by Cally Black
I pull on the headset. The whistles are loud and strong and drag me back through time and space, back to standing with my elbow over my face squealing out her name. Tootoopne! I rip the headset off and look up at Rochford.
‘It’s Tootoopne!’ I say. ‘It’s not an intercept. She’s talking right at us!’ Then it hits me that there never were any intercepts. She knew that this ship was listening the whole time, with me translating. She only had to give a few hints and Rochford would send rockets buzzing off wherever she wanted. Puppets!
‘What does she want?’ Rochford asks.
‘She’s talking to us! Directly!’ I say, dizzy with the truth of it. ‘She knows everything. She knew you were listening.’
‘You translate. You leave the thinking to us,’ Rochford says.
Tāmāde! Too stupid to know it. I pull the headset back on. ‘I speak for all Garuwa,’ she whistles. ‘Our borders are closed. This space belongs to the Garuwa. If you wish to pass or to mine here, you will need our permission. And you will need to make payment.’
I translate her message. ‘That’s all there is,’ I say.
‘Is that a threat?’ Rochford asks.
‘I dunno,’ I say. ‘Tootoopne don’t need to make threats.’
‘Gah!’ says Rochford, and heads to the door.
‘She’ll pop a hole in the hull of this ship before you even know it!’ I warn as the door slides shut.
I turn to Song. ‘She can do that. She has a right to do that. Now she’s told you how it’s gonna be, that’s how it’s gonna turn out.’
Song nods slowly. ‘Tell me more,’ she says.
So I tell her how the hives need the minerals that humans take, and how firing on the hives makes them need more minerals to repair. Never mind they’re all the things I think I’ve said before, this time she’s listening.
‘So rather than fight, she wants to negotiate? But after she’s stolen a whole pile more minerals and ships. So is she holding them for ransom?’ Song asks. ‘To force us to negotiate, or are they a wall she thinks we won’t fire on? Or did she need all those minerals to build this thing?’
‘She’s smart. She’s real smart,’ I say, cos I can’t even guess. ‘And I don’t think she’s doing it to negotiate. I think she has a plan, and you need to go along with it or go away. Pull back to Dios like you said.’ Then I shake my head. ‘But I’m not going with you. I’m going to find Gub. I’m going to that thing Tootoopne is building.’
‘You think he’s still alive?’ Song asks.
I nod. ‘Tootoopne made me a promise not to kill babies. She promised. And anyway, this thing she’s doing now, it’s not about war, it’s about protecting her hives. It’s about making humans understand.’
Song has lots of questions about Tootoopne, like she’s trying to understand her. Me, being the person who should know how Tootoopne thinks by now, I’m just angry for not figuring her out. How can I be any help to Song?
So I tell her about the code in the static. About how only Antonee and Daniel know the code, but Daniel is on Dios and Antonee is dead. But I’m sure it’s real. Not ghosts.
Then Rochford is howling from Song’s screen, ‘Ask her, who is this clown, James?’
Song looks at me, but all I’m doing is frowning and shaking my head, cos this can’t be real. ‘Who?’ she asks.
‘James!’ Rochford barks back. ‘Ambassador Anthony James. Self-appointed probably. The idiot says he’s ambassador to the Garuwa peoples and Starweaver Shipping are to negotiate terms with him.’
I can’t hardly make sense of what he’s saying, but still I yell: ‘Is Antonee alive?’
‘I don’t know if he’s alive,’ Rochford says. ‘This rubbish is being broadcast from all three of those freighters they’ve stolen. Who is he?’
‘Captain Anthony James of Starweaver My Sharona,’ I say, thinking back to meeting him that day in the washroom, him standing with his chest out proud as. And I’m breathing life back into his name just by saying it. So I shout it. ‘It’s Captain Anthony James! Let me hear him!’
ONE FAT CAT
And there he is, his voice warm and rough, filling my heart with hope, never mind I saw his cut-off hand lined up with the dead hands of all the other captains. He’s talking about being the Ambassador, but me, I’m not paying attention to that. What I’m listening to, under the drawl of his voice, is the tapping. ‘Tap, tap, tap, tip-tip.’ It’s 8, one fat cat. Love never-ending. And I want to scream, is Gub okay? But this is a recording. And the tapping goes on.
