by Skyler Grant
Van remembered the way back to town and dropped the cart off at the stables. They were expecting it—as he'd suspected, Alexa has borrowed it. On foot, he went seeking out the deputy.
The jail was a ramshackle building on the edge of town. As Van entered he saw Deputy Kanin behind a desk, his feet up and his hat lowered over his eyes. A few cells off to the side were empty.
"Deputy," Van said.
There wasn't any response. Van waited a moment before stepping closer.
"Not a foot further, boy. Me not talking means I don't want to be chatty, not that I let down my guard," Kanin said.
"I think I may need your help."
"Definitely I don't want to be giving that. I thought you and I had an understanding? That you were going to keep things quiet in my town? I like quiet," Kanin said.
"Wasn't me that brought the trouble. Alexa had me pulling guard duty for her last night during a deal to retrieve some supplies she had go missing. Someone took her," Van said.
"More and more sounds like a problem for you and your family. Or are you abandoning that cousin line now?"
Kanin still hadn't changed his position, the hat still covering his face as he looked perfectly at rest.
"You already know that wasn't true. Alexa did right by me though, and I aim to do right back if I can. If you won't help, maybe you at least know enough to point me in the right direction."
"Boy, you got some fancy toys and no wisdom. What you don't know will get you killed," Kanin said, finally reaching up to push the brim of his hat up to expose his eyes. "Fine, tell me what happened."
Van related the events including the woman in green armor, and the way his bullets hadn't nearly any effect.
Kanin listened, occasionally asking for details. About the armor in particular and the phantom snakes.
"So maybe that makes more sense to you than it does to me," Van said.
"Course it does. They won't be locals and that means they'll be trying to get her off-world. If they aren't on a starship yet, it won't be long," Kanin said.
"Guess I'm off to the starport then to see what I can find."
Kanin raised his robotic hand. "You'll get yourself killed. It sounds like they've all had at least the first evolution of body. The bullets you have won't kill. Unless you get lucky, they won't even wound."
"So how do I get me some that do the job right?" Van asked.
Kanin gave a wry snort. "You don't, not here. We're not exactly awash in dangerous weapons. This is about as low-powered a world as you'll find."
"You're doing a lot of talking, but not much helping."
Kanin rubbed at his human eye. "Fine. I'll go with you, but I'm not fighting over her. So much as there is a law to follow, I figure they're probably on the right side of it. I've enough authority and I'm enough of a threat to distract them, though. I'll help you figure out where she is and do my part to buy you some time."
Van wished that he'd do more, but he could work with that.
"Anything more that you can tell me?" Van asked.
"I've been able to put together a few of Alexa's secrets, but not ones that she's told me. I'm not sharing those with you. As for those you're facing, they're from the Dynasty, obviously. You probably figured that much out," Kanin said.
"I don't know much about the Dynasty. They ... weren't a force where I grew up," Van said.
That much was true, if understated somewhat.
"I can tell. Funny, considering. The Dynasty can manipulate essence in ways that can make them incredibly powerful. Their whole society is based around sort of climbing a ladder of power. Those you're up against? They aren't far up it, but compared to you they're titans," Kanin said.
"You seemed pretty impressed with my gear. Seems it should do more."
"You survived a punch that would have killed you without your armor. Those guns of yours could fire bullets made by either the Empire or the Dynasty, and are capable of killing—if only you had any bullets. Rounds that would explode in the barrels of lesser guns."
That might make them quality, it didn't make them useful. Van still felt he might be about to go into a fight virtually unarmed.
8
The Goddess Vela rules over the seven worlds of the dove. They were once the home of the Path of the Dove, a pacifist path from which she ascended. These days they are charred husks from her centuries-long war with Pavos.
Van had enough coin left over from Alexa to rent a horse from the stables. Fortunately, he knew how to ride—they were common on lower-technology worlds and he was from one.
The spaceport was a few hours out of town. He found Kanin to be a reserved traveling companion. The deputy wasn't interested in idle conversation and even less interested in playing a font of information.
The spaceport was busier than the town, and home to a lot more wealth. There were some people dressed in the same clothes as Van had seen elsewhere in this world. Others wore fashions considerably different. Yet others in armor that looked similar to his own. Even coveralls stained with grease.
"So how are we going to find out where she is?" Van asked.
"You're going to let me and this eye of mine take a long look around. If there is one thing I can do, it is see clearly," Kanin said.
It shouldn't be that hard. Van counted just five ships present on different platforms, three of them heavily rust-stained freighters.
Van noticed that Kanin didn't start with those. One of the other two had the look of a military ship, bright and shining, and adorned with weapons. The other was the smallest vessel of all.
"That one," Kanin said with a nod towards the small ship. "She is in the back of the ship."
"You can actually see through the hull? How?"
"If I told you that, I'd be telling you too much about what I can do. Trust me, boy, she's there, and here we part ways. I'm going to go make a nuisance of myself. If things go wrong, don't go tracking me down."
Kanin rode off in the direction of the ship.
