Star Relic

by Clara Woods

  Bloody stars.

  The one who seemed to be the leader stepped forward. “Greetings, ladies. Oscuris Security Force, would you please follow us.”

  Security?

  “Follow you? Why?” Lena didn’t even have to pretend innocence. Since these people seemed to have been following them before they entered the shop, it wasn’t because of the cargo job. Besides, that cartful of weapons they’d seen earlier wasn’t legal either, so why where they being singled out? They didn’t even know what they were carrying. Though given where they’d found the job, she doubted their cargo was filled with a simple load of over-the-counter medication.

  “We’ll talk at the station. Ethan, Dorz – grab them.”

  Two men stepped forward, blocking off their escape route through the narrow stairway. Lenah was hauled down by one arm while they did the same to Persia, who dropped the package in the process. It fell onto the ground with a loud thump.

  Lenah didn’t think that yelling for help would do any good. The place was deserted. As if to prove her wrong, the door to a bar opened on the opposite side of the street and she saw a familiar face coming through, a beer mug held in his hand. The cyborg.

  Their eyes met, and she hoped her hateful stare would at least make him feel guilty. He’d chosen not to do the dirty work himself, but instead had employed some security minions. Her thoughts were interrupted when she and Persia were pushed into the center of the group. Lenah lost sight of the cyborg as they walked away.

  She used the walk through the city to think about a possible way out. If she could get into a room with less people, she might be able to use her abilities, but she knew she couldn’t do five people at once. She’d barely been able to handle Big Rat.

  As they made their way through town, she noticed that suddenly the streets were full of people again. It was as if everyone was relieved it hadn’t been them being arrested. A meaty woman in her forties, clad in a brown tunic with the sleeves cut off under the shoulders, came closer than most others. Suddenly she was standing right next to Lenah, her face less than one arm’s length away.

  “Get out of the way, Hult,” the police captain said in a bored voice, obviously knowing her. She ignored him and stood there as she stared first at Lenah, then at Persia. One of her arms, Lenah saw now, was full of tattoos. A long black snake wound from her shoulder down to her wrist, where a sword came out of its mouth and seemed to jump right at her. Lenah shivered. For the first time, real fear crept up her spine. She was far from home. Alone. When they finally reached the station’s door, she felt an unexpected release of tension at getting off the street.

  The building was taller than most here, rising at least twenty meters into the dark brown sky, but the lettering that announced it to be ‘Oscuris Central Security Force’ was so blackened with smog that it was barely readable. Inside, they entered a large room full of old-fashioned-looking holoscreens standing on multiple tables, the ones that needed a thick base piece. More people in beige uniforms were sitting at the desks. On one side of the room, a man in handcuffs was screaming at the top of his lungs while two guards were trying to quiet him down. Then a laser lit up, and the man’s body fell lifeless to the floor. The guard walking behind Lenah punched her hard in the back with his rifle as she stood rooted to the spot, staring. With some effort, Lenah continued to walk.

  They made their way through the large room and into a corridor in the back, where she noticed the smell of Oscuris was even more concentrated than outside. Sweat and smog dominated the air, almost robbing her lungs of the capacity to breathe. She’d need to get her gag reflexes under control if she wanted to summon the concentration necessary to manipulate the minds of several people at once. They went through one of several doors in the dark corridor and entered an interrogation room. An old plastic table stood in the center, with two chairs on each side. She and Persia were seated on one side of the table, while two guards positioned themselves behind them. Their leader sat down opposite them with a grin.

  “All right, I’m Security Captain Reiner Musk, and you’d be the subjects identified to come to Oscuris on a vessel called the Star Rambler. Let’s get straight to the point. Where is it?”

  “Where’s what?” Lenah asked, confusion replacing part of her fear. “If I remember correctly, you left our package behind when it fell onto the street.”

  “Ha ha.” His tone spat sarcasm, and his big nose crinkled at her. Suddenly, he smacked his hand down onto the table. Lenah jumped, her spine slamming into the back of the chair.

