Renegades: Origins

by Kal Spriggs

  Mandy frowned. “Well, I suppose. But that will take some time and give the rest of us time to prepare to fight them, anyway. Don’t get me wrong. I hate the Chxor, but the Nova Romans are not much better. They’ve conquered dozens of colonies in the past ten years alone.”

  “Well, I don’t really know much about them,” Ariadne said. “But if their choice of ambassador to the Chxor is any sign…”

  “Maybe they sent her there to annoy them?” Pixel suggested.

  Mandy paused, “You know, inflicting her on the Chxor would be one hell of a bit of psychological warfare. I mean, if they viewed her as expendable…” She shook her head, “Nah, the arrogant bitch seems too well connected. I’ll just chock it up to incompetence.”

  Pixel let the conversation drop. He had heard plenty of negative commentary from people about the Nova Romans. Even so, he wondered what they had accomplished in the positive. Surely they must have done something right if they had men such as the pair of Marines who guarded their ambassador. Men who stayed loyal despite the hell they must have gone through on the prison station and in whatever fight killed their fellow Marines.

  Pixel figured that he should probably talk with them or some of the other Nova Roma passengers, when he got the chance. Sometime after he took care of the long list of other things he had to do, of course.

  * * *

  Pixel had called the work off just before lunch. They had already removed the damaged and destroyed capacitors at that point. He gave the three experienced space hands some directions on how he wanted the area cleaned, and then told them to work on it later. As the others walked out, Pixel paged through the inventory of spare parts on the main engineering console.

  He recognized the symbols for the capacitors or at least he thought he did. The ship didn’t have a full set of spares, but they might have enough, he hoped, that if he could repair some of the damaged capacitors they could get the weapon operational.

  “Engineer Pixel, I have come to a decision,” Run’s high pitched voice spoke from behind him.

  Pixel turned around and raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “Yes, I have decided after much review that you possess an intellect that somewhat approaches my own. This is a rare honor, as I have only encountered a handful of sentient beings so capable. I therefore offer you this rare opportunity to become my research associate.”

  “What would that entail?” Pixel asked suspiciously.

  “You would help me on whatever research I conduct which requires your knowledge of mechanical or other areas of physical engineering,” Run said. “In return, my knowledge of chemistry, biological processes, and my own vast intelligence would be at your service when necessary.” He said it with such benevolence in his voice that Pixel barely kept a smile off his face. I somehow doubt he’ll be very eager to drop whatever project he’s working on and help me out whenever I ask, Pixel thought dryly, still… After his work with a group earlier, he felt suddenly reminded of how he had missed that feeling when engaged in research and design.

  “Alright,” Pixel said. “I can work with that, glad to know you consider me your equal.”

  Run blinked at him, “While I value your intelligence, you remain inferior in many ways to myself. However, do not let this fact depress you, as I have yet to find my equal. Indeed, among the crew, you are the only one I find capable of intelligent conversation.”

  Pixel scratched his head. The little Chxor seemed to expect some kind of response to that. “Yeah… Thanks?”

  “Your thanks are not necessary, this is merely a statement of fact.” Run raised his chin, “In addition, I require a sample of your genetic material to study. I find your remarkable intelligence in an inferior species to be very interesting, and I would like to determine whether it has a chemical, genetic, or some other cause.”

  “Will it cause me excruciating pain or to die?” Pixel asked cautiously.

  Run stood in thought for a rather long moment. “No, I do not think so. I just need a small blood sample.”

  Pixel stuck out his arm. “Get it over with.”

  Run pulled out a needle and a small vial. He jabbed him once and then tucked the needle and vial into a pouch on his belt. “I appreciate your assistance in this research. Also, I have another offer for your consideration. I believe I have found a solution for the issue that faces both of us upon the selection of a ship’s captain,” Run said. “I am certain you will agree that several of the options for command lack the interest and dedication to research and science that you and I both share.”

  “That’s a safe bet,” Pixel nodded.

