Date point: 7m 3w 4d BV
Hedonist
Dear Journal,
I’m going to get the girl
“Okay, I currently may or may not be in the cargo hold of slaver’s ship,” I listened to the recording, “It kind of left port unexpectedly. I’ll apologize later, I promise, but for now all I know is I’m in the ship that brought that Gaoian you fought a bit ago to Hedonist. Please hurry, I don’t know how long this hiding place will work.” The message ended.
You need to calm down.
I’m perfectly calm. Calmer than I’ve been in a while, in fact. This cockpit’s just a bit cold, something with the environmental controls.
No it isn’t. You’re breathing too hard and I can feel your heartbeat. Take some deep breaths and –
You’re not helping at the moment. Time for you to be silent.
That’s better. Carefully unclenching my jaw and fists I stood, moving purposefully towards the airlock. I needed to find that ship, and I knew exactly who was going to help me.
Dacine Atise
His day had not yet started, and he was enjoying it. He was still technically acting as the personal attendant to the Contact’s clients, and they currently had not called upon his services since he’d been dismissed several hours ago. The human was still sleeping – at least Dacine assumed as he had heard nothing from him – and the handler, well, she hadn’t contacted him either. He didn’t know exactly where she was. After all, he wasn’t being payed to know where she was at all times; just when she was on Hedonist, which she decidedly was not, at the moment. He’d done his job and kept track of her up until she’d stowed away on the Slaver’s ship. He couldn’t be faulted for not knowing where that ship was now. Besides, the Contact had already been pleased to discover who the human had found as a handler when he had reported it, and needless to say surprised at her uncontacted nature. Despite current events he still expected a sizable bonus for that tidbit.
Dacine suddenly stiffened. Something was wrong. He couldn’t pinpoint any one thing the led him to that conclusion, but every instinct told him he should hide. The warning signals moved from the unconscious to the conscious when the door to the lounge slid open to reveal one of his charges.
His attendance had been mandatory at the torzo match; not only because he was needed to facilitate the money transfers regarding the Conact’s wagers, but also because she had specifically desired him to watch the match between the human and Uxier and describe it to her. He wouldn’t have done so of his own volition, torzo had never held any appeal to him, yet despite this he had still been able to appreciate the human’s capacity to fight. The Contract had picked an excellent individual for the task; he had made the defeat of Uxier not only look trivial, but even comical.
There was nothing comical about him now. An aura of danger surrounded him like a cloak, permeating the air in a near tangible stench. The jovial and almost simple manner that had led Dacine to question the Contact’s choice in him had dropped away like a mask, uncovering a scowling face, impassive as stone. The impartial malice flowing from the human’s gaze made him visibly recoil from the figure in the doorway.
The human stalked across the room. Dacine involuntarily backed away, stumbling as he fell into a chair that caught him as it morphed for his biology. The deathworlder stopped before him, looming despite the fact that Dacine was taller, even seated.
“A ship recently left Hedonist carrying the Gaoian contestant from the torzo match and my friend,” the human spoke quietly, “You are going to give me their transponder signal and charted course.”
The soft words did nothing to calm him, “We wouldn’t have their charted course,” he stammered, “We never ask it.”
His captor nodded ever so slightly, “Then their transponder will be enough.”
“But I don’t know –”
The human reached out and gently laid a hand on the Qinis’ mouth, silencing him mid-sentence, “Then you’ll take me to someone who does. Now.”
5 Hours Earlier
Eallva
As Selvim disappeared past the waiting area doors, Eallva began hopping across the room and up the stands to where she saw Dacine Atise conversing with a being beside him. At her approach straightened, “Madam, excellent timing, allow me to introduce. . .”
“Not now,” she interrupted, “I have to do something. If Selvim asks I’ll be back once I’m done, not to worry, and I’m sorry I lied.”
Dacine’s face gave away nothing, “Very well, may I ask what. . .”
“No,” she turned, quickly moving to exit the arena as the Gaoian contestant and his handler had moments before. Out the door and around a corner she was just in time to see a Gaoian snout disappear behind the elevator doors as they closed. Counting to ten she jumped into another, pressing a button she hoped would lead her to the ground floor. When the doors finally dinged open, she was relieved to see a distinctive back retreating amongst the crowd. Following at a safe distance she pricked her ears straining to pick out any words that passed between her quarry and their handler. If there were, they were too quiet for her to distinguish from the babble around her.
After a time she became certain there was nothing to hear. Even from a distance she could tell that the relationship between the two was not one of friendship. Their postures denoted discomfort, as between strangers, or enemies forced to work together. It might have seemed innocent enough had the handler not been slightly behind and to the side of their charge, and she only noticed because she was looking for anything out of the ordinary.
