by Greg Dragon
She realized that it was like Cilas said, and they would need each other now more than ever. So she summoned some strength and made a fist, then touched her chest in a salute.
“So what happens now?” Helga said, as she studied the patterns on the grey overhang. The Louine ship’s infirmary was different from any that she had seen before. Everything seemed so alien, from the stark white bulkhead to the odd, holographic numerals that floated in and out of the readout monitors.
Brise was sitting up with his legs hanging off the side of his bed, but Cilas was still unconscious. This placed a nagging pinch of worry in the back of Helga’s mind. Cilas had been injured badly, then patched up in the worst of conditions. Not to mention she had no clue if he’d been hurt during their escape.
After a lengthy bout of silence, Helga wondered if Brise was having difficulties after the trauma at the settlement. He hadn’t responded to her question and had a stare that seemed to penetrate walls. She’d heard that it happened to everyone, even legends like Cilas, and she had to admit that she was having difficulty herself.
Would there be a time when she didn’t think about the things that had happened down on Dyn? Would she be able to function during quiet times like this, and not miss the high of being a key part of combat? Talking helped to calm her mind—she no longer trusted herself—but Brise was making it impossible. Why hadn’t he answered her yet?
“I think that the lieutenant’s injuries are significant. But our rescuers are going to make sure that he’s back in working condition,” Brise finally said. “I don’t know any Louines but I’ve seen enough to know that they don’t do anything halfway. Don’t worry, Ate, we’re in good hands. We’ll be back on the Rendron in no time.”
His cheerful tone sounded forced, but Helga was happy that he gave an answer. “Well, that’s a relief, but I meant the three of us,” she said. “How do we intend to get home? Are the Louines able to send a message out to the Rendron? I feel great, but I don’t know how long we’ve been here. Do you?”
Brise shook his head. “I woke up and the two of you were still unconscious. I got bored sitting here so I pulled out my tubes, grabbed some clothes, and explored. This ship is huge, but from what I can tell, it’s all medical facilities on this deck. There’s even a gym for rehabilitation. When you’re feeling better you should take a walk.
“This place is really wild, Ate. I wish the Rendron had some of their flair. As for getting home, I wouldn’t worry about it. The Louines are neutral in the war and want no part of it. Keeping us here compromises their position, so they will want to get rid of us as quickly as possible.”
“That makes sense, but how will they do it? I don’t see them loaning three strangers a ship with an FTL drive,” Helga said.
“Me either, but I’m not going to worry about it. At least we’re no longer frozen meat waiting to be eaten. Why don’t you take a walk or something? You’re only going to drive yourself crazy stressing over things you can’t control.”
Helga took his advice and decided to get up. She reached over to pull the feeding tube out of her arm. It was painful, but it didn’t last, though she expected an alarm to go off. After removing her tube, she looked over at Cilas and saw that he had several running to each one of his limbs.
She made to sit up, and placed her feet on the floor. “There’s a robe above your head, there,” Brise said. Helga grabbed the robe and pulled it on, testing her ability to walk. The gravity was strange. It was lower than she was used to, and it took an entire second for her feet to touch the deck.
With bare feet on the cold surface, she made it to the door and stared out through the transparent portal. “Touch it,” Brise said, “and try not to panic.” Was that amusement she was hearing in his tone?
She reached forward, hesitantly, and touched the glass surface. It was cold and wet, as if it was a pool of water standing vertically in front of her. She felt something grip her wrist and begin to pull her through. The whole thing sent her heart racing. She wasn’t expecting any of it.
Helga found herself standing in the center of a long passageway, with the watery portal standing undisturbed behind her. On her right were giant bay windows revealing a spectacular view of Dyn. It was so vivid and the glass was so clean that Helga panicked, thinking she would be sucked out into space.
When she got her bearings, she felt embarrassed and studied the overhang for cameras. “I bet someone is laughing,” she said to herself, as she stopped to look out at the moon.
