by Lee Savino
I hear the scuff of flesh on floor, and Devnik slithers into view. “What are you doing here?” he demands. “I thought you were headed to your quarters to rest.”
“I was,” I reply shortly. “I got lost. Then I came in here and saw this.” I wave my hand at the mess in front of me. “We need to land as soon as possible. If something were to happen to the Konar—”
Devnik’s tentacles undulate in annoyance. “Escape pods,” he spits out. “We are Okaki. We are not cowards who flee at the first sign of trouble. If something were to happen to the Konar, we will go down with our ship. Take the rest you need, Zorahn. And when you are ready to work again, work on the fuel converters. The pods aren’t a priority.”
He really needs to stop calling me Zorahn. I pull myself up to my full height and fix him with an icy stare. “The Okaki might go down with their ships, but that’s not what I signed up for. Does your crew know they’re expected to die because their officers were too stupid to keep their ship in good condition?”
I’m counting on the fact that Devnik won’t want a fight to break out among the pirates. I’m right. He yields. “Fucking two-legged troublemaker,” he mutters sullenly. “I told the Captain not to hire you, but would he listen? The fuel converters are the priority. What you do in your spare time is your own problem.”
“I need parts,” I insist. “When do we land?”
“You ask too many questions,” he says, turning away. “As to the answer, ask the Captain. He’s the only one that knows our destination.”
I spend the rest of the night trying to get one of the escape pods ready. Even with Blue’s help, it’s exhausting and frustrating work. I scavenge the other two pods for parts, but still, the mechanicals fail their performance tests more often than they succeed. The nav computer is glitchy. The long-distance communication array is burned to a crisp. The fuel cells leak. About the only good thing I can say is that the hull is intact. The idea of being in space in this metal shell for an extended period fills me with horror.
As I work, I keep a window on my tablet open to the feed from the cameras I planted outside Lani’s prison. It’s late when Gervil enters her cell and demands a story. She complies readily, but halfway through the tale, at a point of high tension, she stops. “The rest, tomorrow,” she says firmly.
I laugh out loud. That’s how she does it. Gervil won’t eat her until he hears the end of the tale, and Lani is smart enough to end each night’s story leaving the pirate hungry for more.
Clever, clever woman.
Footsteps sound outside the bay, and then the door slides open. Mardex, the ship’s Zorahn cook, enters, a tray of food in his hands. “For you.”
I swipe off the cameras before he can see my screen. “Thank you,” I say, taking it from him and sitting down. My hand trembles and the dishes rattle. I’ve missed sleep, and it shows. The rathr, the parasitic organism that coats my DNA and causes agonizing pain with each breath I take, bites deeper when I’m exhausted.
Eating helps. I devour the meat in front of me, and it isn’t until I’m almost done that I realize Mardex is still hanging around. “Can I help you with something?”
He doesn’t answer my question right away. “You’re fixing the escape pods. That’s good. The last mechanic cared only about the engines.”
“I can tell.” Mardex seems inclined to chat, and so I strike him up in conversation. Always keep the cook on your good side, especially if he’s going to cook the human you’re here to rescue. “What’s it like, working here?”
“Not too bad,” he says with a shrug. “The Okaki are easy to please, and all the crew share in the plunder. Gervil’s a better captain than many out there. What brought you to Hokatir?”
“I struck a Highborn,” I lie. I don’t have to explain the rest to Mardex. Striking a Highborn is a high crime, punishable by death. “I took off before I could be arrested. What about you? What made you sign up on the Konar?”
He gives me a long look, and then he rolls up his sleeve. I count the tattoos on his forearm.
There’s only twenty-three.
A shock of realization goes through me. Mardex is Draekon. He can’t shift—none of this generation can, not unless they find their mate, but he’s got the potential. “You failed the Testing?”
“I didn’t get that far. The night before, I checked myself with one of the testing kits that the Rebellion distributes. It came up positive. I ran away.” The pain in his eyes tells of loved ones left behind. “I made my way to the Uncharted Reaches. It’s not much of a life, but at least I’m safe.”
That’s when the Konar’s alarms start to blare.