Following them into a building a short walk from the black needle of a structure they had left, she held back as they entered a hanger, counted to thirty, then hopped after them. The hanger was much larger than the one their ship occupied, and was barely large enough as it was. The ship it held looked to be a common cargo trawler, although admittedly her experience started and ended at a few hours of watching ships go by and the random offhand comment by Selvim as he pointed out different ships and their functions.
Still, she was fairly certain that hauling cargo was at least part of the ship’s purpose when she noticed the shipping crates awaiting processing near an open cargo hold. A single surly crewmember was loading the crates with a hover pallet, eyes bored and distant. Breathing a thankful sigh that her sandals were silent on the hard floor she hopped quietly between crates, keeping them between her and the inattentive being.
This is stupid, she thought, I don’t have a plan. I don’t even have any evidence that there’s anything wrong.
And yet even while she thought it, she knew that was the crux of the problem. There wasn’t any solid evidence. All she had was a feeling. Certainly not enough to where if she voiced her concerns to Selvim he would do anything, or at least she didn’t think he would. Maybe she should have said something, but even if he didn’t do anything to help, he could have done something to hinder.
She knew what she had seen, and she knew where she had last seen it. At the Sordit slave markets. She’d hated it then, she hated it now. She’d didn’t know if it was legal out here as it had been in Sordit, and she found she didn’t care. There had to be somewhere the abomination was outlawed.
Making up her mind she waited until the oblivious until-proven-otherwise-slaver passed her hiding spot on his way to pick up another crate, then bolted into the open cargo bay. Diving behind a sizable pile, she was under no illusion she could play ring-around-the-rosy forever. Down a ways she spied an open crate only half full and open. She dashed to the new pile, threw herself inside the crate, and closed the lid. In the dark, listening to her own breathing and the occasional thump as another crate was loaded, she feared that one might be placed on top of hers, but if it could be put at the bottom of a pile it wouldn’t have been open and half empty. Feeling around, her only guess as to what the crate contained were miscellaneous ship parts, but for all she knew they could have been party poppers.
I’m doing this, she decided, So I better come up with a plan. Charging in without any forethought was a surefire way of failing in whatever heroic deeds she wanted to perform.
What do I need the most?
Before she could come up with an answer the noises from outside changed. The muffled sound of loading ceased, followed soon after by the closing of a cargo hold, and then what was unmistakably the departure of the ship.
Shit, she thought, Got it, the first thing I need is an exit plan. Almost instantly an idea presented itself as to how to accomplish that. Waiting for an eternity, she sat until she was sure the crewmember had left. Slowly easing the lid off her crate, she looked around, confirming what her ears had told her. Hopping out, she then began to search. She needed a data pad, and what better place to find one than in a cargo bay? Maybe she was thinking about this the wrong way, but with all the surrounding ship equipment, not being able to find one of the ever ubiquitous data pads in one of the nearby boxes seemed ludicrous.
Whether her logic was flawed or not, she found a stack of them in a small container near the door. Taking one off the top she retreated back to her hiding place, closing the lid after using the light to find the power button. She was relieved when the screen resolved itself into the only layout she had ever seen; the one on which Selvim had taught her several rudimentary tasks. Tasks like recording and sending messages.
The way she figured, now that the ship had already taken off, Selvim couldn’t do anything to stop her. Telling him right now solved several problems. Firstly it gave her an escape route when he inevitably followed her, and secondly it let him work through some of his anger at her before he arrived, making the following shit storm a little less severe.
She pressed record, “Hey, so, I just want to say I’m glad you showed me how to do this. Super helpful.” As she continued recording, she worried for a moment whether or not he’d be able to track down which cargo ship. Surely he could find her from this message, right? She’d seen the incredible amount of information that was available on the bridge, and she was sure she had only grasped the bare minimum of it. In the end she put it out of her mind when she decided that either way she couldn’t change what he could or couldn’t do as far as finding her at this point.
This is what you get for making a brash decision like this, she chided herself as she sent the message. Okay, next step?
Find the Gaoian and confirm or deny your suspicions. If you’re right it should be readily apparent, and if you’re wrong then it should also be apparent, albeit an embarrassing situation for you. Obviously, until you know whether or not he is a slave, remain unseen by the crew, she chuckled drily to herself, Easier said than done.
Listening once again to ensure the coast was clear; she left her crate and hopped quietly to the door. Pressing her ear against it, she strained to hear anything resembling movement. Discerning nothing but her own heartbeat, she poked her head out to see. A long corridor stretched on either side of her, parallel doors widely spaced down its length, leading – she assumed, to the other cargo holds. A quick look in either direction showed it was empty, but as long as it was she worried it wouldn’t remain so while she traversed it. She watched for a while to see if any traffic presented itself, poised to spring back from the door at the slightest hint of movement. Nothing happened, and with a final breath, she bolted for the end she knew would bring her to the ship proper, hoping that if the Gaoian was being held somewhere, it wasn’t in engineering.
