by Layla Stone
“Stop.” She felt a weight in her palm, but it wasn’t heavy. It tingled, though. “You will get hurt. Move back from the bars.”
When she didn’t move quickly enough, he pointed. “Move back.”
She pushed on the ground and scooted back twice. Still on the floor, she said, “Calm down, I wasn’t going to touch them, I was going to shake your hand. Terrans do that when they first meet.” Being berated should have rubbed her wrong, but he was proving he cared. She liked that. A lot.
She watched as his eyes narrowed at her. Then to her surprise, he slowly reached his hand through the bars.
She rocked forward on her knees and clasped his hand. It was large, firm, and cold. Their connection wasn’t quick, she selfishly held on because his very skin called to her. But because she didn’t want to risk injury to him, Sasha didn’t shake his hand up and down.
“It’s nice to meet you officially.” The words lacked the proper emotion, how her insides were constricting, especially in her lower belly.
He pulled his hand away from hers to slither back through the bars. He rubbed his palm on the side of his pants as he stood up.
She didn’t like watching him rub off her touch. Especially since she had relished his. Mirroring him, she stood up as well and tried to recall what they had been talking about. Anything to keep him talking, yet move past the ruined greeting.
Her first thought went back to their original discussion regarding the reach of his powers. "How do the Cerebrals have more bandwidth?"
Sci moved farther back into his cage, still standing, but she felt as if he were retreating from her. He answered, "To have tampered with my hopper is barbaric, and my people are above those kinds of actions."
She winced at the jibe.
No one liked hearing that they were barbaric. Even if it were true, Lotus Nexis was not a place you went to feel better about yourself. It’s where you went to forget everything. Or where people went when they wanted to be forgotten. That was one of the questions she’d never understood. Why had her mother chosen to live on a port planet? Her mom never spoke about life on Earth or why she left. She’d never talked about Sasha’s father or what had happened between them. It was always the same answer: “the past is the past, and I’m looking to the future.”
Sasha remembered a quote from one of her mother’s Earth books. "If your kind is so above it, what do you do with your criminals?"
He snorted. "There are very few who do not comply with the natural laws. Those who can’t abide in our society are exiled."
She wanted to pump her fist. So maybe his species wasn’t so immune to barbarism, after all. Taking another sip of her slushy to hide her smile, she asked, "What is the difference between an Elder and a Master Elder?"
Before he could answer, the door was pushed open, and Sasha was glad that she wasn’t sitting in front of the bars any longer. She was also thankful that Sci had not been talking. Pax stood there with a cup in hand, eyeing the two of them. After a moment, he moved into the room, set the container near the bars, and moved back. With a half-friendly smile, he said, "How was your shift, hellcat?"
"Excellent, Commander." She defaulted on calling him his rank to be professional, hoping that he wouldn’t look too deeply into what she and Sci were doing. She really didn’t want to get caught talking to the Cerebral. Her mother depended on her, and she was being selfish by disobeying a direct order, but everything in her wanted to know more about Sci.
Even if she never touched him again, which would be a shame, she still wanted to know everything about him.
Pax looked over her disheveled bed. “Sleeping okay?”
“I am. Thank you, sir.”
She’d gone too far. His eyes narrowed. “Let me know if anything changes.”
Nodding, she watched as he looked back at Sci. Something passed between them, but she had no idea what it was. Both males in the room held each other’s gaze for a time, and she almost wondered if they were sizing each other up. Another moment passed, and then Pax left, manually closing the door behind him.
Sasha shook her head with a smile and turned back to Sci, noticing a momentary frown on his face as his eyes stared after the Red Demon. She tried to divine the meaning behind Sci’s glower, but it was gone just as quickly as it appeared. Sci blinked once and focused on the food. Carefully, he pinched the rim of the cup and pulled it in between the bars. Once the container was in, he took a long gulp, walked himself back to his cot, and sat down.
Sasha assumed that was the end of their conversation, so she returned her attention to the large Minky screen and began typing a message to Jandy. She missed her friend and desperately wanted to know what had happened after Sasha left and if her mother was okay. A wave of guilt surrounded her. Why hadn’t she thought to send a message before now? How could she allow herself to feel such happiness when her only family member and best friend could be dead? She was warm, safe, and healthy, minus the daily sludge, and incredibly happy to be living her dream of being a pilot amongst the stars. The sharp knife of guilt sliced deeper, wondering if she should have stayed to find a way to help her mom escape, too. Worse, Sasha hadn’t even tried, she’d just left. What kind of daughter did that?
After she’d sent the message and set the alarm to wake her up in ten hours, she moved to the cleaner, leaving her empty cup on the storage shelf.
This time, she decided to turn off the utility light when she was ready for bed. In the darkness, she waited for sleep to take her, but after an indeterminate amount of time she said, "You never explained what an Elder or a Master Elder was."
"Why does the Red Demon call you hellcat?"
She smiled in the darkness. Was he jealous? "Answer me first,” she said.
"My answer is not short. Yours will be."
She chuckled. "Are you sure?"
"It will be shorter than mine," he said. Sasha wondered if she were getting to know him better or if she imagined it, but Sci’s tone seemed clipped.
