The newly minted Arcane Operators had been hard at work training together and learning each other’s abilities as well as doing the same morning conditioning regiment Jarris had instilled in Dane fifteen years ago. Two weeks had gone by and while the team had been getting along very well, they decided that one of the best ways they could solidify their new team was with a proper vacation. The newest recruits had been working hard at school and the relative veterans hadn’t had a real vacation in years. The team had a major cash infusion and two of its members came from significant multi generational wealth so the arrangements they made were extravagant and exclusive.

  The team had rented a family compound where everyone had their own private suites in disconnected buildings scattered amongst the grounds. The two couples of the group took extensive advantage of this while the singles enjoyed their own relaxation. The compound reminded Nate of rustic Spanish villas with some key differences. The metal roofs provided perfect white noise some nights when a small tropical rain storm rolled by. The white stucco outside was a beautiful contrast to the lush jungle setting the villa was surrounded by. It was paradise, complete with a semi private beach the borders of which were clearly marked off with wooden fencing.

  Nate walked out of his and Lindy’s separate bungalow and saw Gemini laying face down on a huge boulder in the middle of a sandy rock garden with nothing but bottoms on. The sight made him giggle, thinking about similar NatGeo pictures he’d seen of much smaller lizards back on Earth. Nate walked to the big house where the communal spaces like the kitchen, movie theater, game room and more were housed. Dane was in the kitchen preparing some breakfast.

  “Hey champ, good night sleep?” Dane said, seeing Nate walk in from outside.

  “Yea, nothing beats vacation sleep you know." Nate answered.

  “Yea, especially when you can pay for a place like this.”

  “Yea… So I know we’ve kind of talked about it before, but how did the Arcane Operators stop being the Arcane Operators?” Nate asked.

  “Oh it’s really simple, the originals left and I was only a Rookie like you now, just barely out of school too. The clientele that came looking for a more experienced crew realized the old guys retired and didn't want to hire just me and my buddies at the time. It didn't even matter that we had Iggy.” Dane said as he flipped a pancake.

  “That sucks, I'm sorry." Nate offered his apologies to console his new teammate.

  “It’s alright, I carried that guilt for a while before I realized it wasn't my fault. There was nothing I could do. My buddies went to different teams, then Donna came on and we changed the name. Did some simple security stuff, paid the bills.”

  “That’s why you guys are so tight, you struggled through it together.”

  “It helps that Donna is super hot too." Dane said with a smirk.

  “So when we leave here, what does life look like? How do we get jobs? How do we build up the brand again?”

  “Well Uncle K is going to get us a couple admin staff. An agent for sure, probably PR, not sure what he’s got planned. When the contracts come in, we crush it and then the phones won't stop buzzing you know?”

  “Sounds simple, I'm excited though.” Nate said with a big sigh. Ready to get on with his new life and career.

  “Why?” Dane asked.

  “Adventure, super powers, it's all so cool, like I'm living in a fantasy book back home.”

  “It is cool, but it comes with a cost.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Are you ready to see your friends die, Nate?” Dane said, putting down the pan he was cooking with, looking at Nate. He folded his arms and leaned against the counter.

  “Of course not. How could someone be ready for that?”

  “You can’t. But it could happen. I’ve lost a friend on a mission before. What about the other side of the coin? You kill someone’s loved one, accidentally or not, and you see the mother or sister, brother or father of that person weeping and wailing, hurt from the pain you caused. You were brutal in the arena man, it was awesome to watch. But will you be that brutal when it’s permanent?”

  “No, I'm a good guy, I want to save people.”

  “What if saving someone means killing someone else?”

  “Ill avoid killing them, restrain them or something.”

  “You say that now, and I’m with you, but sometimes, it just doesn't play out that way.” Dane said, turning back to finishing the breakfast he was making.

  Nate nodded.

  “I'm not trying to bring you down, and I'm not trying to rag on you or anything. Just start to mentally prepare. Our golden rule is life first, mission second. Look for a solution that keeps life intact, internalize that now and you'll be alright.”

  “Thanks Dane.” Nate said somberly.

  “No problem champ!” He said changing to an upbeat tone. “Now, If you don't mind, there is a certain kitty kat that gets pretty hangry in the morning and she likes to eat breakfast in bed cuddled up to her big strong man.” Dane said as he left the kitchen toward his room.