At full tilt and in the decreased gravity she approached the T-intersection at the end of the hall with frightening speed. She hated to admit it, but she was thankful Selvim had insisted she get used to the lower gravity setting, as she knew how much room she needed to keep from slamming into the wall at the end of the corridor. Peeking around the left corner, she was just in time to see the back of something that looked insectoid in nature disappear behind a corner further down. No alarm was raised; it hadn’t seen her. This wouldn’t work. She didn’t know where she was going, and all it would take was one unlucky turn into an occupied corridor and she’d be seen. She needed a way to search without risk of running into people.
Rolai
“But when Tarilan gets here, could you make it look like I gave you a few pokes with the stick before he got here?” Myxis asked, standing awkwardly outside Rolai’s cell.
Whole lot of good it’ll do me, He thought to himself, and they both knew it. Pain was in his immediate future, whether or not Myxis carried out Tarilan’s orders to start his punishment before he arrived to finish it. Still, now was not the time to be selfish. Myxis was easy to manipulate when he was doing something he didn’t agree with, and if Rolai played it right he could make it so he was the only one that had to suffer.
Dropping his ears, he let his tail go limp and his shoulders slump, adopting the perfect picture of a pitiable being. “Of course,” he sighed, “I understand.” He didn’t have to look up to know Myxis was in turmoil, torn between risking himself anymore and easing his conscience. Any moment now and he was sure to . . .
“If there’s anything else I can do –” Myxis ended, reluctance at his offer oozing from every pore.
Got you.
“Actually,” Rolai perked up a bit, “You could slip Uryo a dose, help him get through the next two days.
Myxis balked, “No, that’s too risky, I have to stay here, Tarilan would get suspicious if I was missing when he arrived.
“You and I both know he’ll be taking out the murderous part of his temper on his office and the bridge personnel for a while longer. And the rest of the crew’s still on leave shifts, probably in the mess or their quarters. You could sneak in, give him a dose, and be back without anyone knowing.”
“Tarilan will know someone’s given him some when he doesn’t go through withdrawals.”
“Explain the situation to Uryo, he’ll be willing to fake it.”
“He won’t understand, he’s not all there, he’s been on it too long.”
Rolai struggled to keep the bitterness from his voice, “If there’s one thing an addict understands it’s how to fake withdrawals in order to get more. He’ll manage.” Myxis was almost there, he could feel it. One little push was all he needed.
“Please?”
Myxis cracked, swearing under his breath. Walking over to the safe he pressed his hand against the pad, took a patch out, then walked briskly out of the brig, leaving Rolai alone with his thoughts. He wasn’t alone for long as a light brown blur coalesced in front of him from nowhere. It was a small being, only as tall as a Corti. It was like nothing he’d seen, yet even as he looked he felt he had glimpsed it once before. Rolai opened his mouth in shock but nothing came out.
“Good, you’re quiet, stay that way,” the stranger said.
“How – where – what!?”
“Shit. Listen, I’m here to help you. I have a way to get you and anyone else who needs it off this ship, but from the sounds of it that guy’s gonna be back as fast as he possibly can. I need you to stuff all your questions deep down inside for a bit and tell me how to get you out of this cell.”
Rolai’s mind shifted into overdrive. Could he trust this being? Did they really have a way off? They said him and anyone else who needs it. He made his decision.
He breathed, clearing his mind, “You can’t. We need the hand of either the captain or one of the guards. Myxis, the one who just left, is one of them, he’ll do. Assuming you have a way to overpower him you press it to the pad over there,” he gestured to the left of his cell, “You do have a way to overpower him, right?”
The stranger hopped, which he hoped meant yes.
“If you can,” he said, “Try not to kill him.”
The stranger looked confused, “Isn’t he holding you here?”
“Yes, and no. It’s more complicated than that. Just, if you can, okay?”
The stranger hopped again, then leaped up and out of view. Moving to the edge of his cell he saw one of the air vents in the ceiling swing shut. Had it really just jumped that? He didn’t have long to wait before Myxis returned, somewhat out of breath as he had apparently run the final few corridors. Entering the brig and finding it empty aside from Rolai, he heaved an enormous sigh.
“Well?” Rolai asked
“It’s done,” Myxis replied, approaching his cell, “That’s all I can do, and it’s more than I should have. I still don’t think Uryo’ll be able to fake withdrawals.” He stopped almost directly underneath the air vent.
“Thank you, really. I’m sorry.”
