by Drew Avera
Brendle forced himself to sit up, his head swimming, but he held onto the side of the cart to keep from falling off. “I think what I’m more concerned about it why did you hurt me?”
She pulled a tear from her eye with a delicate finger. “I woke up from a dream where the CERCO men were trying to capture me. When I woke up I saw you running towards me and I was scared. I didn’t mean to do it, but once you were in the air I didn’t know how to make you stop.”
Brendle smiled, even his teeth hurt. “I understand. I’m sorry I scared you.”
Carista seemed to look more at ease, which was more than Brendle could say about the rest of the crew.
“Now that you know about that, we have a bigger issue,” Deis interrupted.
Anki pulled Carista back to stand with her as Deis stepped forward.
“What’s wrong now?” Brendle asked.
“Carista’s display of power seemed to have alerted CERCO to her whereabouts. They sent a heavily armed ship towards us and they have pinged us. I was hailed by their captain, a man named Kich. He isn’t playing around and he gave us an hour to respond in regards to turning Carista over to them. Just to prove his point, he had his men fire across our bow.”
“What the hell?” Brendle tried to stand up, but his wobbly legs couldn’t support his bodyweight. Malikea was there and caught him before he fell.
“Now’s not a good time for that, I don’t think,” Malikea said as he tried to help Brendle sit back on the medical cart. Brendle’s vision blurred and his stomach turned as Malikea kept him from falling off the medical cart.
“Yes, please stay seated,” Deis urged him.
“But if we are in danger then I need to do something. We can’t just sit here and wait from this Kich guy to decide he wants to fire at us again.”
“That’s the thing; we are not in immediate danger. We still have time before they expect to hear back from us. The only real issue is that they want Carista in exchange for our freedom. I have a feeling that more than one of us would have an issue with that, and that’s assuming we can take them at their word.”
Brendle’s stomach rolled into a knot at the thought of giving the girl over to them. We may be putting ourselves out to protect her, but it’s the right thing to do. “Yeah, we’ll give the girl up over my dead body.”
“It may come to that,” Anki said while holding Carista’s hand in hers. He could see that the girl was attached to Anki, maybe because Anki was a woman or because Anki seemed less threatening to her; he didn’t know. It was obvious the girl could protect herself, his whole body learning something new about pain was evidence to that fact. “If they are willing to shoot at us so freely, then what’s to keep them honest about their intentions? We very well may be heading in for a trap by trying to comply with them.”
“Until we find out what they want her for, she stays with us,” Brendle said. He began running through the short list of option in his head. None of them seemed too favorable, though. “Can we outrun them?”
“No,” Deis said. “After the shots were fired across our bow I realized they have a tractor beam on us. It is holding us to a set orbit and is maintaining our distance from the asteroids in the belt. I think the Yeopa’s drive is compensating for orbital decay to keep us from crashing into the asteroids.”
“Are you serious? I’ve never seen one of those used to trap a powered ship. We always used them to reel in dead spacecraft and salvageable debris when I was in the navy. We never weaponized it, though we may never needed to. Is it even strong enough to hold us?”
“Unfortunately, their tractor beam is more than strong enough to hold us. I tried to power out of it, but I was not successful. They have us dead to rights right now,” Deis replied. Brendle could see the fear and anger in his eyes. Deis took his role seriously and probably felt like he had failed the crew by getting caught in the tractor beam. The truth was not that simple, though.
“What kind of weapons do we have on board? We might need to fight our way out if we’re in a pinch.”
“Small arms only,” Malikea answered. “We never loaded any the heavy artillery before leaving Karanta. The repair crew wanted us to test flight before bring all of the weapons back on board. I think the point defense countermeasures are still loaded, but as far as offensives go, we are just really big targets.”
“Well, shit, that gives a whole new meaning to dead to rights then doesn’t it?” He rose again, his body aching, but not enough to discourage what he wanted to do. Brendle lowered himself to a kneeling position in front of Carista. “What do they want you for?”
She looked into his eyes. Her blue eyes, their natural color he suspected, pleaded innocence and fear of what was coming. “They make me do things to hurt other people.”
“Do they ever hurt you?” he asked, already knowing the answer by the expression on her face.
“Sometimes,” she said in a whisper. He thought she might cry, but she showed a lot of strength and was holding something back. He could see it in her eyes. Whatever it was, it was beyond just tears.
He opened his arms to her and she sheepishly accepted his embrace. Brendle could feel her apprehension fade as he patted her back lightly with his hand. If there was a way I could save you I would do it, he thought, but in his heart he knew they were out of options. There was a ship waiting to destroy them just to get their hands on this girl.
“You have to hand me over to them,” she whispered into his ear. It was so faint he doubted anyone else heard. He even doubted whether or not he heard it, but the look in her eyes when he looked at her confirmed what she said.
“Are you sure?”
“It’s the only way, but they will never use me to hurt anyone again.” Her voice was in his head now, her eyes the same emerald green as his. He realized she was speaking to him mentally because they were touching. That realization seemed to make everything become clear.
