Renegades: Origins

by Kal Spriggs

  “Did you ever talk to him, afterward?” Ariadne asked. “Maybe it was a misunderstanding?”

  Pixel looked over at her, and for a second, she thought she saw a look of anger flash across his face. The moment passed, however, and he gave her a sad smile, “No… I think I know pretty well that he knew exactly what he wanted to do. And as far as I know, he did not survive, so I’ve no way to ask him anyway.”

  “Gosh, that’s got to be hard to live with,” Ariadne said. “Thanks for sharing, though, I feel like I know you better now.”

  “What a bunch of sappy bullshit,” Eric said from behind her.

  “What?” Ariadne turned around.

  The former soldier stood in the hatchway. His face had twisted in derision. “So he just says that a buddy of his betrayed him and died in the process and you say thanks for sharing? Right. Don’t even pretend to give a damn, save your breath,” Eric said.

  “Excuse me,” Ariadne said, suddenly uncomfortable.

  “Whatever,” Eric rolled his eyes.

  “What’s your problem?” Pixel said. “And who invited you to this conversation anyway?”

  “I found Crowe lurking outside listening in,” Eric said. “I came over to warn you two that he eavesdropped out here for a while. But then I hear the emotional crap psychic chick shoveled and I had to interrupt.”

  “Crowe is out there?” Ariadne asked. She felt a sudden dread, she’d seen his eyes on her, and how he always managed to say something nasty to her when he thought he could get away with it. She did not want him to know about her past, or worse, to find out the details she had not shared with Pixel.

  “Not anymore,” Eric said. Like I said, I chased him off.” He looked over at Pixel, “And my problem is her bleeding heart. People die every day, and worse things happen to people than that. She grew up in Tau Ceti space… and her nation has any number of atrocities to pay for. If she wants to make things better, maybe she’d make a better impression if she didn’t seem to wear her home like a badge of courage.”

  “What?” Ariadne asked. “I don’t know what you mean.” She frowned. “I mean, sure, I’m from Tau Ceti, but its not like I joined the military or participated in any fighting.”

  “You supported the Separatists,” Eric said. “Just in passively allowing their civil war to continue. If you really cared you would have taken up arms against them.”

  “What?” Ariadne said. “Look, I’m not a fighter or soldier, or anything like that. Honestly, even if I was, I don’t know which side I would pick: the Separatists or the Confederation. There’s not a lot to choose from between the pair of them.”

  “It’s not about one side or the other,” Eric snapped. “It’s a choice, one you clearly never made. In the Centauri Confederation we have all kinds of hard choices to make. Some people sacrificed a lot more than their lives to ending the civil war.”

  “What do you mean?” Ariadne asked. “You mentioned earlier you joined their military, one of their special units, right, their Commandos?” She frowned at that. She had limited knowledge of the military of the Separatists, much less the Confederation. Even so, she remembered dark rumors about what the Confederation military did on occupied worlds.

  “I mean, your inability to pick a side is an insult to someone who paid real sacrifices to the civil war,” Eric said. “And I find your pretense at cheer and friendliness grating.”

  “Well, excuse me,” Ariadne snapped back. “I never served, no. But I’m a war orphan. Do you know what it means to never know your parents, to grow up in orphanage after orphanage, to live with foster families who treat you like an unwelcome guest? I went through that because of your damned civil war. And I tell you honestly… whatever you sacrificed for a war that continues to orphan kids like my brother and I… I’m sorry, but I don’t think it was worth it.”

  Eric looked away. “Sorry,” he grunted. “Didn’t know about your family.” He stood silent, and for a moment, Ariadne studied him. He stood above average height, with blonde hair and blue eyes, he looked every inch the soldier. Yet he had the twitch reflexes of a hyperactive mongoose. He also boasted to skills with various types of firearms. He had a strange smell, too, one that she picked up when he grew angry. He had an almost animal musk, not overpowering, but certainly noticeable. She saw the muscles along his jaw flex as his anger returned, “Still, why do you care about Pixel and his past, or anyone else for that matter?”

