Starlight and Candy

by K. T. Flores

  “No!” she cried, turning to the guardians in horror. “What have you done, you monster!”

  “All you had to do was answer some questions. And now two people have been killed. One more and you’re just another serial killer we need to bring to justice.”

  “He was innocent, and you just—” She tried to calm her breathing, but the garage felt too small, too crowded. The other guardians didn’t look concerned about their partner killing a random citizen.

  “Innocent?” he scoffed. “You underworlders are all the same. You’ve all committed a crime at one time or another. And I know he was selling candy. Not so innocent after all, huh?”

  Barco’s pet bird squawked desperately at his body, and the guardian strolled over. He ruffled Barco’s blonde hair and then gripped the animal.

  “Loud, pretty little thing, aren’t you?” he crooned, snapping its neck easily.

  He turned his attention to Tauri, pushing his visor to rest on his head. Beady, black eyes narrowed at her as he gently rubbed the dead bird’s wings. His cheek had swollen considerably, skin reddening. The area near his eye had the beginnings of a bruise. “Now, apologize, and I’ll shoot your leg instead of your head.”

  She barked a laugh, inching backwards. “You won’t do it. You need my help.”

  “So you do know something about the Dagrian,” he accused, tossing the bird at her and aiming his raypistol.

  “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. But you’ll never find out.” She lunged into the driver’s seat of the racer, yelping as the three men began to shoot. The engine roared to life, briefly drowning out even the sound of her thoughts.

  Her fingers shook. She pushed buttons as fast as possible. “Go, go, go,” she chanted. She’d never driven a racer before, but she’d read plenty of books on how they operated.

  It’s like a hovercraft, she told herself. Just faster.

  She whispered, “I’m so sorry Barco,” but didn’t dare turn around. She hoped he wasn’t dead, but what were the chances?

  The triterrain shook under the raining fire. She offered the guardians a choice finger as she shot forward, pulling the wheel to her chest before the craft had finished clearing the garage. The altimeter clicked rapidly as she climbed higher and higher.

  A blink and she was out of the underworld. Another and she had shot past the overworld. Yet another, and she was moments from breaking out of the atmosphere.

  The stars were getting closer and closer.

  Almost there.

  One more blink, and this madness would be left on Navar. The guardians would never follow her off-world. Catching her wasn’t worth the resources when the female Dagrian was still loose.

  Her ship credentials beeped loudly, and she held her breath. If she couldn’t pass the final planet checkpoint, then the guardians would track her down.

  Though she doubted they could catch up with her, even if they had more fuel in their crafts. She thought of the light hops she’d calculated. They couldn’t find her if she made it to R’nal first.

  There was a brief flash of green across her windshield, indicating she was free to continue.

  Her shoulders slumped, and she whooped excitedly, “Stars above!”

  She was free.

  But just before she breached out of the blue sky into the darkness of space, the triterrain shook violently. The racer wailed at her, and she turned to see unmarked ships with guns trailing after her. The Vice guardians had caught up.

  “Scan!” she shouted while braking as hard as she could.

  The racer stopped in midair, and she jerked forward. The seatbelt jangled loudly at the stress of new weight. Her hands ran across her chest, searching for tender spots. No broken bones, but her ribs twinged. Adrenaline quickly drowned the throbbing of her shoulders. She was still in the seat somehow, watching as two crafts shot past her. They struggled to stop as abruptly as she had. They must’ve already prepared for galactic flying. They would need a few moments to shift back to Navarian travel.

  She considered moving forward again, but the triterrain wouldn’t make it through space after the hit to the engine. As the ship beeped off diagnostics, she realized it wasn’t going to make it anywhere if she didn’t land soon.

  She inhaled deeply. “Push all power into the right engine. Change the limit for cooling temperature up by forty degrees and shift all heat resistance to the rear.”

  “Affirmative. Changing parameters now.”

