“Then excuse me for a moment,” Branwen said, standing and stepping past where the others were seated. Mr. Leonard nodded to her with a happy expression, and then smiled a pleasant goodbye up at Merlo in the doorway. Zimi waved to them, then scooted closer to Mr. Leonard to continue their conversation. She was blushing again.
Merlo nodded back to them both, then moved out of the doorway ahead of her Captain and led the way down toward the cargo bay. She handed Branwen her own compact datapad from where she’d started managing the Destiny’s cargo herself, and commented, “I still don’t get this. There’s so many restrictions on how to handle this stuff, I just wanted to make sure I had it all down correctly. Since it’s from your homeworld originally, and all.”
Branwen grunted, slowing her steps as they came upon the stairs downward and she began to look over the cargo manifest, which was littered with the notes made by Merlo and the nervous Kepo merchant that had hired them. “Honestly,” she said with a frown, “This... medicine is barely recognizable from what the plant is originally like on Fade. I do not presume to know overmuch about it, to be honest.”
Merlo frowned. “You sure? That Kepo seemed to expect you would.”
Branwen shrugged a shoulder, rubbing vaguely at her bandage-wrapped chest as they stepped off of the metal stairs and into the cargo bay. The wide, open area was dominated by a single large pallet, heavily wrapped and secured, comprised of many durable little metal boxes. Otherwise, the whole cargo area stood empty, leaving open space that Merlo still felt could have been put to use making this jump even more profitable. The only other things in here were a few empty wooden pallets, and the waist-high, six-wheeled, offroad-capable ground transport they’d bought on their first stop out of the Pireida system.
“So, I still don’t understand. Exactly why is this stuff so valuable? You said it was some kind of medicine?” Merlo didn’t really understand what kind of medicine coming from a backward—well, “technologically deficient”—world could be so important to the cluster.
“Of a sort,” Branwen replied, walking up to the looming pallet and staring at it as if it might yield some secret. “It is the Panacea. Being a Fade-touched plant, and the only one of its kind, it grows only on Fade.”
“Fade touched? You mean all that talk about that kind of thing was serious?” She hesitated, feeling apologetic at questioning the Captain, even where she’d been pretty sure Branwen had been only joking before.
Branwen raised a thick blond eyebrow at her query. “Of course. Panacea. The plant that cures all ills. Nurtured by the Fade itself.” She eyed Merlo for a moment. “You do not believe me.” Her rich voice didn’t carry any inflection of being upset, at least. Merlo found a lot of the Captain’s superstitions kind of absurd, in a lot of ways, but still didn’t want to offend her. It wasn’t like it was Branwen’s fault for being born on a planet that didn’t know much about science and how things really worked.
“I’m sorry, Captain,” Merlo said, the tones of apology heavy in her voice. “It all just seems a bit out there to me.”
To the younger woman’s relief, Branwen just smiled at her reassuringly. “How are we to know the things of which we have not yet seen? I know, you come from a place that makes it hard to believe. I understand.” She passed the small datapad back to Merlo. “But, if you doubt its value, then look only to the request here, and wonder; why would they pay so much for a quick delivery, and why would this cargo be worth what it is?”
Merlo did as she was bidden and considered the data in her pad. They had been docked on Koltan again when a red-furred Kepo trader had flagged down Zimi, asking if she was part of the crew of the reputably fast Destiny Abounds. He’d explained that he had a valuable cargo that had been delayed, and it was very close to missing a deadline. As such his integrity as a “shiny merchant” was at stake, whatever that meant. Merlo had assumed that was why there had been such a larger than normal payout involved, and why Branwen had ordered them to take on the cargo and depart without fully stocking their cargo hold, as was more typical. But maybe there was more to it. The trade data on their cargo listed it as being worth a small fortune by their standards.
“If you still do not believe, there is little I can do to change your mind.” The Captain’s cool blue eyes settled on Merlo. “I can only tell you the story as I know it, after all; it is your choice what to make of it.”
“I’m… I’m sorry, Captain.”