  “Because I do,” Ariadne said. “We are partners now. And the more we know about one another, the better I think we will work together.”

  “Familiarity breeds contempt,” Eric said. He recited the phrase as if from some book he had memorized. “And I really doubt that your new buddy here gave you the full story. I sure as hell don’t feel like telling a complete stranger my dirty little secrets.” He cocked his head at her, “What I can’t figure out is if you’re just so naive that you really trust everyone… or if you’re just a manipulative bitch.”

  Ariadne ground her teeth together, “Shut up, alright? Why do you have to be such an ass? I think we need to work together. We need each other, and we need to trust one another. I think we’ve already shown that we can be a good team, I just want to show that to everyone.”

  “Right…” Eric shook his head and spoke with a tone of complete derision, “Well, I apologize. You really are that naive.” He looked over at Pixel, “Good luck pal, I’m done trying to talk sense into her for the day.”

  “Why does everyone treat me like I’m a child?” Ariadne felt her cheeks flush with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. She hated that Eric had got under her skin. She also hated that she felt her control slipping. She felt sweat start to bead her forehead.

  “Maybe because you act like one?” Eric snapped. Ariadne felt the temperature of the compartment raise a couple degrees.

  “Hey guys, that’s enough,” Pixel interrupted. “I don’t think this argument will really solve anything, and it just seems to have made you both angry. Let’s leave it at a difference in opinions, shall we?”

  “Sure,” Eric muttered. “But keep your touchy-feely attitude away from me. I don’t mind you when you’re in a killing mood, but right now I want to strangle you.” He turned and walked out.

  Ariadne closed her eyes and concentrated. She took deep breaths, in and out, and thought back on happier times. Slowly she felt her calm start to return.

  She heard Pixel sniff, “Hey, do you smell burning hair?”

  Ariadne’s eyes snapped open, “Uh, nope. Hey, I’m going to go get a ration bar to eat, see you later!” She could feel his puzzled eyes on her back as she hurried out of the compartment.

  * * *

  Her problems had started in middle school.

  As a foster child, she had confidence issues aplenty. She and her brother had transferred from home to orphanage to home often enough that she had plenty of worries, especially as a young teenager. Those worries had compounded anger issues and a bitter attitude about the hand that life dealt her. To top it all off, she found out one day in the girls restroom that when she gave into the anger, she could make things catch on fire with her mind.

  Thankfully for her sanity, she had never gone beyond malicious pranks before she and Paul ended up in the home of Tony and Amanda Hutchins. The aged couple had a history of taking in the roughest of orphans. They also had showed her something that she never would have expected to find. They showed her love and affection, not because of who she was or what she might do, but because she was a child and needed it.

  Amanda Hutchins went from some batty old lady to a role model in about a week. In a month, Ariadne had rebuilt herself. She found that she lived happier when she cared about others. The remarks from insecure girls who wanted to establish their place in society no longer mattered. If anything, Ariadne had felt pity for them, and in that process, reduced what they said to something inconsequential.

  She and her brother had thrived under the elderly couple’s care. No one would have reco
gnized the cheerful, pretty young girl she became after only six months. She still remembered the words that had transformed her life. “When all else fails, put your faith in people. They may disappoint you at times, but then again, they may surprise you.”

  And then one day it had all gone terribly wrong and it was Ariadne’s fault.

  Ariadne had found that as much as she cared for her friends, sometimes she saw them do things that hurt themselves or others. She had just developed her telepathic abilities. At the time, it had seemed such an obvious solution. She had her gift, her friends needed her help, even if they didn’t realize it. With her powers, she had the responsibility to help them, didn’t she?

  It had started with such a small thing. She’d nudged one friend just a bit, just enough to get her to admit her feelings to the boy she liked.

  And within a month Ariadne and her brother went on the run, desperate to preserve their freedom and their lives. Their adoptive family had given them what help they could, but even they could not protect her and Paul from the danger she had brought upon them.

