by Brey Willows
Orlin sat back and stared at her for a long moment. “You made me a lot of money on that Belfura fight.”
Kylin’s nerves settled slightly. If he was willing to acknowledge her usefulness she wasn’t about to go for an unconscious swim. “I don’t dive.”
“I’m adding my losses from last night’s fight to the debt you owe me. Everyone expected you to take that Skiva down with no problem.” He shrugged. “Show me your collarbone.”
Kylin hesitated until fish face moved toward her. “Back off, sucker face. Go play with a rock.” She tugged open the laces holding the top of her shirt together to show Orlin the black bruise that spread along the bottom of her throat, over her collarbone and onto her chest.
He glanced at it and then motioned for her to close her top. “You should have showed me that yesterday.”
Be calm. Don’t be stupid. “I told you yesterday and you said you didn’t want to hear it.”
“I’ll delay your fights and put your debt on hold. But you get back in that ring within fourteen sets of the first sun, understand? And my collectors will be watching, so don’t try to pull some stunt that means you won’t be paying up.” His pipe burbled and yellow gunk splashed onto his black tunic. “I own you, Kylin. Don’t forget it. And if you don’t turn up, I’ll personally pay a visit to your dad to see if he knows where you are.”
The words made the bile in the back of Kylin’s throat burn, and she had to stop herself from spitting it onto his desk. She stood. “I have things to do. Women to enjoy and sand fleas to eat. And I’m sure you have butterflies to de-wing and small children to torment.”
He waved and she pushed past the collectors to make her way into the Stables. Her collarbone ached and various other bits of her were bruised and tired. Fighting used to be fun, a way she could push herself, a way to always make sure she was better than the next guy. Now, it was an anchor wrapped around her waist, pulling her down and drowning her nights. She headed home, the pit in her stomach heavy with the dread that this was all life had to offer.
* * *
Smoke sliced through the scarlet sky like an arrow pointing to treasure. One long, thick trail, and then plenty of smaller ones scattered through the sky beyond it. Kylin held her hand above her eyes to block out the sun’s glare and tried to place the location at the end of the smoke trail. It was a good distance away, but that could work in her favor if she moved fast. She raced inside, tripping over the loose floorboard under the unraveling rug the way she always did. She grabbed her pack and shoved in rations and bottles of fluid.
“That good, huh?”
She looked over at her dad, who was propped up on an array of mismatched and ragged pillows. His cheeks had grown more gaunt over the past few months, and the yellow rings in his eyes were as faded as the pillows behind him. “Looks like we’ve got a crash landing, maybe out by Versach Forest. If I can make it before the other scroungers we could get a good haul. Enough to eat more than beans and river leaf next month. Auntie Blue is coming over to yell at you a lot and pump you full of drugs.”
He nodded and started to speak, but a coughing fit overtook him. He held up his hand to get her to wait. When he could breathe again, he pointed to the trunk at the end of his bed. “Take the seaful gun.” He waved her off when she began to protest. “Do it. The forest is dangerous this time of year, and you’re not going to feed us if you’re dinner for someone else.”
She sighed and opened the trunk. The seaful gun was old but in perfect condition. Her dad had been an excellent hunter in his prime, and he’d always cared for his weapons, since that was what put food on the table. But the gun was large and heavy, and she’d need all her energy to get to the forest first. But he was right. The forest was overrun with predators right now. She hefted it out and adjusted the strap so it fit comfortably across her back, then she slung her pack over her shoulders. She wouldn’t be able to get to the gun easily, but hopefully she wouldn’t need it until she got to the forest anyway.
She leaned down and touched her forehead to her dad’s, lingering for a moment. She never knew when she left the house if it would be the last time she’d get to speak to him. “Don’t go pounding the pubs while I’m gone, eh?”
He squeezed her hand. “I’ll try not to, but if I elope with the beauty from the Falls, I’ll leave you a note.”
