by A A Warren
The transparent wall shattered. Vaki closed her eyes.
The cold, slimy fluid exploded into the room. She tried to hold her breath, but she felt the oxygen explode from her lungs as the wave slammed into her. Her body was thrown into the air, torn away from the wall as if plucked up by the gods. Then she tumbled through the darkness, born aloft by the unstoppable flood raging around her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Talon grunted as a slit of harsh white light filled his vision. He realized his eyes were still half closed. He blinked, and lifted his head off the mangled deck of the beam-skater’s cockpit. Around him, he heard metal groan and creak. He shook his head to clear the haze from his vision. As his eyes focused, he saw trails of smoke wafting through the tiny compartment. Sparks leapt from various panels and systems scattered around the cockpit, blinding him with a harsh glare.
The ship lurched forward, and the groaning of bent metal grew louder. Talon threw out his arms to brace himself, but the tiny craft jerked to a stop almost immediately. Another shower of sparks cascaded behind him. Taking a deep breath, Talon crawled to his feet, making only slow, careful movements. He glanced out the cracked dome of the cockpit.
A glittering white oblivion yawned beneath them. The tiny ship had skidded all the way to the end of the ice crevasse. It now hung suspended in the air, just over the edge of a towering white cliff.
The skater groaned again, and Talon felt the deck plates shift beneath his feet. The wreck was losing its purchase on the ice. If they skidded over the edge, they would plunge down to the frozen ground below.
“B’Turo!” He spoke in a quiet hiss. Talon had little experience with ice or snow, but he sensed that even the slightest vibration could send them tumbling to their deaths.
The old man lay slumped over his controls. Talon reached over, and checked for a pulse. He felt a faint heart beat, pumping through the man’s carotid artery. He was still alive.
The ship groaned again. Talon took a cautious step towards B’Turo, and unbuckled the miner’s harness. He prodded the old man’s shoulder. “B'Turo, wake up. We have to get out of here!”
Again there was no response. Muttering a silent curse, Talon bent over, and slung the elderly man’s body over his shoulders. The ship groaned, and slid forward another meter. Taking slow, measured steps, Talon made his way to the cockpit’s exit hatch. He pressed the glowing green light on the control panel. The damaged servo motors made a grinding noise. A trail of smoke wafted from the square frame of the exit.
The hatch remained sealed tight.
Talon ran his fingers over the side wall. The metal had buckled and warped from the impact, jamming the hatch mechanism.
He took a step back, and glanced around the damaged ship. As more sparks erupted around him, he felt them slip closer to the edge. A shower of ice and snow poured into the tiny compartment through a tear in the metal hull above. Talon reached up and felt along the edges of the narrow opening. It was too small for them to crawl through, even if B’Turo could move on his own.
As the ship continued to skid further down the ice, Talon’s eyes darted around the cockpit. He spotted a second blinking light, next to the hatch exit. It was flashing red, and marked with the universal galactic emergency symbol.
Emergency release, Talon thought. Explosive charges to release the hatch.
Triggering the charges would blow the entire side panel away from the skimmer. But he was certain the detonation would send the precarious ship over the edge of the chasm.
The metal frame of the skimmer shuddered. Talon glanced up as more snow and ice pelted his shoulders. They were running out of time… He had to get them off the ship now, one way or another.
Setting B’Turo down, he yanked a mesh cargo net from the wall, letting the stacks of rations and regulator batteries it contained clatter to the floor. Sliding one of his cryocite blades from his battle harness, he used the razor sharp weapon to tear the net from its spring-loaded carabiner clips, and cut it into strips of synthetic cord.
As the ship lurched again, he tied cords together, forming a long, durable rope. He looped one end of the rope through the net’s carabiner clips, and buckled it onto B’Turo’s belt. Then he clipped the other end to his battle harness, and drew his second blade.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped through the shower of ice and snow, and stood before the hatch. The ship groaned again, and skidded further down the edge of the chasm. He felt the deck tilt beneath him.
“Victory or death,” he whispered.