  Nate laughed, thinking he should probably make something for Lindy. He got to work squeezing some fresh citrus he found on the counter, and cut up some other fruit. He had no idea what he was doing and the ingredients he was working with but he hoped it would turn out.

  The closing of the door to their bedroom caused Lindy to stir but she quickly settled again. Nate laid the platter he made between them which gently woke Lindy up to a pleasant sight of Nate and food.

  “Oh yay!” she shouted with a whisper. She picked up a piece of fruit and started munching before she picked up a piece of meat Nate made.

  “We gotta teach you about spices and non-earth food babe.” She said giggling.

  “That bad, huh?”

  “Not… bad… It's fine. Thank you. It's the thought that counts." She said with a smile.

  Nate groaned at his failure.

  “So what do you wanna do today?” Lindy asked.

  “Beach?”

  “Beach!” Lindy said with glee. Throwing her hands up in joy.

  It was past noon and the whole team except for Dee was out on the mostly private beach soaking in the sun and playing in the water. Gemini had found another rock but was face up this time, soaking in the sun while dead asleep. Lindy and Donna were sitting in beach chairs watching Nate, Dane, and Jax play in the water and find shells and drift wood for the girls. Dee finally emerged from her slumber and joined the rest of the team.

  “I am insanely hungry.” Dee muttered loudly.

  “Ah, she’s awake!” Donna announced.

  Lindy lifted up a bag of finger foods for Dee to rifle through so she wouldn't let her hunger make her more grumpy than she already would have been.

  “About ten hours today? Pretty impressive. How are you feeling?” Lindy said.

  “Massively hungover.” Dee said flatly, taking a seat in the empty chair next to Lindy. “You would think they would get tired of looking for treasure that deep no?” Dee said.

  Nate, Dane, and Jax had transitioned to building a wall of sand as if they could engineer something that would stop the rushing tide of the ocean.

  “Yea but they look good doing it at least.” Donna said slyly.

  “That they do Donna.” Lindy said with a lustful tone.

  “I gotta get me a man.” Dee muttered.

  “What about that boy from the bar the other night?” Lindy turned and asked.

  “Oh he was cute, he was just, kinda dumb.” Dee replied.

  The girls all giggled.

  “What about that guy over there?” Donna asked. Pointing to a large very muscular Yorgan man had walked past the small wooden fence that somewhat separated the private beaches.

  “The who… Oh. Wait. Nate!” Dee shouted, alarm clearly in her voice.

  Nate, Dane, and Jax all looked up from their sand wall to look at Dee who was pointing to the border of the beaches with a worried expression on her face. Nate turned to see Biff walking toward him. He was in regular beach attire, but something was off. He didn’t have his normal smug look on his face, he didn’t even seem mad. His face was just blank. He was walking at a normal pace so Nate slowly left the sand wall and started walking towards him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the girls walking towards him, Lindy practically jogging.

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  “Hey Biff. Been a couple weeks, how's that contract with Liquid treating you?” Nate called out to him.

  Biff stopped walking, still a blank expression on his face. “Fine.”

  “I hear they got you some sponsorships already, going to have you be the face of their Rookie solos contingent. That’s pretty awesome.” Jax spoke up.

  “I wasn’t their first choice.” Biff replied flatly.

  The tension was building. Nate was everyone’s first choice, but it didn’t seem right to rub that in at the moment. Something was… off.

  “Funny running into you here, it was good to see-” Nate spoke up but was interrupted.

  “You took everything from me." Biff said.

  “I what?”

  “You. Took. Everything. From me.” He repeated.

  “Biff, I don't know what you mean. You got an eighteen million credit contract, you’re going to be a super star.” Nate said.

  “It would have been more.” Anger started to show on Biff’s face. “My father…” He started, but then stopped, running his hand through his green short hair.

  “What about him?” Nate asked.

  “The great Biff Ripton Senior. All his money couldn't buy him the son he always wanted.”

  “I know what it’s like to have rough parents, Biff.” Dee chimed in with an uncharacteristically empathetic tone.

  “You don’t know shit!” Biff screamed.

  “Hey now Biff, let’s calm down and talk this out.” Nate spoke up trying to diffuse the situation. They weren’t in school anymore and if they got into a fight they could get in serious trouble.

  “Talk this out? There’s nothing to talk about. You won, I lost, and I lost everything. I lost my sponsors, my contract, and my Father disowned me. Even my mother…” Biff choked up, unable to finish his thought.