She grinned and headed for the door. “I’ve already had her. She’s nothing to elope with. Way too high maintenance.” She could still hear his wheezy laughter as she made her way down the side of the house and into the maze of houses that made up the Quasi District. When her mother was alive they’d lived farther out, in the Fesi District, which had better air and more room between the houses. But after they’d lost her, Kylin’s dad had needed to be out most of the day and didn’t like leaving her in such an open, unguarded place. Quasi was tight, but it was a community and they looked after each other. And they’d taken to Kylin, who ended up with more people watching over her than she’d liked, especially as a teenager.
Now, she was grateful for the community who helped watch over her dad. She knocked on a bright red door painted with little blue dots and then walked in. “Auntie, you here?”
Vesta Blue, affectionately just known as Auntie Blue throughout Quasi, came out of a back room, her traditional long headdress covering her long, pretty blue hair as usual. “I thought I’d see you any minute. News of the crash is running through here like flames on tinder. You need me to watch your dad?”
Kylin pulled a few linari from her pocket and put them on the table. “Thank you. This should help until I get back. I’ll try to be as fast as I can.”
Auntie Blue nodded. “You know you don’t need to pay for help, but I’ll be sure to get some flagweed for his cough. And I’m going to see if he’ll come here, so I can keep an eye on him but still run the inn.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Be careful. You’ll have plenty of competition on this one. And Orlin’s boys are watching for you, as usual.”
Kylin nodded and backed toward the door. “I’m taking a flyer to the edge of the forest, so I’m hoping to be ahead of the rest. And if I can get what I need from this scrounge, Orlin’s boys won’t be a problem anymore.” She waved as she left, knowing her dad was in good hands. Auntie Blue had been a good friend from the moment they’d moved into Quasi, and for a while Kylin had hoped she and her dad would hit it off. But her mom had been her dad’s one true love, and when he said he’d never be with another woman, he’d meant it. But she hadn’t missed the gentle adoration in Auntie Blue’s eyes when she looked at him.
That was what love did to you. You gave someone your whole heart, your being, and then you lost them, or they didn’t love you back. It wasn’t worth it, and it was a trap Kylin would never fall into again. She forced herself to focus, and when she noticed the atmosphere around her she picked up the pace. Other people were heading out with packs like hers, and in the same direction.
She turned left down a narrow alley, then another, until she had to turn sideways to fit down the last one. It let out in front of an old air stable, a place she’d loved to whittle away the time when she was a child. She pressed her thumb to the lock and it popped open after a quick scan. The door slid back on squeaky hinges to reveal her pride and joy. She flipped the heavy dust sheets off the small, lightweight flyer she’d painstakingly rebuilt herself. Flyers were hard to come by unless you lived in the wealthy districts, and the fuel core for them was even harder to find. She’d been lucky enough to come across a trader in trouble who gladly paid her in core when she’d saved his life.
Opportunities to use it were few and far between, since she didn’t want it stolen, and a good way to get it on people’s radar was to show off. She jumped in, flipped the switches, and hit the buttons, and the resulting shudder as it lifted from the ground sent a shot of total elation from her toes to her neck the way it always did. She angled it and pulled back. It was important to get out fast, to make it harder for someone on the ground to pinpoint
where it was being stored. She pushed the wheel forward and slammed out of the space and into the air. She looked down at Quasi rushing past below her and waved to the kids running along the river below the craft. She’d done the same as a child, wishing with every breath that the pilot would slow down just enough for her to jump aboard and fly off into adventure.
She shook off the weird nostalgia and set a course for the forest. It would have taken at least three days to get there on foot, but the flyer would get her there in less than a day. Once she was there she’d have to land and hide it as best she could at the edge of the trees. Then it would be all about tracking the smoke and damage to the forest to find the haul.