Myxis only have a moment to register confusion on his face before the brown blur returned, dropping on the Locayl from above. It must have weighed much more than its small stature implied because the Locayl’s legs buckled, sending him to the ground. Before Rolai could register what had happened the stranger had wrapped a tail longer than its body around the unfortunate guard’s neck. He choked, prying at the appendage and utterly failing to dislodge it, then collapsed after far too long for Rolai’s comfort.
The stranger removed their tail and began dragging the body, which Rolai was relieved to see still breathed. Pressing Myxis’ hand against the pad, the cell powered down.
“Thank you,” Rolai said, “Your plan isn’t to just walk me out of here, right? Because we’ll be seen.”
“Nope,” she – his instincts told him – squeaked, gesturing to the open air duct with her tail.
“Unless you brought a ladder I can’t jump that.” When she paused in thought he began to panic. Had she not realized? She had no plan? Tarilan would find him out of his cell with an unconscious Myxis and kill him, smart business choices be damned. He was dead. How could he have been so –
“I have an idea,” the stranger said, lying on her back, “My mom used to do this with me when I was a younger. Luckily you walk on two feet as well so this should still work.”
“What are you doing?”
“Balance on my feet.”
“Wh –” it clicked, “You’re joking.”
“You have another idea?”
“You think you can throw me that high?”
“I do myself, and I’m probably heavier than you. Aren’t we in a hurry?”
Muttering to himself, he shakily climbed onto her feet, managing a precarious balance after several seconds.
“Ready? We lined up?”
He nodded, looking up to make sure. A moment later his stomach dropped as he was hurled into the air, barely able to maintain his balance for the short time required as the ceiling rushed up to him. Keeping his wits he grabbed the edge of the air vent when it was in reach, halting what remained of his upward momentum, and scrambled into it. Safe inside he took a deep breath, then poked his head back out, “I can’t believe that –” something furry almost snapped his neck as the stranger jumped into the vent after him. He managed to get his head out of the way in time, and by the time he’d recovered she had already closed the vent and was looking at him expectantly.
“Okay, get you out of that cell, check. Next step, power the ship down if possible. Have any ideas as to how to do that?”
The edges of panic were starting to come back, “You don’t?”
“To be perfectly honest, I haven’t been a part of this whole magic thing for a while . . .”
Did she just say “Magic”?
“. . . but even though I don’t know a fifth of what’s going on or how everything works, I’ve still managed to get us a way off this ship, overpower a guard without raising an alarm, and get you out of your cell. Considering my limitations I feel that’s quite an accomplishment. Now, part of the reason I got you out was because you needed to be able to freely move about the ship, and the other part is because I was hoping you would know how to shut this ship down so my exit strategy can get here a lot sooner. So how about it, you able to come up with something or do I just have to go down to engineering and start smashing things with the hope I don’t touch something that’ll wipe us from existence?”
For a moment he was speechless. Then, slowly, his mind shifted back into gear. Taking another breath – he was consciously doing that a lot lately – he stopped worrying and started helping.
“I’m not a dedicated engineer, but I’ve been on ships long enough that I know a few things that’d work. But we’ll need to keep everyone out of engineering while and after I’m done working, because anyone who knew what they were doing could undo my work in moments I’m sure.”
She hopped, “Excellent, now we have a plan. This way.”
“Wait,” he grabbed her shoulder, “We have to get Uryo.”
“I don’t know where he is.”
“Follow me.”
Tarilan
“And no one” Tarilan screamed, “Thought it worth mentioning – mentioning – that there was going to be a human fighting in that match? Huh? No one thought that maybe I wouldn’t find that particular piece of information in the least bit useful – vital – even?”
No one on the bridge dared to move, or even breathe. Everyone knew the slightest gesture, eye contact, or movement would elicit an immediate retribution. They all knew the drill, you couldn’t serve on Tarilan’s ship without learning it very quickly. He knew what he was doing when it came to smuggling and the occasional slave deal, but it wasn’t like those particular occupations attracted the most understanding or kind-hearted individuals. If nothing else could be said about him, Tarilan knew his own flaws. Every time he felt another one of his rages coming, he sequestered himself in his office, and only exited once, by the sound of it, every object in it had been broken several times over. He knew crew could not be as easily replaced as office furnishings.
Even though his rant had been phrased as a question, no one answered. Tarilan hadn’t expected nor wanted anyone to answer. In the coldly logical part of his mind, he knew that he watched the lists of the torzo matches he chose to participate in closer than anyone, and the human hadn’t been registered until long after the designated cutoff date. How he had managed was beyond him, but that didn’t change the fact that a human had indeed fought, and shattered every and all expectations by managing to win without spilling a single drop of blood. It hadn’t just been stronger, it had been laughably so, to be able to pull off a stunt like that. Rolai hadn’t stood a chance. Tarilan’s understanding didn’t extend to the slave Gaoian, however. He had known the risks of losing, and he had lost. Knowing he couldn’t have won didn’t bring back Tarilan’s lost credits.
