A Galaxy Divided

by Spencer Maxwell

  “I know, I know,” Ryze said, “but we ran into a bit of a snag. There were two more cybersoldiers than we expected. Had to subdue them before they subdued us.”

  Alfis leaned over. “I did, Eradice! It was me that killed ‘em!”

  Ryze jostled the Atorga out of the way. “Ignore him. We’re fine. About to head down to Sker’s surface now.”

  “Well, you'd better hurry. The transport is behind schedule,” Eradice said.

  “Less than two minutes,” Ryze said.

  “The Dominion would notice if it was two seconds. Get down there now. I’ll be at the rendezvous point as soon as you get the shields down. Good luck. Eradice out.” The comm clicked off.

  Ryze, shaking his head, looked around the bridge. “Why didn’t you tell me she was so…intense.”

  INTENSE? Blue laughed. THAT WAS NOTHING COMPARED TO HOW SHE CAN GET SOMETIMES. WE GOT OFF EASY.

  “Yeah, we did,” Alfis agreed. “I don’t fear nothing in this universe except for Eradice when she’s pissed off.”

  It was hard to believe either of them could be frightened by a four-foot tall otter creature with a cool cape, but, then again…he’d believed weirder things in the past.

  LET’S GET THIS VESSEL GOING. RYZE?

  “No, no,” Ryze answered. “Alfis is in the captain’s chair. That means he’s gotta fly it.”

  “Oh, yeah…no problem,” Alfis said. He stared wide-eyed at the controls for a few seconds. The ship was moving slowly on its momentum alone, even after the pulse, but at the rate it was going, it would take a full Sker rotation before they got there. “Actually…I’m still a little pumped from that fight. All that adrenaline, ya know?” The Atorga rose but remained hovering. “I might overshoot and I don’t wanna kill us.”

  “Yeah, uh-huh.” Ryze shooed him out of the pilot’s chair. “Move on. Let the master work.”

  IF YOU TWO DON’T STOP BICKERING, I’M THROWING YOU BOTH OUT OF THE AIRLOCK AND DOING THIS JOB MYSELF. Blue’s eyes said he wasn’t joking, and trying the Gelerris’s patience probably wasn’t the best idea. Alfis apparently felt the same. He moved out of the way, and Ryze took his seat.

  “All right, let’s go,” Ryze said. Thrusters on, ship’s trajectory set, they headed toward Sker. “Smooth sailing from here on out—”

  The comm light on the console blinked orange, like a warning.

  “Ah, you shouldn’t have said nothing,” Alfis trilled. “Now you’ve gone and done it.”

  ANSWER IT, Blue said.

  Ryze ran a hand through his hair. Getting long, he needed it cut, or he would start looking like the Atorga pretty soon— “Answer it? Are you kidding me? They’ll know.”

  IF YOU DON’T ANSWER IT, THEY’LL KNOW.

  “Damn.” He cleared his throat and hit the button.

  “Vessel 3991, what is your status? We’ve sensed a drastic decrease in your speed since you came out of QJ.”

  Ryze glanced around the cockpit. All eyes were on him, waiting for him to say something.

  “Hello? Come in, Vessel 3991. Come in—”

  In a terribly poor falsetto voice, Ryze answered. “Vessel 3991 here. All good on our end. Ran into a minor electrical storm, but we’re fixed up now.” He was shaking his head. Alfis pinched his small nose. Ryze shrugged at him and Blue both.

  Electrical storm? Really, Ryze? But it was all he could come up with.

  “Uh…radar didn’t sense an electrical storm,” the flight control officer said. “Are you—”

  “It was a quick one. No worries. We’re coming in now. ETA six minutes,” Ryze said, and before the officer could respond, he flipped the communicator off.

  ELECTRICAL STORM?

  “I mean, it wasn’t that much of a lie. Eradice did hit the ship with a pulse.”

  “You done messed up, Star Boy,” Alfis whispered.

  “Shut up, Fluffy.”

  “Fluffy? You better watch your mouth, pal.”

  “Hey, you give me a nickname, I give you a nickname. You know, eye for an eye. It’s only fair. Fluffy.”

  Alfis stood straighter and lunged at Ryze. “What, now you making fun of my eye, too?”

