Chapter Seventeen: Idris Nine
Idris Nine wasn't a planet. It was a wound.
Floating just beyond the Outer Vail, its skies were painted in rust and smoke. The atmosphere was breathable—barely. It stank of oil, scorched metal, and a history no one wanted to talk about.
We landed on a makeshift pad outside a scrapyard settlement called Fenn's Rest. No guards. No laws. Just traders, mercs, fugitives, and broken machines that outlived their purpose.
Mira powered down the engines.
"No weapons out," she said. "But keep your eyes open."
Elin slipped a worn jacket over her shoulders. I stuffed my ID chip deeper into my boot. Even here, someone might recognize the name Kael Riven. I couldn't afford that.
We stepped off the ship into a world built on desperation.
The ground crunched under our boots—metal shards and ash. Towers of rusted parts leaned like dying trees. Drones buzzed overhead, scanning for heat signatures and unlicensed activity.
A vendor shouted in a harsh dialect nearby, selling black market tech out of crates. Another was peddling oxygen tanks like candy.
Fenn's Rest was alive, but barely.
"What are we looking for?" Elin asked, her eyes wide.
"Fuel. Scramblers. And if we're lucky—information," Mira said.
We headed toward the market hub. I could feel eyes on us already. Outsiders were noticed here. Three people moving like a unit? Not subtle. Especially one of them being me.
Inside the trading hall, dim lights flickered from overhead grids. Every corner was occupied—engineers tuning stolen engines, bounty brokers comparing marks, smugglers laughing too loud over spilled drinks.
Then I saw him.
A man sitting in the back corner, surrounded by silence in a place built on noise. He wasn't drinking. Just watching. His skin was inked with old military symbols—some I recognized from the Architect wars.
He noticed me noticing him.
I nudged Mira. "That one. Alone. Eyes like a hawk. He's ex-mil."
Mira glanced, nodded. "I'll approach."
"No," I said. "Let me."
I walked over slowly, careful, showing no threat. He looked up, not surprised.
"You walk like a soldier," he said.
"You watch like one."
He smirked. "What do you want?"
"Information."
"That costs."
I pulled a small cube from my coat—encrypted data from Red Echo. His eyes lit up.
"You know what this is?" I asked.
"I know who would kill for it."
"Good. Then you'll understand why I need to find them first."
He leaned back, studying me. "You're not running from something. You're walking toward it. That's rare."
"I don't have the luxury of running anymore."
He stood, nodding slowly. "Come with me. There's someone you need to meet."
I hesitated.
Then followed.
Because sometimes the only way to find the truth…
Is through the people just as broken as you are.