  Her question had been a real question, though. If he wasn’t looking for the package Persia had dropped right outside Big Rat’s store, then what was he looking for? The cyborg?

  “You need to be more specific. It can refer to a great number of things.” With some pride, she realized that her voice sounded relaxed. At least they wouldn’t know how helpless she really felt. Apparently, her natural reaction in situations of extreme stress was sarcasm.

  This time his hands shot across the table and grabbed her by the throat. She was too late to keep his hand from encircling her neck, but she started pulling at them until the guard behind her took hold of her arms. Captain Musk kept pressing down until she could barely breathe. It seemed that he didn’t appreciate her sarcasm.

  “Where is it?” he asked her again.

  “If you told us what it is, then maybe we could answer that question,” Persia said. If Lenah hadn’t been choking, she would have nodded.

  “It obviously is the Mapstone – or tell me, do you have any other relics that you transport around?”

  With one last press, he let go of Lenah. Her neck felt tender, and she rubbed at the sensitive skin as she looked up at him.

  Mapstone?

  Persia seemed similarly perplexed. Looking sideways, Lenah caught her staring at the guard, wide-eyed.

  “Whatever the Mapstone is, I assure you we don’t have it…Captain,” Lenah added, in case he liked hearing his title.

  Or did they have it? Might they be talking about Persia’s warp stone? Because why else would he think they had it?

  He scanned them up and down. “You think you’re clever, little wench? You won’t play me. I know you have it.”

  “Officers” – he looked at the two guards behind them – “would you please relieve these ladies of the contents of their pockets?” With a smile, he said to them, “I’m sure you wouldn’t leave it unguarded in that pile of scrap metal you arrived in. But we’ll send some guards there just to make sure.”

  Behind Lenah, the guards closed the distance, grabbing both her and Persia. The captain nodded toward Lenah. “Start with that one.”

  Persia made a jerking movement as if she wanted to fight, but Lenah thought she saw the flash of a laser gun. It was gone before any of the men in the room could get a glimpse. Judging by the intense look Persia gave her, she’d achieved her goal and alerted Lenah to the fact that they weren’t completely helpless.

  Lenah wondered if Persia did have the stone on her, and if she’d known it was a Mapstone. What would these guys do if Lenah told them it was probably in Persia’s pocket?

  “What do you want with this Mapstone?” she asked, hoping to gain some time to gather her concentration, steeling herself against the pain that would surely come when she started using her ability again. She doubted it would be enough if she only tried to influence the captain. Those guards didn’t look subservient enough to let them go if he told them to. The Mapstone seemed too important to them.

  “Me? The stone’s not for me.” The captain grinned at her. “But everyone knows the reward the Queen offered for its return.”

  Lenah’s mind perked up at that. Her informant had mentioned the Queen as well. She didn’t think there were a lot of people in the galaxy who referred to themselves with such an ancient title. So some smuggler queen probably wanted a stone that could facilitate warp bubbles, and the same queen was also involved in something to do with her father’s magic farms. Huh.

/>   He sneered at her. “Do you finally admit that you have it?”

  “No, I don’t have it. Just interested. I never heard of a Mapstone before.” It wasn’t even a lie.

  “Get on with it,” he snapped at his guards, who’d stopped grabbing at her clothes when she’d started to ask questions. Now one of them opened the zipper of her blazer, exposing her Cassidian silk shirt.

  “Nice shirt,” the captain murmured. “Get it off her. It’s going to sell for a good price.”

  “What kind of police are you, exactly?”

  He cocked his head while one of his guards tried to force her arms up. She’d be damned if she let these guards, criminals, undress her.

  “Police? Miss, have you noticed where you are? I’m not police, but on this planet I am the most law-abiding citizen. You can be glad that no one else got their hands on you, or you wouldn’t be so tenderly undressed.”

  Lenah snorted. Tender was far from true. One guard was holding up her arms while the other was lifting her shirt at the hem.

