Chloe took a swish from an orange medicine bottle and burped loudly. “But can we trust them? Between framing you and missing a virus that was going blow up our home for the past few years, they are worse than the Ceruleans.”
“Let’s all sit and talk.” I gathered some water that the water recycler had cleaned and passed it around while directing everyone to their chairs. We hadn’t had much time to talk, and while I was sure everyone shared Chloe’s concerns, they hadn’t pressed me for details.
“Drink up. You won’t realize how much moisture you are losing in this heat until you get sick.” I took a long sip from the container and winced. The water tasted slightly metallic and stale. I knew it was clean, but tasty, it was not.
“The cave goes back only a hundred yards, and except for a hole at the back near the ceiling, there is nothing else in here. There are some footprints smaller than my thumb in a few spots, but otherwise, it has apparently been empty for a long time. A black-box signal requires a thorough investigation, so the fleet will arrive soon. We will rest here until we can get a signal to fleet. Can you do that, Eugene?”
“Affirmative. I’ll prepare my signal and set up an automatic scan for when one of their vessels comes within range.” His red light flashed slowly with a slight increase in the whooshing sound of his fan.
“We have to trust that whoever is setting me up didn’t plan on us having direct contact with fleet. A conspiracy only works when only a few people know about it, and whoever is sent as reinforcements will be following standard protocol. I believe that if we can make contact, they will take us into custody, and things will get worked out.” I didn’t actually know if that was true, but none of our options were great. I tried to muster an air of confidence that would inspire my crew.
They gave me wary looks that made me think that they could see through my act but had decided to play along anyway.
“What if Officer Ex and his purple-haired sidekick find us first? Surely they’re behind your setup.”
My gut twisted at the question I had been trying to ignore. I stood up and paced around the area. It was one thing to run into my ex-fiancé, someone I had loved and imagined spending the rest of my life with only to discover how poorly he thought of me, but it was a whole new level to be framed by him.
“They need to find us first. Eugene, are you sure they weren’t on the ship when it exploded?”
“I can only analyze the data Tonny’s non-authorized work unit relayed to me as my connection cannot go that far. That information indicates that the two officers sent by fleet headquarters used the ship’s shuttle to exit prior to the explosion. I did not find any further communications that indicated where the shuttle was headed.”
I nodded. “Either they were concerned that the ship was in danger and moved to a safe distance or they came to Cerulean, but either way, it is unlikely that they returned to headquarters, especially not in our ship’s shuttle. In that, they might as well be in a rowboat. They are most likely going to show up here eventually. So on that note, Chloe, I want you to monitor the coast for patrols. Take Eugene with you so he can watch and listen for communications or approaching ships. The rest of us will drag all this equipment to the back of the cave and set up a long-term camp.”
The next few hours passed slowly in the heat. My body ached from basically everything from the past two days, but I ignored it. I’d been cut, hit, crushed, burned, and bludgeoned. If getting fried like a piece of bacon in the humid hot air was the worst thing to happen to me the rest of our stay, I would count myself lucky.
The interior of the cave was cooler, and we took turns resting. Horton spent some time on the ground, deeply inflating his lungs and popping his bones and joints back into alignment. Raph took frequent breaks to rest his forearms. He didn’t say anything, but the expression on his face was growing steadily more pinched.
By the time we were done, the star that illuminated Ceralea had dipped beneath the horizon, and a chill had taken over the air. Our camp at the rear of the cave was cozy and felt safe. We had a small fire, though we used a compacted fuel that was smokeless and released less carbon monoxide than a traditional campfire. It provided light but wasn’t so bright that it would attract attention if a patrol came by.
With the sleeping mats set up, the fire providing light and heat, and everything moved into place, I felt as relaxed as I was going to get until I was able to get the situation resolved.
I went to get Chloe and Eugene. She had fallen asleep against the wall of the cave, and when I gently touched her shoulder, she sat up and exposed one cheek covered in tiny indents from her sandstone pillow.