Branwen just shrugged and gestured, as if to wave the matter away. “On my planet, my home, there are some few gifted by the Fade.” She explained, fixing Merlo with a serious expression. “The women, they control the elements, where the wind howls and the lightning falls. The men, they control the shadows, where the reach of light never touches. There are animals so gifted as well, though we know not why; such as the alherst, legendary predator of the ice and cold.” Branwen paused to take a breath and pointed toward the dense stack of metal boxes. “One such plant is also thusly touched, and we call it the Panacea. It is our one and only export, as mandated by our Queens. My people do not value outside contact much.”
“And it’s worth a lot, I take it? What do your people trade for, if they don’t like outside influences?” It might sound pretty crazy to her, but Merlo was glad to get the Captain talking about her history and homeworld again.
“They trade for things like this.” Branwen patted the metal sheath containing the deadly, plasma-edged sabre on her side. “And other things. But Panacea, as I understand it now, is taken and refined, and mixed into many medicines to make them more potent.” She shook her head with an air of sadness. “After this trip, seeing what they do to it, I am not sure I can continue to agree with the trade of it. It seems so… very disrespectful.”
Merlo didn’t really know what to say, so she remained silent, and after a moment, Branwen began to speak again. “You know about the different types of slip connections in space, right? About how some jumps are more difficult than others, requiring a more powerful slipdrive?”
Merlo snorted. “Of course. I mean, not till I got… with the Destiny, but yeah. I wouldn’t be a very good pilot if I didn’t, right?” She grinned broadly at Branwen.
The Captain nodded in response, continuing the basics of her explanation. “There are, I think, dozens of jump points across all the systems that connect one to another and thus make up a cluster. Some clusters are connected to many worlds; some are only connected to one other. Fade is connected to two. One may travel to Fade only by first passing into the Kepo-Kepoa system, and one must pass through us to go to Urzra. We are the only link Urzra has to the rest of the clusters.”
Merlo nodded again. She’d seen the cluster maps, and she knew all of this; she wasn’t really sure why Branwen was repeating it, but figured she had a reason. So she kept her mouth shut and listened.
“Urzra, with whom we are centuries-old enemies.” Branwen continued firmly. “Urzra, whose system lacks the materials to support their society; Urzra, whose own star is slowly killing them. Urzra, who has possibly the most powerful weapons technology in the cluster, but cannot produce slipdrives capable enough to make the jump from Fade to Kepo-Kepoa.” She gave Merlo an intensely serious look. “So who do you think has protected our planet from an Urzran invasion for all of this time, when we have many things they want? That they need?”
After considering a moment, Merlo responded. “The Altairan Legion, I imagine?” It seemed the sensible answer, but she somehow figured Branwen had something else in mind.
But Branwen nodded. “I expect so, in part. But, despite the Legion, they still mine our outlying ice worlds for materials. And they still occasionally waylay travellers in the outer reaches of our system. So, the Legion’s protection will not dissuade them if they see a way to take what they want.” She made a wide gesture again at the densely packed pallet, indicating it, but indicating much more at the same time. “So, why do they not control the supply of Panacea? Or settle on our world? Because we stopped them
, centuries ago, each time they tried.”
“I’m sorry, Captain,” Merlo’s face had a mixture of incredulity and apology. “I really am, but how did your people with swords and metal armor manage to drive off invaders in spaceships?”
“Because our Queens, three to each Realm and gifted in the Fade, united, reached out and pulled them from the sky, and smashed them asunder upon our mountains or drowned them in our seas. And when Urzra sent more, they again did the same. And, in time, the invaders chose to leave our planet alone.” Branwen seemed to take in Merlo’s doubtful expression and her own countenance softened, bent by the presence of a smile. “I can see you do not believe, and that is okay. Perhaps, one day, I can take you to see the wreckage upon the mountains near the Tor of my birth.” The smile seemed to become more wistful the longer it lasted.
“Captain, if you’re serious, I’d really love to see it.” Merlo meant what she said. It all sounded crazy, but she figured that many of the things she knew about would have sounded crazy to Captain Branwen as well. When she examined it, she found that she had no overwhelming desire to be right. What Captain Branwen described sounded amazing. Maybe the universe could do with a place like that. Infinite possibility, and all.
