Remnants of Hope

by Antoine Henderson

  Lake could see the conflict in Nadal-Ti’s blue eyes before she turned to look outside for several seconds and then turned back to him. Lake knew how Nadal-Ti felt about the situation without her saying a word and what she would do if she were in his shoes. If it were up to her, she’d leave them where they were. Not because she was cruel or didn’t value their lives, it was about survival for her. She hadn’t made it this far in life as a smuggler by being charitable. That was where she and Lake differed, but that was ultimately why she joined his crew, because of her indifference. She wanted back her humanity, something she’d lost when she became an assassin for hire and part of something she got back when Lake asked her to join his crew. With him, she saw a path of redemption, a way for her to get her humanity back.

  “We only have a few days before the military convoy that safeguards Abuula returns, so this is risky, Lake. But, you’re the captain and I trust your judgment.”

  “Not her too…” Blurb murmured under his breath.

  Lake smiled and turned forward in his chair, pressing a button on his terminal. “Delta, patch me through to the escape pod.”

  “Right away… You are now connected, Lake.”

  Lake cleared his throat before speaking. “This is Captain Lake Strider of the Iron Saber, we’ve received your transmission.”

  “Hello—oh, thank the heavens! It’s great to hear your voice, Captain Strider. My name is Captain Taran Lo and with me, is my chief engineer Bulgrim Moor—we were attacked by pirates on a transport mission from Uthera and our ship and crew were lost. We’ve been out here for over a week. Please tell us you’re here to rescue us.”

  “That depends,” Lake said. “Taran Lo was it?”

  “Depends… on what, Captain? We’re dying out here!”

  “It depends on your answers to my questions,” Lake responded. “Listen, I know you’re in a tough situation, but so am I and I have to ensure you aren’t a threat to myself or my crew.”

  There was a brief moment of silence. “Fair enough, ask me anything you wish.”

  “In your transmission, you mentioned you were on a transport vessel, but you failed to mention your destination. What was it?”

  “We were on a royal transport vessel called the Quinnes, transporting wincy to Solaris Prime, as part of the Wellbest Trade Agreement, an agreement signed ten years ago by King Avedeis and Queen Onis of the Uthera Royal Family. But as I stated in our distress call, our ship was attacked by pirates and the crew was killed. We are all that remains of the Quinnes.”

  Lake raised an eyebrow and turned to his weapon’s specialist. “Hey, Ti, what the hell is a wincy?” he whispered.

  “A rich material only found on Uthera.”

  “I see… I thought the King and Queen were dead?”

  “They are.”

  Lake nodded and turned back to his terminal. He wanted to be sure Taran was speaking the truth and by asking if the King or Queen were dead, he would find that out as only few people outside of Uthera knew of their deaths. Lake only happened across that information during a card game on Pluh-Toh and a drunken Utherian pilot speaking obnoxiously. “Okay, Taran, tell me this. How are the King and Queen? Life must be good for the royal family these days, even though we’re surrounded by complete Darkness. It’s safe to say that I know they’re glad to no longer be in service of the Empire.”

  Taran cleared his throat before speaking once more. “The royal highnesses are no longer with us, Captain. Uthera is now led by His Majesty Lord Parmellius Fallon, cousin of the late King Avedeis until the return of the true heir to the throne, Princess Eulyra. I’m sure we all are glad to no longer be under the thumb of the Empire, Captain Strider.”

  “True, although the rule of the Empire was way before my time. I was born after the Darkness came,” said Lake. “So Taran, you two escaped the pirate’s clutches on an escape pod. How is that possible? I want to know everything, from the beginning.”

  “Everything was routine as we headed to Solaris Prime when a ship appeared behind us. Our scanners didn’t pick it up and without warning it fired upon us, rendering our shields to nothing. Then, we were boarded. It was little we could do. We only had a handful of soldiers on board as no one would think to attack a transport vessel in the open as it did, but we were warned. We tried to fight back and resist, but, the pirates were too much, even for us. There was little we could do. They lined us up in the cargo hold and their leader gave us a choice: join or die,” Taran explained. “Not one member of the crew would think of betraying our oath to the throne or our people, so he floated each person one-by-one, until a few soldiers who weren’t caught made a last ditch effort to attack the pirates, but failed. We used that opportunity to run and jump into an escape pod and blast off with no clear direction and we ended up here.”