Everyone knew what Rolai losing meant, but he felt like reiterating it. “No doses for Uryo, not until he starts seizing. Anyone I find giving him a little something to take the edge off will wish I’d put them in the ring with the human.” He stormed out of the bridge, heading for the brig. Now that he was sure he was in control enough to avoid killing Rolai, he could face him. As much as he might have disliked admitting it in the moment, the few strategic matches Tarilan entered the Gaoian in every cycle since his capture, he won far more often than not. Part of that Tarilan knew was because of what each loss meant to Uryo physically – as did Rolai – and part of it was because of the threat of even further pain when he returned from such a defeat. Even though that defeat had been inevitable this time didn’t mean he could show leniency.
He entered the brig, and instantly knew everything was wrong. Rolai’s cell was empty, and Myxis lay on the floor, coughing and rubbing his neck as he slowly got to his feet. Something hot pressed at the center of Tarilan’s chest.
“Myxis,” he asked in a hoarse whisper, “Where’s Rolai?”
Myxis looked at the cell, his eyes wide, then back at Tarilan, mouth working for several moments before sound followed, “I – I don’t know! I was just sitting here guarding him when a sudden weight crashed down on me, and then I couldn’t breathe! Someone had a rope or something around my neck, and next thing I knew I was waking up with a pounding headache and you were there! I swear I’m telling the truth, you have to believe me!”
Tarilan did, but he also could feel another rage coming. He was too far from his office, but Myxis was right here. “If it makes you feel any better, I do.”
Rolai
“He’s alive?” Rolai looked up from situating Uryo in a comfortable corner.
“Yeah,” the stranger said, reappearing from somewhere deeper in engineering, “He was like a big insect so I thought if I tried to choke him I’d’ve ended up breaking his exoskeleton, so I tied him up with a bunch of wires I found in a console.”
“‘Like a big insect’? You mean a Mjrnhrm?” He moved to the nearest control panel and starting punching buttons.
“I guess?” she shrugged, “Haven’t been formally introduced to their species yet.
He paused in his work for a moment in incredulity, “You haven’t met an entire species? How new to space travel are you? And for the record, they have endoskeletons, the outer layer’s just chitin. If you’d cracked it it would have grown back.”
“Oh,” she paused a moment in thought before continuing, “And if by space travel you mean magic, then pretty fucking new.” Disregarding the term ‘magic’ again, her use of the act of procreation as a modifier suddenly reminded him where he had last seen her.
“You were there,” he blurted, “At the torzo match. You were that human’s handler. He pointed at you and called you ‘the little fucker over there’ and I remember how odd that sounded.”
“He called me what?!” the little fucker squeaked indignantly.
“I admit that’s an odd name for a species. I mean, aren’t we all little fuckers when you get down to it? But I try not to –”
“Eallva,” she growled, “My name’s Eallva.”
“That sounds a bit more reasonable,” he admitted, “I’m almost done. When I’m finished the ship’ll be running on emergency power only and the engines will be inoperable. I’ve also made it so Life support will shut down.”
“Like I said I’m new to this,” Eallva interjected, “But I feel like something called ‘Life support’ is something rather important to have running.”
Rolai nodded, “It is. It’s what recycles our air supply, but it’s also the system that allows anyone on the bridge to hit a button and vent the atmosphere from any particular room. I’m nowhere near tech savvy enough to mask where all these shutdowns will be originating from, so the moment this goes down someone on the bridge will check the camera feeds in here. I’d seal the door, but it’ll just disengage when the power drops out, so we’ll need another way to keep that shut which I hope you’ve already figured out. Assuming we do succeed in keeping them at bay then shutting down life support will prevent anyone from killing us with as much effort as it takes to lift a finger.”
“I’m so glad you were here to think of that because I didn’t even know that was a potential risk.”
“Since you didn’t answer the obvious I’m guessing you haven’t really been brought up to speed on life support systems in general. Once I shut that down the ship won’t be getting any new air, so we’ll have [6 or 7 hours] before we all die.”
Her eyes widened, “Oh shit, yeah, that seems like a problem.”
“Unless,” he continued over her, “Your exit strategy gets here before that time. If they don’t then we have a problem that I don’t know how to fix.”
“We should be fine, then,” she said, though she didn’t sound as sure as he’d have liked, “He’ll be here before that.”
“Hope you’re right,” he conceded, “And the door? You’re keeping that shut how exactly?”
“Like this.” Hopping over she pressed her back against it, keeping it shut with her body. It was the only door on the ship where such a maneuver would work. It was more a hatch really, strengthened and supported so that, when closed and sealed, it could contain any explosions short of a core breach. In theory her plan could work, but still. . .