  “Thank you,” she muttered, pushing the wheel and going into a nosedive. She couldn’t help the nervous laugh that escaped her. She felt like she’d left her stomach back at her shop and wondered if it would ever catch up. She plummeted back through a large hole in the upper crust. It would be harder for them to follow her beneath Navar’s first layer.

  Soon, she’d be out of her sector, but the ship sensors were still responsive enough that she could dodge unfamiliar buildings with relative ease.

  “It’s just another joyride,” she tried to tell herself. But the world blurred to simple colors and blobs, reminding her otherwise. These were speeds no one casually travelled at unless they were racing.

  “New fuel leak detected,” the ship chirped.

  She wracked her brain for solutions, but there was no way she could prevent the leak for longer than a few minutes—especially with the maneuvers she was forcing. “Uh, reroute all fuel from the main pipe into the secondary and tertiary pipes.”

  “Rerouting now. Warning: excessive fuel will cause pipes to burst.”

  “I know, I know. How much time do I have?” she forced through clenched teeth. She waved her hand, and a map of Navar popped up in her periphery. She tried to switch her attention, but there was too much chaos on the dashboard. Gauges flashed and howled at her, problems arising so rapidly that she stopped trying to sort through them all. “And please locate dense areas. Hard to maneuver through.”

  “Maximum eight minutes and twenty-seven seconds before reactor malfunction. Closest area for difficult maneuverability is the Forest of Wailing Mangroves five and a half light meters away. Warning: you have surpassed eight Gs.”

  Tauri swiped at her nose, frustrated to see blood on her fingers. Shots bounced off the racer, making it tremble. Her vision began to darken at the edges, but she shook her head roughly.

  Not now, she warned herself. Focus. Breathe.

  The map zoomed in on the forest, but she didn’t bother to check over it.

  “Hull has taken significant damage. Get to a repair shop immediately,” the ship warned.

  She sucked in air through her teeth. “No can do. Set route for the forest. State of defensive shield?”

  “Shield integrity at twenty-seven percent. Land immediately.”

  “I’m not dying like this,” Tauri said lowly. A shot hit one of the racer thrusters and the ship twirled. “Um, what’s the shield at again?”

  “Shield integrity at two percent. Approaching ten Gs. Warning: secondary pipe leaking. Tertiary pipe multiple leaks.” Another shot hit a back stabilizer. “Warning: shield integrity now at zero.”

  “Well, shit. Is there anything that’s not broken?” she growled, wincing as she scraped against rocks of the upper crust.

  “Communication lines still functional.”

  She perked up, the paper in her front pocket suddenly searing into her sternum. She wouldn’t be able to reach it though. They’d have to get into the forest, cut acceleration. Then she could grab it and call. But it would be cutting the distance between her and the guardians too close. She’d have to get deeper through the mangrove roots before calling the Dagrian. And she wasn’t sure if the racer could handle staying in the air for that long. Still, it was worth trying. She’d take help from anyone to escape guardians. They had caused more than enough death in her life.

  “Shall I open a private line?”

  “Oh!” she shouted eagerly. She had forgotten to wipe the contact list. Any other day, and the mistake would be embarrassing. This was her chance, and she’d
be damned if she missed it. “Yes, open it!”

  “Opening a private communication line.”

  She swallowed, a metallic taste coating her tongue. Blood from her nose was slipping into her throat. She couldn’t take much more. “Call …” What was his name? He hadn’t given it to her. Were the two Dagrians close siblings? “Uh, list emergency contacts?”

  “Emergency contacts: none. Favorites list available.”

  “Yes, read off favorites,” she breathed, finding it difficult to focus.

  “Entering the Forest of Wailing Mangroves. Favorites list: Kendo, Isu, Liara—”

  The ship was drowned out by the sound of branches breaking. Tauri decelerated enough to navigate through the tangled roots of the mangroves. The guardians were still in pursuit, but none of their shots were making contact. Pieces of destroyed wood showered the racer. The trees slowed them down as she had hoped.

  Okay, so this isn’t like a joyride. It’s more like… Like that video game you used to play! she told herself. Think ahead, and don’t look back.