Van turned his horse and took a path through the fuel tanks, the scent of them burning his nostrils and causing his horse to snort unhappily.
It let him approach the ship by something other than the main thoroughfare, plus was a bit slower given Kanin time to do his thing. When he got near he dismounted, hitching his horse to a fuel pipe, before closing the rest of the distance on foot—even though he would probably need to make a quick getaway.
Kanin was already at the ship's main hatch and Van could hear him asking about paperwork. That deputy badge did some good. They weren't ignoring Kanin, although he seemed to be being very politely put off.
Perhaps he'd drawn a crowd from the ship. Given how they seemed to be able to hide themselves in shadows Van had no way of knowing. He could be walking past one right now as he moved closer, crouched low.
The ship wasn't making use of the fuel lines. These were sitting nearby uselessly. Maintenance hatches seemed to be universal though, and it didn't take Van moving far along the hull to find one and let himself inside.
The interior of the ship was wooden, which was about the last thing that Van had been expecting. Dark and knotted wood that seemed to be leafing in places.
Van didn't know why any of this surprised him—it wasn't like he hadn't already seen some incredible things from these people. After a moment he took a right down the hall towards what he sincerely hoped was the rear of the ship.
Hearing conversation nearby he ducked inside a doorway. A man and woman in robes passed him talking animatedly.
"I can't wait to leave this place behind. Have you been outside?"
"I was smart enough not to."
Van waited for them to pass and then moved on. The rooms he saw made no more sense than the rest of this vessel. One was filled with a large basin, a pool of water shimmering with a faint blue. In another was a chair that almost seemed to be a throne formed of intertwined stalks from the hull.
There was more traditional furniture too, and a room obviously
for dining with a long table and many chairs.
Fortunately it wasn't a meal time or this hallway might have been filled with people.
It was upon finally reaching the end of the corridor that Van encountered his first locked door. It was as wooden as the rest of the ship, carved with a large serpent with an eye that was a glittering green gem.
Van wondered about the snake. The sign of a person? The woman who had captured Alexa? Back home nobility had often used animals for their sigils, so was it perhaps the sign of some royal house?
Van tried forcing the door and failed. Ramming it with his shoulder was equally as unsuccessful.
Whatever time Kanin was buying him was running out. Van could have gone to search for something to pry open the door. That would take more time and risk discovery. It was better, he thought, to get Alexa out even if it meant announcing his presence.
Van thought the gem had to be significant. Van had seen how Kanin's gem for an eye seemed to give him powers. Perhaps this one was helping to keep the door sealed. If so, destroying the snake might enable the door to open.
Van pressed back against the opposite wall, drew one of his pistols and took aim before squeezing the trigger. When the bullet struck the crystal it flashed a brilliant green.
The roar of the shot echoed through the ship as the light began fading from the crystal. Van hadn't destroyed it, but the crystal had cracked. Perhaps it was enough. Van tried the door again and this time it yielded.
The cell was dark, but in the light from the hall Van could see Alexa in a tank that looked like a bath. Only her head was above the contents, the tub filled with some sort of bluish-greenish gel.
9
When you don't just need to kill a target in front of you but on the nearby moon, Sintech's Seeker X rounds are the premier solution. Acquire a lock and they are fully capable of both atmospheric exit and entry. Don't trust your kill to a lesser product.
"Van, I'm glad to see you, but I wished you hadn't announced to the whole ship you're here," Alexa said.
"Didn't see a choice. If you're done taking a bath let's get out of here," Van said.
"You'll need to help me out. Somehow. The gel sucks out essence and inhibits motion. If it makes contact with your skin we'll both be just waiting for them to arrive."
"I don't know what that means. My armor is threaded with spirit-woven steel. That make a difference?"
"That will do, if you have gloves," Alexa said.
Van did, in one of his pockets. He pulled them out and slipped them on before reaching into the vat. After a moment he paused awkwardly.
Alexa said, "Yes, I'm naked. Skin contact is skin contact, and they wanted to make sure I was as neutralized as possible. We're lucky they don't have me on a respirator mask and fully submerged."
Right, if she wasn't bothered Van would deal with it as well. Pulling her up and out he finally managed to get her out of the tub. Her body remained limp and completely unresponsive. It was as if he were handling a corpse. He got her onto the floor.
"Wipe me down, get as much off as you can. Awkward for us both, I know. Get enough off I can handle the rest on my own," Alexa said.
Life really had just gotten weirder since he'd met Alexa. Still, Van could all but hear the clock ticking. Someone would be responding to that gunshot. That they weren't already here probably meant they'd called a heavy-hitter, or they must have all been distracted by Kanin.
It felt that for every bit of the bluish-green gel Van wiped off Alexa, he wound up streaking a little bit more on from his gloves.
"Behind you," Alexa said.
Van turned as a man in a black robe tried to stab him with a sword. The blade skidded off his armor, much to the man's surprise, and Van punched him in the face with a goo-smeared glove. The man froze with that surprised expression still on his face, all the muscles locked, and he toppled to the floor.