“You’re going to keep it closed against the entire crew? For however many hours it’ll take for your guy to get here?”
“You have a better idea?”
“No, but won’t you get tired?”
She shrugged, “Honestly I don’t really expect them to be able to do that much. In this position I can push back very hard, and for a decently long time.”
“If you say so. We ready?”
“They have any way of cutting through this?” she patted the door.
“No. Normally a ship like this would, but Tarilan worried I might use any plasma torches or fusion blades to cut off the door to Uryo’s safe and stash some of his doses away for later.”
“Alright, the main takeaway I got from that is they can’t cut through the door, so I say we’re ready. Go ahead and shut it down and then why don’t you explain to me what’s up with coma patient over there,” she jerked her tail at Uryo, who hadn’t moved since Rolai had deposited him in the corner.
He entered the final sequence into the console. Instantly the room went dark, only moments later to be replaced by an unsettling blue glow as the emergency lights activated. The deep thrumming of the engine ceased, leaving a void anyone who worked on ships for a living dreaded.
“What do you want to know?” he asked, trying hard to sound unconcerned as quiet shouts of alarm sounded from the other side of the door.
“Why he’s all like . . . that.”
A voice echoed throughout engineering, “Jhrnm, what’s going on down there why are we –”
Rolai hit a button, muting the channel, “I assumed, just don’t like talking about it. I’m guessing you’ve never heard of Pharenol-6?
She did an odd shoulder shake that his translator informed him meant “no”.
“It’s basically the staple of the slave trade. Some places don’t use it, like slave mines, because it makes workers slow and sloppy, but other places like plantations or gas barges – places where the workers aren’t operating heavy, dangerous equipment – go through the stuff by the barrel. It’s an extremely addictive drug that induces euphoria in the user and makes them extremely open to suggestion. I could order Uryo to chew his own leg off and as long as he was doped up like he is now he’d do it without hesitation. It even dulls unpleasant sensations like pain or extreme cold or heat to the point that I doubt he’d even feel it.”
Eallva looked horrified, “I knew you guys had magic up here but I never thought you did shit like that. I’d almost prefer whips and chains.”
“I’m going to get him off it, though,” Rolai growled, hardly listening to her, “When we get out of here I’m getting us back to Gao and rehabilitating him.”
“Will he be the –” something hit door. Eallva shifted but the door didn’t budge. Several louder impacts followed, with similarly no effect. “– same?”
“Of course not,” Rolai snapped, “I’ll never be the same as I was when we were captured. But he’ll be better. He’ll be a semblance of himself, not this empty shell.”
“Rolai!” Tarilan’s shout came from the other side of the door, “I know you’re in there. Your little friend can’t brace that door forever! Once we get in there I’m going to –”
“Pleasant fellow,” Eallva mused, raising her voice over the increasingly violent threats.
“Yup.”
6 hours later
Rolai had to admit, Eallva hadn’t been lying when she said she could keep that door shut against the entire crew. [6 hours] later and the only indication of anyone getting tired was the increase in time between the impacts on the other side of the door. A few hours ago they’d tried sustained pushing, but that’d had as much effect as the battering strategy.
She on the other hand still looked relaxed, not once having shown any apparent strain. If he hadn’t known better he would have thought she wasn’t actually putting any effort into the current affair. But she had to be, right?
“So,” He broke the silence of the last hour, “Think it’ll be soon?”
She sighed, “Funny, for some reason I feel like you’ve asked that question before.”
“Just feel like reminding you that our air supply is limited.”
“I’m aware.”
“Making sure,” he finished, restarting his internal clock to ask the question again in another [hour] or so. His clock suddenly stopped when he felt the ship shake almost imperceptibly.
“Someone just docked.”
Eallva perked up, “That what that was? Finally. What’d he do, take a nap before looking for me?” she didn’t wait for him to answer, “Can you patch me into wherever he’ll be entering the ship, I gotta talk to him before he murders the entire crew.”
“Wait what? Who’s your exit strategy?”
“The human you fought, didn’t I say?”
Rolai froze, “Definitely not.”
“Oh,” Eallva squeaked, “Well don’t worry, he’s harmless if he’s not angry at you, and I can assure you he’s not. With you.”
“But everyone else on this ship . . .”
“It’s best if I talk to him the moment he boards.”
“They’re not going to open the airlock doors for him.”
She laughed, “That doesn’t mean he’s not boarding.”
Rolai walked back to the console he’d instigated the shutdown from earlier and entered the necessary keystrokes, “You’re on.”
“Is it both ways?”
Before he could answer a shout came through the speakers, “They’re cutting through the door! Hold the line!”
“Whatever you guys are doing,” Eallva yelled from her position at the door, “I wouldn’t do it if it involves shooting at him.”
