Empty Toward The Moon

Chapter Fifteen

"Are you Travis Briller's granddaughter? Of course you are. Splitting image." Mr Brute spoke after a moment of taking in everything in the bunk room. Then he laughed. He threw back his head and laughed. The laser gun in his hand shook as he continued, waving both his hands about as he spoke, very animated and a little flamboyant. His excitement was evident.

"You know, if it wasn't for your Grandfather I wouldn't be alive right now. Not only me, my whole family, clan brothers and sisters. Travis Briller, he's an amazing man, a hero for our Quadrozzi Clan. A hero." He stepped into the bunk room, his wide girth hitting both sides of the door frame as he squeezed through. "You know, I always said, if I ever had the chance..." He paused to look at the laser gun still in his hands, then froze. Then he noticed our faces and quickly hid the gun behind his back. Patting the back of his black head, he cleared his throat.

"Sorry, this isn't like it looks." He stepped forward and held out his hand towards me, a wide salesman smile on his face. Usually I'd stay a mile away from anyone wearing this kind of smile, but on this big guy, it looked natural, like he was genuinely interested in getting to know us. When his hand was left hanging in mid air, but pulled it away again and introduced himself.

"My name is Cade Quadrozzi, elder in the Quadrozzi Merchant Clan. My older brother, you see, he is the clan leader. Back when my father was still in charge, we were nearly squeezed out by a rival merchant clan, and your Grandfather stepped in and gave my father the ability to take on new merchant routes, saving us and our whole clan." Mr Quadrozzi turned a little shy, which was strange on a big guy like him. His bashfulness was apparent as he started scratching his brow with the laser gun he'd obviously forgotten was in his hand.

Someone behind him at the door clear his throat and Mr Quadrozzi turned to find his team of freighter crew members, all squeezing a look into the bunk room from the door. I quickly looked behind myself to find Mocha standing in front of his sister Latte, hidden completely at the back of the bottom bunk.

I felt weird. The two behind me were under my protection, since Nova had decided rescue them back on the station. Now that I was facing this unknown threat that started going sideways, I wasn't sure what was happening.

Is this guy for real, Nova? I asked him in my mind.

[He is in fact Mr Caden Quadrozzi, younger brother to Luca Quadrozzi of the Quadrozzi Merchant Clan. The four roses symbol on his coveralls confirm their clan symbol. The man behind him would be the Executive Officer of The Chaser, Mr Phill Mendoza. They have been flying this large freighter for the Quadrozzi Clan for over twenty years.]

Can you tell what he is saying about my Grandfather is true? I asked him again.

[There is no quantifiable evidence that supports his story, but I can confirm that twenty five years ago the Quadrozzi almost doubled the amount of ships registered to their Merchant Clan registry at the New Calli Station. This would suggest he is telling the truth.]

"Sorry. I'm sorry. I've gone and startled ya'll. Not what I wanted to do." He huffed a breath then smiled again. "OK, so long story short, you, well your family... nope you Grandfather, he saved our whole Quadrozzi Clan, and then you turn up and I can now make amends, personally. I'm so excited." He was looking at me, like I knew what he was going on about. I silently stepped back towards Mocha and held the guard position, until I either had further information about what the situation was, or they cleared the room, leaving us alone again.

When Mr Cade Quadrozzi saw that I wasn't responding like he expected, he frowned and turned to his 2IC. The skinny, older man stepped forward and explained the whole story in a much quieter fashion, Cade nodding at all the right places along the way. He was like an over zealous puppy dog. It would have looked cute if he wasn't nearly two meters tall and over two hundred kilos heavy.