by Eden Ember
“Sir, they’ve painted a target on us with their long range sensors. Their rockets are set to impact us in twenty seconds,” Xorg advised.
“Stealth shields on, then drop forty-five degrees. They will think that we have rushed ahead. Once they pass around us, pull behind and follow them. Ready the turrets and send them a message. Xyru, find the nearest wormhole so that we can leave before they know what has happened,” I commanded.
Everyone scrambled. I spied the two rockets closing in on us. “Hurry, Elgan.” I pounded the comm.
“Advanced shields are up, their sensors are blocked,” Elgan reports.
“Stealth on. Power decreased to half,” I replied.
Suddenly the Torq Runner lowered from its current flight path. The two rockets narrowly missed us and careened into empty space. Poor fluck that crosses the path of those warheads.
“Quick, sharp right, fire the turrets and then double loop back, hit Wormhole 548-J26.” The ship immediately changed course, the engines going back to full power as we lurched forward, still while in stealth mode. Entering a wormhole while not in hyper-speed would cause a great deal of turbulence, but it was worth it to lose the Kzar.
“Sir, the Kzar is still aware of us,” Xorg said.
“Hyper-speed then, we’ll give them a good chase,” I said as I entered commands into the controls and the ship lurched into faster than light speed, the stars becoming blurred before us. I smiled. The clunky Kwobus Kzar couldn’t go nearly as fast as the Torq Runner. That will keep them busy for a while. It would be a matter of who ran out of fuel first, us or them.
The ship shuttered, bringing chaos to the ship’s bridge as I saw with horror the Kzar had sent a long range laser blast. “Details,” I barked into the comm.
“Outer hull hit, slight damage, but close to the vitals,” Xyru said.
“Flibs!” I shoved my hand over the controls and turned the ship sharply in a wide arc, causing it to fly in the opposite direction of the Kwobus, thus losing them in for the moment. With no choice but to find a place to land for repairs and refueling, we looked toward the nearest outpost.
“Set course in stealth to Arenthia. It’s private docking, so we can land in stealth and keep our heat signature off their sensors,” I told the crew.
The Kzar continued in the same direction until it disappeared through a wormhole. Perhaps they thought that’s where we had gone. The Torq Runner flew to Arenthia, far from the Cantor System and the Zeta Empire. After docking in cloaked signature, the repairs and refuelling would begin. Until then, I kept the ship on standby power only to stay well hidden from the Kwobus.
“What of the Terrans?” Elgan asked as we stood outside looking across the yellowed landscape of the small planet.
Though it made me sad, still we had to do it. “We’ll drop them off at Arenthia. They aren’t my responsibility,” I said in keeping up with my calloused approach. I didn’t want to admit the physical attraction I had to the one called Allegra.
I took it upon myself to deliver blankets and coverings for their rest. They could make pallets on the floor and make do with those until we dropped them from the ship. I carried a stack of the covers down to the cargo bay and leaned in so that the door scanner could read my face. The door swooshed open and five faces peered up at me from their seats on the floor. Allegra hopped up and came to me, her pretty face set in stone as she peered at the stack of things in my arms.
“Those for us?” she asked nicely.
I gave her a half-cocked smile. “Yes, I’m not a total barbarian not to offer our uninvited guests some comforts,” I said as I set the stack of covers on a crate.
“Thanks,” she said flatly and took the covers to her crew. At least she took it upon herself to take care of them.
“Allerwon will bring food. I’m assuming that you can eat Aaran food. We’ll have our ship AI research this. We seem similar in some ways,” I said as I gazed over her curvy body. She lifted her chin as she gazed right back. I beamed at her, proud of what I am.
“Thank you,” she said curtly.
“Will there be anything else for your accommodations?” I asked.
“A little trust and perhaps a nicer room,” she replied.
“Trust? I don’t make it my business to trust stowaways,” I said as I pivoted on my heels and left the room before closing the door behind me.