5
Lani
I don’t sleep well. My dreams twist and mutate. One minute, I’m on a magic carpet with Ruhan. The next minute, I’m trapped in a fairy tale. Hansel and Gretel, to be specific. I’m locked in the witch’s cage, and she’s fattening me up to eat me. Every day I wait, knowing that, soon, she’ll be too hungry to resist.
The images shift. I’m back on Earth, in the one-bedroom apartment I share with Victoria. We’re cooking a lobster, a rare treat. The pot is boiling, and we lift the lobster up to toss it into the pot, but it isn’t really the lobster that’s about to get eaten. It’s me. Vicki grabs me, her grip tight, and she holds me over the steaming water…
I scream and scream and scream. If I get free, I’m never going to eat another lobster again in my life. Then sirens start to blare, the noise getting louder. I feel a split-second of relief. The police are here. They’ll stop Vicki. I’m going to be okay.
The lights in my cell flare to life. Alarms sound throughout the ship, and on the speakers, a mechanical voice is saying something about the Konar’s range.
I jolt awake. Something’s happening.
I rush to the front. Jetor is in the antechamber. “What’s going on?”
He’s too freaked out to remember he doesn’t typically answer my questions. “Zorahn Navy ships,” he bleats. “Including a High Cruiser. They must have pursued us through the wormhole. If the cruiser gets in range, they can lock our engines, cripple the Konar, and board us.”
Crap. That’s not good. Not good at all. Under normal circumstances, I’d welcome being rescued from the pirate ship, but it was Zorahn scientists that tortured Mandy and me. There’s a chance that the Zorahn soldiers that board the Konar might help me, but it’s a lot more likely that they’d deliver me to the scientists.
For seven months, I’ve fought to stay alive. But as Jetor’s words sink in, my emotions crystallize. One thought rises to the forefront. I’ve run out of time. I don’t have the luxury of waiting for an opportune moment to try to escape. I need to move now. If it comes down to it, I would rather die in an escape attempt gone wrong than be tortured by the Zorahn scientists again.
I look around my cell, my pulse racing, my palms clammy. A thousand thoughts clamor for attention. I don’t want to die here. Jetor has a weapon, one he calls a fleshmelter. I’ll need it if I’m to have any hope of getting out of here. A ship the size of the Konar must have the spaceship equivalent of lifeboats, right? Even the Titanic had lifeboats. Don’t think about the Titanic right now, Lani.
Oh God, I can’t focus. At least once a day, a kid in my class would burst into tears for no apparent reason. They were children; they got overstimulated. I get it now. The shrill blare pierces my mind, and I want to huddle in a corner and scream. My head is splitting. The room twists in front of me. Make it stop, make it all stop…
Ruhan bursts into the room, a huge pack on his back. Jetor twists around and brings up his gun, but before he can fire it, the mechanic moves. He punches the guard, grabs the gun, and advances toward my cell door, his green eyes focused and hard. “Time to go, Lani.”
He’s speaking English.
I gape at the big, muscled alien. “What?”
He’s frowning down at the lock. “A little help, please,” he murmurs. A freakishly large blue thing that looks like a cross between a spider and a
n octopus clambers down his shoulder and extends one of its legs toward the mechanism. In less than a second, the lock disables, and my cell door slides open. “Thanks, Blue,” Ruhan says, his voice affectionate.
Oh my God, he’s talking to the spider.
My best friend Emika Osada, and her now-husband then-high-school-boyfriend, Kevin, had wanted to go to Australia after graduating high school. Emika had invited me along. “It’ll be fun, Lani,” she’d wheedled, but I’d flat out refused to join them. “Are you kidding me? Australia has too many spiders.”
It’s a big universe, and I guess sentient species come in all shapes and sizes, but a spider the size of a small dog is my worst nightmare come to life. Right now, Emika would be laughing her ass off. Serves me right.
Ruhan transfers his attention to me. “Hear those alarms?” he asks, his voice impatient. “The ship pursuing the Konar is the Annihilator. It is a Class A destroyer, a behemoth that holds ten thousand soldiers. Compared to the High Navy ship, the Konar is a fly.”