“As for this Panacea, it is already in its refined form. But still worth enough to make this one of our most lucrative voyages. And the better we do with journeys like this one, the more we can build a reputation for being both very fast and very reliable. We could make a worse living than running Panacea trade back and forth, so it behooves us to take every care that it is not damaged.”
Merlo nodded. All talk of “magic” plants and monsters and special powers aside, it was good business sense, though they really weren’t getting as much profit on the trip as she might have expected, given the cargo’s value and circumstances. “Well then, Captain, I’ll go make sure I know which kind of transport protocols we’ll need to move those goods properly come tomorrow.” She saluted, a habit that felt more right the longer she was on the Destiny. She turned to go, but stopped when Branwen reached out unexpectedly and caught her arm in a secure, comfortable grip.
She almost pulled away by reflex, but caught herself, instead smiling up at the larger woman. “Something wrong, Captain?”
“There is something else I have been meaning to talk to you about.” Branwen said it with an appearance of hesitation, then pushed on through. “Back on Pireida. When we were attacked.”
“Yeah?” Merlo asked, not without an inward sense of mild trepidation.
“You fought well, you know?” Branwen began, releasing Merlo’s arm and instead holding out her own arm with the gesture Merlo now knew was a request for one of the arm-clasp greeting things.
So she accepted it, squeezing the Captain’s much larger arm with just a moderate amount of force. She didn’t want to hurt her, after all. “Thanks, Captain. You too. Nice to know you’ve got my back.” It was true; Merlo had been surprised to find that kind of skill in this cluster, though she felt Branwen had held back too much during the fight… and paid for it.
“But, there is one thing I want to ask you.”
Merlo prepared for the inevitable questions about her suit, or the strength belied by her Arlesian physique, or her training.
But instead, Branwen said, “That knife you took for me. Do not make a habit of that, please.” She still held the girl’s grasp firmly, as if not wanting to let go. “It is not that I fail to appreciate it, I just do not desire you getting hurt on my account.” With her current expression, the tinge of violet to Branwen’s rich blue eyes seemed to almost haunt them from within.
Merlo sighed, and began to finally explain some things that she felt were, perhaps, well overdue. “Captain, the place I came from... “ She paused, only to restart again a moment later, still holding Branwen’s arm as well. “I was trained to protect the Captain of my vessel, whoever was my commanding officer, with my life if necessary.” She noted Branwen’s frown darken, though she didn’t really understand why. “I’m not sure I would change it if I could, Captain. I respect you. I don’t regret what I did, and I’d do it again. So I’m afraid that’s a promise I can’t make.” Branwen’s mouth quirked downward, forming a frown that looked a bit pained, and they released arms, Merlo running a hand through her silvery hair, which now came down to the nape of her neck.
“The training runs really deep, you know?” She looked up at Branwen, who nodded with a mostly stoic expression, save the minor frown. “I mean, I was trained in combat and piloting since I was, I dunno, a little kid or something. As far back as I remember. And part of that training was to act as a bodyguard.” She gave an almost apologetic smile up at the Captain, though she still wasn’t quite sure why the concept seemed to bother the woman as much as it did. To Merlo, the concept just seemed natural.
After a long moment of looking down at her, Merlo was relieved when Branwen finally smiled. “Well, hopefully, we will not need to worry about that much. I will endeavor to try to keep us out of the line of fire, after all. We are not out here in space to get involved in fights.”
Merlo nodded. Branwen’s opinion of it sounded fine to her, though she supposed she might miss the excitement, eventually.
“Just the same… I think, when we land at The Bazaar, I think I shall buy one of those energy shield things. I did not enjoy getting shot very much.” She grinned at Merlo with the same apparent humor she’d maintained about her injury since first coming back to consciousness.