“Who’s this,” Tarival’s voice sounded.
“Rolai’s ‘little friend’, that’s my backup coming through. Just trust me, don’t shoot him when gets through the door. You’re just going to piss him off more than he probably already –”
“Open fire!” the sound of multiple pulse guns firing at once came over the speakers, followed instantly by what sounded like those same pulses dissipating against a wall.
“Shit, Selvim! Selvim, you there?”
“Eallva? That you? Where are you, are you safe?” Selvim’s worry was palpable as the sound of pulse fire continued unabated, “Hold on give me a sec.”
“No! Wait! Don’t kill them.”
A long pause as the pulse fire seemed to grow more frantic, “You sure? I’m holding the piece of the airlock door that I cut out and was going to drop it on them, but right now it’s the only thing standing between me and a nasty bruising.”
“I’m fine, I’m safe, you don’t need to kill them.”
Another long pause, “Have it your way. One sec.” Shouts of dismay and surprise joined the pulse fire, which became more erratic, as if the operators were firing in every direction at different rates. Sounds of pain joined soon after.
“Hey,” Eallva snapped, “What’d I just say?”
“Not killing anyone,” came Selvim’s grunted reply, “Just pacifying some.”
The shouts continued but the pulse fire quickly began to dwindle, until it was gone entirely. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Fuck, see I told you, now your arm’s probably broken and I’m still standing. Sit down with everyone else and – shit, I said sit you moron – better. Eallva, where you at?”
“Engineering.”
“On my way. Nobody try anything stupid, my ship’s doors are sealed and if those of you that can still move find any other pulse rifles I’ll break those too when I get back.”
Some time passed with nothing but the sound of pained groans before several shouts were heard on the other side of the door. Those too quickly joined their brethren over the speakers, followed by a knock. “It’s me, open up.”
Eallva opened the door, revealing the human standing over a group of Tarilan’s crew, several sitting with their arms up, most lying on the floor with one or several limbs broken.
“You took your sweet time,” Eallva complained, “What were you oof” she was cut off as the human grabbed her in literal bone-crushing hug.
“What the fuck is wrong with you,” his voice cracked, “Why’d you run off like that? You don’t know the first thing about the stuff out here, you could have gotten yourself killed! What did you do, how’d you end up here?”
Somehow Eallva was able to speak in a hold Rolai felt would have crushed his ribcage, “Holy shit, what’s gotten into you? I’m fine, I swear. I’ll tell you everything, but could we get out of here first?”
The human held her for a while longer, then let go, “Fine, but I expect an explanation the moment we’re under way.”
“Maybe, I’m kind of tired. We’ll see,” Selvim opened his mouth, “There’ll be one, I promise.”
The human didn’t look happy, but turned his attention to Rolai, “Hey, you.”
Eallva gestured to Uryo’s corner, “And we got another one over there.”
“So they were both –”
“Yup.”
“How did you?”
“Hunch.”
“No seriously.”
Rolai cleared his throat, “I was under the impression we were leaving?”
Eallva looked abashed, “Sorry. Selvim, you got Uryo over there?”
In answer the human gently and effortlessly picked up the conscious but unmoving Gaoian in the corner, “Follow me.”
“We have to get the Pharenol-6,” Rolai said as they left engineering.
“The what?” asked Selvim. Eallva answered for him.
“They put him on some drug, tell you later, I’ll go with Rolai, you take Uryo to the ship.”
“You’ll be safe?”
“How many of the crew in the airlock can still move without support?”
“Three? Four? Didn’t count.”
“We’ll be fine.”
“Take this at least,” he pulled one of the fusion scythes off his back and handed it her.
“Really we don’t need –”
“We do,” Rolai interrupted, “to get the safe open. It’ll be faster.”
They passed the last of the cargo hold doors, “Fair enough,” she turned to Selvim, “Meet you at the ship.”
Selvim turned right, they broke left. The sight awaiting them in the brig brought them both up short.
“Is that?” Eallva sounded sick.
“Myxis,” Rolai said grimly, “Tarilan found him in here with me gone. Grab everything in that safe,” he said, gesturing as he passed to inspect what was left of Myxis’ corpse.
“I’m sorry about this,” he whispered as he pawed through the remains, looking for something, “He was usually good about not killing anyone. Guess you just got unlucky.” Finding it, he extricated Myxis’ pulse pistol from his utility belt and shoved it down his overalls as it reconfigured itself to better suit him, making sure to keep his actions shielded from Eallva. Patting it down to be sure it didn’t show he turned around, “Got everything?”
Her arms were full, “Yup, anything else?”