For the first time, I notice Ruhan isn’t alone. Another Zorahn is hanging about the door, one I recognize. It’s Mardex, the chef on board. The guy that’s responsible for making Lani-soup for hungry Okaki pirates.
Oh God, oh God, oh God. In the face of imminent death, Gervil’s decided to eat me. One final meal for the condemned. Roasted Leg-of-Lani.
I back away from Ruhan. “Hell, no,” I say, shaking my head frantically, looking around for a weapon. “Don’t you dare. You can’t have an arm or a leg or whatever. I’m not going down without a fight.” From the way Ruhan’s built, he’s got at least a hundred pounds on me. A hundred pounds of bulging muscle. Damn it, I could really use a gun right now. Or a metal pipe. Or a brick.
Ruhan’s eyebrow creeps up. “What are you talking about?” He steps into my cell and holds his out his hand to me. “Come on,” he urges. “We’re running out of time.”
“Didn’t you listen to me?” I demand. “I’m not going with you.” I point to the cook. “He’s going to cook me. You might decide to eat me. No thanks. I’ll take my chances with the Annihilator.”
He gives a short bark of laughter. “That’s what you think?” Mirth dances in his emerald-green eyes. “Mardex isn’t going to cook you. I’m not going to eat you.” He pauses, and a wicked grin curves his lips. “Well, not in the way you’re thinking.”
Hang on. The sex-on-a-stick alien is flirting with me. Could this day get any stranger?
The klaxons pause, the ship’s computer barks out another warning, and the alarm resumes. “As soon as the Annihilator gets in range,” Ruhan continues, his smile fading, “It’ll put a tractor beam on us. Standard Okaki pirate tactics call for the Captain to go down with his ship. Gervil will most likely wait until he’s close enough to the cruiser, and then he’ll explode the Konar in a blaze of glory, hoping to inflict enough damage to take the Annihilator out. Unless you want to die, you’ll come with me.”
When he puts it that way…
“Okay.” Ignoring his outstretched hand, I slip on my NASA-issued boots. As soon as I’m ready, he takes off in a run. I follow him, and Mardex brings up the rear.
We race through a service corridor. I’m breathless in less than a minute. God, I’m out of shape. “Where are we going?” I pant as we run down a narrow ramp.
“Escape pods,” he calls back. Despite the pack he’s carrying, he doesn’t seem even the slightest bit winded. An Okaki rears in front of us, his voice shouting an alarm, and Ruhan punches him in the face. The pirate crumples to the ground. Ruhan steps over him and continues running.
I look down as I hurdle the Okaki. “Will he be okay?”
“He’ll live for the next knur or two,” Ruhan says, his voice indifferent. “And then, boom.” He gives me an impatient look over his shoulder. “Unless you want to join them in their fiery sacrifice, hurry up.”
My heart is going to explode in my chest, and he’s giving me grief about how slow I am? Fuck you, Ruhan. “I’m running as fast as I can.”
Without a word, he swings me over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. I squeak in surprise, contemplate biting him, and decide against it. His bedside manner might leave a lot to be desired, but technically, he’s helping me. At least the spider isn’t right next to me. I hear it skitter ahead of Ruhan. If I’m not mistaken, it’s acting as a scout.
The Zorahn chef keeps pace with us. “I didn’t want to cook you,” he mutters as we climb down a metal ladder. Well, Ruhan climbs down, and I try not to be sick as the blood rushes to my head. “I didn’t really have much choice. I don’t know if I could have gone through with it.”
“Sure.” Hey, what do you know? I might be in mortal danger, but I can still manage to infuse sarcasm into my voice. “That’s really reassuring. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”
Ruhan laughs again. He comes to a stop, and sets me down, holding onto my shoulder to steady me. “We’re here.”
I look around. I’m in a narrow room. There are seats on both sides of its length. In front of me is a circular window, with an array of controls underneath it. “Hang on. Is this the escape pod?” I don’t know what a spaceship is supposed to look like, but this looks like a tin can, and the thick layer of dust over everything isn’t exactly inspiring a lot of confidence.
