Atten Caid: The Return Redux

[______________Namato]

Space. Cold, black, endless. They say that life is a circle. For some, that circle is large. For others, it is very small. The thing about gravity is it, too, runs in circles.
For Shijan (to friends also known as the agent Namato), the circular journey was almost at an end. For 2 years, this journey had taken him beyond Rubi-Ka's residents most wildest imaginations. And now he was coming home. Home to a life of more normality, with friends to share the exploits of his day.
Up till now, he had only himself with which to converse, such as the job had demanded. But that job was finished. He looked out into the depth of space, and saw the pinpoint in the vast distance: Rubi-Ka.
"Well, Nam ol' buddy, lets see what kind of welcome you recieve, if any," he said to himself.
His departure was, in the simplest terms, quick. No words to anyone, just.....gone.
Money was not the endgame of his job away, but it helped to endure the time spent in the deep void of space. He hoped he had been paid in the last week, as he was going to party until the suns came up. And to look up old friends.
He wondered how his friends Caid, Destrega, and Gagen were, and what wild tales they had to tell when, IF, he found them. He smiled. The fun of running with old friends as reliable as there was air to breathe gave comfort. He wondered how out of date his implants were, and how rusty his skills were after the lapse in training. "Well, only one way to find out," He said to himself again. " I have 2 days to see what I have remembered." Yes, it was going to be a great feeling to step off of the ship in a familar, yet strange land. Yes, the gravity of Rubi-Ka had once again snagged him into a circle almost completed......

[enrima]

In a small office of the Athen spaceport, Enrima was checking the listing of the new colons entering the territories.
Well, well, well... she said. Another ex-Eternal Warrior returns home.

She turned on her comm link to call Destrega. Hey Andrew, its Rima. Ask Caid if needs another hand for the laundry service. I might have someone for him, she said in a large grin.

[______________Namato]

Shijan watched the distance indicator on the computer. Getting up from his chair, he looked over to the large silver case sitting on the shelf.
"This ought to hurt a bit," Shijan said. Stiding over and opening it, he looked at the portable laser tattoo station and surgery kit. Not being a doctor, he didn't know that much about painkillers, so he opted to skip them, lest they make his hands unsteady. And, Heavens knows, THAT could'nt happen!
Grabbing the tattoo kit, he looked into the mirror. Forty minutes later, Shijan looked into the mirror.
"Just as they remember me," He said, smiling. He looked in the case, tapping out the false bottom. From within, he withdrew a set of ID chits, a passport, and some cash.
"No sense in comming back broke." He laughed. "I'd be a terrible agent if I didn't think ahead."
He tossed the items onto the nav desk. They read:
Cordell "Namato" Musco
Special Agent, Rubi-Ka

"All the better to avoid 'customs'," He thought to himself. Agent or no, it was time to assume his Alt name. Reaching over to the comm, he called Rubi-Ka control, still 2 days away
"Rubi-Ka control, this is Special Agent Namato, request Diplomatic bypass of security, Copy over?"...................................

[Caid]

The blazing suns loomed overhead in a pattern of fire in the sky, releasing their haze upon the skin of the man standing at the top of the city.

The cool wind counteracting the sickening heat from the suns made for a warm and calm day.

Caid stood atop the highest building, at the edge of the rooftops, looking downwards at the wandering, busy, civilians below. His mind clear and calm, thoughts nowhere to be found.

As of less than two weeks ago, an old friend of his had returned. Many memories of the past had overcome his already burdened mind, and had filled him with the hope and perseverance that he had long ago. The youth he had... the courage.

He smiled slightly, just as he pulled his cloak over his head. With one fluidic motion he lept from the top of this building inside West Athen, to the walkways down below, causing a small cloud of dust to arise from the impact of his feet.

He calmly began walking through the city, and disappeared into the crowd.

[______________Namato]

Namato looked at the comm panel with contempt and undisuised malice. "So, Omni had refused to acknowlage my existence?" Namato thought. "Well, we will see who is really the better chess player."
He stepped into the supply locker, opening the inside door. Reaching in, he extracted a Rifle, a knife, and a small round globe. Placing these on the table next to the laser tattoo kit, he jacked into the comm net, and began to 'exercise' his position to look into the whereabouts of his friends.
After an hour, he still hadn't found much, if anything, on Caid or Destrega. But he had found more than enough on Gagen to write serveral books. "Damn, Riggs," He hissed, using the short part of his friends nickname of Rigger. " I thought I taught you better than that!" His mind was racing, thinking that the others had done an excelent job of covering thier tracks.
"But here you are kid, out in the open." He looked at the next screen, and soon found the last known address was in West Athens. " I'll start there, maybe get a new set of implants, maybe some new threads."
Just for fun. Perverse fun, that is, he hacked into the Omni-Pol criminal computer, and ran a search for Gagen. His results were far from promising. When the screen paused, he could see quite a list of 'infractions' on his friends record. "This will not do, my friend, this will not do." The kid was too flashy, to easy to call attention to himself. But, damn, he was good with weapons.
Suddenly, the proximity warning lights come on, and the the scream of the alarm jolted him out of his thoughts. Looking out of the port port, his eyes became slits in an instant. An Omni-Pol space cruiser was on a direct vector with his..........