“What? Huh?” She straightened and stood. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s been a long day. I assume you didn’t see anything?” I picked up Eugene.
“Not a single thing.” She stretched her arms over her head then scrunched her nose in disgust. “Do we have enough water for me to clean up?”
“There are a few hygiene packs. It won’t be as convenient as being on the shuttle, but we have everything we need.”
“Even a potty?”
I gestured at a canvas tent erected halfway back in the cave. “Like I said, we have everything.”
I turned around when something white flashed in my peripheral vision, but nothing was there. I had been experiencing that all afternoon, and I was starting to worry about a head injury.
Chloe eyed the flimsy structure of our bathroom. “I guess it’s better than nothing.”
“Are you kidding? It is way better than nothing. We did survival training in the academy, and that was way worse than this. Given this heat and our injuries, we wouldn’t last two days without all this stuff. The convenience of a bathroom or bedrolls is nothing compared to the water recycler, medicine, and food supplies.”
She sulked. “I wasn’t complaining.”
I resisted the urge to sigh. Her training hadn’t prepared her for any of this, and she technically hadn’t complained, even if the undertone of her comment had been a little snarky. “I was just trying to see the bright side. We have designated this as our pantry, so why don’t you… what?”
A funny look crossed her face, then a big smile broke out.
I followed her stare to see a small brown-and-white creature about a dozen feet behind me, creeping up on us.
CHAPTER TWENTY
I jumped back and put a protective arm in front of Chloe, pushing her back as well. After being eaten by a big sea monster, I was suspicious of the whole planet. “What is it?”
Chloe stepped around me. “Don’t worry. It’s a caline. I saw one on the show.”
The creature was focused on me, though its dark eyes darted around before returning to me. It was walking on four thin legs and vaguely reminded me of one of the tiny purse dogs, but it had a long tail that was whipping back and forth like a cat and a full set of whiskers. Its smooth fur was mostly white with a few brown patches.
It sat down on its haunches to watch me, tipping its head to the side. Its large triangular ears swiveled slightly before it jumped up and paced backward as Horton and Raph approached.
Raph was holding the broken tooth from the gulper like a bat ready to swing if the animal attacked. “Is it poisonous?”
Chloe put a hand on his arm above the cast. “No, not dangerous and not poisonous. It’s a pet. Very expensive, and you have to have the king’s permission. Poor little guy must be lost.” She kneeled and spoke in a baby voice. “Who’s a good little pocket pet? Who’s a good boy?”
I handed Eugene to Horton and kneeled next to Chloe. I gave the caline a good look, noticing the numerous cuts and scabs under its white fur. A particularly long one started on the end of its snout and went across both sides, ending near its incisors, two on each side. “It has sharp teeth.”
“Everything does. I guess they could bite, but they really are harmless. In fact, that is the problem. Apparently, they used to be all over the place, then the Ceruleans imported some kind of
spider to eat the small gnats that are everywhere.”
“What gnats?” I asked as Raph and Horton returned to the meal, having deemed the small creature harmless.
She looked around and shrugged. “Maybe they are only seasonal? Anyway, the spiders went nutso, something about the atmosphere or gravity or something meant that they got really big, and they decided these guys would be an easier meal than a million gnats.”
“The spiders must be huge.” On a hunch, I turned my back on the creature and walked toward the fire. Sure enough, the little animal followed me, though he stayed several dozen paces away. His skin clung tightly to his small frame, his bones very visible. I had a good guess as to why he had been shadowing me for the past few hours.
Chloe shrugged. “I’ve never seen the spiders on the show, but I guess they’re big. Caline are now extinct in the wild, so only the king breeds them. Ceruleans aren’t big on pets, but at least one of the cast members has one. Calines like to sit on shoulders.”
