Sanctuary

by Chris Fox

  “Just tell me where to go.” Davidson finished his beer, crumpled the can, and tossed it into an already full receptacle that needed to be carried to a foundry. “I can requisition a fleet of brand new ships. Ternus is itching for a fight. We’ve got some toys the spirits won’t much like. Payback after New Texas.”

  Voria didn’t blame the man for being bitter about New Texas. One of her first divine acts had purged the unliving from that world, but not before countless millions had died.

  “Bring them all. Everything you’re willing to spare.” Voria offered a grim smile. “We’re going to secure those Great Ships, at any cost.” She glanced at Aran, and cocked her head. “It would certainly be a shame if looters got there first, to any ship but the Flame.”

  He didn’t respond, but his smirk said he’d definitely caught her subtext. She didn’t want him there officially, but they were going to need his support. If he could get a Great Ship online? The idea of Aran leading an army of demons from a battle bridge terrified her.

  But it would terrify Necrotis more.

  4

  I had five days in the black to think of all the things I could have said or missived to Vee before we left. The idea of her alone with Inura ate at me. Were we exclusive or not? It was occupying brain space right alongside dealing with my dad’s shade, and Sanctuary, and necromancers, and who knew what else?

  Yet my mind wouldn’t let me stop thinking about it. I didn’t stack up well against a god, especially the god that Vee had prayed to her entire life. So I threw myself into my work.

  A lot of what I’d had to do over the past six months had been combat ops, but that wasn’t what I was best at, or what I enjoyed most. I was a relic hunter. I hunted relics. And Sanctuary was a classic relic hunt. We were sailing into a storm to find an ancient facility, and let’s be real…to rob it blind.

  Relic hunts require research. Lots and lots of research. You have to sift through ancient historical accounts, some video, some text, and you have to examine maps, and listen to legends. You need to excel at connecting dots, and I was to connecting dots what Seket was to piloting.

  Since super-god Seket handled piloting, and now we had Rava to back him up, I could focus solely on study. The only breaks were the occasional Arena tournament, which everyone joined in on, and meals with Miri. She’d bring them by my quarters, and then remove the dishes when we were finished. She never asked what I wanted, but everything she’d brought had been delicious.

  Speaking of Miri, I glanced at the chronometer on the wall. A chime sounded outside my door, right on schedule. I might not have asked her to start bringing breakfast, but I certainly wasn’t going to turn it away. I moved to the door and smiled warmly when it opened. “Morning.”

  A radiant and smiling Miri in a low-cut uniform held a plastic tray with two large cups of coffee and a pile of egg sandwiches. We tended to go through quite a few.

  “Morning! You up for sparring again later?” She set the tray on my nightstand, and flopped down on my bed in the possessive kind of way that would definitely mean her scent would linger. There’d been a time when I’d have missed that kind of subtle manipulation. Her flirting wasn’t solely about me. “You’re making real progress. If you get into hand-to-hand you need to be able to defend yourself. Besides, most people will assume that if you have a pistol in one hand the other is nothing but show. If you can throw a punch you might surprise a few.”

  That was the end goal, or one of them anyway. I’d been cooped up too long, and our daily workouts were the only way to get exercise or relieve the nervous boredom. Plus, I’d never forget the merc captain nearly killing me when we’d first taken the Remora. He’d beaten me in hand-to-hand. I needed to be better.

  “I’m game. There isn’t much more research I can do here. I’ve studied all the data I pulled before we left, and there are some accounts of the unseen, though not much.” I frowned down at the data pad. “There’s a record of something called ‘the offer’ that they do just before a fight. Some sort of ritual combat. And a mention of them valuing honor.”

  “Let’s hope it’s accurate.” Miri sipped her coffee, then leaned off the bed to awkwardly snag a sandwich. “Oops, got some on your sheet. I’ll take care of it later. I’m doing laundry anyway.”

  “Uh huh.” I raised an eyebrow, but she played innocent. “I’m going to need you to focus once we hit that station. This is fun, but…we need to get back to work in a couple hours. I’m about to open a Fissure for Seket, then we’re back on the clock. I’ve already got an appointment with this Administrator Bokken.”