  Ariadne revisited all those memories as she fled the engine compartment. She regretted her childhood arrogance, when she looked back. But she couldn’t regret her compassion that drove her desire to help others.

  “Interesting group of refugees we have here, eh there freaky lady?”

  Ariadne looked up. She saw she walked past Crowe in the corridor without noticing him. That startled her, because normally she prided herself on her situational awareness. She forced herself to put away her distrust of him and to regain her calm. “Crowe, how are you?”

  He stood close enough that she could smell his stale sweat and the other, deeper smell she associated with him. He almost smelled reptilian, like a snake, a dry, sandy smell that made her stomach roil. “Not bad,” he said. “I had not realized you were from Tau Ceti too… I grew up on Cetus.”

  “Oh?” Ariadne smiled. “I hadn’t realized we had that in common. You don’t have much of an accent. I figured you from the Colonial Republic actually.”

  “Nope, grew up in Sternhaven, the capital itself, actually,” Crowe said. “Though I traveled a lot once I got old enough.”

  “Oh, were your parents traders?” Ariadne asked.

  Something flashed in his eyes, too quick for Ariadne to catch what emotion her words had provoked. “No… my father worked as a laborer. He took me with him when he went to find work.”

  “That’s nice,” Ariadne said.

  “Not really,” Crowe snapped, “He was an idiot who never amounted to anything. He never understood why I left home and never looked back. I’ve made quite a bit of money in my travels. I wiped the dust of that planet off my boots and never regretted it.”

  “Ah,” Ariadne said. She frowned, “You seem pretty proud of your job for a sensor tech.” He sounded just like the insecure girls back from middle school, lots of big talk to hide his own insecurities. She felt a moment of guilt that she couldn’t find it in her to pity him.

  Crowe gave her a crooked smile, and he leaned close to her. “Can you keep a secret?”

  “I guess…” Ariadne said as she edged back.

  “I wasn’t a sensor tech. I know sensors, and communications, sure, but I picked that up in my real craft. I’m something of an artist, you see…” Crowe’s smile grew broader, “I’m a professional thief.”

  Ariadne stared at him, “Really?” She couldn’t help the flat tone of her voice. She had little respect for someone who stole from those who worked for what they had.

  He frowned at her lack of awe. “Yes, really, and I’m very good. As a matter of fact, I’m the best. I’ve stolen from politicians, rich corporate types, military men, even crime bosses. I’m something of a legend… in the right circles.”

  “Oh, really?” Ariadne couldn’t help but arch an eyebrow at that. “It seems more likely that you would be on the run if people knew who you were and who you stole from. I mean, it can’t be that smart to steal from criminals. The police need evidence, I would think a criminal would just kill you and dump the body… maybe torture you to find out where you sold their stuff.”

  Crowe ground his teeth. It made him look like a child who had his toy taken away. “That’s none of your business. And just so you know: if you steal the right things, they can be valuable enough to pay for whatever kind of protection you need.”

  “Oh,” Ariadne nodded. She had suddenly developed a headache. “Well, that’s very interesting, Crowe. I think I’ll leave that sort of thing to you, though. I don’t have the… mindset to take things from people who earned them.”

  “Well, maybe not, but I got an offer for you,” Crowe said. “I heard that you have some precognitive abilities.”

  “Who told you that?” she asked. She didn’t suffer from her visions of possible futures often. The only time she remembered doing so around anyone of her fellow escapees had happened with Mike and Anubus as the only ones present.

  “I might have overheard it…” Crowe said, his eyes shifty. “But I wondered, what triggers it? Is it something you can do consciously or is there some kind of reaction or what?”

  “It’s something that just happens sometimes,” Ariadne said cautiously. “Sometimes seeing something or hearing something can trigger it, other times, it just happens.”

  “Oh, can you tell me if this triggers anything?” Crowe asked. He held up a green and black object.