  “Huh? No—”

  A tangle of tentacles slid between the two and parted them. OBVIOUSLY THREATS AREN’T WORKING, SO I’M GOING TO ASK NICELY: PLEASE STOP YOUR BICKERING. RYZE, YOU’RE A GROWN MAN, AND ALFIS, FOR THE GODS’ SAKES, YOU’RE TWO HUNDRED YEARS OLD! PLEASE, BOTH OF YOU, START ACTING SOMEWHAT MATURE.

  “He’s right,” Ryze mumbled, sticking a hand out. “Truce.”

  Reluctantly, Alfis accepted the gesture and the two of them shook. No claws had come out and no flayzer shots were fired. “Truce, Star Boy…for now.”

  Twenty-One

  Shouting came from the small maintenance closet off the bridge: “LET US OUT! LET US OUT NOW! THE GOD-KING WILL HAVE YOUR HEADS! ALL OF YOU!”

  “Oh shit,” Ryze said. “Forgot about them.”

  “What the hell, Starlo?” Alfis complained. “You didn’t kill those sons-of-bitches?”

  Ryze shrugged. “I’m trying not to be such a…murderer. You know, being a good person and all that…”

  “Bull. What happened to the whole eye for an eye thing? Those bastards would kill us without hesitation, then dance over our corpses, Star Boy!”

  “Well, there’s another part to that saying,” Ryze said. He stood and set his helmet on the console. “An eye for an eye makes the whole universe go blind.”

  “Sounds lame,” Alfis said.

  STARLO IS RIGHT, ALFIS. WE WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO KILL THEM ANYWAY. WE NEED THEIR PASSCODES AND UNIFORMS.

  “Eh, you can take a uniform off a dead soldier any day,” Alfis said with a shrug.

  Ryze scratched his head. “I…don’t think either of you guys are going to fit in their outfits. No offense.”

  “Maybe fifty years ago I could.” Alfis patted his lower belly and chuckled. “I got a little too loose with the moonbean juice. Ay, that sounds like the title of a song.” Alfis started dancing. It was a hideous sight.

  One of the officers continued yelling. “I hear you out there! Your heads will be on stakes for all of the galaxy to see! No one messes with the Celestial Dominion and gets away with it! NO ONE!”

  “I’ve been messing with the Dominion for years,” Alfis said. “So far, so good. This guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

  Ryze laughed. He, too, had his fair share of Dominion run-ins, and last time he checked, he still had his head.

  Blue glanced in the direction of their voices. THE UNIFORMS ARE FOR YOU AND I, STARLO.”

  “I don’t get it,” Ryze said. “You’re a…you’re not exactly human.”

  Alfis chuckled, leaning back in his chair. “Oh, you’ll get it, Star Boy. It’s weird as shit, but you’ll get it.”

  BETTER YOU GO AND GET WHAT WE NEED, RYZE, Blue said. IF EITHER ALFIS OR I TRY, IT WILL NOT GO WELL FOR THEM. THEY’LL RESPOND BETTER TO THEIR OWN KIND.

  “Yep, Blue’ll freak ‘em out, and I’ll just eat their noses. I got too much hostility toward them.” Alfis’s claws popped out.

  Ryze looked at the Atorga with slight concern. “Calm down, psycho.” He pointed at the steering column. “Here, take over for me. I’ll handle the officers.” He clapped the Atorga on his back after the alien slid into the pilot’s chair.

  “I ain’t no psycho,” Alfis argued.

  “Eh, let’s just say I’m glad you’re on our side.” Mostly, Ryze added mentally as he left the bridge and entered the maintenance closet.

  The Dominion pilot’s hands were already turning black and blue. The navigator looked slightly better, but not much. A welt pulsed on his cheek where Ryze had clocked him.

  “Ouch,” Ryze said and whistled. “I really did a number on you guys.”

  “You rebel scum,” the pilot spat. “You don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into. You’re way in over your head. That puny brain of yours can’t even comprehend—”

  Ryze reache
d for his flayzer. It was a complete bluff, but it did well to shut the guy up. “It’s probably not in your best interests to threaten the guy who could end both of your lives with a single squeeze of his finger.”

  The threat didn’t do much good, because the navigator decided it was his turn now. “We’ve already hailed central control. They know you’ve hijacked the ship. Wherever you plan on going, they’ll find you. All Dominion vessels come equipped with tracking devices.”