Chapter 3
ALLEGRA
I paced the cargo bay floor while my crew relaxed on the pallets. Gandrox didn’t trust me and I really couldn’t blame him. I needed to come up with a plan. The thought of being dropped off some place so far away from our Space Corps company didn’t fare well with me. My crew looked to me for leadership and protection. I wasn’t doing such a great job here with my hair-brained idea to stowaway on a ship of barbarian aliens. It’s not working out like I had hoped that it would.
I knocked on the door gently, not so loudly as to awaken my crew. Someone finally opened it and glared at me. “Elgan? Is that right?” I asked as I smiled at the blue-skinned alien.
“Yes,” he said, his great jaw flexing.
“May I please have a word with your captain?” I asked sweetly.
“I’ll see about it,” he said, and the door then shut.
Sighing heavily, I resumed my quiet pacing while the ladies slept. It amazed me how they could forget the trouble we were in and just let go enough to sleep. It didn’t matter; they swore an oath to submit to my leadership, and that’s what they were doing.
Elgan poked his head inside the door and motioned with his giant hand. I walked out of the cargo room, thankful for an opportunity to see the ship and not just the four metal walls and crates.
“Sit,” Gandrox said as he waited in the compact room. An odd display hummed before him. Lights of green, red, and violet flashed with the symbols, and occasionally a blue light beamed. I would love to find out what it was and how it worked, but now was not the time for such things.
I hoped to appeal to his sense of humanity, or of Aarananity, if such a thing existed. Leaning forward, I hoped that he could see the humbleness on my face. “I’m sorry for sneaking onto your ship. We are in a desperate situation, though. I like you, and I think that you and your crew are kind-hearted. I’m asking if you will please allow us to stay onboard your ship. We have no currency with which to do business anywhere. My crew and I are hard workers and we can earn our keep while here,” I offered.
He sat back as he regarded me. I couldn’t read his chiseled face as his light blue eyes peered at me. Slowly, his head shook. “I don’t have jobs for you and your crew. We run at maximum capacity and I have an understanding with my crew. There’s no room for any more passengers. The ship doesn’t have extra quarters unless you’d want to bunk with us. I’m sure some of my crew would be happy for a price,” Gandrox said.
I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not until he laughed. A spark of hope arose in me. I smiled. “Well, maybe we can arrange that,” I joked. But it wasn't beyond the realm of possibilities. I would do my part if need be.
His co-captain spoke into his comm. He glanced back at me. “No, we’re about to land on Arenthia. Your crew can find jobs there and perhaps earn a rightful spot on a transport ship back to Zeta,” he said. With that, he stood and held out his hand for me to stand.
I fumed when he locked me back inside the cargo hold. Addison stirred and sat up.
“Allegra? Where did you go?” she asked.
“Trying to beg for them to allow us to stay aboard this ship,” I replied. My lips turned down, and she shook her head.
“Hey, you tried.”
The ship shuddered as we landed on Arenthia, wherever the hell that is? I had no clue what we would do now that we had no ship or transportation. “I guess we’ll figure it out as we go,” I told them.
The cargo door soon opened. Gandrox stepped inside, grim-faced. He thrust a handful of cards at me. “This should do until you figure out what to do,” he said gruffly.
I took it and tried makin
g eye contact, but he turned away quickly and exited the room. The women and I followed and stepped foot onto Arenthia. At least it greeted us with green capped mountains in the distance, unlike the desert conditions of Zarsola. Gandrox disappeared, and that was that. I looked on sadly, hoping that he’d give us a chance. Though we didn’t know him and his crew, they actually seemed very familiar, unlike the aliens that roamed the streets of Arenthia. We huddled together as we walked away from the hangar, leaving behind the only hope we had. The ship’s captain turned once, hesitated, and shook his head as he walked away.
“Come on,” I said to my crew, and we scuttled along unwittingly toward an uncertain life.
The aliens gazed at us curiously as we searched for someone to give us transport to Zeta. The longer we walked, the more I realized that we were in a place that probably wouldn’t help. I thought about sneaking back onboard the Torq Runner again and by the time we walked back to the hangar, to our horror, it had already left. Gandrox had taken his crew and left us behind. Determined to figure it out, I led the women back to the main road and a mass of dark-cloaked beings began to approach us. Syria grabbed my arm and squeezed hard.