He bent his knees, braced his legs, and reached forward. With a loud thud, he slammed the pommel of his blade on the flashing red light.
A hiss of air rushed from the hatch. The mangled frame of the skimmer rattled as the series of charges erupted along the edge of the side panel. A blast of cold air rushed into the cockpit, as the panel exploded away from the ship.
Talon stumbled backwards, as the angle of the deck grew steep. The sudden vibration dislodged the tiny craft from the ice. He fell backwards into the control panel, as the ship skidded over the edge of the cliff.
Suddenly, the vibrations ceased, and he felt his stomach leap into this throat. They had gone over the edge… they were falling!
Talon planted his feet on the ground and surged forward, charging towards the opening in the ship’s side wall. Bellowing a fierce battle cry, he leapt through the air. He sailed out the open hatch and flew towards the towering wall of ice.
As he struck the cold, hard surface, his arms pistoned forward. Using every ounce of strength he possessed, he dug the two blades into the frozen cliff. The razor sharp crystals that lined each weapon were the sharpest substance known to man… they cut through the frozen surface as if it were paper, and gouged deep channels into the ice.
For a brief second, Talon hung off the cliff side, suspended in the air. Then, with a loud snap, the line clipped behind him drew tight, and B’Turo swung beneath him, tugging at his harness. The blades began to slice though the ice, as the weight of the unconscious man tugged him down the wall. He began to pick up speed, sliding faster and faster down the frozen cliff.
Grunting with exertion, Talon dug his boots into the surface. A spray of ice chips flew up beneath him as he slowed his descent. Finally, he skidded to a halt. Turning his head, he glanced down. B’Turo hung from the line beneath him, swaying back and forth in the frigid breeze. The sheet of ice below was still kilometers away. They were two insignificant dots, suspended above a vast plane of white. A fall would mean certain death for both of them…
Talon paused for a moment, panting for breath. His muscles throbbed and ached. Even with the regulator field active, he felt the chill of the cold air sting his skin.
After a few seconds passed, he took a deep breath, and grit his teeth. He dislodged one of his blades from the ice. The muscles in his other arm throbbed, as both their combined weight tore at his shoulder. His breath was a pained hiss, as he swung his body higher, and chipped at the ice with his free blade. When the weapon was lodged in the frozen cliff, he repeated the process with his other arm. Slowly, he pulled himself up the ice wall, dragging B’Turo behind him.
After about thirty minutes of the painful, grueling climb he crested the wall of ice, and heaved his body onto the snow-covered ground. Rolling onto his back, he sprawled along the edge of the cliff and gasped for breath. For once, he was glad of the freezing cold ice beneath him… it numbed the aching of his throbbing muscles.
“Hey!” A faint voice called out from below. After a few sputtering coughs, it shouted up again. “Hey, don’t leave me hanging here, you kusan yaveto!”
Talon clenched his jaw, and braced his feet against the edge of the cliff. His shoulders and arms rippled with cords of muscle as he hauled the line up. Finally, a gloved hand reached over the edge of the ice. Talon grabbed the old man’s arm and hoisted him up.
B’Turo staggered onto solid ground, and crouched, panting for breath as he found solid footing. He glanced around the frozen wasteland and
shivered. His fingers gingerly probed the gash on his forehead. “Damn… that’s gonna leave a bruise.”
“It could be worse,” Talon muttered.
B’Turo glanced at the line that joined the two of them together. He looked up at Talon and narrowed his eyes. “I remember the explosion… then I blacked out. We must have crashed, but… did you carry me out of there?”
Talon nodded. “We fought together. I don’t leave my allies behind.”
B’Turo whistled. "Well I’ll be damned. A man of honor, eh?"
Talon shrugged. “I didn’t have much choice. I need your help to finish this fool’s errand.”
The old man chuckled. “Son, I don’t think there’s a soul in the entire colony who would give up a cut of his shares to save his own mother. You risked your life and saved me, just to help Katara?”
“I gave my word. Besides, she has Vaki.”