“I don’t understand, why would you want to do this?” Brendle asked.
Carista looked around the room, making eye contact with each person before speaking again. “I’ve been in yours and Anki’s minds. I was able to see things for the very first time and understand them in a greater context. I know what is right and I know what is wrong. The right thing to do is to turn me over to them,” she said.
He hated to say it, but she was right. Unfortunately, the right thing to do was going to get her killed.
“What do you think will happen once they take you in?” Deis asked.
Carista looked up at him with a frown. “They will make me continue with the tests, train me to hurt people.”
Brendle’s body hurt, but not as much as his heart did. “There has to be another way,” he said, but he knew inside that he was grasping at nothing.
“I don’t want to go back, but I have to,” Carista said. “But my going back isn’t to be their weapon. I told you I saw things when I was in your mind. I learned things they never wanted me to learn; the difference between right and wrong. I already knew it, but experiencing it through yours and Anki’s perspective solidified it in my mind. I’ll go back, but on my terms.”
Brendle looked at her, confused. “What do you mean by your terms?”
“I’m going to use what they taught me against them, but I need your help.”
“Anything,” Brendle said, not knowing if it was because he wanted to help, or because she wanted him to help.
“I need one of you to go with me, to anchor me so I am not consumed by them before I can do what needs to be done.”
Brendle looked up at Anki, her eyes just as wide as his. “And what needs to be done?”
Carista stared at him. “I’m going to destroy them so they can never use me again.”
21
Anki
“We can’t just hand her over to them,” Anki whispered to Brendle. They were close enough that they could whisper without being heard by Malikea of Carista, but Anki knew if the girl wanted to know what they were saying then it w
as beyond her control to stop her.
“I’m telling you, it’s what she wants,” Brendle said with pleading in his voice.
“I know it is what she wants, but it isn’t right. They may not be the ones pulling the trigger, but the outcome is still the same.” Why would she be all right with any outcome that resulted in her harm? Anki felt guilty for the thoughts going through her mind. She was confused and afraid, and those emotions bolstered her to come up with plans that did not reflect who she was as a person. She knew why Carista wanted to do it, but it felt as if the “adults” were resigning her to a fate they knew would be brutal and cruel.
Brendle took in a deep breath before responding. “You heard her just as clear as I did. It is because she knows what will happen if we don’t turn her over.” He placed his hand on Anki’s shoulder and she felt relieved to feel him touch her, to remind her he loved her. “She knows what she is going back to, how horrible it will be, but she knows that they will kill us to get to her and she doesn’t want that. I know it feels dirty to turn her over, but she wants to protect us just as much as we want to protect her.”
She is going to die either way, Anki thought, is it not worth taking the fight to them? “Handing her over makes us complicit. Regardless of what happens.”
“Not handing her over does as well.”
Anki wiped a fresh tear from her eye and looked at the girl. Malikea was entertaining her, both of them smiling and laughing. She looks so innocent. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I feel that we are condemning her to a certain death, or worse, if she doesn’t go through with it she will endure a life full of torment.”
“You’re right,” Brendle said sadly. “Our hands are tied, though. Deis already tried to run from them, but they fired on us and snared us with a tractor beam. We’re caught in this mess with no way out.”
Anki shook her head. How do we get into this shit? “Fine, but I want to negotiate a time to turn her over. She’s awake now, and she deserves to have some kindness and a decent meal.”
“I’m not sure our rations constitute a decent meal,” Brendle said. It was a half-hearted attempt at humor, but she could tell his heart wasn’t into trying to be funny. His heart is probably breaking just like mine.
“When do you want to contact the Yeopa?”
Brendle straightened up and cracked his neck as he exhaled. “I have Deis standing by for that now.”
“Is he going to do the talking, or are you?”
“I kind of think that’s my responsibility,” Brendle answered. ‘Don’t you?”
Anki nodded, fighting back a sob. She felt like she was betraying Carsita, despite the fact the girl asked to be turned back over to CERCO. What are we doing? This is wrong. “I want to be there for it.” The truth was Anki didn’t have the strength to not stand beside Brendle as they made one of the harshest decisions during their time together. It doesn’t matter that Carista asked for this, I just hope she can forgive me for going along with it.
“I wouldn’t want to do it without you,” he said. Brendle smiled and she knew he was trying to soften the blow that was about to come. He is definitely my rock, she thought.
“I also want to go with her,” Anki said. She knew by the look on his face that Brendle wanted to argue, but she wasn’t about to have any of it. She went from fearing Carista to wanting to protect her. Hours ago she was willing to end the girl’s life to protect the crew. She needed to make up for it in some way, and protecting the girl as she crossed over to the Yeopa was the least she could do. Brendle went to say something, but she cut her eyes at him, disarming his argument before it even started. “This isn’t negotiable.”
Brendle took a deep breath and nodded his agreement. “All right, we may as well get this over with. Deis, can you hail the Yeopa, please?”
“Yes, sir,” Deis replied from the bridge.