Merlo shook her head, blinking away a bit of surprise. Oh. Right. Of course she doesn't have one of those. Everyone she’d ever known back home had one automatically, built into their suits. “Probably a solid idea, Captain.” She paused, looking toward the place Branwen had been shot, and only realizing after a moment that it probably looked like she was just staring blankly at the Captain’s breasts. “Um, how is it feeling, Captain? Your wound? Zimi said it was healing up pretty well so far, but… Well, how does it feel? Are you feeling better?” It was something she didn’t have a very good personal frame of reference for, considering how quickly her own body healed.
Branwen snorted at her, and countered. “How’s your arm?”
Merlo blinked again, looking down at the body part in question. She hadn’t even thought about it until now, not for quite a while at least. She hesitated, then drew her lips into a thin line, momentarily annoyed with herself, her training, and her secrets. She reached down with one hand, put her fingers to her uniform, and with an action that was as much a mental command as a physical gesture, peeled the dark material of the armored suit away from her forearm. Even with that, it peeled away slowly, as if reluctant to go. Underneath, she showed Branwen, there was nothing but a tiny, thin white line of a scar, barely even visible. “See? It’s fine.” She released the suit, and it rolled quickly back into place of its own accord, resealing as it went.
She looked back up into Branwen’s face as her Captain gave her a flat, deadpan expression. “What? I, um, yeah. Not supposed to heal that quick, huh?” The Captain nodded her agreement, not changing her facial expression in the slightest. Merlo sighed again, but figured talking about it a bit more wouldn't hurt anything; after all, it was obvious now, right?
“It’s the suit,” she almost blurted out. From Branwen’s slight head tilt and furrowed brow, she could see that that didn’t help much. “The suit. It’s made up of nanotech: very tiny machines.” She quickly clarified to the Captain. “Um, so small you can’t see them. Like atoms, or our body’s cells.” Happily, the Captain nodded slowly at that, as if understanding,which was good because they were already nearing the extent of Merlo’s knowledge on the subject. “And they’re small enough that they can actually go in, and repair the wound, like, um, a-” She cast around for some sort or analogy they’d both understand. “Like people doing hull repair on a ship! Just much smaller.” She looked up at Branwen, a hopeful expression painted across her young face.
“Ah. I believe I understand,” the C
aptain replied after a moment’s hesitation, as if thoughtful, probably processing the idea.
“Yeah. They’re, um, they’re stored in here, actually.” Merlo turned her back to the Captain, raising her hair out of the way a bit. Geeze, I don’t remember this stuff growing so quick, she thought. Parting her hair like that revealed a strange, metallic port in the back of her head, set into the top of her spine, right below the base of her skull.
Branwen bent down to take a closer look at the solid, round port. It was about three centimeters or so in diameter. She knew the Captain had to have seen it before now, and was just glad that she hadn’t felt the need to quiz her about it like the Altairans had.
“Huh. I thought that was some sort of jewelry, or possibly part of your uniform.”
“Nope. It’s, well, part of my body, actually. Uah!” Merlo jumped, making a sudden noise as Branwen grabbed hold of the piece of metal jutting a few millimeters or so out from the nape of her neck.
“Yeah, seems pretty attached.”
Merlo whirled to face the Captain, making an indignant, if playful, face at her. She let her hair drop to once again cover the port for her suit. “Hey! What if you’d pulled it out or something?”
Branwen's wide grin just grew broader. “If that were possible, then it is the first thing you should mention when you show it to someone,” she replied, bursting into a session of short lived belly laughter.
For a minute, Merlo couldn’t help but join in. It felt pretty good. As the Captain’s laughter fell into coughing, her eyes eventually settled on the older woman’s wound, hidden under the bandages, coat, and clothes wrapping the Captain’s bust. She sobered and raised an expectant eyebrow at Branwen.
She shrugged in reply, unbothered, winding down on her mirth as well. “It is fine, really. I feel a little short of breath sometimes, and feel a little weak sometimes too. The wound on my back is still sore, but not much to really speak of.” She shrugged again, as if really having nothing more interesting to say about it. “It will pass.”
Destiny Abounds (Starlight Saga Book 1) Page 10