Land passed beneath the flyer and she watched curiously. She rarely got far outside Quasi these days, and the districts around them were always changing. The nomad territories flexed and shifted like muscle, one day bulging with traders and merchants, the next stringy with drifters and scroungers, like her. When she saw the gathering of white that looked like a scar on the sand dunes, she frowned. Reformers. Just the sight of them left a bad taste in her mouth, and this was a particularly large group. It looked like they were headed toward Quasi, and Kylin was glad she got out before they descended on the district with their long, boring speeches about the afterlife and praying to their god because everyone was inherently horrible. She’d met a hell of a lot of people who were better creatures than the reformers ever seemed to be.
She closed her eyes and relaxed. The flyer was on course and didn’t need direction for such a simple flight. Her shoulders slowly came down, and the deep breaths she took almost hurt, it had been so long since she’d had time to do it. The air was the only place she could truly let her guard down. The only place where she didn’t have to think about the next step, the next meal, the next batch of medicine for her dad. Up here, she was alone and free.
Chapter Three
Jessa had no idea how much time had passed, but her body ached and she desperately wanted to stretch it out. She shifted and the foam around her cracked and crumbled to the floor. She was glad to see the same thing happening around her as her crew, too, came back to life. She unbelted herself and brushed away the foam from her legs.
It was only then that she noticed one of the foam encrusted forms wasn’t moving. She stumbled across the pod and clawed at the foam, pulling it free in chunks. “Steve? Can you hear me?”
The others joined her, pulling foam free to help get him out. When Benika made a sound of dismay, Jessa looked over. Benika shook her head and pointed.
Jessa looked around Steve’s motionless body and saw what Benika was pointing to. A jagged piece of the pod had come loose and lodged in Steve’s back. Blood pooled in the dark grass showing through the gash in the ship. The life-sign readout on his forearm was black.
Jessa sat back on her heels and slowed her breathing. She’d never lost a crewmate before, and all she could hope was that Steve had died quickly. She took a steadying breath. She was still responsible for the four crew who had made it. She needed to think. She turned to Asanka. “Atmosphere and geo reading, please.”
Asanka moved slowly away from Steve, her gills so tightly closed they were white against her neck. She pressed buttons on the console, and the mechanical voice informed them it was a life sustaining planet and safe for those in the pod. “There are cliffs approximately forty clicks to the north. We’re in an extended forest, and beyond that are deserts. I don’t see any large bodies of water.”
Jessa sighed. At least there was that much. She’d already known Indemnion had people living on it, but that didn’t mean it was safe for people who weren’t used to the particular makeup of air. She opened the overhead locker and pulled the three energy blasters from the compartment. She handed one to Teckoe and one to Asanka. Both were trained in intergalactic combat, as was she. There was no telling what they’d find when they opened the doors, and she wanted to be ready.
She nodded to Asanka, who hit the release button. The door jerked open slowly, revealing a lush green landscape with trees so tall they blocked the intense sunlight from the nearby star.
They stepped out and Jessa looked around, watching for any hostile visitors. She didn’t assume there would be helpful, friendly people waiting. It wasn’t that kind of planet. But there didn’t appear to be anyone around. A stream burbled peacefully nearby, and long, wispy tree branches swayed in the breeze. It smelled earthy and fresh, something Jessa hadn’t come across in a very long time.
They moved cautiously around the escape pod, but it was soon clear they were alone.
Jessa breathed a quick sigh of relief. “Okay. There’s no doubt our entry will have been noticed, and we don’t want to be with the pod when someone comes to see what they can take from the crash, even though part of me wants to stay and protect it. We can’t see what’s coming at us here, and I want to get to higher ground, somewhere we can see who is coming toward us. This world is known as one to avoid, and I’m assuming hostile until we know otherwise. Grab whatever supplies you can fit into the land packs. Be sure to grab fluid sheets. We don’t know if the water here is compatible with our systems, and until we do, we’ll use the sheets.”
