Oyric moved with a quickness to her brother’s side.

  Rixon, wheezing hard, got onto his feet using her as a crutch.

  "Now you two will be able to join the family, but I need the phrase. Everyone here has had to say it." She poured herself a drink from the liquor drawer.

  "Keso-likakba, you fucking twat." Rixon held his stomach.

  "I love the lack of fear, but now that you are a part of the family, talk with some respect towards me," the Boss said.

  Oyric, stunned by how everything had played out, looked back at Zay and Jenasa. They both looked shocked, as if they were surprised Rixon had survived.

  "Zay, I need you to take the young girl on your ship until she is prepared to kill someone. She is not useful to my family or to her brother if she is still untainted. Also, I will get your report from you in a moment. Now leave me with the young man. I need to talk to him personally about what he will do for the family now." She turned to her huge window overlooking the floor below.

  "Yes, ma'am. I will talk to you soon. Me and the ladies will take our leave, but can I ask if the boy can get a chair? I think you really whacked him." Zay went over to Rixon and Oyric.

  "Rixon, do you need a chair, or are you too weak to stand?" she asked, her voice fierce and in total control of the room.

  "You would like that, wouldn't you? I'm good. I'd never give you the satisfaction of needing your help or admitting that your punch was strong enough to wound me."

  She chuckled. "Well, you heard the young man. Leave us and allow me and him to talk in private."

  Zay walked out with Jenasa and Oyric, leaving his little cousin standing in the middle of the room, looking unwounded but obviously in pain.

  The Boss walked to her window and clicked a switch. The glass clouded over, hiding them from view below.

  "Now, Rixon, I like you. I have come to need a certain sector in my family as we have grown to the size of a planetary military. And before you ask, yes, we do illegal and legal activities that gain us the wealth to have these things. What I need you to be is the person who finds out who is trying to destroy my family." She walked in front of her desk and sat on the edge.

  "So you want me to be your personal hitman? Isn't that what you have all these members of your family for? You're not about to dupe me on semantics. You can say it however you want, but I will not be manipulated to play the same role as everyone else." Rixon pushed his chest up a little higher.

  "Ahh, and that's where you're wrong, you little twerp. My family members don't act as my personal assassins. They are the people who help us all eat and live a better life, by any means necessary. But the problem is that everyone in my organization has their own agenda. I hold the matriarch seat, and I am the head of the eight main families, but they all have claim to this throne. The only reason I have it is because I protect everyone's assets, not just my family's, but theirs. There is someone sowing seeds to destroy my family, and I need a sword to destroy them." She sipped her alcohol.

  "Yeah, I would think so. Y'all make real money around here, and where there is money, there will also be corruption, especially in a place that is all about corruption and other illegal activities." Rixon stared back into her eyes.

  "Correct. So this is where I want you. You will train with my two most trusted guards and four other ragtag pieces of crap that I found. And you will go destroy some sub-families and leave no trace back to me. If you don't do it, I would have to kill you, because right now Delisurians are highly wanted by the Yornkata Empire, with which we happen to have a great relationship." She walked straight to his face, testing his pride.

  "What the fuck is up with you? You are Delisurian, you trash bag. Like, get over yourself. I'll do it, but I want one thing in return. Since I am not technically a part of the family or rather, people don't know that I am, I want you to give me directions to a place with the least amount of traffic. I want me and my sister to leave this life behind when the time comes." Rixon stared back, neither of the gold-eyed Delisurians backing down.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The Boss laughed. "I got one better for you. I have a place in mind. After two years of this service, I can see about getting you the coordinates. But this place is a long shot, and you will need to be able to afford the ride to even get it done. So start learning to do finances, because no one in our known galaxy goes that way due to the hellish journey."

  Rixon smirked. "Just the place I want to go. Somewhere you idiots couldn't dream of getting to."

  The Boss walked away and sat in her chair. For a moment, she said nothing, just watching to see if his hard exterior would fall.