  “You want backup?” She took a small bite from the sandwich, and chewed thoughtfully as she eyed me from under that coiffed chestnut hair. Had it changed color since she’d regrown it? I considered saying something, but then realized that would be taken for flirting.

  “I’d love backup.” I moved over to my Heka Aten armor, which I hadn’t worn in five days. It hovered in the corner. I moved to stand behind it, and sketched a void sigil. The armor went translucent, and I stepped inside.

  “Wait, could it always do that?” Miri blinked up with me with distractingly large eyes.

  I couldn’t answer until the armor hardened around me, and my HUD lit. My voice came through the speakers. “Yeah, but I didn’t know how to activate it. It requires the armor to be charged with void magic, which it draws from me. Suits that go too long without it lose the ability, and need to be recharged. It’s designed for quick deployment in combat.”

  “Handy.” She rose to her feet and delivered the most innocent smile ever delivered. “Too bad I can’t get you in and out of your clothes that easily.”

  I somehow managed to choke on my own spit, which came awkwardly through the speakers. Miri laughed. “You’re not going to have breakfast?”

  “No time.” I willed my mask to slither off my face, then manifested a tiny sliver of void in the center of my coffee, just enough to reduce the temperature. Or that was the goal anyway. “Crap…I made ice. Not iced coffee. Just ice.” I reached for fire, and heated the mug with a sigh. When it looked tepid I chugged it down, then finished and wiped my mouth.

  I hurried from my quarters, and up to the bridge where Seket stood in the spell matrix, the rings spinning around that perfect face. At least he seemed out of the running for Vee. Was he though? my dad’s quiet voice taunted. A memory, at least, and not the shade.

  “Captain.” Seket saluted as he ducked from the matrix. “We have reached the designated coordinates, and I have initiated all stop and there is nothing further to report.”

  “Thank you.” I nodded gratefully. I appreciated his professionalism, but mine needed about ten more minutes before the coffee fully powered it. I ducked into the matrix, and tapped all three void sigils, instantly connecting me with the vessel. “I’ll get the Fissure open, then I’m going to head down to the cargo bay. I’ll be debarking, and want you to watch the ship while I’m gone.”

  “Of course.” Seket inclined his head respectfully. He moved to sit in one of the plushy couches along the wall, and was asleep before I’d fully connected to the ship. Now that was a combat pilot. I envied the ability.

  I poured magic into the ship, and willed the Remora to cast the Fissure spell I’d fed her. Too-bright purple flames appeared as reality broke, the Fissure widening to show stars, and beyond it a roiling storm hundreds of millions of clicks across.

  A tiny station clung to the edge of the storm, bobbing up and down along the edge like a buoy in the tide. I considered waking Seket, but decided to let him sleep.

  Miri moved to the far side of the matrix, and sank into a sitting position. “Seems like you have time for breakfast now.” She slid an egg sandwich through the bottom of the matrix, and I knelt to snatch it up.

  “Yeah, I probably should.” I munched absently as the Remora pulled through the Fissure, and back into normal space.

  The clouds blocked sight of everything past the edge of the storm. Anything could lurk in th
at dark roiling mass. As I watched, two station-sized asteroids near the edge hurled into each other, and exploded into lethal shards that were flung in all directions. Some of the debris pelted the station, but point defense lasers activated all along the surface, catching every bit of rock before it became a threat.

  At least we’d be safe-ish on the station. We just needed to get there. “Okay, Seket, your turn.”

  The Paladin was on his feet instantly. I ducked through the matrix, and gave him a bro-nod as I headed down to the cargo hold. I didn’t need to watch us dock. Seket had it handled.

  Miri followed of course, but if the others were awake they were probably in their quarters. I moved to stand before the ramp that would lower once we were aboard the station, and I waited.

  “You know, I never thanked you.” Miri eyed me sidelong, and I eyed her back.

  I waited a few seconds, but she clearly wanted me to ask. “For what?”

  “Saving my life. If I hadn’t tricked you into accepting my contract, I’d be a corpse on that moon, and my soul…I don’t even want to think about it.” She glanced away suddenly, and her hair screened her face. “So thank you.”

