by Alex Guerra
They were free to wash up, and I explained how a lot of the ship’s functions worked, which they grasped quickly. I thought about my first few days on The Pillar, walking down halls endlessly, thinking each one would never end. Looking at it now, I don’t see how I ever got lost. The ship was large but satisfyingly simplistic in its layout.
In the galley, the two relished the taste of the ship’s original menu options as I watched with disgust and envy. I figured I would reintroduce them to their culture—what little remained anyway. They weren’t picky, as they tried a little bit of everything—even enjoying the makeshift protein bars I’d concocted. I had vastly improved the recipe to almost a whole twelve different flavors now, a side project I’d given myself during down time. A man could only train for so long, but I would never let Seya hear that. The Yau biology and their habits left them in a stuffed and pleased state after only a few bites.
“It’s nice to meet you all properly now,” said Entosh to the troopers who were eating around the table. “I was beginning to think we would stay on that planet forever. Thank you for sparing us from that fate. Say thank you, Piki.”
Piki had been ravishing a small cup of “strawberry ice cream”, my prized culinary accomplishment. “Thank you,” she said with a shy smile, after gulping down the last of the dessert. She winced and put a hand on her head.
“Do you have a headache?” asked Entosh.
“Brain freeze,” I said. “It’s not as bad as it sounds, but you just need to eat that a little slower.”
Piki nodded, quickly learning from her mistake.
Seya walked into the galley. Entosh flinched once he saw her, getting up quickly and putting himself between her and his daughter. All eyes turned towards the sudden action.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“You’re a Darkkon?” asked Entosh, pointing accusingly at Seya.
“Yes,” said Seya, walking past him further into the galley.
“Why are you here? Your people are the reason my parents had to escape their ship and were stuck on that planet!” said Entosh, keeping a wary eye on her.
“Ease up En. Seya is on our side,” I said, resting a hand on his shoulder. He seemed to drop his guard slightly.
“I-I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions,” said the man, hanging his head in shame.
“Don’t be. We can’t trust the Darkkon Empire right now, but I’m not a threat to you or your daughter. You are part of this team now,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. “Isn’t that right, Art?”
“That’s right. I can have Dotty give you the details on everything that is going on. It would probably be a little easier for it to explain than for one of us. There’s a lot to learn, trust me, I was in a similar situation to you not too long ago,” I said, smiling at him.
Seya walked up to the man and extended a hand in greeting. Entosh eyed the hand, not sure what to do. The Darkkon woman grabbed the man’s plated forearm. “You’re both safe with us. Nice to meet you officially, Entosh, I am Seya Aranis,” she said.
“Entosh, son of Dallo and Ibisa. This is Piki, daughter of Entosh and Parnay,” said Entosh. His daughter gave a small wave to everyone.
“Hi, Enfof,” said Bon.
The team looked at him strangely when he struggled to say the name.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked.
He waved a hand in the air dismissing it, then made a painful face and pointed to his mouth.
“You bit your tongue?” I asked.
He nodded, drawing out a collective, “Again?” from everyone. The man turned orange with embarrassment.
“I’m surprised you still have a tongue,” said Kayton, as she entered the galley.
The marksman shrugged.
“Something we have to consider is where we should set you down with Feylan,” I said to Entosh. “Right now, I’m not sure where that should be, as most places don’t appear to be safe.
“I suggest they stay with us aboard the ship. It’s an environment we can control easily at least,” said Seya.
“I agree,” I said. “For now, that’s the safest bet. We are in a war, after all. I don’t think anywhere is truly safe—not with the recent uptick in the empire’s attacks.”
“I’m not opposed to staying here for the time being. My daughter and I will stay out of your way as best we can,” said Entosh.
“Feel free to go around the ship as you’d like, and if you have any questions, you can ask someone or Dotty. Fair?” I asked him.
“Okay.” He nodded.
When I ordered a dish I knew Seya was fond of eating, she gave me a strange look.
“I thought you didn’t like that stuff,” she commented.
“It’s not for me, but I would imagine our prisoner needs to eat,” I said.
“Gods, I nearly forgot about him,” said Kayton.
“How’s about we go pay him a visit?” I suggested.
*****
Seya and Kayton accompanied me up to the labs, which we were using as a makeshift brig for the time being. Upon arriving at the glass walls that made up the labs on the upper floor, I stopped to stare at the dark purple man lying motionless on the table. Numerous straps held him firmly, so there was no risk in him trying to tamper with anything.
“Hey, you,” I called to the man from beyond the glass, but he didn’t stir. I knocked on the glass. “Yo!”
The soldier finally turned to look at the three of us, his eyes shifting and studying everyone momentarily before turning back to the ceiling.
I gave the women next to me a shrug before opening the door. We strode in and surrounded the soldier as the lab’s door shut behind us.
“Dotty, sit him up, if you would,” I said. The table shifted, forming into a chair. Pulling over another chair and a small table, I set them up between the two of us, placing the plate down on top. The man continued to just stare at me—or rather, through me. Kayton handed me a drink, and I set it down next to the food. “You want to eat, don’t you?”