"When I first met him, Pax mistook me for a hellcat—a woman looking for a blitz."
"A woman looking for a quick round of sex?"
"Yes, a blitz is a quick bout of sex." She was glad it was dark, and he couldn’t see her blush. She would never want to be a hellcat, but if Sci ever wanted her for a snuggle session, she would be right there. She’d also take a make-out session with his shirt off because she wanted to see and touch his gorgeous body. His mouth was perfect for kissing. His lips didn’t appear chapped, and they looked soft, not wet. If there weren’t a cage between them, she wondered if he would have invited her over.
"Your turn." She could feel her body zing with excitement just waiting for his answer. Her feet moved back and forth in anticipation. She couldn't determine if her enthusiasm stemmed from getting to know a new species or if it was just getting to know the extraordinary male she shared a room with.
"We are not all the same. There are functioning and high-functioning Cerebrals who can hear other people’s conscious thoughts, but they can't verbally communicate telepathically. They have limited bandwidth for their telepathy and telekinesis. Typically, they can't hear more than two miles away. Those of that level of ability have blue eyes."
Sasha jerked up. "You have blue eyes."
"I do. I am a high-functioning Cerebral."
Confused, she asked, "But you can't communicate telepathically?"
"I can't verbally communicate, no. But I can send pictures."
Huh. "And the others? They can communicate verbally?"
"Elders can verbally communicate, and their bandwidth reaches up to one hundred or so miles."
That's far. She wondered if the Federation knew this.
"Elders can also search your memories. There is nothing they cannot see in your mind."
The Federation must know about them. Those Cerebrals sounded terrifying. She was grateful for her own telepathic blocker. If Sci knew how much she hung on his every word, he could ea
sily use it against her. Then again, if she were a Cerebral, she wouldn’t have to wait for Sci to answer in small bits of information. She could just plow into his mind and find out everything she wanted to know.
That thought sobered her. What would she do if she were a Cerebral? Thinking out loud she said, "Can they control other people? Like a puppet master?"
"Our Elders are not puppet masters. They work for the Collective just like everyone else."
"So, they can't control someone's thoughts?"
A pause. "They can interject thoughts that can change your perceptions. But they can’t take control of your mind and body."
Sasha considered herself a good person, and if she would abuse a skill like that, it seemed natural that anyone would. She hoped never to cross paths with an Elder. "And the Master Elders? What would make them more powerful than the Elders?"
"Master Elders are an anomaly that happens as the infant gestates. The Elders can't figure out how, only that it happens. The Master Elders are born with yellow eyes, and the ability to shield their minds."
"That's handy. And neat." Of course, it also sounded terrifying.
"Their ability to work without sleep or rest make them the perfect workers. Their anomaly also causes them to have short lifespans, however. Most don't live past ten or eleven years of age."
Sasha winced in the darkness. "That sucks." When Sci didn't add anything else, she asked, "Do they have the same bandwidth as the Elders?"
He hesitated again. "According to the archives, they have a little over that."
"How much over?"
"Double if not triple, but they are not entirely sure because each Master Elder is unique. There are only two alive on my planet at present. One is my brother."
His brother? Well, that didn’t sound so great. Sci’s worry over what his brother would do was really starting to make sense now.
Sasha moved to turn on the light. When she looked through the bars, Sci was also lying down, his face turned toward her with his hands behind his head.
"Your brother?" His brother was destined to die young? She hurt for Sci and what he must be feeling. It added to the pain that she felt regarding her mom, wondering if her family too would die. "How long does he have left?"
"I don't know." The words felt like small icicles stabbing through her heart.
She resented the bars between them. He deserved a hug. Then again, maybe she just wanted to hug someone who could empathize with her situation. "I'm sorry. I hope he makes it until you return."
Sci didn't answer, but he continued to stare at her.
"When you stare at me, are you waiting for me to say something, or do you just like looking at my face?" She meant for it to sound sarcastic, but it came out softer.
"Your face is expressive, and I don’t want to miss any of your expressions."
Oh. Her lady parts purred.
"You fascinate me,” he said.
She bit the inside of her lip. "Likewise." Stupid bars. Squelching her desires, she turned off the light and returned to her bed. "Goodnight, Sci."
He didn't respond. She wondered if his race even said goodnight. "What do you say to one another before going to bed?"
"Nothing."
He must have misunderstood. "Nothing? Really? My mom used to say ‘sleep tight,’ or ‘goodnight.’" Sasha smiled, and tears welled in her eyes at the memory.
"Cerebrals are not tribal. We are not born or raised in family units."
Sasha wouldn’t have described families as a tribe but, technically, it fit the definition. "But you have a brother."
"I do."
Ha! "If you have a brother, you must have had parents, Sci."
"That does not mean we were raised by them."
Sasha exhaled loudly. "True." Not unexpectedly, Sci didn't reply. She marveled at how different Terrans and Cerebrals were. The more she learned, the wider the gap seemed.
***
The bridge seemed to disappear in Sasha's vision as her heart pounded. On screen, she could see an endless field of asteroids. Some were small fragments no bigger than her fist, but a large majority of them were the size of the Federation transporter and bigger. The large space boulders could easily crush the metal if she were wedged in between two colliding asteroids.