  "Well, kid, I'm glad you're confident. You, for the next three months, will be sent to my personally owned planet. I want you to know it sucks when you get there. I can't wait to see the videos of you struggling. Your little bootcamp back on Delisus was nothing compared to what we are about to put you through. After that, I will come see you, and we will talk about the missions and what I need you to do. Is there anything you need from me, you cocky little bag of crap?" She smirked and sipped.

  "Oh, we're stealing words now, huh? But since you asked, I want my ship with me. I want to work on it while I'm at your stupid bootcamp." Rixon tilted his head.

  "You definitely can. I like a tinkerer. You will get five hours of free time, so I'm glad you got a hobby. Now leave my sight. My guards will escort you the hidden way to your ship, and you will then be transported to the dead zone in space to get picked up by an unnamed ship." She waved her hand and went back to writing.

  He turned and walked out.

  The guards led him to a hidden elevator that dropped him off at a private dock. Zay, Oyric, and Jenasa were already there, waiting by their shuttle. Rixon walked over, the pain in his stomach a sharp, persistent throb.

  He boarded with them, and Zay peered back at him.

  "Oh, the man I could literally strangle right now, but sadly I have been told that you will be going to some secret location. So you're lucky. But next time, don't piss me off, would you?" Zay closed the hatch and secured the air.

  Rixon smiled and closed his eyes to take a nap. "No promises."

  "Well, at least I know you will be successful. I will do my best to join you in the next three years so we can finally go and get out of this mess." Oyric laid her head on his shoulder.

  Rixon nodded and held onto her until they made it back to Zay’s ship.

  Once there, Rixon went straight to his own ship to draft more changes. He and Oyric hung out, running fun simulations to keep the mood light. They both knew he was about to be gone for a while.

  When the day came, Rixon held Oyric a little longer than usual.

  "Three months," he said quietly.

  "I know." Her voice was small.

  He pulled back and looked at her. "Train hard. Stay close to Jenasa."

  She nodded.

  He hugged Jenasa, dapped up Zay, and climbed into his ship. The engines hummed to life for the first time, his ship finally running.

  He didn't look back as he flew away.

  His coordinates told him to wait in a dead zone of space. As soon as Zay’s ship warped out, another ship warped right on top of him. A gravity beam pulled his ship into its hangar.

  When he tried to get off, a text flashed on his comm: REMAIN ON BOARD. NO CONTACT.

  For three days, he stayed there. He ate the emergency rations he’d stashed, listened to the deep hum of the carrier ship’s engines, and watched the silent, empty hangar through his cockpit. Only coordinates and terse commands came through his comm.

  Finally, a new set of coordinates appeared with a landing protocol.

  The planet on the scan was a solid purple. Great, Rixon thought. Purple usually means cold, gassy, and miserable. Of course.

  "Of course they keep up this anonymous mysterious crap," he muttered to himself, diving into the atmosphere.

  The ride was rougher than anything he’d felt. The ship shook violently, and for a moment he was sure it would tear apart before he even broke the first layer.

  When he finally cleared the third atmospheric layer, he saw the land. He was right. It was all tundra, every inch covered in snow-like debris.

  He flew to the coordinates and found a giant rectangular building. A bay door high on its side slid open. He flew in, the lights flickering on as he entered. His ship was taken over by an auto-land system, settling onto the deck without his input.

  It was still dark. When he walked off his ship, a figure was waiting.

  A Cerlitza masculine, his sleek frame all corded muscle, three eyes fixed on Rixon. Two swords hung on his hips.

  "Oh, this is the new one she told me about. Come on, twerp. Your ship will be taken down to level 125, where you can work on it in your free time. But let's see if you can survive. Your crew has been here for quite some time. Time to prove yourself. Call me Beelo." Beelo smirked and walked toward a lit doorway that looked like an elevator.

  Rixon took a deep breath, ready to hype himself up. This was what he had to do. For his survival, and for his sister’s.