‘C-o-m-e-h-o-m-e.’
This is for me. This message is for me, and on the table I tap-slide, cos I’ve got it, never mind he can’t hear that.
He wants a meeting. He wants to negotiate. He suggests Starweaver send their negotiator before they attempt to re-enter Garuwa space. And I’m pretty sure he wants me there too.
‘We’ll go to him,’ I say. ‘We’ll go to him and negotiate. It’s the only way.’
‘No!’ Rochford snaps from Song’s screen. ‘He’s probably got a gun to his head. This could be a trap. They don’t know we’re so close and ready for battle. Why negotiate, when we can have it all?’
‘Rochford!’ I yell. I want to punch him again, but he’s disconnected. ‘Song! This isn’t the time for fighting. Captain James wouldn’t lure anyone into a trap. He’d die first.’
She puts her hand on my arm. ‘That’s what I would’ve said about you,’ she says softly. ‘Garuwa have a way of getting to people.’
It’s like she’s stabbed me in the throat. All this time, everything I’ve told her and she still don’t fully trust me. I try to meet her eyes but she’s tapping on her screen.
She finally looks up at me. ‘The family on Starweaver Hey There Delilah, the ones I’ve got minding Tamiki, their last name is James.’
‘Antonee’s got his family there?’ I ask. ‘Then it must be safe. He wouldn’t bring his family to somewhere not safe.’
Song’s shaking her head. ‘Maybe Tootoopne did it to force Captain James to do as she wants. Maybe they’re all hostages now. How can we trust him?’
‘No! She wouldn’t do that. She understands about family,’ I say.
‘You said she only pretends to have a heart and kills everyone anyway,’ Song says, raising an eyebrow.
‘No. Not like this. This is different,’ I say, speaking fast, the words tumbling out. ‘I didn’t know then that she’d kept Antonee alive. You are master of prospects. You can negotiate for Starweaver. You and me, we go to this new hive-ship-stack thing and talk to him like he wants.’
Song’s shaking her head. ‘But Tamara, the attack fleet have already left the Jolene. They left before James’s message came through.’
‘Call them back! This is a mistake!’ I’m on my feet, leaning over her, and she’s scrambling sideways to avoid me. ‘Tell Starweaver to call them back!’ I yell, and she’s reaching for her watch.
I grab her wrist, lock it under my arm so my back is to her. She pounds on my shoulder blades with her free arm. I swipe her watch, unlock my bracelet the way I saw Israel do it that day when I punched Rochford, then lock it tight around her wrist and hit the knock-out button. She collapses onto the couch.
I AM THE WEKU
The corridor outside is empty, all the mercs off fighting or watching the battle, and for once I’m glad we’re on the merc level and so far in. I run for the stairs with one of Song’s feet under each arm, dragging her on her back, her floppy arms out to the side knocking boxes and stools left against the walls. The stairs are gonna hurt her head so I sit her up and pull her arm over my shoulder so I’m doing a fireman lift, but that’s hard as with her all floppy.
One flight in and my knees and shoulders scream at me to dump her, but my heart’s kicking hard as, fear’s prickling at my scalp, driving me on. Another flight of stairs in and it’s all getting easier in the lighter grav.
By the time we hit the landing bay level, I’m dragging her along by one foot, taking big st
rides, her skidding across the floor on her back behind me.
Outside the door, I stow her sleeping body to one side, take my bracelet and her watch off her arm, then use her watch to open the landing bay doors.
It’s empty except for the one round black Garuwa flyer. The rockets are all gone. So many rockets. My bones chill. They’re all heading to blow up my little Gub and Antonee. Me trying to guess how long it’s been silent like this. How much of a head start do they have?
I step through. The only guard on duty is the big man with the circuitry tattoos over his face. The annoying one, always putting his foot out, the one I’m never sure isn’t part bot or something.
‘So, little Vulture, come to visit your Uncle Swagger, huh?’ he says. I walk over with a smile and drop, wrapping myself around the big man’s ankles, pressing the bracelet into the flesh of his calf. I set it off as he reaches down, grabs me by the back of the jacket and throws me. I bounce on hands and feet, scramble up. The big man is still staggering around, reaching to unclip his weapon from the holster under his arm, so I go low again. Get the bracelet on his other calf and finally he goes down, slapping with fumbling fingers at his watch when he hits the floor. I scramble over him and push his hands apart.