Helga tried to imagine herself as a refugee, looking out through the glass at her future home. Would it give her excitement? Real land to live on, grow a family, and help develop a community? She felt nothing of it. Dyn was a cruel mass of grey, with wicked secrets like the dredge and the sneaky Geralos.
It was not meant to be a refuge for Vestalians, but no one had bothered to warn them. This last thought made her angry when she remembered the ruins on the surface.
Brise had made the comment that they were sent out there as food. The implications bothered her, though he refused to discuss it further. Was there something to the Geralos being so entrenched on Dyn? And what about the evidence of a former colony?
“Hello.” The voice startled her and she glanced quickly to her left, where a tall Louine was hovering with a somewhat awkward smile. He was dressed in white and carried a tablet, which he used to scan her as his fingers slid along its surface. She didn’t know how long it took for her to answer him, but when she finally did it felt like a long time.
It was as if her body and mind went through separate processes to allow her mouth the freedom to answer. First there was shock, since she hadn’t seen the door open, and then there was acknowledgement.
Here was one of her rescuers, and he was tall, handsome, and apparently polite. “Oh, hello,” she said, leaning away as he stepped in closer. She glanced around to see if he was alone. “You speak common Vestalian?”
“How are you feeling?” he said, looking her over as if she was a newly finished statue that he had sculpted for days.
“Are you a doctor?” she said, amused by their game of questions.
“Can you understand me?” He reached up to touch her ears.
Helga stepped back beyond his reach. She didn’t like him touching her, despite his office. “Yes, but did you understand my question?” she said, still feeling his fingers on her lobes.
“Ah,” the man said. “Introductions. Yes! My name is Jien, and I am third of the committee in charge of this, our Sick Bay. You can call me Doctor, if it’s easier. I imagine our Louine tongue is difficult for the military-class.”
“Military-class?” Helga said, before realizing that Jien’s grasp on the language was probably not perfect. Class, and questioning my ability … are the Louines so elitist that they think spacers are dumb? “Isn’t this ship stolen? That would make you a pirate, right? Where does a pirate get off questioning my intelligence?” she said.
Jien looked frightened and covered his mouth. “No. No, I meant no offense. It’s just, I haven’t met many humans,” he said.
“And the ones that you met were Alliance military, and probably too dumb to get past the fact that you’re Louine,” Helga said. “I can pronounce your name just fine, Jien. I am Helga Ate, and the men that you rescued with me are Brise Sol and Cilas Mec. Brise is—the red-haired one.” She gestured to her hair for the emphasis. “The other man, Cilas Mec, he’s our lieutenant, our leader.”
“I met both men, and I remember Cilas. He is the hero who made contact with us. I had a chance to speak with him prior to our departure. He has great constitution, considering the injuries he had. He is the most impressive patient I’ve had. Humans are quite resilient. Perhaps I should make a recommendation for integrating the blood.”
Helga wondered if it was a language thing, or if he truly meant what he just said. “Integrate the blood, huh? Would your government allow that? I thought you Louines didn’t want any part of us, which is why you let us figh
t the lizards alone.”
“Some of us disagree with that stance,” he said, walking up to look out at the moon. “It is why I am here. I believe in Amatu Vlax. We must join the fight, or risk invasion. Your Cilas has told us that he will help us to get an audience with your Alliance. But he is not healthy, Helga. His body was ravaged, and he needs time to recover before anything happens.”
It was as bad as Helga had feared. Cilas was hurt, yet had managed to rescue them somehow. They were fortunate to be rescued by the Louines, since their medical procedures were so advanced. If not for Jien, then Cilas would die, and she felt bad about being short with him.
“What about me, Jien? How am I looking?” she said, noticing his fingers tapping something on the tablet.
“Well, Helga Ate, you seem well enough, but don’t overdo it. You need lots of rest. You were in poor shape when we brought you in. If you knew what they attempted, your sanity would wane. I’ve heard of these Geralos, and the cruelty they inflict, but what they did to you goes beyond—I’m sorry. I get carried away. I just meant to say, don’t overexert yourself.”