  She nodded, patting the steering wheel once. “We can do this,” she whispered.

  “Gs down to normal levels. Warning: secondary pipe about to burst.”

  “Reroute fuel in secondary pipe to primary and tertiary pipe. Repeat favorites list,” she said, gritting as another chunk of the racer was lost to the trees.

  “Rerouting fuel. Favorites list: Kendo, Isu, Liara, Brother—”

  “Call Brother, call Brother!” she yelled, hoping the Dagrian didn’t have multiple siblings. Or hopefully the one who had stopped by the shop was her favorite.

  The line hadn’t finished its first ring before “Hello?” sounded in the racer.

  Relief washed over her at the warm tenor. “Pinging location, guardians in pursuit!”

  “Wh—”

  She shut off the call and hesitated. She thought about contacting one of her friends. She knew people that would help her if she asked. Though after Barco's shooting, she didn't want to risk anyone else.

  She flipped the location tracker on. “Send location to Brother.” She wasn’t sure what the Dagrian could do, but she wasn’t going to make it out of this chase alive. Not with the condition the racer was in. Any minute, it would fall apart in an explosion.

  “Sending location to Brother. Right engine failing. Land immediately.”

  Something in the rear exploded, and she jerked the wheel sharply to stay upright. “Brace for impact!” she shouted, doing her best to dodge through the mangroves as the racer began to descend.

  “Emergency parameters enabled. Seats locking.”

  Everything in Tauri screamed at her to close her eyes, turn away from the windshield and accept defeat, but she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. She’d get her freedom and see her parents, no matter the cost.

  There was one last thing she had to try.

  She steeled herself for it, hand trembling as she removed them from the steering wheel. “Engage autopilot. Open top hatch and release seatbelt.”

  “Autopilot engaged. Warning: opening hatch and releasing seat belt may lead to injury or death.”

  “I know …” She hesitated, but another shot against the hull spurred her into action. “Override safety precautions.”

  The seat belt popped off and she spun around, wrapping her arms and legs tightly around the back of the seat. “Sharp left and raise seat.”

  The ship complied, and she nearly lost her grip. She cried out at the pressure of the turn, shutting her eyes. The ship realigned and continued zigzagging.

  She hurriedly stood on the driver’s seat and hauled herself through the hatch. She slipped forward after making it to the hood of the ship, her chin painfully hitting metal. Her grip on the hatch weakened. She was afraid to let go, but it was her only option.

  “Stop sending location,” she shouted, waiting with bated breath for the response.

  “Location no longer sending. Call Brother again?”

  “You did good, girl,” she said, petting the racer lovingly.

  One, two, three. Tauri shut her eyes and let go. She felt herself flipping backwards through the air, scraping against the mangroves painfully, lucky to be wearing her jacket and overalls. She did her best to cover her face, but there was pricking across her skin, turning her into a splinter pincushion. She barely sucked in a breath before slamming into the water.

  She kicked toward the surface, panicking as she realized she couldn’t find which way was up and which was down. So, she managed to survive a high-speed chase with guardians, but drowning would be her undoing.

  I am not dying, she reminded herself, even as her lungs burned, and the world faded.

  Not here.

  Not like this.

  Chapter Four

  Tauri blinked away the heaviness of her eyelids, water sliding off her body. The rough roots of the mangroves dug into her back, and she inhaled deeply for a few moments.

  Water rushed up her throat, and she flopped to her side as she threw it up. A warm hand rubbed her back, fingers scraping against her face to pull away her wavy brown hair.

  “Breathe,” a man’s voice said.

  “Dagrian,” she gasped out.

  She wasn’t dead.

  She flopped against the root of the mangrove, too exhausted to do much else. Her eyes roamed the forest, wishing she’d seen it under better circumstances. The trees were enormous, many breaching beyond the underworld. Overworlders had built bridges to cross, but underworlders used the large lake to navigate through. The roots created twisting waterways and hiding places.