“Nope, let’s go.” Both were quiet as he led the way to the airlock, absorbed in thought. When they reached it Rolai saw the human hadn’t been exaggerating. Of the thirty odd beings in the room only four looked in good health. The rest lay painfully at odd angles, moving gingerly to keep any and all weight off their twisted limbs. He searched the group for Tarilan, spotting him front and center, glaring daggers. Falling a little behind Eallva, Rolai withdrew the pistol, and shot Tarilan in the head.
At the sound Eallva spun, several Pharenol-6 patches falling. She stared wide-eyed as Tarilan’s corpse slumped to the ground, “What are you doing!?” she screamed, “We weren’t killing anyone!”
“You weren’t,” Rolai spat, “I never agreed to anything. He deserved it.” Stooping he picked up the dropped patches, “Come on,” he said, moving towards the destroyed airlock door. Eallva sputtered behind him for several moments, growled in frustration, then followed.
“You’re sure they won’t just catch up to us once they get the engines back on?” Rolai asked as I jumped us to warp. I’d heard what had happened in the airlock, and had firmly decided it was none of my business, so I didn’t bring it up.
“Nope, this ship’s got a pretty hefty cloaking device. Nothing like a hunter’s but easily good enough to keep us out of a cargo ship’s sensors.”
“Good. Thank you for helping.”
“I didn’t do it for you.”
“I know, but thank you nonetheless.”
It grew quiet. “Hey, sorry if I dislocated your shoulder earlier.”
“You didn’t, just pulled something. It’s fine.”
Another pregnant pause. Might as well just ask him, “You need a ship, right?”
He looked up questioningly.
“Well Eallva and I just came into a bit of cash, all thanks to Hedonist. We can drop you off at the nearest station with enough to get you a decent shuttle and then be on our way. I’d offer to take you ourselves but . . .” I looked back to where Eallva had stormed off into the stern of the ship upon boarding, “That and I honestly don’t give that much of a fuck about you.”
Nice.
Oh hey look who decided to stop pouting.
Rolai interrupted my conversation like the dick that he was, “It’s fine. We don’t need your money. Just drop us off at the nearest station and we’ll find passage on a ship heading for Gao, there’re enough around here.”
“Fair enough,” I hit a couple buttons, “Looks like the closest station is whoa, never seen that before.”
“What?” Rolai looked over my shoulder at the flight path given to me by computer. The longest of the space-routes taken to get us to the destination was red and covered in warning advisories. If he hadn’t been covered in fur he would have gone pale. “Whatever you do, don’t go there.”
“Huh? Why? Are there pirates? Hunters?”
“No, those have their own advisories. That’s an unknown phenomenon, and it was because of what’s there that Uryo and I were captured.”
“Okay,” I leaned back in my chair, “I’m gonna need the whole story.”
“Uryo and I are both clanless, but ever since we left the commune we’ve made sure to work on the same ship as each other, usually cargo haulers. On our last ship we were traveling through that space-lane – I didn’t have quite so many warnings on it, instead just urging caution as several vessels had disappeared in it – when we stopped. I was keeping Uryo company in engineering while he worked.”
“Since I wasn’t on the bridge I don’t know why we stopped, because I know we weren’t hit with a gravity spike, but soon after stopping every alarm went off and the captain got on the intercom yelling for everyone to abandon ship, that we’d been boarded and something was killing everyone. We could hear the screams in the background. Engineering sections on cargo trawlers usually have their own escape pods because they’re so far removed from the rest of the ship. We did exactly as ordered and high-tailed it to the engineering pods. We were the only ones that jettisoned; all other pods remained in their berths. Once we ran out of the few rations we put ourselves in stasis. Tarilan woke us up.”
“Wow,” I said once I was sure he’d finished, “I don’t know what to tell you. Guess we’ll head for the second nearest station.”
“Make sure you do,” he warned before leaving the cockpit, presumably to check on Uryo. I punched in a query for the next closest station, checked to make sure none of the routes were highlighted in red, then hit “Go”.
A person appeared sitting on the console to my right. One moment I was alone, the next I wasn’t. I jumped from my seat, yelling in surprise, drawing a fusion blade on reflex. The person was human, wearing an obviously tailored business suit like they had just come out of a board meeting. Their face . . . was mine. I’ve heard it said that we’re so used to how we appear in a mirror that if we actually saw ourselves as others do we wouldn’t recognize ourselves. That wasn’t the case here. I’d never owned a suit like that in my life, but I knew that face was mine.
The intruder looked at me, unconcerned at the fusion blade I waved before him.
You have a hunch about what happened to Rolai’s ship, don’t you? The stranger’s lips – my lips – moved, but the voice that followed didn’t reverberate around the cockpit, instead coming to me as I’d been hearing it for some time in my head. The person smiled wide, seeing my shock.
Hi, we haven’t formally met yet, have we?