They say that fish and guests have one thing in common: after three days, you’re ready to throw them out.
Well, these Kumo crew :):):):):):):)s had been aboard my ship for about three minutes, and I was more than ready for them to leave.
“Sir, the ramp is still open, but the ship is powered down.”
“The sensors detected the SRV going… that way, along with the signal.”
Then, a louder, gruffer voice. Luthor Benedict.
“What have you got for me, Squigly?”
Jesus... Squigly's here, too? How the hell did he escape the Legion? It's a goddamn Kumo reunion down here.
“Footprints to and from the SRV, and then… the tire tracks lead down the north tunnel. They probably rabbited that way”
“Or maybe that what they want you to think happened. Search the ship.”
No, no, NO! Don’t search the ship.
I saw flashlight through the locker vents, pointing I different direction.
“Cargo bay’s empty.”
Then I heard the footsteps getting louder and louder as they made their way into the crew quarters. More flashlights, some right on the locker. Shining right into my face.
You’re doing great, Kyndi. Don’t make a peep. She was stuffed in a locker, same as me. Only she wasn't a 6' 4" man pulling a contortion act to fit.
“This ship looks :):):):):):):) dead, man.”
“Yeah. They didn’t even pack nothing. Just bugged out in a hurry.”
Luthor’s voice again. “You’re still going to search every goddamn inch of-“
Their comm crackled.“Sir?”
“What?”
“Sensors are showing movement. End of the north tunnel, next to the girl's signal.”
An exhale. “Fine. Get the boys. I want these :):):):)ers dead. And the girl- I don’t care at this point.”
The lights turned around. The footsteps started fading into the distance.
Jesus Christ, I can’t believe that worked.
I still didn’t dare get out. Not until I couldn’t hear them at all. I don’t know how much longer I waited. A minute- or was it ten? I just had wanted to make certain.
Slowly, I opened my locker. I gingerly stepped out- I wasn’t even wearing my boots- and tiptoed up to Kyndi’s locker. Gently opening it, I checked in on her.
There she was, looking me in the eye, covered in sweat, breathing hard. We didn’t say anything, but we weakly nodded to each other.
Silently, we crept along the cargo bay storage. We opened the door- and
She was fine.
Slowly, I removed the helmet from around her head.
“Are you ok?” I whispered.
Katie just nodded. She looked afraid, but she had held it together. Outside the ship, we could hear voices, echoing back to us from the tunnel. It was the Kumos. They were getting worked up over something, but we couldn't make out what they were saying. Then-
Powpowpow. Powpowpowpowpowpow.
Kyndi grabbed my arm in shock. Echoing down the tunnel were human screams and weapons fire. Neither was slacking off.
She got to work getting Katie out of the spacewalking suit, and whispered “What the hell are they firing at?”
I lifted Katie out from the storage closet. Kyndie covered her ears and held her close. Looking out towards the direction of the carnage, I shrugged.“The rats, I hope.”
The battle screams were starting to turn onto death screams. The weapons fire was still sounding off, along with- shrieking? Howling?
What the :):):):) was going on down there?
The echos from the tunnel carried everything to our ears. Men fighting, men swearing, men dieing- and the other sounds. The howling. The shrieking. The sound of flesh being ripped apart.
There weren’t any more assault rifle noises. We heard someone- Luthor, from his voice- screaming at…something, and we heard the steady rhythm of a pistol being emptied at…something.
Then…. a final, guttural moan, followed by the sounds of someone running his fingers through a grapefruit.
And then silence.
I looked at Kyndi. “Now hit the :):):):):):):) ramp button!”
I’ve never been one to care about a ship ramp before, but it couldn't retract fast enough.
******************************************************
Damage or no damage, Hand of Blue being within walking distance or not, there was no way any of us were going out there. Not without contacting the smuggling base. Where the hell had all of those guys been, anyway? Some backup might have been nice.
Katie knew that something was wrong. She had heard the gunfire, and a few of the screams before Kyndi clamped her hands over her ears. Still- the plan, as I had formulated it, had gone off without a hitch. Remove Katie’s tracking chip, attach it a limpet drone, reset the limpet to manual control, and then send both it and an SRV down the longest tunnel we could find. Do everything we can to make the ship look deserted, hide, and watch as they take the bait.