“I don’t like the looks of this,” she whispered.
“I don’t either,” I said as we ducked down a side alley and picked up the pace. “Run!”
After apparently evading the figures and not seeing anyone nearby, we ducked inside a hobble, and quickly found a room and knelt behind the tall embankment made of Arenthian stone. As we squatted, my finger came up to my lips in keeping the others quiet as footsteps fell just on the alley outside the crude building. Deep breaths emitted from the beings as they walked inside and I kept my finger on my lips, hoping Addison wouldn’t freak out like she had when we nearly collided with an asteroid upon leaving the Terran System.
The aliens eventually moved on and I stole across to the door, checking outside. No one was in sight. Thinking they’d left, I motioned for the women to come out.
“We need to find a suitable hiding place for now,” I said.
“How about here? It looks as if no one has used this hovel in a long time,” Syria replied as she scooted her hand across the top of a crate.
“Okay, we’ll come back here. We need to go back out and find out if we have enough currency in these to catch a ride on a transporter,” I said as I held up the cards Gandrox gave me. At least he cared enough to give us something.
“Jules, come with me. The rest of you stay put. It’s best that if we get caught, some of you still have a chance,” I said.
“Thanks,” Jules said flatly. I chose her because of her I don’t give a damn attitude.
Once outside, we quickly hid in the shadows when the same cloaked aliens stepped from a building across the dusty road. One peered our way, and I realized we needed to find a disguise.
“What are we doing here?” Jules asked.
I looked around the place. Slick benches lined the walls, the signs scrawled in alien lettering, but there was nothing we could read. “We need a disguise,” I told her.
“I thought we came in here to hide. There’s nothing here to disguise ourselves,” Jules said.
After quietly stepping back onto the road, the cloaked aliens headed in the opposite direction. I grabbed Jules’ arm. “Look! It’s a market of some sort,” I said as I pulled her toward it.
Different aliens littered the place. Any other time the different species and their intellect fascinated me, but right now we just needed something so that we could hide and blend in.
A vendor with billowing fabrics peered at us with beady eyes. I tapped the implant behind my ear to adjust to his language and dialect. “Can we purchase this?” I asked as I had my hand on the scarlet fabric. After presenting one card Gandrox handed me, she nodded. After pulling off a long flowing piece, she took the card and handed me two other cards in exchange.
“Why did you do that? We’re supposed to use that as currency to get a ride back to Zeta,” Jules said angrily.
“I know that. But I’m not sure how much it is, or if Gandrox intended it to buy a ticket on a transporter or if it was just for food,” I said. Oh, how I wished I’d find another Aaran like Gandrox. He was so easy on the eyes.
“Come on, we can make disguises out of this,” I said as we walked back to the abandoned building where the others were waiting.
“What is this?” Addison asked as I handed her a portion of the fabric.
“Disguises,” Jules said.
The fabric flowed nicely, and I twisted it around my head, pulling down a cloak over my face but leaving enough room to see. Smiling, I held out my hands as I twirled in front of my crew.
“See? Easy. Just disguise yourself in whatever method you’d like,” I said.
“I think to keep us realistic, we need to disguise ourselves the same,” Syria replied.
“Okay, here I’ll help. Then, we’ll head back to the hangar and see if we can catch a ride, somehow,” I said.
“How? We don’t have enough currency to do that, especially after you bought this fabric,” Jules complained. Jules always brought doom to our conversations.
“Worry not, I will use my feminine wiles to buy a ride,” I said as I danced around. I should have used more of my wiles with Gandrox. Why is it that at the mention of his name I feel a pang in my heart?
“Onward,” I said as we took to the streets.
Once outside, we had to be careful and avoid the cloaked figures who sought after us. It looked too easy, the hangar up ahead, and yet something in my gut suggested otherwise. We strode along, keeping our eyes peeled, and by the time we reached the last building on the road before the hanger, the aliens stood out before us. Stopping quickly, we desperately turned to run, only more of them were behind us. Too late. Large three-fingered hands grabbed us. I screamed, but it was of no use. No one cared. The aliens were larger and stronger and easily grabbed the five of us.