Van needed more of this stuff in a fight—it was useful. Another thirty seconds passed of madly brushing his hands along Alexa's body before she said, "I think that is enough. Step back, think wet dog."
Van took several steps back, almost out into the hall. Alexa's body became a blur for an instant. It was as if her entire body was shaking too quickly to see, goo flying in all directions.
"Damn it, I should have had you take his clothes," Alexa said, peering down at the black-clad man.
"Don't suppose you know where yours are?" Van asked.
"Not here. They took them and my sword before vatting me. Now, can you maybe stop focusing on my state of dress?"
Van didn't think he could, honestly, but he could at least stop mentioning it.
"Fine, then let's go before more come. I can guide you out," Van said.
Alexa nodded.
They had made it no further than the hall until a black-clad woman was upon them. Alexa closed on her and they exchanged a furious flurry of punches. Van didn't think the attacker actually landed a one, and when Alexa finally struck well it was a blow to the throat that sent the other woman backwards, wheezing. It was quickly followed up as Alexa delivered a fierce kick that slammed her assailant into the wall.
Alexa had her stripped down in no time and was dressed in the set of robes.
"I really hope you have transport out of here," Alexa said.
"I brought a horse."
"Just one? Alright, let's get to the exit first and we can worry about what to do next."
They didn't encounter any other black-clad figures on the way back to the maintenance hatch. Alexa took a moment to check the terrain outside and jumped down. Van followed.
"My horse is near the fuel tanks," Van said.
"Just a moment," Alexa said, studying the nearby fuel lines. "Yeah. This will do. Follow these back, you should find a valve to open them. Do it."
"Hoping to create a distraction?"
"Something like that."
The lines were heavy—too heavy for someone as slight as Alexa. But she hefted one up with ease and dragged it back towards the maintenance hatch.
Van decided he was just going to save up all his questions.
The lines led back to a central juncture where it was possible to fuel four different ships at once. Van toggled the two lines he needed on, muscles straining as he turned the rusty valves.
A pressure indicator showed that fluid was moving. Whatever Alexa was planning was on the way. He unhitched his horse and mounted before heading back towards Alexa.
It wasn't hard to find her—she was busy bouncing and rolling along the ground as if she'd just been thrown with force. Perhaps she had been, because the woman in green armor was coming out the maintenance hatch.
"I commend your ability in managing an escape, even while loathing the disloyalty that makes you try," the woman said.
Van spurred his horse to a gallop, leaning down as he passed Alexa. Her arm reached up to grasp onto his and he pulled her onto the saddle behind him.
Alexa pointed and a ball of bluish flame streaked from her hand. The woman in armor rolled out of the way. The fireball sailed into the hatch behind her and the ground trembled as a rush of flame escaped. A blast of fire and smoke obscured everything.
Van didn't wait to see if the armored woman was dead, steering the horse away as they took off at a gallop.
10
There is only one rule. Climb! Path of the Goat
Alexa didn't let him stop for the next two hours, directing them not back towards town but well out into the desert. The spot they eventually came to didn't look any different than the rest. Then with a show of strength that once again stood in contrast to her size Alexa pushed a heavy rock aside revealing a supply cache beneath.
Without regard for modesty she slipped out of the black robe and began changing into a new set of clothes.
"Really? Is naked just a thing with us now?" Van asked.
"I literally have nothing to see you that you didn't already see and feel up a few hours ago. I think we're past the stage of freaking out ov
er a little skin," Alexa said.
The outfit she was changing into looked a lot like the one she'd been captured in, breeches and a shirt, and she pulled out a new sheath and sword, buckling it onto her waist.
"I've got supplies here that can last a few days. It was meant to be more than that, but I figured if I ever ran I'd be alone," Alexa said.
"I take it going back to town isn't going to be safe for you?"
"Not for either of us. Kanin keeps the peace and might step in if things got out of control, but I wouldn't depend on it."
"He helped me find you, rescue you, although he wouldn't do anything more than play a distraction."
Alexa paused in the process of getting supplies. "Really? I suppose I owe him one then. I'll make sure it is repaid. You must have been convincing. Why did you do it?"
Van shrugged. "You were kinder to me than you had to be."
"Not lust camouflaged as love?"
"Cynical of you, but no. I'm interested, but it wasn't that."
"Good," Alexa said. More was coming out of the cache of supplies including a fire starter kit and logs. She was putting together a fire.
"That smart?" Van asked.
"Lot of fires in the night. This world is a popular place for those running away from something and a lot of them avoid the towns. Acceptable risk. So, we need to figure out what we're going to do. We in this together or we're going our separate ways," Alexa said.
"You asking my opinion, or just telling me you're trying to make up your mind?" Van asked.
"Bit of both. I've a lot of trouble following me and you just got a glimpse of it. I know you've got your own. I'll tell you about mine, if you tell me about yours?"
It was a fair offer. Van had already told her a bit of what was chasing him, but not everything.
"You already know I'm a clone. Just woke up yesterday. No people around, just a voice from a speaker telling me it was five centuries from the time of my birth," Van said.