“I won’t, Doc. I’ll just be standing here, looking out at that muted ball of death,” she said. What the thype did they do to me for him to say that? she thought, biting her tongue to prevent herself from asking him for details.
But what if it’s permanent and hinders my flying?
She couldn’t take the mystery anymore. She needed to know. “Eh, Doc … could you tell me what the Geralos tried?” she said finally.
“They attempted a dangerous blood transfusion. Draining out yours and replacing it with another’s. You must be very special for them to go through the trouble. They wanted to use you, but there’s something about your blood. Is it because you’re Casanian?”
“That’s what I’ve been told,” Helga said, still stuck on the fact that she had the Seeker blood. That had to be it. The lizards wanted her brain. She was one of the rare women that they slaughtered hundreds to find. What are the chances, she thought to herself, but she hadn’t experienced anything to allude to this gift.
Seekers were said to be somewhat prescient, having the ability to see into the future. She had always known that there was something different about her that went beyond just being part Casanian. But a seeker? It seemed absurd. Maybe the lizards had kept her for another reason.
“Could you do me a favor and keep this to yourself, Doc?” she said. “The only person I can trust is Cilas Mec. Do you have it in your notes there? Them trying to experiment on me? If you do, can I ask that you wipe it out?”
“What experiment?” he said, giving her a wink, and Helga gave him a rare smile.
“Thank you,” she said, and he touched her shoulder.
“Don’t stay out here long,” he said. “Please, get some rest.”
13
“How long do you think it will be before the Rendron sends help?” Helga said to Cilas as they sat in the crew’s mess hall, eating. It had taken a week for him to recover from his injuries, and another few days to be released by Jien Tor.
“If I could predict that, Ate, you and Sol would be the first to know,” he said. “As it stands my guess is about as good as yours. We sent the message through the Louine’s communicator, and it will take several days to reach. Their FTL comms is better than ours, but it’s still up to Captain Sho to send for us when he gets it.”
Helga sighed. She was really hoping that Cilas would have an exact date and time.
“He’ll send help. Don’t you worry about that,” he said. “Do you really think they would leave us out here if they knew we were alive?”
She didn’t want to answer that truthfully. The mission had been sketchy from the start, and she was beginning to believe Brise’s assertion that they had been set up.
“How do we know that they received it?” she said, and Cilas gave her an impatient look. The question was stupid. He was a lieutenant, and an ESO leader. Officers were required to memorize the Rendron’s codes in order to make contact at any time.
Seeing a signal coming from him would be received without any question. But the Rendron would not reply to the Louines, since that would reveal their location. Helga knew this, and Cilas knew that she knew this, so he took her question as a slight. When she saw his face, she looked down at her plate, realizing she had gone too far.
“The first thing I’m going to do when I get back is find some real food and gorge myself,” Brise said. To emphasize the point, he lifted his spoon out of his bowl, leaving a long line of white goop stuck to the contents below. It was only when he had it over his head that the line finally broke and splashed liquid all over the table, causing Helga to flinch.
“What is that?” she said, laughing, and Brise made a face. “Can’t be that bad, considering you’ve had several bowls. What does it taste like? Can I try it?”
He slid the bowl over, and she used her finger to get a little off the edge. It tasted like cheese—if cheese was sweet—and had a peppery aftertaste. “That’s exotic,” she remarked, “but I could get used to eating it. Back home we have processed bars and rations. At least here they have actual food to eat.”
“They’re not military,” Cilas reminded her, but to Helga it was beside the point.
“The last time I had real food was after BLAST,” she said.
“I remember that,” said Brise. “It was that huge buffet after graduation. Damn it, Ate, why did you have to remind me? I can taste those eggs as if it was yesterday. Folded sandwiches, all kinds of steaks, and the liquor … Man, I was so glad I made it.”