  “I wouldn’t have made it off without you. None of us would have.” I rested a hand on her shoulder. “We don’t keep track of that stuff.” I squeezed her, then turned to the ramp as it started to whir.

  5

  After the opulence of the Spellship the interior of Sanctuary station proved refreshingly normal. The pristine grey walls resembled the nicer areas of the city where I’d grown up, but with narrower hallways and even more defense turrets.

  I didn’t see a single member of station personnel as we docked, and as we entered the marketplace I only spotted a handful of patrons, and a few cleaning drones. Maybe twenty people in a food court designed for five hundred.

  “Where did everyone go?” I muttered aloud, not really expecting an answer.

  “Something spooked the ships, and they cleared out.” Miri shrugged, then nodded at a nearby trash receptacle. “They’re empty. The station is still cleaning, but no one is making any garbage. I’m guessing word of an attack got out, and they fled.”

  I wondered where she’d acquired her investigation skills. I didn’t know what kind of training a personal shopping assistant received, but however she’d gotten them Miri was a first rate detective.

  We crossed the food court, which smelled of pizza-flavored soy, and reached the lift that led to station administration. I stabbed the friendly up button, and exhaled a long slow breath. “I have no idea who this Bokken guy is. There’s not much about him on Quantum.”

  “Did you check SEIZURE?” Miri eyed me as if I’d missed something obvious.

  “Seizure?” I had no idea what it was, beyond the fact that I was about to have one if she kept drawing out questions.

  “Yeah, it’s a social media network. Mostly for kids.” The lift doors opened, and Miri drew her pistol before stepping inside. She continued as I joined her, though I saw no need for a weapon. “They talk crap about everyone and everything. If this guy is an administrator, then he’s pissed off at least one kid on this station. The site is anonymous, so they can rant about whatever they want. You get a real unfettered look at people. I use it all the time when I’m skip-tracing.”

  “Skip-tracing?” Every day I spent with her I felt like I knew less about the sector.

  “Tracing a skip.” She pushed the close button, and the lift whirred into motion even before the doors had fully closed. “When someone skips out on a debt you send a skip tracer. I didn’t much like the work, but a woman’s got to eat. I was really good at it.”

  “Yeah, it sounds like it. Glad you’re on my side.” Once again I’d been forced to reassess the callow exterior she put forth. But then I also knew she would love to mark Vee’s territory, and couldn’t dismiss the motivation.

  The car slowed to a stop, and the doors opened on a dim hallway that ended in an office with an open door. Inside I spotted a weaselly-looking human on the wrong side of forty, and probably a lot of stims. A whole galaxy of stims. He twitched like he had current running through him.

  “Ah, you must be Jerek.” He leaned back in his chair, which creaked ominously. The chair might be older than the universe itself. His yellowing smile melted the moment his eyes fell on Miri, and then his mouth worked like a fish as he fought for words. After a moment he mastered himself. “And you are, ah, lovely. If you haven’t found a place to stay I’d be happy to offer my own—”

  She folded her arms, and slid into a perfect imitation of Rava, though her accent remained her own. “I’ll melt any part of you that comes into contact with any part of me.”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean….” He trailed off, and looked to me. “Apologies if I’ve given your bodyguard offense.”

  “Thank you for seeing us, Administrator.” I entered the office, and removed a pile of folders from the seat I was about to occupy. I stacked them neatly atop another pile, then sat. “I’ve brought a Confederate seal blessed by Lady Voria herself.”

  I reached into my thigh pouch and withdrew the thick gold coin that Pickus had sent over. Voria had been emblazoned on one side, and a Great Tree on the other.

  Bokken greedily snatched the heavy coin from my hand, and raised it for inspection. The metal glowed with life, and I noticed a single leaf suddenly sprout on the dead plant behind the desk. The coin was clearly powerful.

  “I bet this will fetch a whole pile of scales.” Bokken bit down on the scale. “Ah…I think it just healed my gums. I can start vaping again!”

  “About the assistance we were promised?” I straightened in my chair and tried to look like an official representative of the Confederacy, which may or may not carry any weight this far from Shaya.