Teckoe groaned. “I hate the sheets. Hydrating through a patch is nothing like drinking actual liquid. I’ll take my chances with the scavengers.”
Jessa pointed at the craft. “Go. And pack me a bag too, would you? I’ll stand watch until you’re done.”
“And Steve?” Asanka asked.
Jessa stilled and thought about the training manuals, the courses she’d taken, and the instructors she’d had. Surely somewhere there’d been mention of what to do about deceased people when you weren’t in space. She looked around, stalling for time. The forest was dense, the carpeting of moss, branches, and leaves thick under her boots. A rustling in the trees made her jump. “If we can come back and bury him, we will. But for now we have to leave him. If we come across people who are friendly we’ll ask for help with him. I think sticking around to bury him is a bad idea until we know what we’re dealing with.”
Though no one seemed comfortable with it, there seemed to be tacit agreement.
As always, the crew moved into action. They were close, as they’d been for the many years they’d flown together, and though they joked around and teased Jessa about her “command voice,” there was no question she’d earned their respect. And she respected each of them, too. Steve was a huge loss, and one they’d grieve together later once they had the time. Emotions were never as important as duty, something Jessa’s parents had drilled into her from a young age.
And right now, she was grateful for that lesson. “Don’t forget to grab the domicile units.”
Benika waved over her shoulder in acknowledgment as the group disappeared into the pod.
Alone and surrounded by the surprisingly beautiful landscape, Jessa felt her knees go weak. They were stranded on a planet known for its outlaw culture. One of her crew was dead, and the others were depending on her. But for what? Survival, at the very least. Was there any hope of rescue? She looked at the blue light of her life-sign in her forearm. It would act as a tracking beacon, should their distress message make it through the chaos of space. It wasn’t likely, but it was hope, however slim.
Jessa planted her feet more solidly in the soft earth. She hadn’t been planet bound in a very long time, and the heaviness of her body was strange, but also comforting. She was solid, and if there was a way out of here, she’d damn well figure it out.
* * *
“This looks fine.” Jessa pushed aside the curtain of hanging vines over the cave’s entrance. The ledge they’d climbed to was wide and dry, and the cave behind it was tall and open. She couldn’t see very far into it, and when she thought back to various nature programs she’d watched she wondered if it was wise to venture in. Apparently, she wasn’t alone.
“Why don’t we set up the domicile blocks here? If nothing comes in or goes out for a day or two, then we can head
in.” Benika squatted in front of the cave and looked into it warily.
“Agreed.” Peshta dropped her bag and sat on it. “We’re high enough here to see around us, but no one can sneak up on us, either. I can make us some dinner if we grab some branches from the forest.”
Teckoe threw a rock down below, but it didn’t make a sound when it hit the forest floor. “I think sending up smoke signals is a bad idea.” He turned to look at Jessa. “Any thoughts as to what we do from here?”
It was a question she’d been waiting for, but not one she wanted to hear. “I think we take it step by step. Night is coming, so we get the domicile units set up as quickly as we can. We get some sleep, and see where the morning brings us.” It was a weak answer, but it was all Jessa had in the moment.
They worked quietly, setting up three small domicile units. Peshta and Asanka would share one, Teckoe and Benika would share one, and Jessa had her own. It made sense to double up for safety, but the units wouldn’t hold three people comfortably, so Jessa was on her own. Being alone meant she’d have time to think. And plan. And no one would see that her panic was only just below the skin, waiting to burst out.
Peshta took several packets of food supply and mixed them in a collapsible pot. The resulting soup was cold but nourishing, and it didn’t take long before everyone went to bed. Jessa could feel their worry and fear, and as she slipped into her own bed unit that closed comfortably around her, she wondered if she should tell them she was scared and worried too. Or would that make her look weak? She sighed and listened to the sounds of the forest around them. High-pitched trills mixed with lower-pitched howls. Most seemed far away, and around daybreak she finally managed to drift to sleep.
