Lt Shaitana vs the Pirates of Oghma
Chapters:
- A Taste of Danger! (released: Torpol 1104-350)
- The Wolf's Warning! (unreleased)
Chapter 1 - A Taste of Danger!
The shuttle door dinged once, then hissed open, releasing a faint metallic tang into the cramped cabin. Lieutenant Shaitana stepped out, his boots clicking against the polished deck with a deliberate rhythm. His dark eyes swept across the bustling spaceport, cataloging every detail—the flicker of a faulty light, the subtle tension in the air, the faces that turned away too quickly. Though his stature was unassuming, his presence was anything but. Years of experience had carved sharp edges into his instincts, and right now, they screamed of trouble.
Behind him, a clipped voice followed. "You did that at Torbuk too," said Dr. Novak as she descended, her stride precise and measured. She was tall and lean, with a severe expression that suggested she was forever dissecting the world around her. Even her casual attire had the crisp efficiency of a lab coat, as if wrinkles dared not form in her presence.
Shaitana allowed a faint smile to tug at his lips as he turned to seal the shuttle door, the mechanism locking into place with a soft click. "Just getting a taste for the local atmosphere, Doctor," he said as his fingers lingered on the control panel.
Novak raised an eyebrow, her skepticism as sharp as a scalpel. "Taste? You mean smell. And for the record, the air here is chemically identical to what we breathed on the shuttle."
"Ah, but you're thinking too small," Shaitana replied, his tone light but his gaze still scanning the port. "Every station, every ship, has its own story, and the air tells it. The scrubbers, the trace elements, the way it’s been cycled through countless lungs—it leaves a signature. You just have to know how to listen. Or taste."
Her frown deepened, arms crossing over her chest. "First, that's not how taste works. And second, you're romanticizing what amounts to industrial filtration."
Shaitana's smile widened, though his eyes remained watchful. "Call it what you will, Doctor, but I can tell you this much: the air here reeks of trouble."
Novak adjusted the strap of her shoulder bag, irritation flashing in her sharp features. "Trouble? The scans were clean—no pathogens, no toxins, nothing unusual. Just air."
"Fear doesn’t show up in a scan," Shaitana said, his voice dropping to a low rumble. "Stress, desperation—they linger, even in recycled air. And this place has been steeped in it for a long time."
Novak opened her mouth to argue, but Shaitana silenced her with a quick wave of his hand, his stance shifting ever so slightly as his hand brushed the hilt of his blade. "Keep the package close, Novak. No distractions. No mistakes."
Her jaw tightened as her fingers curled around the strap of the bag slung across her shoulder. "I always do my job, Lieutenant."
"Let’s hope so," he muttered, his focus already returning to the crowd. The spaceport was alive with movement—vendors hawking wares, travelers rushing to their gates, maintenance droids humming along their routes. But beneath the mundane chaos, something felt... wrong. The flow of the crowd faltered in subtle, almost imperceptible ways. Conversations quieted as they passed, and eyes darted away too quickly.
Shaitana's instincts prickled, the sensation sharp and undeniable. He felt it before he saw it—a presence, heavy and foreboding, lurking just out of sight. The air itself seemed to tighten, charged with an unseen threat.
Then it came. A voice, rough and gravelly, emerged from the shadows. "You're more right than you know, Lieutenant Shaitana."
The words hit like a thunderclap, cutting through the ambient noise of the port. Shaitana’s hand flew to his sword in a smooth, practiced motion, his body coiled like a spring ready to snap. Novak froze beside him, her breath catching as the tension in the air became almost suffocating.
For a moment, the spaceport seemed to hold its breath. The noise of the crowd dulled, the vibrant motion around them reduced to a blur. Shaitana's eyes narrowed, scanning the direction of the voice, every muscle in his body taut with readiness. The weight of the unseen threat pressed down on them, thick and oppressive.
- To be continued in Chapter 2 - The Wolf's Warning!...*