“Yes, it is.” Ruhan tosses the pack he’s carrying on the floor and moves to the controls. He fiddles with them, and the doorway behind me shuts. The klaxons cut off, and blissful quiet fills the shuttle. “Sit down, buckle up. It’s going to be bumpy.” The spider chirps at him, and Ruhan looks impatient. “Yes, Blue. I know the nav computer is unstable. We’re just going to have to take our chances.”
Unstable nav computer. Okay, that doesn’t sound good at all. Confidence levels dropping fast. I sink to a seat, my knees unsteady, and buckle up, following the cook’s example. Ruhan turns to look at me over his shoulder. My expression must show the terror I’m feeling, because he gives me a warmly reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Lani Dennison,” he says cheerfully. “I’m very good at what I do. You’re going to be fine. I promise.”
It’s one hell of a smile. I feel myself return it. Even though we’re in a life-and-death kind of situation, even though I have no idea if I’ve traded in a terrible mess for one that’s worse, my nerves ease for a fraction of a second.
Then the shuttle detaches from the Konar. My stomach lurches as we drop. Bile fills my mouth. Oh God, are we falling? We’re spinning out-of-control. It’s dead-silent, so quiet that I can hear my own breathing. Shouldn’t there be engines or something? Are we going to die?
Ruhan’s watching the screens in front of him. I can’t see his face, just his back. I have no idea if he’s freaking out. Does he even know how to fly a shuttle? It’s rather late to ask that question. Maybe all Zorahn just know how to fly a shuttle, the same way most Americans drive. Then again, I can drive because I grew up in Atlanta. Most native New Yorkers don’t bother to learn. My heart is racing again. This is far too much excitement for one day. It doesn’t help that the cook opposite me looks like he’s on the verge of shitting himself. Any moment now, I’m going to go into full-fledged toddler meltdown. Hold it together, Lani. It’s going to be okay.
Our engines flare to life an instant before the Konar explodes.
6
Ruhan
I’m watching my screen; that’s the only reason I see it. Two shuttles—not the ones I stripped for spare parts; those weren’t in any shape to fly—detach from the Okaki pirate ship an instant before it explodes.
At least two people have made it out alive then.
One of the escape pods probably holds Gervil. The pirate is too smart and too cunning to put much store by pirate tradition. The Captain that goes down with his ship might be venerated by the LoreLords, but he is still dead, and if I have Gervil’s measure, he’d much rather stay alive.
And in the second ship? Instinct tells me that it’s Devnik, the Okaki second-in-command, but I don’t really know,
and I don’t really care. Both Gervil and Devnik must die for what they did to the human woman, but their deaths can wait.
Right now, the priority is keeping Lani alive.
The Annihilator has taken damage, but it’s not crippled. Their scanners will be searching for survivors. I’m shielded by debris, but soon, they’ll lock onto my signal. Besides, as Blue helpfully pointed out, our nav computer is faulty, and I have no long-range comms.
We need to land on the nearest inhabited planet. While Blue runs a search, I get to my feet and head to the back to check on my passengers.
Lani looks up as I approach. “I have questions.”
She’d been terrified when we’d taken off, but she’s buried it for the moment. The human women are a lot stronger than they appear. According to Kadir, when he first met Alice Hernandez, one of the humans he’d been sent to find, she punched him. Whatever else they are, they’re certainly not boring.
I feel my lips tug into a smile. “And I have answers, lovely Lani.”
She flashes me a severe glance. “Fewer nicknames, more answers. Okay, here goes. Who are you, why do you speak English, how do you know my name, and why did you help me off the Konar?” A thought strikes her, and her mouth falls open in dismay. “Oh, God. You’re a bounty hunter, aren’t you?” Her voice starts to rise. “Did the scientists put a price on my head? Are you going to take me back there to be tortured?”
What a ridiculous idea. Not that I blame Lani for her assumption, given everything she’s been exposed to in the last seven months. “Earlier, you thought I was going to eat you. Now, you think I’m going to send you to the scientists to be tortured. Do you always go to the worst-case scenario?” I dig around in my pack and find a nutrition bar. “Have you considered that I’m an altruistic stranger who wanders around the galaxy doing good deeds.”