Brendle and Anki walked back into the medical bay and stood before a large monitor as it came to life, calling the Yeopa. The line opened up and revealed the image of an older man with a stern look on his face. She didn’t need an introduction to the man. Deis had described him perfectly, especially the scowl on the man’s face that accentuated his graying hair. Kich glared over the monitor at them with a smug look on his face that she wished she could clean off with a precisely aimed shot from her weapon. “Replicade, I see you finally got around to contacting me. I’m not blessed with infinite patience so tell me, what will it be?”
“Captain Kich, my name is Brendle Quin and I’m the captain of the Replicade. Your terms were just forwarded to me by the man you spoke with earlier. I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, but I was otherwise indisposed. I wanted to give you the courtesy of telling that we do plan to comply with your request, but I do have a favor to ask before we turn her over to you.”
Kich frowned as he looked at Brendle. From Anki’s perspective the man looked uncomfortable, or he could have just been thinking about something before responding. “I’m not in a position to be dolling out favors, Mr. Quin. I am here to reclaim the girl and return her to my employer.”
“I understand, sir. I’m sure CERCO appreciates your commitment to the job and enthusiastically await her return so they can poke and prod her as they develop their weapon of mass murder. I assure you, it is really a small request. We would appreciate it if you would allow us to host her for a meal before turning her over to you?”
The man’s expression changed to one of masked shock. Anki had seen the look many times when people wanted to manipulate a situation, or make someone think a certain way. In this situation, Kich probably had no idea that Brendle, or anyone else on the Replicade, could know much about CERCO; much less know what CERCO was using the girl for. Kich canted his head and whispered something too soft for Anki to make out what it was. Anki was nervous because, according to Deis, the same gesture precluded the Yeopa firing upon the Replicade. She wasn’t much for being shot at. The man scratched his neck under his tight collar and looked back in Brendle’s direction.
“I see no reason to not allow your request, though I will be monitoring the situation. If you so much as increase thrust of your ship by ten percent I will fill your ship so full of holes that there won’t be a square inch of the Replicade inhabitable. Do you understand?” Kich glared at Brendle, the look on his face seeming as if he was searching for a weakness to exploit.
“I do,” Brendle answered, tightening his hand on Anki’s. “You have my word, we will not try to evade or cross you in any way.” A part of her felt relieved that the captain of the Yeopa would allow the girl to stay a while longer, even if it was only prolonging the inevitable, but she also feared what might happen if that kind of man lost his patience.
“I’m extending your clock by another two hours. If you have not contacted me by then to turn over the girl, I will be forced to destroy you.” Anki thought she might have noticed a curling of his lip, but was unsure, it happened so quickly. Was he planning on crossing us?
“Yes, sir. I promise it will not come to that.”
“You better hope it doesn’t. Kich out.”
The screen went blank and for the first time since the feed opened, Anki felt herself take a breath. “I can’t believe it,” she said.
“Yeah, I was a bit surprised by that as well,” Brendle replied.
“I wonder who he was talking to?”
Brendle shrugged. “Probably just one of his men, but it could have been a superior too. Either way, we got what we wanted, a little extra time. I just don’t want to waste it.”
“You didn’t get the feeling that he was trying to cross us?” Anki asked.
Brendle grinned and turned to look at her, his eyes narrowing into slits. “You caught that too? Yeah, that’s exactly what he’s trying to do, but we’re not going to let him.”
“How do you figure we can stop him?”
Brendle nodded towards Carsita. “We don’t have to stop him. They want Carista bad enough to not risk harming her. So long
as they feel that way, that protects us for the time being too. The tricky part will be once she returns to them. That’s when all hell will break loose.”
“I just wish I knew what her plan was.”
“A girl with that much power probably doesn’t need a plan to do what she wants to do. I wouldn’t be surprised if she could destroy the ship by batting her eyes, but she said she knew the difference between right and wrong, and that CERCO didn’t want her to have that ability for discernment. If I had to guess, she’s going to take it to the bad guys in a way that they won’t soon forget.”
“I have the sinking feeling it will be much worse than we can anticipate,” Anki said.
Brendle drew in a deep breath. “Yeah, me too, but I’m trying to think positively right now, or else I’m not going to want her to go.”
“You agreed.”
“I did, but it doesn’t mean I won’t regret doing so, especially now that you’re the one crossing over with her.”
“You can’t protect me every time I’m in danger,” she said, nudging him lightly in the ribs.
“I can sure as hell try. No matter what the cost, I’ll always try.”
22
Ilium
From where he sat in his cabin, Ilium was isolated from the disturbance taking place on the decks of the Hamæråté. He was isolated from it physically, but on the monitor before him he scrolled through the security feeds, following the armed assault team as they made their way through the narrow passageways of his ship. The King Slayer arrived, and brought with it the method he would use to regain control of his ship, or at least take it away from the slithery hands of Lieutenant Vesna. Either way if fine with me, he thought as one of Vesna’s men ran towards the invading force, weapon drawn. Ilium grinned from ear to ear to see the splay of blood shooting out from the man’s body as he was riddled with rounds.