Also: hope that monsters are real.
Like I said, everything had gone according to plan. Even the monsters. Especially the monsters.
But now we were stuck in a damaged ship. And even with no comm, we should have been reading some kind of signal right now coming from the hideout. There wasn’t anything. No signal. No chatter on personal comms. Nothing. Like it wasn't even there.
I made sure that Katie was settled in her bunk, and I sat down with Kyndi to have a quiet chat.
“Something ain’t right. We should have made contact with someone by now.”
She looked toward Katie and leaned in close. “You think? I say we cut our losses, and fly the hell out of here! I don’t know what the hell just happened, but I just listened to a gang of heavily armed Kumos die screaming. And those other noises- they didn't sound human. This ain't an everyday thing, Matty!”
Kyndi looked again. “What the hell are we still doing here?”
I looked toward the entryway. “My ship’s here. And I need to find out what happened.”
She grabbed my hand. “So buy another one. You’ve come all this way just to take a stroll in some cave where Kumos get ripped apart by God-Knows-What?”
I looked again. “I didn’t say I was going to skip and sing to myself out there. I’m just getting to my ship and taking a look around. After that, you fly the hell out of here! It’ll take five minutes tops to pull the thruster intakes and then I’m right behind you!”
Kyndi pursed her lips and walked out of the cabin. She returned holding the gun I had procured from the Kumos. She shoved it into my arms.
“Take this, and don’t dick around. I’m warming up the ship the second you step off.”
I nodded. “Wouldn’t have it any other way. See you when I’m in the Hand of Blue.”
********************************************************************
This was a really bad idea.
The Last Chance’s entry ramp finished raising and sealed shut beside me. Now, I was alone in a cave with something that had just killed off a Kumo Crew squad.
Maybe they’ll stick to that tunnel, and I’ll stick this cavern. That would just be dandy.
I started moving towards the Hand of Blue. She had been parked relatively near the entrance of the smuggler’s hideout, and I could make out her silhouette in the distance.
Something wasn’t right.
The first time I had been down here, I had been escorted by nervous, but heavily armed men. Now, there was no one. I turned on my flashlight, and there were still the cargo containers everywhere- but instead of nice, neat rows, they were in scattered, toppled-over piles. As I walked closer and closer to the entrance, the containers weren't stacked in ready-to-ship cubes, but in blocky rings surrounding the gate.
They were being used as fortifications. But against what?
Silently, creeping along, I could just make out the giant blast doors. I remembered the rhythmic knock that Rax had used, but I wouldn’t even need that- the doors were slightly open, just wide enough for a man to get through. Peering inside, I couldn’t see anything. The lights were dead.
So, this is the part in the holovid where the guy goes through, and then meets a terrible end.
But if this is the last time I’m going to be down here, I want some answers.
I slid my way though the door, holding my plasma rifle at the ready. According to the meter, I had a full charge on the power cell.
Should have bought some IR goggles. Everything is scary when you’re creeping down a pitch-black corridor with nothing but your flashlight. Everything.
I remembered the layout- there was the room where Ziggy had set up my new Pilot’s Fed ID. I walked up to the door and flashed my light inside. It was still a mess… but…
:):):):).
Laying face-down, was….someone. Or at least, the remains of someone. Their clothes and back looked like it had been ripped open.
Ok… no more smuggler base. I get the hint.
Slowly turning around, I made my way a bit further up the hall. Just the bar, and then I’m the hell gone. I found the double-doors under the shattered neon sign, opened the door, and
Oh my God.
The smell hit me before anything else. I only needed to shine my light around once before I knew what had happened. Bodies everywhere- mangled, rotting, ripped apart. I walked over to the bar, and peered down.There was a three meter-wide tunnel under some pushed-aside floor plating. The rats had tunneled right under the place. I looked around again. There was a larger collection of bodies near the other exit, like people had tried to flee and were bottlenecked. It was a disgusting sight, illuminated by the flickering lighting.
Goddamn rats broke through right while everybody was having chow.
Ok. Now it was time to leave.
I backed out, and slowly made my way down the corridor. No sound, no feeling except my heart beating almost right out of my chest cavity.