  “I see, I’m sorry this happened to you,” said Lake. “Who were these pirates?”

  “I only know them by the reputation of the captain and the ship. Captain Voldo Blackvoid and his ship The Sinker.”

  “Blackvoid?” Lake whispered to Nadal-Ti. “Why do pirates choose such silly names? Blackvoid.”

  “I’ve heard that name before,” Nadal-Ti interrupted. “When I worked for Gruudo, other mercenaries would speak of tales of a black ship that terrorized unsuspecting civilian vessels near Solaris. Blackvoid and his men were known for stealing the ship’s cargo and killing the crew, but they leave the ship floating aimlessly in space as a reminder to anyone who found it to know who was responsible. Last I recall, there’s a twenty-million credit bounty on his head. So, their story seems plausible.”

  “Twenty-million?” Lake questioned, ignoring Nadal-Ti’s point. His eyes widened and a fool’s grin stretched his lips. “We could really use those credits.”

  “Don’t get any bright ideas, Lake! This isn’t like Verris bounty a few months back. For starters, the Iron Saber isn’t equipped to face The Sinker as we would be severely out-gunned, and second, do you really believe them? It just seems all too convenient to me,” Blurb argued.

  “Still, it could be worth a shot,” Lake contested.

  “Hello? Are you still there? We’ve answered your questions,” Taran interrupted.

  Lake sat thinking to himself. Every aspect of their story seemed plausible and even if turned out not to be, they equipped enough to handle themselves accordingly. Turning to his terminal, he spoke. “Alright Taran, we will bring you aboard.”

  Taran sighed in relief before speaking once more. “Thank you again, Captain Strider.”

  “Sit tight,” said Lake before motioning to Delta to end their communications and she followed his instruction.

  “You really believe them?” Blurb asked.

  “I do, actually,” Lake responded. “That doesn’t mean I trust them, though. Blurb, prep the cargo bay, we should have enough room inside for that pod. We’ll keep them there, away from everyone and Delta can monitor their activity until we reach Abuula. We’ll stay in stealth mode until we land on Abuula and continue with the job.”

  Blurb sighed before following Lake’s order without protest, although Lake knew he wanted to. They were used to Blurb being afraid of any form of danger and it would sometimes impede their mission, but he had the best intentions and was useful—one of the best mechanics and technical engineers in the System. Lake wouldn’t replace him for anyone. His heart was always in the right place when it came down to it and whether or not he knew it, he’d saved Lake from making many bad decisions as Captain.

  After Blurb prepped the cargo bay, Delta maneuvered the ship into position. She opened its doors and using a tow hook and cables, safely reeled the escape pod on board the Iron Saber. Once inside, Delta decompressed the cargo hold allowing for the crew to enter.

  The silver, oval-shaped pod was scratched and dented, and blaster burns painted its outer hull. It was sitting near the rear panels of the ship’s opening hatches, and the crew, except for Delta, went to meet their new arrivals as th
e pod depressurized. Blurb stood behind Lake, holding a large black blaster rifle that was almost bigger than he was, while Nadal-Ti held her twin blaster pistols behind her back. The circular door of the pod opened and a tall man wearing a blue military uniform exited the pod. A shorter man followed wearing a matching uniform.

  “Welcome aboard the Iron Saber, I’m Captain Strider.”

  The tall man extended his hand and took a step forward, stopping when Blurb aimed his weapon at the man. “Stop right there!”

  “Blurb, lower your rifle now!” Lake ordered through gritted teeth.

  “I thought you were trying to help us?” The tall man asked. It was easy to recognize the voice of the man they’d been speaking with. Taran Lo. His unkempt log brown hair was hastily put into a ponytail and he adorned a thick brown beard with touches of gray, signifying his maturity. “Did we make a mistake? Are you space pirates as well?”