  Stars, no no no. It was about time she gathered her concentration. Trying to not look suspiciously absent, Lenah took a couple of deep breaths, trying to disconnect from what was going on around her. It was hard, and she had to try several times until she found the foggy cloud of the guards’ minds. Gently she pushed the idea of her giving off the telltale sour smell of purple fever, mixed with a feverish complexity, in their direction. Using her ability in the past, she’d discovered that such indirect suggestions worked better than direct orders such as letting her go, at least initially.

  Pain shot into her head like invisible fingers trying to tear at her eyeballs, but Lenah didn’t let go. As she’d hoped, both guards suddenly let go and took a few disgusted steps backward. Purple fever was one of the last contagious diseases modern medicine hadn’t found a cure for. It was transmitted via skin contact. She stayed seated, giving Persia – who was hopefully ready with the gun – a meaningful look, and pushed the thought once more. She was infected with purple fever for sure, and they’d better leave immediately.

  Both guards took a couple of large steps toward the door.

  “What’s going on? Continue,” the captain snapped, getting out of his chair.

  Both men stopped, puzzled expressions on their faces.

  The captain’s words had broken Lenah’s concentration. She mentally scrambled to try again. While the guards didn’t run out of the room, at least they stood frozen, as if not knowing which impulse to give into.

  “What the! Undress her or I’ll—” The captain never got to finish his sentence. A bright light flashed through the room. Persia’s laser pistol had hit him straight in the chest.

  Lenah stared at his fallen figure in shock, which liberated the two guards of the last of her influence. This time she didn’t try again, feeling too agitated. The headache was making her dizzy, so she stayed seated and aimed her elbow straight for one guard’s belly. Not the most elegant, but it worked. While he bent over in pain, another flash lit the room. Persia had shot the other guard.

  Lenah bent down and gave the guard on the floor a few hefty kicks in the side of his head, until he stopped moving. Turning around, she saw that Persia was already on her way out. “Quick. Someone might have seen the light. It flashes more than an exploding star in this gloomy place.”

  Persia nodded and fisted the gun in one hand, while Lenah relieved one of the fallen guards of his knife. She had to step over the captain to leave the room, and was surprised when he grabbed her ankle with weak hands.

  “She’ll...find out,” he managed to say under a cough. She ignored him and moved on, but a shudder went down her spine.

  Persia took the lead at the door and slowly opened it. Lenah estimated less than a minute had passed since the initial shot, but that was enough time for a whole squadron of guards to come running from the front room.

  Peeking her head out, Persia motioned with her gun to let Lenah know it was clear. When both stepped into the corridor, they heard urgent whispering around the corner.

  “ —toward the other exit. Be quick.”

  The barely readable exit sign over the door at the end of the corridor caught Lenah’s attention. “Let’s go that way,” she whispered, and ran ahead.

  The door opened easily when she pressed the handle. Beyond lay a dark staircase leading both up and down, but no immediate exit. They were currently on the first floor, but which way would bring them to safety?

  Deciding that it was more probable to find an outer emergency ladder than a stair up from underground, Lenah took the stairs up. When the door closed behind Persia, they were left in almost complete darkness. The only light came from the emergency exit sign hanging over the doorway.

  “Quick. They must know we’d take this route,” Lenah said. “If we run into them, we’ll have to thank them for the tip.”

  Persia snorted. “If we meet them, I doubt there’ll be time for small talk.”

  “True, because you’ll light them up with laser beams before that.”

  “Precisely.”

  They sprinted on for a few seconds. The flights were large, with no more doors leading out, and Lenah started to worry that they’d taken a dead end. But at least the physical exercise seemed to take the edge off her headache.

  Below, they heard the door open and several pairs of booted feet coming in.

  “Quick, there. Up. Up.”

  “I think they saw us,” Persia whispered.

  “I’m aware,” Lenah panted between steps. Both quickened their steps, and finally a door came into view.

  Not caring what lay behind it, Lenah bolted through and found herself in another corridor. A young man was stepping out of a room a few meters in front of her. He simply stared at them as they ran past, and Lenah used the opportunity to push him back into the room he’d come through.