  Ryze squatted down so he was eye to eye with both of them. They looked at him. “C’mon, man. Do you think I was born yesterday? See this?” He leaned closer and pointed at the couple days’ worth of stubble on his cheeks. “Gray hairs. I definitely wasn’t born yesterday, and not to brag, I probably know more about Dominion ships than both of you combined. I checked your comm logs. Your last transmission to central was over six light years back. The pulse we hit you with took your communications down, and I got to you a little after the power kicked back on. Not enough time to go crying to your masters. So don’t try pulling a fast one on me, friends. Because you can’t.”

  The pilot screwed up his face. A light had just come on in his head. “Ah, I thought you looked familiar. You’re that bounty hunter turned hero, aren’t you? What’s the name again, Raisin Silo?”

  The name was too ridiculous to anger Ryze. He actually had to stop himself from smiling and suppressed a laugh. With a mildly serious face, he said, “Do you really think my name’s Raisin Silo? That’s gotta be a joke, right?” He looked at the navigator. “He can’t be serious.”

  The navigator winced. “I-I don’t know.”

  The pilot said, “If the shoe fits.”

  Ryze took a deep breath. Maybe Alfis was onto something when he said I should kill ‘em. At least the pilot. I mean, c’mon…Raisin Silo? I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, but nothing as dumb as Raisin Silo.

  “It’s Ryze Starlo,” Ryze corrected, “but you were close.”

  “Ah,” the pilot laughed, “I was, wasn’t I?” He leaned to the side and spat at Ryze’s boots. The wad missed, but just barely.

  Ryze bit the inside of his cheek and took a deep breath. He had to before he did something drastic to these Dominion assholes. Doing so would only bring haunting images of Jade’s trademark frown to the forefront of his mind. Although he missed her, he didn’t miss her judging looks. So no, he couldn’t kill them, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t bluff to get the information and credentials he needed.

  “Okay,” Ryze said, clearing his throat, still squatting, “so you know who I am now, I’m the most wanted man in this galaxy. I’m dangerous, I’m skilled, and I don’t hesitate when it comes to pulling the trigger. Sadly, for you two, I don’t give an elanty’s ass who you are. You’re both Dominion garbage. Faceless drones of a bigger problem calling himself the God-King.” He leaned in more, close enough to see the burst capillaries on the pilot’s nose and the zigzagging red veins in his eyes. “Do you know what I do with guys like you?”

  Neither answered.

  Ryze backed away slightly and raised his flayzer. He could see the fear in their eyes now. Look at you, Ryze, he thought, still scaring fascist officers. Who’s to say you’ve lost it, eh?

  “I put a beamblast through their heads, that’s what I do,” Ryze finished. For emphasis, he tapped the navigator’s cheek with a gloved finger.

  He’s the weak one. I can break him. I know I can.

  At his touch, the navigator cringed and sounded like he was holding back a sob.

  “So,” Ryze said, “let’s get down to business. We’re going to need your clearance codes for the prison, as well as the uniforms off your backs.”

  The pilot snorted. “You’ve got to be joking. If you think either of us are going to give up—”

  “All right,” Ryze said. He made a show of releasing the blaster’s energy pack, checking the current charge, and then punching it back in. “Your choice. I’ll make it as painless as possible—even though you don’t really deserve a painless death, do you? Navigator first. You ready?”

  He pressed the barrel to the navigator’s forehead. The poor guy broke down instantly, sobbing and spraying spit all over as he said, “NO! Wait, I’ll give you what I want. Please, just don’t kill me. I’ve got a fiancé. We’re supposed to get married in two months!”

  “What? Shut up, Denuzz,” the pilot hissed. “Don’t betray the Dominion!”

  “S-screw the Dominion,” the navigator—Denuzz—replied. “I don’t give a crap about it. The job’s just a paycheck for me!”

  “You’re an idiot, Denuzz. The punishment for treachery is much worse than what this two-bit bounty hunter can do to you,” the pilot said.

  “Two-bit?” Ryze repeated to the pilot. “Man, you must really hate breathing, huh?”

  Much to Ryze’s pleasure, the navigator didn’t allow his buddy’s words to have an effect on him. He looked like a man who’d made up his mind—and he made it up in the rebellion’s favor. “I’ll get away,” the navigator said. “They won’t be able to find me. It’s a big, big galaxy. You can come with me, Sherv. We can leave all this bullshit behind.”

  “You’re wrong,” the pilot said.

  “And you’re dumb,” Ryze said. “You’re telling me you’re willing to die for a regime that has murdered millions upon millions?”

  “Yes,” the pilot answered without missing a beat.