I went over to the water and poured some into a bowl. I carefully approached the creature, who backed away. His toes, unlike a dog’s, were long, and I could imagine him using them to climb. Perhaps the tails could grip as well, but right now, it was whipping back and forth as I moved closer. The caline crouched, ready to race away, so I put the water down and stepped back, my hands held up to show I meant no harm.
Once I had moved away, the little part-dog-part-cat creature descended on the water. He loudly lapped it up as his tail flicked left and right with delight.
I dug into our supplies and pulled out a pasty cake. It had been created by the fleet through intense research. Its ingredients were deemed safe for ninety-eight percent of all life-forms. They were branded as nutritional cakes, but they were colloquially called pasty cakes because they had the texture and taste of paste.
I stepped next to Chloe, who was still talking. “Are you a little pocket pet? Who’s the cutest little pocket pet? You are. Yes, you are.”
“Chloe, hasn’t the creature suffered enough?” Raph shouted from his place beside the fire.
She stood up and glared at him then turned to me. “You know that when you give an animal food and water, they will follow you anywhere.”
“If only it were so easy with humanoids, eh?” I kneeled again. “Hey, little dude. You want some food?”
The creature had finished off the water and was pushing the bowl around on the sandstone floor with a loud scrush, scrush noise at each aggressive lick. He didn’t look up.
“Hey, Pox!” I said.
His little head shot up as though he recognized his name. He looked at me, then his gaze slid to the food in my hand. Pox raised his little black nose and sniffed the air, whiskers twitching. He took a few steps toward me and let out a whine.
I put a hand on the ground and half crawled a few steps toward him with my other hand extending the pasty cake. Pox extended his head as far as he could, dancing left and right on his four paws.
We went on like that for a few minutes, me reaching a bit farther and him extending toward me until he finally took the cake from my hand and raced back to the bowl to lie down with the cake between his paws. He took a few bites and then looked up at me. He blinked slowly in what I imagined was a sign of appreciation.
I walked over to the fire and pulled up a box of supplies that doubled as a seat. “Here’s the plan. Eugene, can you continue to monitor for incoming fleet communications, or does your programming need you to do other things?”
“Captain Laika, I will continue to monitor, but I have some questions about the small life-form you fed. Will it be joining our group? Can we be certain that it doesn’t carry any viruses or that it isn’t a trap of some kind?”
Chloe looked up from her rations. “Genie, you better be careful about questioning any new members of the group.”
Raph laughed. “Last in, first out.”
Eugene’s light flashed slowly. “My records, though limited, do not show that the animal could pose any harm, and pets often calm anxieties, lower blood pressure, and provide early warning when danger approaches. Much like myself, I believe that Pox, as you referred to him, will be a good addition to the group.”
I patted the top of the little box. “Excellent choice, Genie. Plus, it is starving and thirsty, and we have enough food and water for a month. ‘A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up.’”
“A quote from the Ecclesiastes, a book of the Bible, King James Translation. Chapter three, verse three. Does that hold certain significance to this moment?”
“For me, yes. It’s a verse from a section that my parents often quoted. Now is the time for us to heal and rest and perhaps help a small creature that needs it. Soon enough, we will be fighting, possibly for our lives and career with the fleet.”
“In that context, the quote makes sense.”
I looked at Eugene thoughtfully. I got the uneasy feeling that the statement was more a reflection on what he thought I wanted to hear rather than a true analysis. I wondered again if lying and flattery were a significant part of his programming. That was definitely a topic of investigation before he could be installed anywhere.
“Horton, Raph, Chloe, why don’t you go rest for a few hours? I want someone to be awake at all times. I’ll take the first shift.”
Chloe walked off with a yawn.
Following her, Raph paused next to me to hand me the gulper tooth. “It’s all we have for a weapon. Wake me when you need to sleep.”
Horton didn’t rise, waiting for the others to leave. “Can I sit with you for a bit, Captain?”
