away. Do we have any leads?”
“I’m glad you asked.” Dionus searched his jacket pockets and threw down a few photos. “Just yesterday, there was a report from the local authorities on Whardhime. The victim was a man known as Greg Whelster. Ever heard of him?”
Rex held the photos in his hand and observed them closely. “He’s on the galaxy’s most-wanted list, is he not?”
“Yes,” Dionus said, nodding, “which makes this case so suspicious. His heart was pierced through a door. Murder weapon unknown.” He then pulled out two more photos and showed them to Rex. “But that’s okay, because we already know who the murderer is.”
Staring at the photos, Rex uttered, “It can’t be…”
“I’m sorry,” Dionus said, “did you say something?”
His eyes wide open, Rex asked, “Th-this is the murderer?”
“Yes, he was last seen on Whardhime. After analyzing the scene of the crime, we found footprints and fingerprints that shows this man was there at that exact spot.” Dionus pressed a button on a control panel on top of his desk. The large screen on sidewall turned on again. “Here, let me show you the data we’ve gathered. His name is—”
“Darek Wayker,” said Rex. “I know him.”
“You know him?”
“Yes. Before I joined the military academy, I lived at an orphanage with him and several others. When we were young, we used to play together, so I know him very well.”
“Ah, so he’s a friend?”
Rex shook his head. “He was a friend. After we left the orphanage, we went our separate ways. I no longer have any affiliation with someone who could be considered a criminal.”
Dionus studied him. “Then can I trust you with this mission, or will this be too hard for you to deal with?”
“I’ll get on it right away, sir,” is what Rex said, but his voice quivered slightly.
“Good,” said Dionus with a sly grin. “I’ll have the details of your mission ready by tomorrow. See you then.”
Rex left the room. As he went back through the narrow corridor, he stopped and looked out the window. A few small meteoroids drifted about, rolling their way toward the planet. The beauty of these rocks in space mesmerized him and he slowly raised his hand, reaching for them. As he pressed his hand against the window, he realized he would never be able to catch them. He would never be able to save them from burning away in the atmosphere. And so he turned away and continued to walk—down the empty and lonely hallway, he walked.
CHAPTER 4
Hunt