‘Vulture,’ he groans and passes out.
I go back and pick up Song, who’s mumbling, all groggy and stumbling legs as I walk her in, one arm over the back of my neck.
I stop at Swagger’s now knocked-out body and put Song on the floor beside him, thinking, What kind of monster am I that does this stuff? Song’s been nothing but good to me. But I wrestle off Swagger’s watch anyway, wave it over the security pass panel on the console, then hit the button that says, ‘Cycle airlock’. I figure if they’re putting a meathead like Swagger in charge of opening and closing the airlock, it must be mostly automatic. Immediately the console asks Swagger to confirm something, but he ain’t gonna be doing that, so my game is almost up. How many minutes before they figure out Swagger’s not just being a slacker, I dunno.
Song is groggy-grumbling when I pick her up again, try to run her to the flyer. ‘It’s going to be okay,’ I tell her as I wrap my arm around her middle and get her, feet dragging, to the Garuwa flyer. ‘I’ll keep you safe.’ I lay my hand on the flyer’s warm thick black skin. ‘Do you want to go home?’ I whistle. The black coating peels away and I open the door and shove Song in, then loosen off the tethers, the minutes sliding away. Shit.
The landing bay door beeps behind me. Rochford stands there, staring at Swagger on the floor. Then he sees me ripping the last tether from the round flyer, and draws his weapon. His cold-arse eyes find mine, look into me and see everything wrong with me. Maybe he can even see me wishing I’d grabbed Swagger’s weapon, me still trying to judge if I can run and dive for it before he can get a shot off. But Swagger’s holster’s squashed on his side. Can’t even see that the weapon’s still in there after he fell.
‘Step away from that flyer,’ Rochford says, and smiles like he’s caught me out, caught me turning Garuwa.
But there ain’t nothing wrong with me.
I am the Weku that calls life from the darkness. I am the only one who understands both sides.
SHIPPING COMPANY BUSINESS
‘You need to let me talk to them,’ I yell. ‘If you attack this thing, you’ll make it worse.’
‘Get over here,’ Rochford says. ‘Attempting to escape is a serious offence. It’s over for you.’
‘No,’ I say. ‘I have to get to Tamiki. Even if you shoot me, I’ve got to get back to him.’
Rochford’s eyes move to the flyer behind me, and he frowns. I turn. Song is sitting on the flyer’s seat, and she has Swagger’s weapon. Probably grabbed it while she was lying beside him. And it’s pointing at me.
‘Song!’ I whisper. ‘No!’
But then she swings it over to Rochford, and my heart lifts.
‘Rochford! Slide that weapon over here!’ Song yells and I can’t hardly believe it. She’s on my side!
I duck and run towards the flyer.
‘This will get you fired,’ Rochford warns Song. She shoots at his feet, makes him leap sideways.
‘Next time, I aim for your head. Drop the weapon, kick it over here, step out of the landing bay and shut the door. What we are doing here has nothing to do with a bloody merc!’ she yells like this is her idea. ‘This is shipping company business!’
Rochford’s face has gone pointy like a goose but he does what she says, shaking his head and scowling like she’s in for it, as he reaches to hit the door control.
‘Come on!’ Song yells.
I leap onto the seat beside Song, pushing her half off, jabbing with my thumb at the space behind the seat so she edges round there. Then I whistle, ‘Swa tu Tzaar!’, hit the starter and haul at the overhead paddles like I’ve seen Tweetoo and Wooloo do so many times. The flyer goes straight up and we’re floating. Song and me, a mess of arms and legs, me standing on the seat, bracing my shoulders against the roof, begging the little flyer for help, Song shouting, ‘Do you know how to fly this?’
I shove paddles again in an arc towards the airlock door. It stays shut, so I fire on it, open up a hole big enough for this little flyer to slide through, then into the airlock, causing the emergency set of doors to come down behind us. The exterior doors open, and I’m guessing it’s cos this freighter can’t afford to lose any more airlock doors after the Garuwa attack. We’re cycling through the airlock!