“Of course.” After laying the tooth on the ground next to me, I turned my attention to the food I had balanced on my knees.
Pox was slowly edging toward me. I grabbed another pasty cake and held it behind me.
The little animal danced left and right, his paws lightly tapping on the sandstone. His fear seemed to be fighting his hunger, but eventually, hunger won out, and he inched closer, his snout extended as far from his body as possible. Finally, he was able to grab the edge of the cake and yank it out of my hand.
This time he only retreated half as far, and I was sure that the gap would close with time. He was cautious, but like me, he had to trust someone to survive. I poured water into a bowl and placed it as far back as I could reach easily without getting up then turned back to the fire.
“Horton, did you want to ask me something?” I knew he must have a million questions, and though I was hesitant to answer, he deserved those answers. I wasn’t sure how much of my history my crew knew. They had never asked, and I had never offered, but my trial had been a public spectacle.
I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that when he did speak my brain struggled to shift with the conversation.
“You know how on the crew manifesto my name is Brucelious H. Basaltic?”
“Uh… yes. But you go by your middle name, Horton,” I said.
“The H stands for Horotico. I’m Horton Basaltic.”
I stared at him before eventually admitting that I didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”
“My oldest brother is Brucelious Horotico Basaltic. When he came back from training, my dad died, and Bruce decided he wouldn’t go back. I begged him to let me take his spot. We all look alike to you guys, so no one questioned it.”
I swirled the water around in my cup. When I had made up a list of things I had to worry about, identity theft had not been on the list.
Perhaps Horton took my silence as displeasure because he raced on to defend himself. “I’ve always loved computers and machines and all that. I knew more than enough to take his spot. He was at the bottom of his class. And I know I did a better job than he ever could have. You’re happy with the work I’ve done, right?”
I nodded. “Of course. But why didn’t you just go as yourself? You could have had a much better position on a better ship.” I gestured at Eugene. “You could have gone into the private se
ctor and studied robotics.”
“You don’t understand what it’s like on a lava farm. The first nestling gets to inherit the family resources or maybe go off-planet, if they survive the first few years. Mostly, everyone is eaten by birds.”
I grimaced. “Yikes.”
“All the future litters are blacktails. We work to harness the energy of the volcanoes on the farm or mine the materials. Most of us are lost to explosions or landslides.”
“Blacktails?” I obviously didn’t know enough about Ignesians.
“Our tails get all charred. It’s a nasty nickname they give to those that are good for nothing more than manual labor.”
“Oh, Horton, that’s pretty lousy. I’m glad you didn’t get killed on the farm.”
“Are you mad at me, Captain?” His eyes were dark and shiny, and the corners of his mouth pulled down. He never demonstrated much emotion, or at least I had struggled to detect it when he did.
“It’s not the most convenient time to find this out, but frankly, it doesn’t even make the top five on my list of things I am worried about right now.” I nodded at him firmly.
He let out a long sigh and patted the top of Eugene’s box. “Eugene thought you would understand, but I wasn’t so sure. Why don’t you go sleep for a bit?”
I tried to fight the urge to yawn, but the mention of sleep brought it on like a compulsion. “I’m fine.”
“No, go. You are the brains of this whole operation, and you need rest. I have Genie to keep me awake.”
I went over and lay down on a mat at the back of the cave, positioning myself so I could see the entrance of the cave. I hadn’t acknowledged Pox directly but had seen the creature dancing behind me as I settled onto my makeshift bed. I put my own water next to the mat and a small cup next to it. I lay down and sneaked a look at the rear of the cave. Pox was curling up on the bottom corner of the mat, his back to me.
I never decided to close my eyes and fall asleep, but it happened anyway. In my dreams, I found myself fighting James again. Sometimes, it was the night we broke up, my heavy black eye makeup rolling down my face as I cried, then in the next instance, I was older and on my ship, explaining that I hadn’t murdered anyone.
Space Murder Page 10
