The Legend of Ivan

* * *

A few traits were held in common between Grey and Lorric, but not many in disposition. Their relative similarity in ability and personality made a confrontation somewhat unlikely if not for their connection in calling and target.

Each man was highly skilled at all avenues of fugitive recovery. Where Grey’s obsessive personality allowed for a near peerless aptitude with weapons, piloting, demolitions, and other endeavors, Lorric’s calm attitude and careful analysis provided situations where the inferior skill could triumph. With their personalities both the same and opposite, their confrontation was a perplexing point to me.

Each man diverged from normal attitudes by at least a partial necessity. Pressure from comrades drove Lorric toward risky behavior, and being horribly outnumbered caused Grey to calculate and plan. Though trying to be patient and wait, I wondered if Grey attempted his usual aggressive aptitude or caution when he confronted Ivan. I further wondered if it would have mattered.

Regardless, it went without question that Traverian Grey could manage a successful ambush. However, even the man himself expressed surprise at the ease with which his foes were crushed.

“Sure, I set up a few surprises, but the tip was hot, and there wasn’t exactly a lot of prep-time,” Grey said with a shrug. “Even so, the moment I buzzed out of the moon’s shadow and shot down Lorric’s bird, not a single thing went wrong for me. Well, until later anyway. Ivan really was passing through the system, but the tip I gave Lorric was quite a few days early.”

I nodded, remembering the story of a long hike punctuated by Lorric’s terrible injury and the loss of his remaining companions.

“I used the most dishonorable means, but all that mattered was getting the job done. I didn’t have Lorric’s flimsy code or even a tiny sense of honor or remorse. Since money hadn’t been an issue in years, I never killed anyone for a bigger share, but I would have if it struck me as a good idea.” Grey rubbed his eyes. “It was me who contacted Ivan and implored him, based upon our past dealings, to come there. I told him I could help him out.” He gave a sad chuckle. “I said I’d do it for old time’s sake.”

Ivan agreed to the meeting, seemingly without hesitation. As Lorric and his ragtag band of survivors trudged across the surface of the half-barren world, Ivan’s vessel pierced the atmosphere and settled down to Grey’s beacon.

Staring at Ivan’s lightly confused features through the scope of a high-powered energy rifle, curiosity and perhaps the tiniest amount of professional courtesy had overridden Grey’s desire for a quick and easy fight. Taken alive remained the objective. A limbless torso was easy enough to cart back, but Grey had doubted Ivan would be in much of a talking mood under those circumstances.

Besides; just in case, Grey had laced the area with mines and other explosives ready to be triggered at the touch of a button.

* * *

“You’re certain you weren’t followed?” Traverian Grey called out to Ivan as he approached the small campsite. Over his shoulder, he slung the potent energy weapon which would later kill the remaining hunters and cripple Lorric. Grey wore his usual black shell of ballistic armor, visor up and trying to appear as non-threatening as possible in spite of the weapons strapped to his body.

The slightest flicker of doubt crossed Ivan’s face. Grey briefly wondered if the enormous man suspected anything before Ivan burst out with a wide grin. “Mister Grey! My good and dear friend. It has been too long, no?” Laughing, he charged forward and nearly crushed his old friend in an embrace.

“You weren’t followed?” Grey repeated, keeping in place the ruse of why he wasn’t present at the campsite.

“Pah!” Ivan shook his head. “Always about business with you, isn’t it? Here we are, two comrades long reunited after so many battles, and you stand there worrying like an old woman!” He extended a hand.

Grey grasped it and shook. “Good to see you again, Ivan. I take it you’re well.”

Ivan gave an exaggerated shrug. “As well as can be, I will say, with half the universe nipping at my heels.” The man grinned again, but Grey could see weariness tugging at Ivan’s features. There was something else, as well, that Grey saw but couldn’t recognize. Aside from the exhaustion of being hunted and hounded, sorrow bordering on despair lay deep within Ivan’s eyes.

“Even so,” Ivan nodded, “I am very glad you contacted me.”

“What did you do?”

Ivan clasped his hands together. “Nothing.”

Frowning, Grey asked, “Why the bounty, then?”

“They believe I did something, or that I know something.” Ivan sighed, pausing.

“Atropos Garden,” Grey said. “Was it you?”

The large man shook his head, and Grey finally caught a glimpse of the heavy sorrow as it briefly flickered onto Ivan’s face. “No. It was not.”

“Then what happened?”

Ivan gave a sad chuckle. “The planet was destroyed.”

“The whole thing?” Narrowing his eyes, Grey asked, “How?”

“I do not have the slightest idea.”

The bounty hunter folded his arms, bothered by the admission. It wasn’t because he thought Ivan was lying; Grey could hear the truth of it in the large man’s voice. Nor was the situation troubling due to the people who wanted to interrogate and rip every tiny thought from Ivan’s mind in a desperate attempt to discover how one could obliterate a world. Regardless of results, Grey’s money would be paid, wasted by the corporations who would gain nothing from Ivan.

What disturbed Grey was that suddenly Ivan seemed like less of a conquest. The huge man would be locked in a box for the remainder of his natural life, pumped full of narcotics and answering the endless barrage of questions. The information of Ivan having nothing to do with the incident, only a mere witness, would never leak out of the top tiers of the cooperating corporations. As far as the galaxy would be concerned, Traverian Grey would have captured the legend who crushed a planet with his bare hands.

Even still, the person Grey cared about the most was himself, and he felt as though his impending victory had been cheapened.

“I am sorry I cannot satisfy your curiosity, my friend,” Ivan said, noting the frown and silent contemplation his comrade lapsed into. “We should be going, however. I have had a few pesky flies buzzing near to my tail of late. They have this nasty habit of swarming when I stop to rest.”

Grey waved a hand. “They’re all dead.”

“You swatted them, eh?” Ivan nodded, frowning without a trace of surprise. “I thought as much upon seeing the wreckage in atmosphere and smoking craters upon the ground. Were their deaths truly necessary?”

The bounty hunter didn’t reply, too wrapped in his disappointment and contemplation. Is the mountain worth climbing when you find out it’s a hill? he thought.

Ivan sighed. “You were always a brutal and ruthless man, Mister Grey. Very cold and all about business.” He folded his arms. “However, we have been dancing around an important matter. Tell me, did you kill those men and women to help me, or are you simply eliminating the competition?”

Grey shot a gaze up to Ivan, his contemplation evaporating. Ivan stood a few feet away, entirely non- threatening with a deadpan expression. He spoke again. “Consider this carefully, my old friend. This is not a road you will be able to return from easily.”

A chill coursed through Grey, and with it came the slightest mote of doubt that he’d be capable of besting Ivan.

At the thought, exhilaration burst within him, the doubt and uncertainty of success transforming his hill into a mountain once again. His mind flitted over the weapons he carried and the devices buried nearby: traps and snares to ensure success.

“Please tell me my friend.” Ivan’s face betrayed a sorrow suggesting he already knew the answer. “Are you here to help me?”

Grey did not respond with words. Snapping his visor down, he swung his energy rifle to bear. He fired, aiming for Ivan’s leg.