He continued to stare, barely blinking. I was growing tired of this staring contest. “Look, the food is fine. I don’t know how the Darkkon Empire treats its prisoners, but I’ll treat you fairly. It would be easier if you spoke a little. What’s your name?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“Say something,” said Kayton, giving him a light smack on the back of his head.
The man was defiant and remained silent.
“Don’t tell me out of all the soldiers to grab, I picked the one mute, or are you deaf? Is that it?” I motioned to my mouth and my ear. “Are you deaf? Dotty is he deaf?”
“My evaluations say that he is able to speak and hear clearly,” said the A.I. over the room’s speakers.
I sighed. “Come on, man, don’t play hard ball. If I wanted to torture you, I’d have done it already. Can’t you give me a name?” I asked. He glanced down at the food for a moment.
“Ah, you have hungry eyes. Well,” I said, holding up a fork, “give me your name, and I will let you have one arm to eat with. Fair?”
His dark cheek twitched slightly before he opened his mouth. “Coss.”
“Coss? That’s your name?” I asked.
He nodded his head after some hesitation.
“Alright, Coss, which hand do you prefer eating with?” I pointed left, then right with the utensil. He motioned to his right. “Don’t try anything because you won’t get anywhere with all these restraints. Dotty, undo the binding on his right arm please.”
The straps came loose and retracted back into the sides of the chair. He scratched the flecks of dried blood from our encounter earlier on Garos off his nose, then eyed the fork-like utensil I presented to him.
“Go on, take it,” I said.
Slowly reaching out, he took it, withdrawing it to his side of the table. I inched the plate towards him a little more. He poked at some of the meat on the plate and tried a piece. He didn’t spit it out right away or spit it at me. We let him contin
ue eating in silence.
“How did you find us on that planet?” I asked as he finished up.
He set the utensil down and stared at me with those glowing green eyes of his. His skin was much darker than Seya’s, like a deep plum, and a large scar ran from his temple to just over his ear.
“I don’t know,” he said, suddenly. “I can’t tell you.”
“Can’t or won’t?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I can’t because I don’t know.”
“I’ll tell you how things are going to go down. You can either tell me the truth now, and we can go from there, or when we get down to the planet, I’m going to have these two dissect your mind for every little scrap of information you know,” I said, hooking a thumb between the two.
“And I won’t be quick,” added Kayton, leaning into the man’s face.
“If you kill me, then I will be reborn with everyone else,” he said.
“Kill you?” I repeated the words. “I have no intention of killing you, but I am giving you the option of making it as easy as you want.”
“The choice is yours. Seya has told me about your religion—Kala. I know it gives you the strength to defy odds and frankly, it’s a bit nihilistic. You have this one life to do something worthwhile, so why throw it away waiting for the cosmic reset? You must mean something to someone else out there, if not yourself. Do you have family on the Darkkon homeworld or on Ilo? You want to see them again, don’t you?” I asked.
Coss stared at me, a small frown biting at the corners of his mouth.
“We are your best chance of seeing them again. I just want to know how you found us,” I said, narrowing my eyes at the man.
“I can’t tell you because I don’t know. I go where command tells me. All I know is that we warp in when command finds your position. I don’t know how they find you,” he said.
I had to believe him, and he was only a grunt. While on The Pillar, I had chosen to keep transparency at the forefront, but I was still withholding information about the possible tracking device aboard the ship. I suspected that the Darkkon were much more secretive than I.
I gave the man a hard look despite my understanding, knowing I had to still treat everything he said as a lie. I shrugged, “Fair enough. I will have a bed brought up to you, and you may use the bathroom in this adjacent room. Don’t mess up my ship. You won’t be getting out of here or sabotaging anything. The ship’s A.I. will always have its eyes on you. Unless you prefer I keep you strapped to this chair and shit on yourself for the duration of your stay?” I asked, gathering the empty plate and standing up.
Coss shook his head.
“Alright then, sit tight, and I’ll let you go once we bring you some living items,” I said, turning to leave.
“Wait. You never told me your name,” said Coss.
I stopped in my tracks and looked at the man. “The name’s Arthur Holland.”
*****
The scanner would finish fabricating in eight more hours. It was enough time to set up Piki in her own room.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” said Piki as I showed her to the new accommodations.
“No problem, kid,” I said to the girl. “At this desk, there’s a little spot you tap here that will bring up a screen. Here you can look through encyclopedias and see the news of everything that’s going on. It will be more up to date than the stuff you two have been viewing,” I said to the two Yau.
Dotty make sure to put a child filter on this terminal.
Please specify child filter.
Nothing inappropriate or graphic. I don’t want Piki seeing harmful stuff.
Filter has been set.
“Wow, thank you!” Piki grinned, flashing her silver teeth.
“I suggest you bring yourself up to date. Dotty can help you out with that if you have any questions on what’s going on. Make yourself at home,” I said to her father.
“I appreciate it, Arthur,” he said, letting the girl be. “Don’t stay on that all night, Piki.”
“I won’t,” she said.