Chapter 4
GANDROX
Leaving Arenthia didn’t give me as much satisfaction as I had hoped. It wasn’t just leaving a little pithy planet behind, but the five lives that desperately wanted to stay aboard my ship. The Terran Allegra wouldn’t leave my mind. What have I done? I kept it to myself, but toyed with the intent to turn around to fetch the Terrans. Arenthia wasn’t any place for them, just as Zarsola wasn’t.
“Set course for outer Thronde. We’ll head into the binary system and check on the weapons. Zeta could use the extra help,” I said.
“And if we go back to Zeta, shouldn’t we swing by Arenthia?” Elgan’s thick brow lifted as he peered at me from across the bridge.
I knew exactly why he said it. I merely glared back. “The Torq Runner isn’t a place for females. We couldn’t expect them to stay cooped up in the cargo room the entire time,” I said. My words had an unnecessary bite. Not that I was angry at Elgan, but I was more disappointed with myself for leaving them behind. But I’m a stubborn being and admitting to being wrong isn’t in my personality. I’d rather flail through life with my crew thinking that I had no heart than to admit the inkling of feelings I felt for the Terran.
I kept my eyes focused straight ahead. “Prepare for burst, upcoming WormHole 12989, ready for transition,” I said. My hand pushed the controls forward, the Torq blurring into faster than the speed of light, the wormhole target looming big on the screen. A cruel smile curled across my face as I enjoyed torturing myself. The sooner we could travel through it, the farther away those who pulled at my heart would be.
Xyru stepped down from the radio control, his face flushed. “Sir, you may want to know, chatter abounds about an attempt to blow up the space station orbiting Arenthia. Word has it they captured exotics for auction at Z’zenk.”
The implications of his words struck me deep. What have I done? My jaw tensed as I turned to the screen. We had come through the burst without incident, the wormhole behind us already. Thronde was another wormhole burst away, and four days' travel. Why didn’t I just
keep the Terrans on board in the first place? The Kwobus had closed in on Arenthia just as we had left the vicinity and going back would risk exposing us. Our enemy stood between that which pulled at my barbarian heart and the duty we have in keeping our promises of returning weapons to Zeta. My fist came down on the railing, causing Elgan to jump.
“Sir, what of this chatter? Will this affect us?” Xyru asked.
How could he ask it? We should just shrug and keep going, not concerning ourselves with what we have left behind.
“We go back,” Elgan said. Pragmatic, reasonable Elgan. He wasn’t happy with my decision to leave the women behind. How could I say no? My heart pulled in that direction as well.
“Wide turn, back to Wormhole 12989. Let’s rescue the Terrans,” I commanded.
Elgan and Xyru smiled, and even Razko joined in the upbeat energy now spreading throughout the bridge. I couldn’t let my crew see me too happy or that would admit that I have a heart. Once the ship headed back to the wormhole, I relaxed. I hadn’t realized how tense my body was since leaving Arenthia. Why didn’t I just take the women with us?
“What’s the word, Xyru?” I asked as we lurched into the burst.
“Pirates,” he said, his face grim.
Pirates. Kwobus. It had to be. Ice particles surged through my veins as a wave of sickness rushed through my body. To keep the Terrans safe from the very ones who chased us, I put them in worse danger by leaving them there.
As soon as we entered the realm of Arenthia, Razko activated the shields. “The Kzar painted us,” he announced.
My eyes closed. I knew it, but I wasn’t prepared to fight. Normally, we’d turn and run away as fast as we could. “We prepare to fight then,” I replied.
“Sir? Can we?” Xyru asked.
“Do we have a choice? What of the women? We left them.”
“The Kwobus knows. It’s why they leveled the threat, to get us to turn around. We’re barbarians, we can do this or die trying,” I said, scarcely believing the words I was saying.
“Weapons up?” Elgan asked.