  “Yet we still need a strong hand to guide the others, to ensure that they put their full effort into our pursuit of the sciences,” Run said. The little Chxor stood very straight, almost as if he felt taller as he spoke. Pixel decided not to mention that he disagreed with him there. He really didn’t mind what the others did, as long as he could do what he wanted. “So obviously, I should be selected as captain, and both of us will find the resources and freedom to pursue our goals.”

  Pixel frowned. On the one hand, Run might well be the worst possible choice as captain. He could very well see that some of the group might have serious (and valid) concerns about putting Run in charge. For one thing, his lack of anything resembling empathy would be an issue, Pixel felt certain. On the other hand, he thought that Run would keep his bargain. Pixel would have total freedom to conduct his research… no one would interfere in that.

  Well, nothing besides limits on funds, materials, and whatever issues come up with him as captain, which are sure to be a pretty big distraction, Pixel acknowledged.

  Then again, Pixel realized that those issues might well cause the others to come around to his own perspective. Run could easily serve as an example of how things could go wrong with someone in charge, rather than their operation as a group of free-minded individuals.

  “You know, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Pixel said slowly. “But just two votes is unlikely to win you the election.”

  “I have taken this into consideration. I believe I have worked out other such mutually beneficial arrangements for the remainder of votes I will need,” Run said. He did not elaborate further, and Pixel wondered what the little alien had promised others for their acceptance. He could not picture Eric or Rastar voting for Run. Or Mike for that matter. Really, he found it difficult to picture anyone else might select Run as the captain.

  “Yeah, well, either way, I guess good luck,” Pixel said. “I’m going to get some lunch, care to join me?”

  “No, I must get your sample to my lab. Also I found that human eating habits seem rather repetitive. I had hoped them to be more interesting.” Run frowned. “In addition, if you see Ariadne or the human with the swollen chest, inform them that I await an answer to my request to observe their reproduction methods.”

  Pixel made a note on his datapad to not admit that he’d seen Run if Mandy or Ariadne asked.

  Run stepped out of the engine room, and after he closed down the console, Pixel followed him out. He considered further exploration of the ship on his way to lunch, but his stomach rumbled to remind him that he had skipped breakfast. He took the direct route and ran into an older man as he stepped out of the stairwell onto the second deck.

  “Excuse me,” Pixel said.

  “Oh, this is entirely my fault,” the man said, and Pixel recognized his accent immediately. There were only a handful of french colonies all of them lay near his own home system. “Pardon me, but are you the engineer?” The old man had dark black hair in a comb-over that seemed to start south of his ear. He also wore the remains of a plaid jacket.

  “Yes,” Pixel said, and tried to smile. The fake smile felt wooden on his face.

  “I wanted to speak with you, in regards to your degree. I had heard you graduated from Lithia System University?”

  “Yes…” Pixel frowned, “Where did you hear that?” He tried to remember if he had shared that information wi
th anyone. He couldn’t remember if he had even told anyone about his home system.

  “Well, you see, I recognized your accent, and I knew that there’s only one real engineering school in that system,” the old man said. “I had a number of colleagues from Lithia, you see, and in my line of work, I learn to recognize accents, it saves so much time at conferences.”

  “You’re a professor?” Pixel felt his heart drop. Did this man know who he was?

  “Oh, yes, I am Professor of Xenoarchaeology Bastien Jascinthe of Loire,” the old man nodded. He adjusted his bow-tie. “And my main concern was what field of engineering you studied? I was on a dig in the Garan system when the Chxor captured me. I have managed to preserve my notes from my dig there and I wanted an engineer’s evaluation of the structural integrity of the dig location. You see, as soon as we get back to human space, I plan to launch another expedition there, and I want to make certain the dig location remains intact.”

  Pixel frowned, “Do you think it’s wise to go back to the location the Chxor captured you?”

  “My dear boy, the site lies near a Chxor industrial center, I feel certain if I don’t move quickly they will damage or destroy it. I had nearly excavated what I believe was the control room for the alien facility. If I don’t get some solid results, my grant will expire. And I think there may be intact devices there. The site could be worth millions!”