  She rolled to her back, squinting up at the Dagrian. Water from his hair and skin dripped across her face, but she was too weak to wipe it away.

  “It doesn’t look like you can walk,” he mused, hands lightly patting across her body. She winced, but he didn’t notice. “Though, nothing seems broken.”

  “I can’t move,” she admitted.

  He glanced at the sky as roaring engines rang throughout the forest. “We need to go. They’re looking for you.”

  He scooped her up, ignoring her emphatic protests. She tried to push away from him, but she barely had enough energy to place her palms against his shoulders.

  “Put me down,” she said, glaring up at him.

  But he began to move forward. “Close your eyes. Teleporting always makes people queasy the first few times.”

  “Teleporting—?” Her words were stolen as the roots around them changed. Her stomach roiled, and she gagged slightly. But there was nothing left in her stomach to throw up.

  “What are you doing?” she choked out, squeezing her eyes shut.

  “I just told you: teleporting. We need to get to my ship quickly. They’re scouring the forest for you.”

  His chest vibrated with every word, and she felt her skin shift in response. She turned away, trying not to sulk. He was probably a great negotiator, using his lilt to disarm the people around him.

  He jumped three more times before climbing into his ship. She made an active effort to keep her mouth shut, recognizing the state-of-the art luxury panterrain racer. If she’d thought his sister’s craft was nice, his was on another level.

  He hurried forward while saying, “Prepare passenger medical scan.”

  “Passenger medical scan ready.”

  “Thanks, Bunny,” he said, setting Tauri down.

  She snorted, raising a brow at him. “Bunny? You have a beautiful ship, and you named her Bunny?”

  “Kira, my sister”—he swiped his hand over the sleeping holocomputer, and lights began to scan her body—“named the ship. She’d kill me if I changed it to anything else. And she’d know if I ever tried.” His tone was dipped in amusement, but his face was blank.

  She watched the diagnostics filter onto the projection before them. The tension in her shoulders melted as she realized nothing was seriously wrong with her. Bruising and soreness, but most of that would be gone within a few days.

  “You’re lucky t
o be alive,” he said, pulling up a video feed of her letting go of the racer. Her body whipped through the air like a ragdoll before slamming into the lake. “I have no idea how you survived that with almost no damage.” His eyes met hers, and he shook his head slightly. “You humans are so strange.”

  The feed continued, following the racers that had chased her into the forest. The Dagrian waved the images away. “Find us some place hidden, and let me know if the radar picks up anything. We’re trying to be as quiet as possible, Bun.”

  “Understood.”

  “The med scan shows almost a hundred splinters. You need to go take them out.” He picked up a holopad on a side table and flipped it open.

  A hologram appeared with pinpoints on its body. It indicated that most splinters were centered on her arms and legs. She couldn’t feel them yet, but that had more to do with adrenaline than anything else.

  He held his palm up and said, “Pain suppressor, Bun. And water.”

  Immediately, two bottles were spat into his hand from a compartment above his head. He gave her both, then turned away. His hand fit comfortably against a glowing orange panel. The side of the ship collapsed to reveal a bedroom and bathroom, complete with a small jacuzzi and vanity.

  He jerked his head toward the room. “You can take the holopad if you need. It should help you pinpoint some of the more difficult splinters to find.”

  Tauri’s head was spinning. “Hold on a minute!” she said, lurching forward on unsteady legs to grip his forearm. “I need to know what’s going on, or else I’ll call the guardians to take care of you.” Her threat was weak, and they both knew it.

  He gently nudged her into the bathroom, pushing the holopad into her hands. “You called me. We can talk after you’re done. There are clothes in there somewhere, so you can dry off and change. And be quick about it.”

  “Wait—”

  But the door slid shut on her, and she jerked back. He’d almost caught her nose. She slapped her palm against the door with a shout. “Asshat!”

  She strolled to the vanity, taking a moment to look at herself. It had been a while since she’d bothered with a mirror.