  A large room loomed ahead. It was a replica of the room below, empty of people but filled with machines. Lenah didn’t take time to figure out what they were, but instead ran straight up to the window. Looking down, she realized they were at least twenty meters up now. No way could they jump out.

  “Ladder,” Persia yelled, fumbling with the window frame. Lenah ran toward her to a window without hinges or opening mechanisms.

  “Give me that.” Lenah took Persia’s pistol and hit the glass a few times with the grip. At first nothing happened, but then the first small crack appeared.

  “Hurry, they’re coming.”

  “Almost there,” Lenah answered as large chunks of glass fell out onto the street below. “Okay, let’s go.”

  As quickly as she could, Lenah climbed down the ladder, with Persia close behind. The muck covering the city was not only stinky, it also made for a hell of a slippery surface. Finally she reached the bottom, jumping down the last few steps as the first head appeared through the broken window above them. Lenah fired a shot, and the head vanished back inside. People around them started to hurry away, but Lenah had given Persia enough time to reach the bottom.

  Together, they started running back to the port. It wasn’t far, and Lenah hoped the guards there wouldn’t already be alerted. At least the ship wasn’t docked in, but instead parked on a landing strip. If they could make it there, they could take off and figure everything else out afterward.

  As they got closer to the port, people started to pay less attention to them. They must be used to people on the run here. They rounded the last corner, and the port’s entrance came into view. Turning her gaze, Lenah saw a group of guards a few hundred meters behind them. But for now, she and Persia could run through the entrance undisturbed. When the ship and its open hatch came into view, she gulped down a few breaths. Damn, she’d told Uz and Dr. Lund to lie low. That didn’t mean leaving the hatch open for anyone to walk inside. At the moment, however, the unhindered entrance into the ship was a welcome sight.

  15 One Friendly Face

  Lenah felt Persia’s hand on her arm as she was about to board the
ship.

  “Why’s the hatch open? I don’t like this.”

  “Neither do I. But we have no choice.”

  It was true enough. Behind them, the men in beige suits were getting closer. They’d be here in less than a minute. There was no choice but to try to get away on this ship. Besides, whatever was going on in there, how much worse could it get? They had injured, if not killed, the security captain. No matter how corrupt this place was, that didn’t come without consequences.

  Lenah stepped inside the ship, trying to figure out what it was that made her skin itch. The cargo hold looked as it had before.

  Behind her, Persia closed the hatch, then pulled down the old-fashioned but effective deadbolt the prior owners had installed. “Can I have my gun back?”

  Lenah hadn’t realized she was still clutching the weapon. “Sorry.”

  Handing it back, she motioned for Persia to be quiet as they made their way up the stairs and into the only corridor that would lead them to the cabins and the cockpit. The door to the latter was open, but she couldn’t see anyone inside. Curiously, the poster of Pirates of the Stars someone had hung on the wall next to the common room had acquired a few red splatters. Was that blood? She reached out with her hand, and it came back wet to the touch. Yep, fresh blood.

  A soft murmur came from the common room. Lenah motioned to Persia, who lifted her pistol. Lenah took out her knife, wishing for another gun. She felt the disadvantage of her size and, most of all, lack of training when engaging close-up. If this new lifestyle of hers became the norm, she’d need to find herself a trainer. The thought surprised her. While the last few days hadn’t been great by any means, she’d enjoyed some parts of it. Flying, and the freedom to go somewhere completely new, were at the top of the list; being kidnapped and out of money, at the bottom. But overall, she could get used to captaining her own ship through space. Maybe, when this was over, she should take the Rambler for a spin before returning it to its owners.

  They positioned themselves on both sides of the door of the common room. Lenah was about to push the hatch fully open, allowing Persia to barge in and shoot anyone who didn’t belong there, when loud bangs from the cargo hold distracted her. She’d forgotten about the men in beige coats. The murmurings on the other side of the door abruptly stopped.