  “Blurb, lower it now!” Lake ordered. He turned back to Taran Lo. “No, no we’re not. I’m a man of my word, Taran.”

  The parci stood trembling for a moment as the rifle rattled in his hands but relented after a moment of hesitation.

  “Captain Taran Lo,” spoke the shorter man, whom Lake assumed was Taran’s chief engineer, Bulgrim Moor.

  “While he’s aboard my ship as a guest I saved from certain death, I will not address him as captain, Bulgrim,” Lake responded.

  “Please, Captain Strider, you must excuse Bulgrim, he meant no harm.”

  “No problem. I, too, apologize for Blurb’s behavior. He’s a little jumpy, I’m sure you can understand—stories about pirates and seeing floating bodies, has him a little skittish.” Lake walked toward the older man.

  “That’s understandable. It’s hard to know who’s who, these days,” Taran said.

  Lake shook Taran’s hand and nodded at the man beside him. “Your friend, he doesn’t speak much. Except to correct me on when to use honorifics on my ship.”

  “You can say this has been a harrowing experience for him, much like your friend Blurb there.”

  “I see.”

  “Well, as you already guessed, he’s Blurb, and she’s Nadal-Ti,” said Lake.

  “Thank you all again.”

  Nadal-Ti walked to the two as Taran extended his hand. She smiled before placing metal cuffs on his wrists. “The pleasure is mine.”

  “What is the meaning of this?” Taran protested. “Did you not come to save us?”

  “Not quite,” said Lake as Nadal-Ti cuffed the silent and scared Bulgrim as well. “We were on a mission of our own and happened to find you. To be quite honest, we still don’t trust you. This is only a precaution for our safety and yours. When we are done doing what we have to do, we’ll take you with us to Nadir and there you can find your way back home.”

  “Feels less like a precaution and more like we’re your prisoners.”

  “That is one way of looking at it. But it’s the only way. At least until we’re done,” Lake said. “Don’t worry, you’ll be kept warm, we’ll get you some food and we should be finished within a few days.”

  Taran wanted to protest more. Lake saw the conflicting thoughts expressed with the tired man’s features. Being a captain in the Royal Utherian military, Taran was a man of stature nobility and pride and being cuffed in front of his crew was not ideal for a man of his status, and Lake knew it, but as long as they were aboard the Saber, he would have to suffer the indignity of going through it. But he said nothing as Nadal-Ti guided them to the storage hold of the ship where Blurb stood, holding a tight grip on his rifle. Once they were inside, Nadal-Ti closed and locked the doors behind her.

  “This should be secure enough,” she said.

  “Thanks, Ti,” said Lake. He turned to the relieved parci. “See? It wasn’t all that bad, Blurb.”

  “Yeah, we’ll see.” Blurb moaned. “Can I stop holding this blasted thing now? I still haven’t fixed it yet.”

  “Go’head, Blurb, but make sure you get it fixed before we get to Abuula.” Lake laughed.

  “I’m still working on the pressure shields! We need that completed before the deep sea expedition on Morgana!”

  “Then you better get a move on. Now, let’s get going.”

  “You two go on, I’ll stay back here to keep an eye on them.” Nadal-Ti gestured at the door where Taran and Bulgrim were kept behind, placing her blaster pistols in their holsters on her belt.

  “Okay, you do that.” Lake nodded. “Delta, let’s get to Abuula already—and avoid any more bodies if you can help it,” he said, walking back to the cockpit.

  “Putting us back on course now,” Delta responded.

  Blurb sighed. “Great, leave the assassin alone with—”

  “Say another word and that rifle won’t be the only thing you need to fix,” Nadal-Ti snapped.

  Blurb swallowed hard and scurried behind Lake into the cockpit.

  Chapter Three

  Planet Abuula

  The Iron Saber landed safely on Abuula’s surface without incident. After saving the survivors of the Quinnes, it took them only a few hours to reach their destination. Lake distracted Blurb long enough to forget his fear of the men and focus on fixing both the blaster rifle and the pressure shields to reach Abuula. Nadal-Ti remained stationed in the cargo hold, guarding their passengers and watching them with guarded intent until the ship landed.