B’Turo nodded. “Yeah. Listen, I haven’t made it this far by running my mouth off, but after what you did… Look, there’s something you should know. Your friend, the girl?”
Talon stared at him with his crimson eye. “What about her?”
B’Turo sighed. “She may be in danger. The queen, Katara…” His voice trailed off, lost beneath the cold, moaning wind.
Talon grabbed the man’s shoulder. “Go on, tell me.”
“I don’t know. There’s something… not right. Something strange, happening at the colony. I feel like I’ve seen things. Terrible things. But I just can’t remember. I have nightmares about this place. When I wake up, it’s all a blur, like a distant memory. But there’s one thing I know for sure.”
“And what is that?”
B’Turo looked him in the eye. “Katara is dangerous. And your friend… she’s not safe. The sooner you two get off this planet, the better. We should get moving.”
The old man shrugged away from Talon’s hand and tapped the screen of his wrist display. “Interference from that pulsar is getting worse. Now it’s jamming surface comm frequencies as well as hyper-transmissions. So much for calling the colony for another skater.”
Talon checked his regulator belt. The cells were all fully charged. “Can we make it on foot?”
B’Turo nodded, as he called up a map on his wrist unit’s display. “We’re in Zigra territory now. There’s a ravine a few clicks west of here. If we can climb down, we should be able to make it to their mining complex by nightfall.”
As he shuffled away from Talon, the freezing wind grew more intense. A swirling haze of ice and snow filled the air. Talon stared at the old man for a moment, then scanned the frozen canyon behind them. He saw nothing… they were alone on the ice.
He turned and followed B’Turo into the frost-filled haze.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Talon planted his foot in the ice and took another step down the side of the ravine. The slope was steep, and the shimmering ice was as slippery as polished glass. The grueling trek had been slow going, but he could see the ground leveled out after this next slope. If B’Turo was correct, the Zigra colony lay beyond the craggy ice walls that surrounded them.
“So let me get this straight,” B’Turo panted, huffing for breath as he slid a few inches down the ice. “That thing in your eye detects dark energy?”
“Among other things,” Talon said. He kept his eyes on the treacherous ground as they continued their descent.
“Guess that's why Katara sent you, instead of Makor.”
“I don’t pretend to understand her motives,” Talon replied, taking another cautious step. “I'm eager to finish my business with her, and leave this forsaken planet.”
“You’re assuming Katara will keep her end of the bargain.”
Talon glared at the old man. “I’m not a fool, B’Turo. I have no intention of turning the black jade over to Katara until she proves her good intentions. If you think you can stop me—”
B’Turo laughed and held up his hands in a gesture of mock surrender. “Me? Hell, I’ve got no loyalty to Katara or the Toho Clan. Bunch of corporate blood-suckers. I worked on one of their factory worlds, years ago. The med-techs there found Ch’irox disease in my lungs. Caused by all the plasma gas residue we were breathing… they used cheap filters in their life support systems.”
Talon glanced at the old man as they slid another few inches down the ravine. “Ch’irox? I thought there was no cure?”
B'Turo nodded. “There wasn’t. But the Toho Clan are big into medical technology. Their bio-mancers used some kind of machine on me… a prototype they called a bio-harvester. It replaced the cancer cells in my lungs with healthy tissue. Edited the disease right out of my DNA.”
“So they saved your life?”
"Yeah. But I didn't read the fine print. The treatment cost more than I could earn in a lifetime. When I couldn’t pay their blood money, I had to turn to smuggling to make ends meet."
Talon grinned. "I take it your masters didn't approve?"
B'Turo shrugged. “Guess I wasn't very good at it. I got caught, and the Toho Clan threw me in a forced labor camp. A few years later they transferred me here, to the mining colony."
The two men paused for breath, resting along the edge of a giant ice outcropping.
Talon checked his regulator belt, then looked up at the old man. “Doesn’t the Consortium government have laws? Rules to protect its citizens?”