  “Huh,” Pixel frowned. “Yeah, I guess I can look at it.”

  “Excellent,” Bastien passed over a data chip. “This is just the structural overlay of the tunnels and the previous excavation on the site. My partner had a copy as well, but I’m not certain if he survived. He made an escape attempt when the Chxor first captured us.”

  “Huh,” Pixel said. “Well, I’ll check it out.”

  “Thank you,” The professor cocked his head, “I am curious, were you on Origin when the terrorist attack destroyed the capital? I understand the university survived.”

  “Yeah,” Pixel said, his voice suddenly harsh. “I was there at the time. I left not long afterward.”

  “Ah, terrible business, no? I had a number of colleagues who died at an xenoarch conference downtown.”

  “My condolences,” Pixel said.

  “It worked out for me, there was less competition for research grants for years. And I never had to see that unmitigated ass Jean again or his harridan of a wife. So some good came of it, at least. I understand they never caught the terrorists responsible, can you imagine?” Bastien shook his head. “That kind of thing would never happen on Loire.”

  “Yeah…” Pixel said. “Well, I’m headed to lunch. I’ll let you know what I can about the dig site when I get around to it.” He walked past the other man and down the corridor before the professor could make any response.

  He made it to the lounge without further incident, but even the smell of good food did not make him feel better. He clenched his hands as he leaned against the wall. He didn’t know how he felt. He felt angry, but his anger at Bastien Jascinthe had tangled with his anger at himself. He felt fear, too, fear of discovery, fear that his friends might hate him if they learned the truth. And he felt… tired. Tired of the judgment that had hung over his head for so long.

  “Hey there Pixel, how’s life?” Crowe asked.

  Pixel looked up, surprised that he hadn’t seen the other man when he came into the lounge. “You’re pretty sneaky sometimes,” Pixel said.

  Crowe gave him a smirk, “Something I’ve picked up. Sometimes it’s useful to remain unseen.”

  “I guess,” Pixel said. He did not feel up to conversation, especially not with Crowe.

  “Hey, I heard you had some issues with your datapad,” Crowe said.

  Pixel closed his eyes, “Yeah, it keeps displaying Chxor gibberish now and again.”

  “Well, I found a Sunto-Crispin 5909,” Crowe held up the datapad, “It’s a pretty nice one, I might be willing to give you it…”

  “What do you want?” Pixel asked, resigned to have to deal with the other man.

  “Well, not to add more to your plate, but I’ve got my components assembled for a computer build. Not just a datapad, but something with some serious processing power. I can handle the software, but I wanted you to put it together. I’m not as good at hardware.”

  “You want it to plug into your neural jack?” Pixel asked, interested despite himself.

  “Yes, and I’ve got a Shintaru wireless modem off a security terminal back on the prison station, found it down in the Pit, stuck in some scrap,” Crowe nudged a plastic carton with his foot. “Its all in there. As a token, you can have the datapad now, but I’d like this stuff soon, I still have to finish my work with the ship’s data restoration and some other stuff.”

  “Any luck with that?” Pixel asked, even as he walked over to look down at the carton of parts.

  Crowe snorted, “I might get pieces of the ship’s log. A few other things, but the navigation data got overwritten fifteen times by their scramble program. There’s nothing I can get out of that. Not sure what else I can get, really, but it’s something to do.”

  “Right,” Pixel leaned over to root through the box a bit. Some of the parts looked damaged, which meant he’d have a lot of work to get anything functional. Even so, the idea seemed interesting enough. He already thought about how he could use the machine shop tools to repair or salvage parts off the different boards.

  He straightened up, “I’ll see what I can do. It’ll take a lot of work, though.”

  “So I expect,” Crowe smirked. “Let me know when you finish. Oh and the smoked crab is excellent, I highly recommend it.”