Nothing, nothing-
I was able to make my way back to my ship, stepping lightly, not making a sound. Gingerly, I pulled the first intake cover off of the Hand of Blue. Give it a tug, step out of the way, and-
WUMP! The sound of it hitting the ground caused echoes throughout the cavern.
:):):):), that had made a lot of noise. But there was nothing I could do about it.
I reached out to tug the other one down, and-
WUMP!
Ok. Almost there. Just get on board and-
“Matt, are you ready yet?”
:):):):), that scared me. She was coming through my damn wrist comm. Kyndi was still sitting in the Last Chance, and getting impatient.
I held up my wrist to my mouth. “Yeah. Just getting in now.”
“Well hurry up. You said you’d be five minutes…it’s been twenty. I’m taking off.”
Right.
I brushed off the Vulture’s ID box, placed my hand on the scanner, and watched it light up as it ID’ed my palm.
<Access Granted>
And then, I heard a hiss somewhere close by. Like a long, drawn out exhale.
Not good.
It was too dark to see anything. I heard the hatch to the Hand of Blue open, and the automated stairs pop out and lower.
I sensed a motion to my right. I spun around , raised the rifles’s night vision scope to my eye, and-
:):):):)!
I fired the rifle several times, watching… it be knocked back in the flashes of green light that illuminated the tunnel.
It’s one of them. :):):):).
“Matt!”
Turning around, I sprinted up the ladder as fast as I could. I could feel one of those things chasing after me. I felt something grab my foot as I was on the last rung.
Oh, HELL no.
I turned around and pointed the plasma rifle with one hand towards it. It had a head, body, arms, legs- and a claw-grip on my flight boot. Several blasts later, there was only the claw, still gripping my ankle.
Time to go.
After sealing the hatch, I ran to the pilot’s seat and started firing up the Hand of Blue’s systems. I kept having to bypass the computer’s suggested pre-flight checks, since the ship hasn’t been flown in weeks.
I know this ain’t how I was taught to do this in flight school, but normal pre-flight check are out the window on this one.
All of the systems turned on exactly as they should. I retracted the landing gear, and the Hand of Blue began to hover in place as I gingerly began to taxi out. I still couldn’t see too well, so I hit the floodlights, and-
They were everywhere.
Those… things… had taken over the cavern. There had to be a least a few dozen, running around beneath me as I drifted toward the exit tunnel. I checked the scopes. Kyndi was long gone, so it was just me and these critters.
Well, I guess there’s only one thing left to do.
I hit the weapons control, deploying two class-3 pulse lasers the size of a damn truck.
You want to come out and play with the human? Well, if you liked my pulse rifle, you’re going to love this!
With that, I angled my ship slightly downward, and squeezed the trigger, sending streams of pure energy toward the monsters. I wasn’t going to hit them all. I wasn’t even going to hit a lot. But there, in the cockpit of my Vulture, it didn’t matter. Whether it’s a ship or a cavern full of underground flesh beasts- when the enemy is in your sights, there’s only one thing to do. My blood was pumping again, but this time it wasn’t fear.
I am Mars the Mother:):):):)ing War God, unsheathing his sword upon the beasts of the underworld!!!!
I hovered all around, sweeping the cavern, holding down the trigger until the capacitors were empty. The gimbals and their targeting systems couldn’t findanything else to lock on to. I watched the two aiming reticles swirl around, looking for new targets. Everywhere I could see, the creatures were running for cover.
But they couldn’t outrun an auto-locking pulse laser.
That’s right, you :):):):)ers. This is why we hairless apes are on ten thousand worlds, while your :):):):):) asses live in caves.
There were only a few left, but Ionly needed a moment to aim, and-
Goddamn, that was satisfying.
I took a deep breath. Looking around, there were blasted cargo containers, ships I had hit, and buggies I had melted down to slag. And also, scattered throughout the chamber, the remains of the creatures I had blasted. When they got hit, they got hit- there weren’t even bodies left over, not really. Just whatever smoking gibs that the beam didn’t disintegrate.
I’m glad we had this conversation.
I flew to the mine shaft opening, angled my Vulture’s nose up, and hit the thrusters. Just like a really long mail slot.
I flew through, and hit the boosters as I broke through the surface. My comm immediately crackled.