  Ryze shrugged. “Whatever, I’m not here to judge.”

  “Starlo! Two minutes ’til arrival!” Alfis shouted.

  “All right, you heard the weird fuzzball,” Ryze said to the navigator. “Spill the codes.” He reached down and lifted the man to his feet. He hadn’t holstered his gun, either. Better safe than sorry. “And strip down.”

  The navigator opened his mouth.

  “I swear on all of the Gods, Denuzz, if you say one more word, I’ll kill you myself,” the pilot interjected.

  The navigator ignored him. To Ryze, he said, “My clearance code is 7303991 and Sherv’s is 298419—”

  “You imbecile!” the pilot said. “You’ve just dug your own grave. How does that feel? If the Dominion doesn’t find you, I will. You can mark my words. And I’ll kill you and Nagis myself! I swear—”

  Ryze cocked a fist back and punched the pilot in the side of the head with about fifty percent power. His chin dropped to his chest, eyes closed. He was out like a light. The navigator blinked in surprise and fear.

  “Sorry,” Ryze said, “he was getting on my nerves. He just doesn’t know when to shut up.”

  The navigator gulped. “So y-you’re not g-gonna kill me?”

  “No, man. We’re cool. Well…unless the codes don’t work.” Ryze brought his wrist comm to his mouth. “You guys get those codes?” he asked the bridge.

  “Got it,” Alfis answered. “They worked. But I think you should kill ‘em anyway—”

  Ryze turned the comm off. The navigator’s eyes were wide again, so Ryze gave him a reassuring shake of the head. “All right, I’m gonna untie you so you can get out of your uniform. Try anything—and I mean anything at all—and I’ll shoot. Got it?”

  “Y-yes.”

  Ryze untied him. Stepping back, he aimed the blasrifle at the navigator.

  The man didn’t try anything. So far.

  “Toss the clothes, please,” Ryze said.

  He did.

  “All right, gotta tie you up again. You know how it is, nothing personal.” He proceeded to bind the navigator’s wrists and locked him to a radiator pipe.

  “W-what’s going to happen now?” the navigator asked. “I can’t go to Sker. They’ll kill me.”

  “Yeah, I know. Don’t worry.” As the navigator was tethered to the pipe, Ryze stripped the other soldier down to his underwear. The unconscious man didn’t even so much as twitch.

  Maybe using fifty percent power for that punch was a little too much, Ryze thought. Sometimes I forget how strong my armor is.

  Then: Nah, he was ki
nd of a dick. He totally deserved it.

  Now with both uniforms in hand, he undid the end of the navigator’s binds that were connected to the pipe but kept the man’s hands tied.

  “Walk, friend,” he said.

  The navigator did.

  “I’ll tell you the deal, but you gotta stay quiet, all right?”

  The navigator nodded.

  “My…associates don’t want to let you go,” Ryze said. Out of the maintenance closet, Ryze guided him to the right. Barefoot, the navigator’s footsteps were nearly silent. Ryze’s, not so much.

  The navigator looked back at him, his face going as white as a star.

  “But—I don’t care what they want or don’t want. You cooperated, you helped me out, so I’m gonna help you out. There’s one good escape pod left. My scanners tell me it’s got enough fuel to get you to the nearest planet. Warkaes. Nice place. I’ve been there a few times. If you have time, you gotta try this restaurant called Yenzy’s. Best blue lobster in this quadrant, no lie.”

  “But Warkaes is under Dominion control…”

  “Yeah, well it’s either you fly there, or that weird little fuzzy dude that came with me is gonna slice you up the way he sliced them up.” Ryze pointed at a cybersoldier—well, part of a cybersoldier. It was the headless one. “Yeah, he’s got claws. Sharp claws. And he might be a homicidal maniac, I’m not entirely sure yet. It’s a whole thing…don’t ask.”

  “Okay, I’ll take the pod,” the navigator said.

  “Good choice. You’ll be fine. Warkaes isn’t too strict about new arrivals. Vacation destination and all that. Might even be able to hitch a ride on a freighter or something the closer you get. That way you won’t look as suspicious to any entry officials. I suggest you contact your fiancé ASAP and tell her to meet you somewhere safe or to go into hiding, because your pilot friend is right. The Dominion is gonna come for you, and they’re gonna come hard.”

  Why the hell am I helping this guy? a voice asked in Ryze’s head. Have I really gone this soft?

  “Thank you, Ryze Starlo,” the navigator said.