  * * *

  Pixel showed up a few minutes late to the election. The others did not seem particularly unhappy about it. Mike had the Chxor officer Krann out of the closet and Eric continued to speak as Pixel stepped onto the bridge, “…before, I still say we keep just one Chxor at a time. We don’t need Chxor pass codes or patrol schedules if we’re headed out of Chxor space. We just kill her now, before she finds some way to screw us later.”

  “I agree with Eric,” Rastar said. “And more, she is a war criminal who committed atrocities against my people. When we kill her, I request the honor of doing so.”

  “We’ll keep that in mind,” Mike said. He looked over at Pixel, “Now that we’re all here, I think we can start our little election.”

  “What about the others who are up here?” Crowe asked sharply. “They don’t get a vote, do they? I mean, one emotional female is bad enough, but three more exceeds my limit of listening to women.”

  “Your concern touches,” Mandy snapped.

  “I’d like to do some touching, all right,” Crowe smirked. “But I’m busy doing grown up things. Maybe later?”

  “Quiet,” Anubus growled. “I find this constant bickering tries my patience. You do not want to exceed my very limited patience.”

  “Anubus,” Crowe said, “you don’t scare me.”

  Anubus leaned forward. “Try me,” He drew his lips back in a snarl, “…please.”

  “Hey, guys, remember about the vote?” Ariadne said cheerfully. “How about we get started?”

  “I agree, we should initiate the vote and select me as commander of the ship,” Run said.

  Pixel saw the Chxor prisoner’s eyes narrow at that. Evidently she had not realized that they valued Run as a full member of the crew.

  “I’ll start,” Anubus growled. “I vote for Run.”

  Everyone stared at him in shock. “Why is that?” Mike asked.

  “He bribed me, why else?” Anubus said.

  “Alright, well, I’ll go next,” Pixel said. “I vote for Run as well.”

  The room had gone quiet enough that Pixel had to seriously fight the urge to let out his evil laughter he had practiced… or even just a mad cackle.

  Run stepped forward, “I vote for myself as well, and will graciously accept victory-”

  “Vote’s not over yet,” Eric snapped. “And I
still think we should space you.” Eric looked around at the group. “I think we need someone who’s a thinker, and someone we all trust to think for the crew and ship.” Pixel tried not to roll his eyes. Surely Eric didn’t plan to vote for himself again, did he? “So Rastar and I have talked it over for a bit. I vote for Pixel. He’s one hell of a guy, and I think he’ll do a great job.”

  Pixel stared at him. “What?!”

  Rastar stood up, “I agree. Pixel has constantly applied critical thought to problems as they arise and he has always acted in the good interest of the crew. I vote for Pixel.”

  “But I don’t want to be captain!” Pixel said. “Hell, I don’t even want a captain.”

  Crowe waved a hand, “Doesn’t matter, you’re stuck with it if they select you. He looked around at the group, “Well, this might seem crazy, but I’ll explain myself before I make this vote.” He took a deep breath, “We need someone with lots of experience, someone who knows this area of space. We need someone who can think logically and not get emotionally involved, and who doesn’t have a stake in this. Therefore, I vote for Krann the Chxor.”

  “Are you insane?” Rastar surged to his feet. “I will not accept this! This is an insult and an outrage—”

  “Sit down,” Anubus growled, “Before I make you sit down.”

  “Quiet, both of you,” Mike said. “Crowe’s vote is his to cast how he wants.” He shook his his head, almost as if bothered by a thought. “As is mine. I think that Crowe made a good point. I vote for Krann, she’s got a lot of experience I think we could benefit from.”

  Pixel stared at Mike, somehow certain that this must be part of some strange prank.

  Yet Simon stepped forward, as if nothing unusual had come from Mike. He nodded gravely, “I believe that we have too much chaos, too many voices. I think we need someone who knows how to institute a bit of order. I vote for Krann as well.”

  Pixel felt his stomach drop as he realized that their Chxor prisoner had three votes, and so did Run. For that matter, two of the crew had voted for him, which confused him enough. All eyes in the room went to Ariadne.