Cilas laughed, and it gave them pause. “Sol, you really love food, don’t you?” he said. “So now that we’re together, and doing well enough to joke about the quality of the Rendron’s food, I have good news and bad news to share with you,” he said. “Good news is, we’re going to be getting a ship. Amatu’s engineers have been working on getting it space-ready. Bad news is it has no FTL drive, and only has enough storage for one year of rations.”
“Sounds like we’re being air locked politely,” Brise said, and the flush in his cheeks revealed his disappointment.
“This is a paramilitary group on a stolen ship, Sol. Do you think they can afford to hang around over Dyn? How long before the lizards jump in to check on the settlement that’s gone dark? What about our saviors, waiting around for the Rendron? How long before a Louine security vessel picks up their beacon? Amatu’s a saint as far as I’m concerned. He gave us help when the entire planet ignored our call. Not to mention afterwards he risked discovery to orbit the moon while allowing us to heal. What more do you want, Sol?”
“Nothing, Lieutenant. I was just having a whine. Nothing personal,” he said quickly.
“This isn’t the time. We need to make moves. They’re giving us our own vessel. It’s a good thing. What do you think, Ate?” the lieutenant said, but Helga was stunned and didn’t know what to say. She knew time was limited, but they were being made to leave, now? Like Brise, she’d expected to be with the Louines until the Rendron came for them.
“How big is this vessel?” she finally said.
“They’re telling me it’s a little bigger than this ship’s infirmary. It’s really an escape pod, but they fashioned it to be a ship—so that it’s able to be maneuvered in deep space. Amatu is wary of the lizards. He’s expecting that they will be jumping in sometime this week.”
“Then we only have one chance, as far as I see it,” Helga said. “We will need to wait out the Geralos and hope that they concentrate on Dyn. It’s a shot in the dark but we’re out of options, and hopefully Sol can get the Britz back online. We go down there, fix our ship, then leave again to jump back home.”
“That sounds insane. Besides, how do you know that the lizards left the ship intact when they found it?” Cilas said.
“I don’t know, Lieutenant, but would you rather we try, or stay floating up here in an escape pod, counting the days till our rescue? The Rendron will get the message,
but how long before they come? You said you didn’t know the answer to that. A part of me wonders whether they’ll even answer. We’ve been gone a really long time. What if they assume that it’s a Geralos trick to get more victims to come out to this system?”
Cilas seemed to think for a very long time, and then looked at her and shook his head. “It’s too risky, Ate. Remember our last attempt at entry? We were shot down immediately by Geralos drones. Who’s to say that they don’t have more waiting for us? We wouldn’t make it, not in a rigged escape pod.”
Helga found herself having conflicting feelings. It felt as if they were being placed in a predicament worse than before. A part of her wished that she hadn’t woken up, that she’d passed away after the last time she’d lost consciousness.
They weren’t supposed to be alive; this was how she felt. This brief bit of happiness fooled her into thinking that they would be okay. Never again would she let her guard down. Not for the Louines, and not for Cilas. “Whatever you say, Lieutenant. I’m ready to go,” she said.
Cilas shot her a peculiar glance. “Are you upset, Ate? We’re all friends here, and I want to know your thoughts. Why don’t you speak your mind?” he said.
“It’s just so unexpected. I like to be prepared,” she said. “We were just captured, and now we’re having to go back again.”
“Go back where, to Dyn?” Cilas said. “No, we’re going to be safe inside of a ship. It’s no different from being here, Nighthawks, except it will be just us. I think there is something else that is really bothering you. Why don’t you come forward with it?”
“There isn’t, Lieutenant. I think I’m just tired. I’m ready to go. I honestly mean that.”
When they were dressed and ready, Amatu met them in the passageway outside of the infirmary. “I apologize for this,” he said. “If it were up to me, you all would remain on The San until your people came for you. Jien has informed me that you are fully recovered. This has done wonderful things to my heart. From warrior to warrior, I bid you luck and clarity, Cilas. If only I could make you a part of my crew.”