  Abuula itself was devoid of civilized life as it was too far away from Solaris to be inhabited, and all of its rich minerals were mined before the Darkness fell on the System. All that remained was the terraforming towers scattered about the planet’s surface. Blurb had warned them about the mainly dry and desert-like environment, dark orange sand covering the planet as far as the eye could see. There was life here, but it was best to avoid them at all costs as Abuula was deemed a preservation planet, and for that reason, its wildlife was not to be disturbed under the protection of the law.

  Departing the Iron Saber, Lake stepped down the steep metal walkway onto the planet’s surface and surveyed the desolate environment. He spotted a tree line of a heavily forested area in the distance, with red and brown trees and large mountain formations behind it. Around them were mining craters the size of city blocks, with the scrapped remains of mining equipment scattered about its fields.

  Blurb followed Lake and so did Delta who now inhabited her android body. The model was a slender female with long black hair and she did not wear her usual black cloak and cowl this time, an attempt to hide her mechanical features, and large connection port on the nape of her neck that Pilot-class androids possessed.

  “If this tracker is accurate, then what we came for is about sixteen kilometers north of here,” said Blurb.

  “Just what I suspected,” Lake said. “It’s right through that forest and near those mountains. It’s the only somewhat habitable place I can see.”

  “Habitable is not a word I would use to describe this wretched place!” said Blurb.

  The sound of footsteps coming down the ramp grabbed their attention. Nadal-Ti appeared, holding her hand above her eyes and surveying their surroundings. “So, what’s it looking like out here?”

  “We have a quite a stretch ahead, toward the forest in the distance,” said Lake, pointing in its direction.

  “Can we get any closer?”

  “Afraid not,” Lake responded.

  “The rock formations around the forest would’ve made it all but impossible to land the Saber any closer and the mining craters are too deep and uneven to land the ship. This was the best spot I could find,” Delta explained.

  “Looks like we weren’t the only ones to find that out. Check it out,” Lake pointed south and down a ridge. “Ships. Must have been the other crews Garbon sent before us.”

  “There’s no doubt,” said Blurb, placing black goggles over his eyes. “It gets worse.”

  “What do you mean?” Lake asked.

  “There are four other
ships down there,” Blurb explained. “And their hulls have been completely stripped.”

  “By whom?” Nadal-Ti asked. “There’s no one else out here.”

  “Scavengers probably,” Blurb shrugged. “We better get a move on and finish this quickly.”

  “How are our new friends doing, Ti?” Lake asked.

  “They’re alive,” she responded.

  “Good, they’re coming with us.”

  “What? Are you crazy?” Blurb erupted in a panic.

  “Well, we could leave them with the ship unattended, giving them the opportunity to slip their cuffs off and steal our ship, leaving us here to die, if you’d prefer, Blurb?”

  “Okay, I get your point. Fine, whatever.”

  “Let’s get our gear and get going.”

  The crew entered the ship to prepare for their journey. Disembarking, loaded their weapons, pales of water for hydration and other equipment onto two hoverspeeders. The vehicles were flat, with only the pilot’s terminal on their rears high enough to see over their cargo.

  Taran and Bulgrim joined them without protest and followed their requests to help load the two hoverspeeders. Although Nadal-Ti didn’t give them a choice in the matter, they moved several large boxes while still cuffed. Once the hoverspeeders were loaded, the group split up. Nadal-Ti piloted one of the hoverspeeders with Taran and Bulgrim sitting directly in front of her, never leaving her sight, while Delta piloted the other ahead of them, following Blurb’s directions as he used the tracker to navigate as they set off toward the forest.

  Arriving in the forest, the tall trees and the brush made it harder for the group to maneuver the wide speeders around, but they made it through the thick of it. Reaching a cliff, the group came to a stop to survey the area and see what was around them. A large waterfall fell into a river below and the sounds of wildlife echoed throughout the dense forest. Every chirp, roar, bump and snapping of branches in the distance caused Blurb to jump, as he tried to carry both the tracker and the blaster rifle.