The Corsair Uprising #1: The Azure Key

by Trevor Schmidt

  12

  The spire nearest the spaceport was taller than any building Liam had ever seen on Earth. It seemed to cut into the sky such that he couldn’t even see the top. It might as well have gone into outer space. The spire’s metallic structure spiraled around like a screw, some manner of windows lining the inner grooves. The mirrored surface of the building reflected back blinding sunlight, far brighter than Earth’s modest star. The temperature was easily forty-three degrees Celsius, as hot as Liam had ever felt.

  Toras led them up to the edge of the spire, stopping before he reached the entryway and turning to face the crew. He spoke into his telepathy device and images filled Liam’s head. This time he couldn’t discern any words, only what he guessed Toras wanted him to see. Liam saw a path outlined for him; the way up the spire. They were supposed to meet someone.

  The images ceased and Toras turned to leave. Liam took a few steps after him and said, “Wait.”

  Toras turned, his tattered brown cape fluttering in the wind and his expression remarkably akin to confusion.

  “You’re not coming with us?” Liam asked.

  He shook his head, and then spoke into the device.

  “It is not my place to attend this meeting. Do not stray the path or I will know it. Good Day, Liam of House Kidd.”

  Toras pulled the oblong helmet over his head and walked back toward the airstrip, his henchman a shadow in his wake.

  “So what then, they’re leaving us here?” Saturn asked.

  Liam turned to face her, shaking his head before answering. “He showed me the way. Still, it seems a little trusting don’t you think?”

  “Do we get to go to the top?” Ju-Long asked eagerly.

  Saturn brushed by him on her way up to the spire’s large metal doors. “Don’t get too excited hotshot.”

  As she approached, the heavy doors swung inward, revealing an open lobby with a hard floor made from some kind of smooth stone. Sand had been tracked in from countless visitors, though the foyer was empty at the moment. Saturn turned to Liam, walking backward through the open expanse. “Where to, leader?”

  Liam was growing weary of Saturn’s attitude, but now was not the time to bring it up. He looked skyward. A few stories above them the ceiling was black, the only light in the room coming from the spiraling bank of windows. He could see a section of light coming around the side of the floating ceiling. The building was a marvel of old and new, leading Liam to believe the tower had been constructed over a long period of time, adding bits and pieces as they could.

  Liam pointed toward the spiraling bank of windows. As he approached several images flashed in his mind, showing him the way. Liam stood on a platform of rock that was cut out from the original stone, a deep crease surrounding an area a few meters square. When both feet reached the platform a beam of purple light shot up from the crease around the rock.

  “Get on,” Liam said, hurrying his crew with gesturing hands.

  Saturn and Ju-Long jumped on before the rock levitated up a few meters. A moment later, it shot off, spiraling around the structure and up the building. The crew knelt down, unable to control their balance while standing. They passed several levels, each more advanced than the last as they climbed the spire. They passed living quarters, work areas, and rooms apparently devoted to worship. It was an entire city in a building. They were moving too fast to make out the many figures that populated the spire.

  After several minutes, the stone elevator halted, a few floors short of what Liam expected was the top. He looked out the windows and saw the city, or cities, underneath a haze of dust. Liam liked the view, but thought it would be made better without all of the sand. He was a city kind of man. Being in a city you’re never really alone, even if you don’t know anyone.

  The purple glow faded from around the stone and the crew stepped off onto a surface that reminded Liam of white marble, in steep contrast to the floors below. The room was immense, with ceilings ten meters high and walls that seemed too far apart to be possible. Several support pillars raised up from the floor, thick as tree trunks. A ways away Liam saw someone with their back turned, looking out over the airstrip so many stories below. Nearby, he had an enormous desk made of jagged rock seemingly cut out of a mountain and shaped to his whim.

  Liam started towards him cautiously until Saturn put a hand around his bicep. For the first time, she didn’t look angry or headstrong or any of her usual expressions. She was scared. Her dark brown eyes darted back and forth between his as though searching for something hidden underneath.

  “Liam, this doesn’t feel right,” she said.

  He placed his hand over hers and nodded, putting on a confident face.

  “I know, but we’ve come this far.”

  Liam broke her grasp and walked toward the alien assertively while Ju-Long and Saturn followed behind cautiously. Ju-Long cracked his knuckles and turned back toward the elevator while he walked backwards, checking for anyone else in the vicinity. When they were in front of the desk a cool voice greeted them in the alien language.

  The fish-man turned around and approached his desk, putting his palms down on the rocky surface. Liam noticed his hands had only four digits, but were otherwise remarkably similar to his own. Apart from the white scales that is.

  “We don’t speak your language,” Liam replied.

  The alien hovered his hand above the desk and a holographic image appeared. It seemed to be a scanner of some kind, taking readings on Liam and the crew. The alien touched something on the image and it disappeared. He returned to the window as though he’d lost all interest in them.

  Liam turned to Saturn and Ju-Long, who were as baffled as he was. Why bring them all that way just to ignore them? It didn’t make any sense. His question was answered quickly as a noise similar to the elevator sounded on the opposite side of the room. Liam turned just as six more aliens were approaching. The fish-man looking out over the colony spoke once more in the alien language, seemingly commanding his troops.

  They approached with weapons drawn, forcing them down to their knees. One of the aliens retrieved a device from his brown utility belt. It was longer and sharper than the translator Toras had used, giving Liam a sinking feeling in his stomach. Two of the aliens bent Ju-Long’s head down while one jabbed the device into the back of his neck. Liam could hear it connect with his spine with a sickening thud. Ju-Long cried out in pain before collapsing in a heap on the marble floor.

  Liam and Saturn exchanged a knowing look. Before the alien made a move toward Saturn, they sprung from the ground, attacking them with everything they had. No shots were fired, but the six aliens were easily able to subdue them. The fish-man with the injector forced Saturn’s head down. Liam struggled against the two aliens who held back his arms.

  “You won’t get away with this,” he cried.

  “Liam!” Saturn shrieked before being injected with the device and crumpling to the ground.

  It was happening so fast; Liam couldn’t believe his eyes. Were they dead? A number of scenarios played out in his head as the alien approached him with the device. Maybe they would use them in some kind of sick experiment? That thought scared him more than dying. He was nobody’s lab rat.

  The fish-man grabbed Liam’s blond hair and forced his head down. When the injector pierced his skin he felt a tingling sensation down his spine. That tingling turned to fire and his vision blurred. Soon his mind was putty, too tired to think and too woozy to resist. He fell face first into the ground. The room fell to darkness.