  “No, I didn’t do enough, so he says. So now I’ll fix it.”

  Biff pulled a pistol from under his shirt that was packed in the back of his pants. The team stepped back slowly with their hands out. Nate tucked Lindy behind him.

  “Biff, this is a mistake. We can work something out. You can make your own way in this world, you can be better than your father!” Nate yelled cautiously.

  “No, you can fix this by dying.” Biff said, lifting his pistol to aim at Nate.

  Dane leapt into action by summoning his hardened bone armor and tried to put himself in between Biff and the rest of the team but he was too late. Biff pulled the trigger sending a large slug towards Nate. Nate activated his shield ability before the gun was raised however, causing the bullet to bounce right off of him.

  Biff was stunned. Almost not believing that he actually pulled the trigger. Dane tackled him to pin him to the ground and separated him from his gun. Biff didn’t resist however, he just laid there.

  The team looked around checking themselves to see if anyone was hurt. Nate was fine, Lindy was behind him, Gemini was too far away, Jax, Donna, and Dane weren't even in the path of the bullet.

  “Guys?” Dee said worriedly. She collapsed to the ground with a bullet in her abdomen.

  “Dee!” Lindy screamed as she ran to her friend, propping her up on her legs, blood spreading to cover her hands. She released her healing balm from her hands as fast as she could to heal the wound, but something was happening as the wound was closing. The skin around the wound was turning a darker shade of red like a bruise was forming but it was getting bigger by the second.

  “No, no, no.” Jax said, holding his head with his hands.

  “Dane! Necrotoxin!” Donna screamed.

  Dane eyes darted to the team that was surrounding Dee. He disengaged his armor and rushed to her side. He grabbed a towel off of the beach chair and ripped it down the middle and tied the two halves together. He then attempted to wrap her torso with the towel forming a big tourniquet, but he was too late.

  “Dane!” Donna yelled desperately.

  “Hey, Dee, stay awake, we are gonna get you some help.” Lindy said through her sobs.

  “I love you Lindy. And you Nate. Jax. All of you guys.” Dee said, holding her hand up to Lindy’s face.

  “No, no, no, no, you’re going to be ok. You can’t leave me! We just made two new girlfriends to bring to Cat’s! Please!” Lindy pleaded with her dying friend.

  Dee laughed through pained breaths. The darkness covered most of her chest now.

  “You haven’t taken me to your hut, where the kids are. We were going to help them remember? You have to come with me, you have to show me where they are.” Lindy said desperately.

  “I love you guys.” Dee said with her last breath.

  Her chest deflated as the darkness finished spreading up her neck and the back of her head. The toxin had reached the spine and brain, shutting her body down completely.

  Nate, blinded by anger, warped to Biff’s side and punched him with his fist fully powered by his shield. Dane rushed to grab him before he could do any more damage, already seeing he had knocked Biff out.

  ***

  Dee’s funeral service was held on her home planet of Hirondant. Even though they had organized a proper yet private funeral, word of her death got around because of Biff and his family’s status in the galactic marketplace. The media focused more on him of course, and Rip Tide media didn’t even mention that he had killed someone or what he did. They celebrated him like he was some kind of hero because he was the son of Biff Senior. There were some stories that attributed the fact that she was part of the new Arcane Operators, but not enough.

  When the team carried Dee’s body to the futuristic space version of a hearse, they walked out of the funeral service to a large crowd of ragged looking children as well as some young adults almost as old as Dee was. They placed Dee in the vehicle and the crowd all walked up to it and kissed it before watching it drive away. Lindy was too moved by the sight to speak, but Nate was able to compose himself and pull one of the older Firan boy onlookers aside.

  “How did you know Darindra?” He asked.

  “Dee was our friend, she fought for me when we were small. We were in the system together and she always helped me steal food from the orphanage pantry.” The young man said.

  A human boy walked up to Nate and Lindy tugging on Nate’s pants.

  “Sir, were you the ones on Dee’s team in the arena? When we saw her fight? We were so happy she went to school but were so scared too.” The innocent sounding boy said.

  Nate got down to his level and looked the boy in the eye. “Why were you scared? She just went to school.”

  “Well yea, but she always brought us food after her shift at the factory.”

  Lindy crouched down next to Nate to talk to the boy too. “Can you take us there?”