We gave our prisoner a blanket and some covers from one of the unused bedrooms. He had free reign about his small laboratory turned jail cell. The melting doors and cabinets locked away all the tools, supplies, and instruments in the lab—much like the lockers throughout the ship. Coss didn’t have anything on him, so we allowed him to pace around, workout, or whatever he decided to do to pass the time.
I wanted to give him a dataslate, but I didn’t know how handy he was, and I wouldn’t risk him doing something that could put us in danger. If his incarceration caused boredom or insanity, then too bad, he was a prisoner, after all, and he’d have to tough it out before we brought him down to Fengar with us. A sinister thought crossed my mind at that moment. Was his mind also blocked like Ellia’s? We would have to find out when we handed him over to the conglomerate for interrogation.
*****
Lying on my bed, flicking through my dataslate, there was a slight knock at my door. Propping myself up on an elbow, I said, “Enter.” Kayton walked in. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I wanted to talk to you for a moment if that’s okay?” she said.
“Sure, have a seat,” I said, gesturing to the chair next to the table. Turning off the dataslate, I placed it beside me and sat at the edge of the bed. “What’s on your mind?”
“We’re waiting for Dotty to make the scanner. I wanted to ask what your plans were if we didn’t find anything?”
“Hmm,” I mused, rubbing the dark brown scruff on my chin. I would need to shave again using the new razor I acquired before going down to the planet. “Well, the thought crossed my mind, but I guess if the scanner doesn’t find something, then we proceed as normal. Maybe the Empire has a different way of tracking us that we haven’t thought of yet. Why do you ask?”
“I suggest we consult Vira if it comes to that. She has been spending a lot of time with the wormhole technology, maybe she would see something we don’t,” she suggested.
“It’s a good start. I will make a note to ask her about it either way when we return to Fengar.”
“I spoke with Seya about the possibility of there being a spy in the conglomerate. I thought it would be good to only communicate with Lena alone, once we return to Kestar. It’s a bit difficult with the number of heads turning whenever she goes somewhere,” she said, resting her chin on her hand.
“Walking around with a hero is not exactly easy,” I admitted. “I thought about the possibility of there being someone from the empire on Fengar. It’s one of the reasons I wanted Princess Ellia away from the main city. But there are millions of people, and we can’t just start an all-out inquisition. It would detract from our main mission.”
“But if it affects the mission by having spies among us, then it is just as vital to take care of it,” she said.
“What are you suggesting?”
“While you and Seya are speaking with Lena, allow me and a few of the others to watch for suspicious people while disguised.
“Won’t it be hard to blend in as a Codari?” I asked.
“We won’t be in uniform, and we blend into the crowd. I’ll think of a way to hide our faces without making it obvious,” she said.
“Okay, let’s try it out. It might be good to have some undercover allies watching over us.”
“Good,” she said, getting up from the chair. “I’m going to get some rest, the scanner will be ready in the morning, right?” she asked.
“That’s right,” I said.
“See you in the morning then,” she said, exiting my room.
“Night…” I said into the empty room.
SEVENTEEN
The scanner is complete, Arthur.
Dotty’s message stirred me from sleep. I’ll be up in a minute. Inform Kayton and Seya, please.
Right away.
I grabbed a quick drink from the galley. Tal and Ornay were already up and chatting with one another. Ellar poked his head around the c
orner and waved a hand to me.
“Good morning, Captain,” he said.
“Ellar,” I said with a nod.
“If I may ask, what’s our next objective? I realize that we’ve been in orbit around Fengar for some time now,” said the medic.
“Ah, well, that a matter I tend to resolve here in the next few hours, hopefully. To be honest, we’ve been trying to figure out how the Empire has been tracking us. Dotty just made a scanner that should help us out with that this morning,” I explained.
“I was curious about that,” he admitted.
“How are Del and Garvo?” I asked.
“Garvo will be out of the pod today, and Del might be another day or two. When we go to the capital city again, I will get a new prosthetic leg and have the medical teams grow a new one for him,” he said.
“Good, keep me posted on their progress,” I said.
Seya and Kayton met with me in the galley before setting off for the fabricator. We were all waiting with anticipation for what we may find.
The scanner laid on a nearby workbench with two wires snaking into it.
“How are we looking, Dotty?” I asked.
“I have run several tests on the device. It is in complete working order,” replied the A.I.
“So, this thing is going to pick up anything that’s not supposed to be there and notify us?” asked Kayton.
“Precisely. Using the medical scanner as a base model, I was able to modify the device to have a larger spectrum of variables to look for. We already know what should be here aboard the ship, so the scanner helps identify things that should not be here,” explained the A.I.
“Does it act in the same way as a medical scanner?” asked Seya.
“Yes, although the device is set to have a larger area to scan, so it may take a little longer to get the readings back,” said Dotty.
“Okay, let’s try it out,” I said. The pair of wires popped out on their own from the rear of the scanner. Shaped like a blaster, it had a pistol grip with a trigger that when squeezed, started it up. There was a small display about the size of a dataslate and several buttons on the rear, much like where a hammer would be on a regular pistol.