Out in the blackness, I shove the flyer into high speed, then hit the communications link.
‘Antonee!’ I whistle, hoping bad as he can hear me. ‘I’m in a flyer, I’m coming to find Gub! I don’t know where you are! Help me!’
Song’s got control of herself, pushing against the chair to stop from floating. ‘Tamara! You don’t have a clue what you’re doing, do you?’ she says.
‘You trusted me,’ I say, twisting a bit to look at her. ‘Don’t stop now.’
Song shakes her head. ‘I’m still not sure, but this is my job, and if the mercs are about to screw negotiations, then that’s not going to help Starweaver. And someone needs to see you reunited with Tamiki. I did promise that much.’
I smile, fighting back tears. ‘Makasih.’
She points out into the blackness where two stars are brighter than all the others. ‘Our rockets went that way, to the thing the Garuwa are constructing. Keep your nose pointed towards that star, the top one.’
EVERYTHING ENDS IN BLOOD
Two drones and a fighter rocket chase us away from the Jolene. Bolts of light suck and burn at the body of our little flyer. This flyer is faster and mostly organic, so it’s hard for the drones to get a fix on. I set it rolling, first one way and then the other, just like I seen Tweetoo do, but a bit rougher. It’s giving my stomach weird drops and making me dizzy. Song groans and hangs on. But soon, the bolts of light from the rocket just go flashing past below us, and drop away into the darkness.
Song sits, pushing herself hard against the wall, hair all floating and tangled after being dragged and shoved and rolled about, and now not having any gravity.
‘We have to stop Starweaver from attacking it,’ I say.
‘What’s your plan for getting past the rockets?’ Song asks.
‘Go faster?’ I say.
‘Exactly how much flying training have you had?’ Song asks.
I check her watch on my wrist. ‘About four minutes. They won’t see us coming up from behind.’
‘You just get us there alive,’ Song says. Then she takes her watch back off my arm and fastens it around her wrist.
Rockets flare in the distance ahead of us, blazes of light, so many that I don’t know how they ever all fit in the Jolene. We’re racing right into them, cos I’m hoping I can hide in the heat of their burns.
‘Antonee? Tootoopne?’ I whistle into the comms again. ‘Please! Can you hear me? They’re coming!’
‘Weku!’ the comms comes alive. The whistle is Tootoopne’s.
‘Tootoopne!’ I whistle. ‘Many human rockets are coming. They’re going to smash you to bits!’
‘They’re early!’ she says.
‘I’m right behind them!’
‘I see you. Get down to the bottom ship, fast as you can.’
‘Tootoopne!’ I yell. ‘Is my sister there?’
There’s no answer. Just a click like maybe she’s gone off to do something and not heard my question.
My plan to stay in the burn of the rocket fleet seems to be working and no-one turns back to chase us off. Just as we get close enough that I’m worried about frying our hull, I pull up. Four black Garuwa flyers buzz across the front of the Jolene’s fleet, diving like annoying flies, drawing their fire. And we’re in the middle of the topmost craft, the Jolene’s fleet below us like an angry pot boiling up to grab us, pull us in, boil us alive, but no-one’s able to latch onto us. It’s like those moments they tried to lock onto the other flyers confused them. Then we’re up and over, and racing away with only bolts of light chasing us, passing us, sizzling at our little flyer’s skin, knocking us sideways, making my heart thud in my ears, but not stopping us from getting ahead of them.
I’m throwing the flyer this way and that, and the hits keep pounding at us. Any minute one will break through.
Another group of round black flyers come screaming out of the dark, right at us, a crazy game of chicken, but I’m guessing all the Garuwa know the rules of swerving. I don’t, and Song gasps like she don’t either. I squeeze one eye shut as they shoot over the top of us.
They take the fire, fire back, and never mind how good they are, that’s not enough flyers to take on so many rockets from the Jolene. The rockets are going to get through. They’re going to get to the new hive and freighters, to my little Gub, cos he’s in there. I can feel him in there.
A loud smoosh on the wall of the flyer and we jerk sideways so hard Song slams her face on the back of the seat and bounces off, spitting blood. The globs float out and splat on the walls and controls and on my trousers.