  The burial was done after a traditional Firan and Hirondantian fashion where her body was wrapped in a biodegradable cloth that would be placed in the ground and a sapling would be planted over her. This signaled a return of the body to the land that sustained it over its lifetime. There were burial forests that were set aside by the government for this very purpose. Each forest did not have this protection forever though. The trees that grew would be available to be cut down to build new homes or create other things that would sustain the life of future generations, further perpetuating the circle of life on Hirondant.

  Jarris found Nate sitting on a downed tree alone, hunched over and his head down.

  “Hey kid.”

  Nate lifted his head to find Jarris and gave him a slow upwards nod to acknowledge him before propping up his head with his arm on his leg.

  “You guys are too young to go through this.” Jarris started.

  Nate was silent, withholding his thoughts.

  “I didn’t go to my sister’s funeral when she passed. I couldn’t handle it. I went further underground. I’m glad you were here for Dee. That you could have this closure.”

  “You told me this would happen.” Nate said flatly.

  “I did. But not like this.”

  “Is there a proper way to die then Jarris? Some kind of plan I should make?” Nate started to get angry.

  “No. No training, no plan, no strategy. Life before mission.”

  “It should have been me. He was there for me. There were so many things I could have done.”

  “You’re probably right. But that’s not what happened, and you can’t change it now. For now you mourn. Tomorrow, you do as much good as you can. That’s how you fill the void she is leaving behind.”

  “Yea, I guess.”

  “Kalazan was always the therapist, maybe he’s got some better words for you.”

  “No. No. You’re right, I need to get to work.” Nate got up from his seat and Jarris embraced him in a hug before they both walked back to the rest of the family.

  Everyone said their final goodbyes and left Dee to her final resting place. Although they were in complete shambles emotionally, they made sure the boy they met at the service earlier stayed with them so he could take them to where Dee lived. The younger generation of the Arcane Operators chose to go to her home while the older returned to the Hub.

  The car rolled to a stop at the edge of a shanty town. Mud huts, pieced together wood, doors made from scraps. Absolute destitution. Nate looked to Lindy, quickly taking in the reality they had no idea their friend had lived in before they met her. The life she managed to pull herself out of. The boy climbed down from the car and started walking down the alley while gesturing for the team to follow. It was dusk, but not yet dark enough to worry about not being able to see.

  As the team followed the boy, they could see other children of varying ages pop their heads from behind doors and around corners as if to check if the coast was clear. Lindy crouched down and waved over a little Firan girl. She walked up to Lindy slowly, cautious, hesitant to talk to someone dressed in clothes far too nice to be seen in their little village.

  “Are you hungry sweety?” Lindy asked.

  “Yes…” The little girl gave a confused and even more cautious look.

  Lindy pulled out a small protein bar from her bag and opened the package.

  Two more heads popped out from the same alleyway the little girl came from to investigate the sound of the wrapper being opened.

  “Here, go share this with your friends. I'll bring some more soon.”

  “Are you Dee’s friend? The princess?”

  “Yes, I’m the princess.” A smile stretched from ear to ear on Lindy’s face.

  “Did Dee really die?”

  “She did sweety.” The smile quickly left Lindy’s face.

  The girl looked down, not sure what to say.

  Lindy could sense the concern and worry coming from the girl. Children started to gather around Lindy and the team now. She stood up seeing how many kids had come to see what was happening.

  “We will come back later with more food. We will come back.” Lindy said, tearing up.

  Lindy kept her promise and had food delivered to the shanty town within hours and she even paid extra for the deliverer to help pass the food out. She set up a recurring daily delivery of food and in the coming months was working with her Uncle Harry to set up a proper orphanage and food pantry in Dee’s honor.

  Over the next couple of weeks the team returned to their life on the Hub to find that there were clients looking to be the first to hire the new Arcane Operators for one of their first ever contracts. Though the team was still mourning they collectively decided it was time to get to work. They had successfully completed their first few contracts when Nate got a phone call from his Mother and Father. They had switched to video chat so Lindy and Nate’s Dad could comfortably be part of the conversation.

  “Hey Pickle, Hi Lindy dear.” Caroline started.

  “Hi Caroline, hi Dave!” Lindy replied first.

  “Hey Mom, how are you guys? What’s up?” Nate asked.

  “Well, there’s something happening, here on Earth that is.” Caroline answered.

  “Oh yea, what's that?”

  Caroline flipped the camera to show the TV that was covering a breaking news update. The ticker at the bottom read: “Breaking, Alien Fleet lands in Russia.”