“Matt, what the hell were you doing down there? I saw flashes coming from the end of the tunnel, but you never responded on the comm!”
I keyed in. “Just re-establishing the food chain, darling.”
A moment passed. “I was really worried about you.”
“Sorry.”
I found her on the sensors, and we flew next to each in formation. I looked out the canopy to the Last Chance. Although both engines were working, the port thruster was noticeably less bright, and the hull looked like someone had taken a baseball bat to it.
“Kyndi, I know you want to get going something awful, but you’ve got to dock somewhere for repairs. That ship ain’t looking too good.”
Her voice came back over the comm, dripping with sarcasm.
“You think?”
*************************************************************
It turns out that we had a few days to cool our heels on Cleve Hub before setting out again. The damage to the Last Chance had been worse than we thought- a few autocannon rounds had managed to make their way to the reactor housing, and several systems had taken hits. The ship had auto-repaired what it could, but damage was damage. Even though the station was stocked with plenty of spare parts for Cobras, it would still take time to fix.
So here we were, once again playing the part of space-tourists. Like before, we looked like a young family- seeing holo-shows, visiting parks, and generally being sickeningly wholesome.
It wasn’t bad.
By now, walking around with Katie holding hands with both Kyndi and myself had become second nature. By now, it felt strange if there wasn’t a little hand holding onto mine, or there wasn't a little voice trying to get my attention to show me something on a space station that had never been seen by little eyes before. I had never thought of myself as father material before, but damn of there wasn’t a deep kind of satisfaction starting to take root inside me. I was also starting to see the ‘verse through her eyes- Katie had been through so much horror and misery, she had forgotten about the wonder and joy. Now, she was making up for lost time. Everything was new to her, and everything was worth pausing and looking at. Ships flying by a giant window, holo-menus at a restaurant- even a mundane thing like new components being installed on a Type-6 were fascinating to her.
We were eating lunch at a restaurant, just getting ready to leave. The news had been playing on a few holovisions nearby. I normally tuned out the news unless I was on Gal-net in my ship, but in this case, a few things caught my ear.
“-rissa Lavignly-Duval will be crowned as the next leader of the Empire. In an interesting break from the norm, she insists on being referred to as “Emperor”, rather than ‘Empress’. The coronation is set to take place next week on Achenar.”
Kyndi’s eyes raised a bit.
“Well, Matty, looks like your boss is getting one hell of a promotion.”
I chuckled. Yeah, I bet inquisition work is going to get really interesting now that Arissa is on the throne.
“She just pays the bills, darling.”
The news anchor droned on. “In keeping with imperial tradition, citizens from inside the Empire and out will be able to show their support for the new emperor by presenting gifts of slaves. The emperor’s office has stressed that these may be either the indentured slaves common throughout the empire, or unregistered and in forced bondage as a humanitarian gesture.”
Kyndi snorted. “Yeah, that’s the empire for you. Pretending that slavery is this noble thing to be celebrated.”
I tried my best to not look disturbed. “Kyndi, in most cases, imperial slaves are treated better than just about any Federation average working Joe. They don’t live in poverty, don’t have the threat of layoffs hovering above their head, and have certain guaranteed rights that no factory owner in Fed space would ever dream of granting.”
Kyndi started to glare at me, but I continued. “And in the case of the unregistered slaves from out of Imperial space? I guaran-damn-tee you that it's a big step up for them. They’re going to come out of their terms as imperial citizens, probably with a pretty good cash gift at the end, too. It’s tradition for masters to set their freed slaves up with a little something at the end of their terms.”
An uncomfortable moment passed. “Well, Matty, I guess we’re just going to have to disagree on this one. Master or boss- it don’t make a damn bit of difference to me. It ain’t no way to live.”
I smiled. “So, you’re saying that you don’t want to go to Achenar for the coronation? They’re waiving the permit requirement.”
Kyndi smiled back, just a little. “And mix with a big, noisy crowd just to watch some middle-aged woman talk pretty? No thanks. I ain’t going to Achenar for anything less than a room with a view and a bottle of the best wine in the sector.”
I shrugged. “Well, I’m not one for crowds myself. Let’s check on the ship.”
****************************************************
They had even repainted it.