B’Turo laughed. “Laws? Look, the Jotoru Emperor controls the military. Everything else… schools, trade, law enforcement, local governments… he turned those over to the citizens of the Consortium. But the clans had so much wealth, they bought them out. Now, the clans are the law. Only law that matters, anyway. The Emperor just sits on his throne and collects his shares. The clans run everything in this damn kingdom. And each clan cares about one thing… their own slice of the pie. People like me?” The old man spat into the ice. “We’re just the fuel that keeps the whole rotten engine running.”
Talon looked the man in the eye. “Then maybe it’s time to tear the engine apart.”
The old man took a deep breath and stretched. “Maybe. But jabbering out here in the cold won't change anything, that’s for—”
A low rumble rose from the ground. Chips of ice cracked and fell from above as a tremor shook the ravine. Talon froze, crouching low to maintain his balance as the ice crackled and broke around him.
The tremor died down. The cold air was silent and still once again.
“We’d better get moving,” Talon said.
B’Turo eyed the towering ice above them with suspicion. “Yeah… you’re right about that.”
They resumed their trek, rounding the craggy ice structures that blocked the end of the ravine. As they stepped out onto clear ground, Talon shielded his eyes from the sun. He gazed across the vast plain of ice.
“By the haunted stars!” he gasped.
A bluish haze hung just over the horizon. Giant cracks ran through ice before them, ending at the edges of a vast sinkhole. The depression stretched as far as the eye could see.
Mangled, twisted fragments of metal rose from the gaping crater. The skeletal frames of collapsed buildings and rusted equipment creaked and swayed in the breeze.
“Is that…” Talon began.
B’Turo was silent for a moment, drinking in the stark image with his squinting dark eyes.
“The Zigra colony. What’s left of it, anyway.”
Talon surveyed the devastation. “What happened here?”
B’Turo shook his head. “I have no idea.” He glanced down at his wrist unit. “Surface comms are still jammed. And no transmission has left this planet in months. I wonder if the Zigra Clan even knows what happened here?”
Talon took a step towards the edge of the sink hole. “I can’t imagine— Arrrgh!” He suddenly bent over, as if he were ill. He clutched his head, grimacing in pain as a spasm ran through his body. He closed his eyes tight, and grit his teeth, fighting to clear his head from the sensory overload flooding his nerves.
/> B’Turo grabbed his arm. “Hey, you okay? What’s wrong?”
Talon’s eyes shot open. He shoved the old man away as he staggered to the edge of the depression. His panting breath sent trails of mist into the air.
“What the hell happened?” B’Turo asked.
“I felt… something. Pain.”
“Are you hurt?”
Talon shook his head. “No, it’s not that. This thing, the crystal in my eye… I don’t understand how it works. But sometimes, it forms bonds with people. It shows me their memories, their thoughts. Dark energy can trigger it sometimes. And the pain I felt… it wasn’t mine. It came from something down there.”
B’Turo followed his gaze, staring at the devastated colony. “Well one thing’s for sure. The black jade must be nearby.”
Talon glanced up at him. “How can you be so sure?”
"You said dark energy reacts with your eye somehow. Well, look... it's reacting now."
The old man fished a small metal box from his utility belt. He flipped it open, revealing a tiny mirror and shaving supplies. He held it out.
Talon peered down at the mirror. He could see his crimson eye, peering back at him from behind a sweat-soaked lock of hair. The crystal was glowing bright, pulsing with energy.
Talon handed the mirror back to the old man. “We have to get down there.”
B’Turo hesitated. “Hold on a sec. A couple things are still bothering me.”
“What are you talking about?”
B’Turo unclipped a pair of range-finders from his belt. He held the goggles up to his eyes and dialed up the magnification setting. “Katara’s been digging ore out of this planet for years. The Zigra’s raided our storage facility a few weeks ago, sure. But no matter how much black jade they stole, it's nothing compared to what she already has. She could have left Neros at any point, but she’s stayed here, despite the danger. There must be something else down there she wants, besides her precious black jade.”
“I don’t care what she wants. I said I would return her stolen cargo. That was our deal.”