  “Assistance?” Bokken gave a snort and eyed me like I’d attempted a joke that hadn’t quite landed. “I told that ginger kid I’d sell you navigational intel, and tell you about a group that actually made it out of the storm. That’s where I got said intel…from genuine survivors. They made it not just to one, but to three Catalysts in that storm. And they saw some sort of city at the center of it. Yeah, I thought that might get your attention.”

  “Then consider that payment.” I nodded at the token Voria had created and tried to affect menacing. To my immense surprise the administrator whitened, and wilted back in his chair. “That’s been blessed by a god. You can vape again. Tell us everything you know about getting into that storm, where this city is located, and the people who made it out. If you can point me in their direction I’ll be out of your hair that much sooner.”

  The token disappeared into Bokken’s pocket, and he ran a hand through thinning hair that hadn’t seen a comb since the dominion of the dragonflights. “And if I demand to be rightfully compensated for my valuable intelligence?”

  I nodded slowly, and glanced at Miri as if conferring. “He wants to be properly compensated. What do you think?”

  She yawned.

  I turned back. “So I heard that a fleet came out of the storm, and almost all the ships fled the station. Is that true?”

  Miri shifted in her seat and licked full lips, then slowly crossed and uncrossed her legs in a way that proved magnetic to Bokken. “You need the miners and merchants to come back, right? Otherwise this place is a tomb. We can fix the situation.”

  “How?” Bokken’s weaselly eyes narrowed, but greed drew him on.

  “What if we made this a Confederate outpost?” Oh, gods, could I even authorize that? Did the Confederacy have outposts? Was an actual fence post involved or was it just metaphorical? “I could request a detachment of Ternus Marines.”

  Bokken barked a harsh laugh. “Marines? They aren’t going to stop the unseen fleets if the necromancers come back. They’re going to get animated after they die.”

  “Maybe.” I shrugged as if the answer were of no consequence, though the idea horrified me. “But they will spend credits on your station. They’ll drink in your b
ars, work out in your gyms, and eat in your restaurants. And ship captains will see them doing it. You want people here to feel protected, right? They’ve been spooked. You give me what I need and I’ll put in a requisition with Lady Voria herself.”

  And by Lady Voria herself I meant I’d missive Pickus and hope for the best.

  “Huh.” Bokken rubbed at the pocket where the coin lay. “All right, you’ve got yourselves a deal. I’ll tell you what I know. Guy by the name of Daito came through here. Real strange fellow. He was from a world beyond the Razor Belt, and I guess they got no magic there, so he looked at every silly illusion like it was real divinity. Anyway, he piloted their ship, a rusty freighter by the name of The Dragon. I’ve got the registration number, and you’ll need it because that’s the third most common name in the sector, closely followed by The Wyrm.”

  Bokken rummaged in his desk, then removed a small tablet where I assumed he kept the illicit dealings he wanted off Quantum. He scanned the screen, then glanced back up at me. “I’ll send it. Anyway, Daito had a bunch of people with him. The two that stood out the most included a paladin named Arabius, who captains a destroyer. I don’t know the tech, but I don’t know much about those things. Ain’t Inuran, or Confederate. Anyway he had this real looker of a lady with him, Zoe, though she had a scar messing the whole thing up. She sold me this.”

  He slid a small dat drive across the table, the generic kind that you find in single credit bins, or get as party favors. I picked it up and pocketed it. I’d need time to study it, so there was no point looking here.

  “You were telling us about how they flew into the storm.” Miri leaned forward as if Bokken were the most interesting man in the sector, and he lapped it up.

  “I was, wasn’t I? Yeah, the necromancers sent six capital ships out of the storm. They ain’t never done that before. So being the courageous administrator I am I asked them their business. They were here for Daito. He had some sort of core from an old ship of theirs, and they wanted it back. Daito gave it to them, and just like that they was best friends. One of their necros, guy by the name of Siwit, escorted them into the storm and said he’d take ‘em to the Catalysts there. I thought it was madness. No ship survives that storm. And if it does it gets taken by the unseen and added to their fleets. You get an eternity to regret it.”