The Last Chance was like new again- hull plating replaced, damaged modules swapped for new ones, and all systems in the green again. I paid for the repairs, and the three of us started getting settled again. Katie was already sitting on her bunk, playing with a few new toys that we had bought her.
I sat down in the pilot’s seat, and Kyndie walked up, hands on her hips. “Don’t you have your own ship, buster?”
One of our stops while staying on Cleve Hub had been to the Pilot’s Federation office. There, I transferred the Last Chance’s title and registration over to Kyndi- it was now her ship.
“Well, it might be a hassle if we kept flying separate ships, so I put mine in storage. Nice, clean bay this time instead of the bottom of a damn cave. I figured we could all travel together to finish this thing.”
Kyndi smiled her Kyndi smile. “Well alright, you big free-loader. But I’m driving. Move outta that seat!”
I got up, and bowed gracefully. “As the captain wishes. But the first mate will insist on continued bunk-sharing privileges!”
Smiling, Kyndi shoved me aside, and I took the opportunity to plug in my regular “Matthew Lehman” ID card. All the usual info came up- credit balance, ranks at things like trade and exploration, and about fifty unread messages. Well, I guess it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?
Some of the messages were normal things from the Pilot’s Fed, a few were from mom and pop, but one….towards the top was one from Cassius Fox, dated afterhe had helped spring me out of the mine back in the Bagaiteru system. The hell? I pressed the open button, and:
<Message received.>
<From Fax, Cassius A.>
<Message is as follows:>
Matt:
To celebrate the coronation of our lady Arissa, Denton is releasing all his political prisoners. If you can get a name from that little girl, there’s a damn good chance you can find out where they’re taking her father. Thought you’d like to know.
-C. Fox
PS: You let me know if that Kyndi has a sister.
<End of message >
Son of a :):):):):).
I was feeling- what, exactly? Elation that Katie was about to be reunited with her father? Sadness that my time with her was coming to an end?
Both. I was feeling both.
I walked back to where Katie was playing on her bunk. She was humming to herself, and was playing with a toy Cobra that we had bought her. It was blue, like the Last Chance.
“Sweety, I have a question.”
She stopped playing and looked up, her eyes quizzical.
“I need to know your daddy’s name. It might help us find him.”
For a long time, Katie just stared. Finally, she spoke. “James. James Allen Taylor. Sometimes his friends call him Jim.”
I nodded. “What about your mommy? You’ve never said anything about her, and I never saw- well, I’ve just never heard you talk about her.”
Katie was silent again, this time for longer. She spoke in a tiny voice, like when we had first met. “The men took her, too. We had lots of people staying with us at our house, and the men came inside and took her and the people. Daddy and I ran to a speeder but they caught us and made us get in a truck with lots of other people.”
So, maybe her mom is alive, too.
“Do you remember your mommy’s name? We might be able to find her.”
She nodded. “Samantha. Samantha Ann Taylor.”
I nodded and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Well, that’s a start, isn’t it?”
I went back to the ship’s computer terminal to see if I could access the information I was after. Patreus’s organization had set up a database for all the people who were being released. Nice of them, I thought. I wonder if any reparations are included in the deal. Lord knows they’re going to need it.
Well, let’s see if this thing is worth a damn.
I input the names of Katie’s parents into the registry, and lo and behold:
<Taylor, James A.>
<Under contract. Primary arms facility 14C on Eiotienses System. Contract status: honorably terminated by employer.>
<Location: En route to New Township, Durius Prime, Durius System.>
Well, Daddy’s coming home. What about Mommy?
<Taylor, Samantha A.>
<Under contact. Personal steward to Cook, Benjamin. Contract status: honorably terminated by employer.>
<Location: en route to New Township, Durius Prime, Durius System.>
And there it is, just like that: the end of this whole ordeal.
Kyndi appeared beside me and put her head on my shoulder. “You ready to go? We’ve got our take-off clearance.”
I gave her a kiss, and gestured towards the panel. “I sure am, captain. Think we’ve got our destination, too.”
Kyndi read it over and gasped. “You mean- Katie?” She looked behind us at the content little girl playing with her new toy spaceship.
I nodded. “Yeah. She’s going home.”
Kyndi's hand wrapped around mine and squeezed. “Well, it’s about damn time.”