  Suddenly Ariadne stood on a flat plain, its surface melted into black glass. A raging firestorm swept all around, her, but she stood at the center of it unharmed. A star hung red and sullen on the horizon and alien ships swept through the shattered skies above her.

  You should not be here, a voice spoke in her mind.

  Ariadne spun, and she found herself face to face with a young man. He had brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. The flames licked around him but he stood in an area untouched by flame.

  “Who are you?” Ariadne asked.

  I am the one who must witness… he said in her mind. And this you must not see… or you will become trapped here like me.

  “Can I help you?” She asked. “For that matter, can I help myself? How do I leave this place… what is this place?”

  There is no escape, this is where the last of our race dies, the final defense has fallen… his mental words faded for a moment. This is Earth… after the Balor defeated us.

  * * *

  Ariadne awoke to find a ring of concerned faces above her.

  Her back hurt. Come to think of it her, head hurt, “What happened?”

  “You gave a shout,” Eric said. “We all came to see what happened. You seemed to be stuck in some sort of trance. When it ended you fell to the deck and then you woke up.”

  “Did I say anything?” Ariadne asked.

  “Something about someone,” Mike said. “Someone was trapped. What happened, another vision?”

  “Yeah, I was talking with Crowe…” She sat up, “That bastard! He showed me something, and that set it off. Where’d he go?”

  “Crowe’s been with me the whole time,” one of the female passengers said. Her thick accent added a further level of oddity to the moment.

  “Who are you?” Ariadne asked blearily.

  “Elena Ludmilla Lakar,” the woman responded, her accent marked. “And as I said, Crowe and I were together.”

  What? But I had a whole conversation with him!” Ariadne said. “He told me about his childhood on Cetus.”

  “Crowe is from the Anvil system,” Eric said patiently. “I talked with him about it before.”

  “But…” Ariadne shook her head. The encounter had seemed so real. It couldn’t be a product of her imagination. Crowe had triggered her vision, even if he hadn’t realized what he was doing - and she doubted that - he must know something about the object he showed her.

  She couldn’t picture it, when she thought back. The single glimpse she had of it, she thought it looked angular and glossy, with black and green col
ors in a strange pattern across its surface…

  She shook her head, “Never mind. I’m alright. Someone give me a hand up?”

  Mike and Pixel both offered their hands. They lifted her to her feet and she wobbled a bit. “I think I’m done for the day,” Ariadne said. Her head still hurt, and she thought she’d bruised herself pretty bad when she fell to the deck. She glanced around the corridor one last time and, for just a second, she saw the black glass plain under a sundered sky.

  Just a possible future, she thought, and probably not one I can affect at all, so no need to worry about it.

  * * *

  Ariadne went back to the cockpit. Mike allowed her to take the pilot’s seat to get some rest, while he sat in the copilot seat and monitored the sensors.

  Ariadne’s mind seemed too active to sleep though. She stared out at the face of the gas giant as they soared past. They had just finished their slingshot maneuver, and the blue-green surface drew away steadily. She gazed at it as they coasted away, and she thought about what the others had said.

  Did she trust people too easily, as Mike cautioned? Or worse yet, had Eric driven to the truth when he said that she pretended to care in order to manipulate others? She did not want to think either of them were right. She trusted people, yes, but only because she could see their potential. We can be a great team, she thought.

  Yet something cautioned her that even she could not be fully trusted. Twice in just the past few hours she had come close to losing her hard-earned control. She had nearly given in to her anger with Eric, and worse, nearly allowed fear to crack her control in the presence of Anubus.

  Had her control stood at such a close margin all along? She wondered if her vaunted self control came only from the fact that she had never really suffered any challenges to it. She remembered well enough the few times she had let loose with everything she had. Those times, with few exceptions, she thought she had no choice. Now she had to wonder if she made excuses for her actions after the fact.

  I can’t do this to myself, she thought, I will just start second guessing every action I’ve ever taken. She closed her eyes and tried to stop her mind, to seek some inner calm. Yet when she closed her eyes, she saw the face of the first man she had ever killed… the first man she ever fell for.