She sat down at the copilot seat, Captain Rannn at the pilot seat.
She didn't think any ship could get through something that dense. Sasha watched the captain tap the navigation screen. "We have to fly this direction. We need to stay on course. I want to be at Pegna by tomorrow."
Sasha stiffened. The astro field was long and expansive, and the captain wanted to be through it quickly. This was what he’d hired her for, and without asking, she knew that if she kept them alive but banged the craft up in the process, she would be shipped back home.
Taking the main controls, she sat up straight and tried to think of how the captain would navigate the ship. How he would want her to fly the vessel. Her hair on the back of her neck stood up as the captain watched her every move. His deep-throated grumbles of disapproval were nerve-wracking each time she approached the fields.
It was as if he didn't want her to fly. She knew he was assuming the worst. Feeling uneasy, she moved the transporter into a slow, controlled, forward motion. Her mind felt lethargic, not from lack of sleep, but from the number of asteroids. The weight of what could happen if she failed was almost too much.
Minutes inside the field, she confidently avoided the first asteroid but another rounded too quickly for Sasha to avoid, and it hit the back of the transporter. The crash was loud, tipping the ship slightly. Rannn hissed a curse. "This is stupid. I can do better than you. Hand me the controls. I will not die out here." Violently hitting the controls, he took over. "This is what I wanted to avoid. You need to watch for that. We do not have any weapons on this transporter. We need to get through this field without damage, or other crafts will assume we are helpless and attack," he said.
Another unavoidable hit, and the captain hissed, "Damn it."
It had only been a few minutes in, yet it felt like hours. They couldn't slowly float around this field in hopes that they didn't get banged up by the pieces of failed planets. "Give me control. At this speed, we won’t be out of this for a year."
"Last time you had control, you looked terrified."
She wasn't terrified, she was uncomfortable. "Give me the controls, Captain, so we can get the hell out of here. You have a crewmember to save, remember?"
"Watch your tone," Rannn warned.
He transferred controls back to Sasha’s station, and she throttled forward. The faster the ship went, the more focused her mind became. She could see the rocks and predict their trajectories. She no longer paid attention to the captain or his side-seat grunting. The ship was the wrong shape to fit through the asteroids fluidly, but she kept that in mind as she dodged and swerved. It was almost fun, but she never lost her anchor to reality. She couldn't afford to be reckless.
Until she had to be. One large rock smashed into another, and it splintered apart, volleying pieces toward the ship in quick succession. Taking the ship into a dive, Sasha expected to feel the hit, but it never came.
"We're off course; you need to head that way." The captain’s hand was pointing to her right. "We can't lose time."
"We'll get there, but we are not taking the natural route."
The captain didn't like her answer, but she didn't care. He knew she was flying like a champ, and he would have to deal with it because he couldn't fly the ship himself.
It was a grueling two hours, but she made it through. When it was over, the captain got up and left the bridge without saying a word. Sasha jumped up and did a happy dance, following it with a fist pump. Rannn might not want to celebrate her awesome accomplishment, but she certainly did.
Under her breath, she mumbled, “That was awesome.” Peering over at the closed door, she flippantly saluted, and said, “You’re w
elcome.”
***
Rannn relieved Sasha hours later. As she rubbed her legs from sitting so long, she heard, “You’re not the best pilot I’ve ever had, but I won’t dispute your skills.”
Backhanded compliment? She’d take it. “Thank you.”
He huffed, but he didn’t insult her again, so she’d take that, too.
After a quick walk down the hallways to stretch her legs, Sasha ended up in the galley. The cyborg was sitting at the table. He didn't say much, just issued a simple nod in her direction. He looked bothered by something, so she asked, "Why so glum? We didn't die today in the asteroid field."
He looked up. "I wasn't worried."
She was surprised that he was willing to talk to her since he’d refused to speak to her before.
"You weren't worried we'd get beaten to a pulp and then die out where no one would ever find us?" Even though she knew there was never any danger of that, she made the astro fields sound more dramatic than they really were, hoping to get a reaction from the cyborg.
"Nope."
"Why not?" She was not vain, but she mentally prepared herself for his compliment.
"Already died once." He pointed to his jaw where the metal plate was. Sasha flinched. She couldn’t imagine what had happened to his organic jaw, and to be honest, she didn’t want to know.
"So, you're a human with upgrades, not a cyborg?" she asked. He reminded her of Madame Allure. She had done the same thing, but Allure hadn’t died first.
He took a drink but kept his eyes on her. "Close enough," he said.
"But you're still human."
"Was never a Terran. "
"What does that mean?"
"Means I’m not a descendant from Earth. Means I'm more cyborg than human—smarter, stronger, and more capable. I don't have emotional issues. Like you." He had some. That know-it-all tone was an emotion.
"Me? What emotional issues?"
"Your pride won't let you take orders, even if they are in your best interest."
He couldn’t know she’d been talking to Sci. The one and only order she was not obeying. Puzzled, she asked, "What are you talking about? I do everything I'm told. My entire schedule is dictated."
