by Jean Kilczer
I pointed the ship's bow into the night sky and engaged the star engines. The whine rose to the keen of a bird of prey.
“They're right on our tail,” Joe said too softly.
“Christ and Buddha,” I mumbled.
Planet New Terra dropped away in our viewport. But the merc starship grew to fill the screen. I saw its name: Sword of Terror.
“Holy shit!” I exclaimed as the controls went dead. “They hit us with a particle beam.” I turned on our auxiliary power. No response. “Dad, we're dead in space.”
“The lifeboat.” He unclamped his harness. “It's got its own power source.”
“Huff,” I shouted, “We're abandoning ship.”
Sojourner listed to port. The grav adjusters suddenly disengaged and we were floating.
“If the ship starts to spin,” I said, my breath rasping in my throat, “we'll never get the lifeboat launched.”
We pulled ourselves along by handholds, through the damaged main deck and to the airlock. I opened the hatch manually and we entered the bay where our lifeboat was tied down.
“Take the controls, Joe,” I yelled and closed the inner hatch. “I'll suit up and open the outer hatch manually.”
“Right,” he answered, “I'll purge the air in the lock.”
That was the only way I would be able to open the outer hatch. “Huff, throw me the BioSuit.”
He did and I pulled it on as Joe started the lifeboat's engines.
“Pick me up,” I told him, “if I get blown out into space.”
“I'll be right behind you.”
Huff fastened my helmet and touched it with his forehead. “My eyes are leaking for you, my Terran cub.”
“I'll be all right, buddy,” I said. “Get in the boat. Joe's going to purge the air.”
He nodded his snout and climbed inside.
I heard the hiss of escaping air and pulled myself along the wall to the outer hatch. I was breathing hard, using up too much precious air from my suit's tank as I tried to turn the airlock's wheel. “It's still tight,” I said into my helmet mic. “Uh oh.” I heard the clang as the merc starship Sword clamped onto Sojourner. “They've got us, Joe.”
“I know. Turn the wheel. I'm unclamping the lifeboat's tie downs.”
I yanked hard on the hatch wheel. It didn't budge. “There's still too much air pressure in the bay.”
“Working on it, kid.”
The pressure finally lessened enough for me to slowly crank the wheel. The hatch suddenly flew outward, taking me with it. I clung to the wheel but my gloved hands were slipping.
“I can't hold on, Joe!”
“Then let go,” he called through my helmet mic. “I'll pick you up.”
I looked out at the eerie blackness of space, spattered with the cold fire of stars, and I panicked. I was too alone in this vast silence. I stared at my hands clutching the wheel.
“Let go!” Joe shouted. “I can't get the boat past you.”
“I'm…I'm trying.” I've always been afraid of heights, and space was heights on steroids.
Joe steered the boat to the open hatch. “Grab on!”
I drew in deep, shuddering breaths and tried to release the wheel, but my hands were frozen to it by fear. Sweat beaded on my forehead. I saw the bow of Sword as it cruised around Sojourner's stern.
Spirit. Great Mind!
What would you have me do? Spirit sent. Just let go.
Can you cloak the lifeboat so they don't see us?
Cloak? How? Telepathically? Terran, you've been watching too many of your planet's sci-fi films. Just let go. Joseph of Earth will pick you up.
“I'm…I'm trying to,” I lied.
“It's all right, son,” Joe said soothingly in my helmet mic. “I'm right here. Don't look out. Just open your hands so I can get the lifeboat past you. That's all you have to do.”
But I couldn't. Sweat dripped down my temples. I studied my hands and willed them to open. They remained closed. I wondered if this was how my sister Ginny had felt as she clung to a boulder a hundred feet above the canyon floor, and felt her fingers slipping.
Don't think about that now, Spirit sent. Just let go.
OK! I sent, but held on. In a minute.
I felt Spirit probe deep into my mind. Don't do it! I mentally shouted. Get out!
Just a short-term muscle relaxant, a different entity sent. It had a gentle tone, comforting and reassuring.
Who are you? I sent.
I am Silva, Spirit's cherished. Just relax, Jules. This won't hurt. We want you to sustain this lifebind.
OK. I felt her deep probe into my mind. No, wait, I sent as my fingers began to loosen of their own accord. Give me a minute, I–
My hands opened. “No!” I drifted out into space. I shut my eyes and wrapped my arms around myself. “Help,” I whispered.
Something nudged my leg.
“Grab on!” Joe called through the mic. “Dammit! Open your eyes and grab on.”
I snapped my eyes open and grabbed a vent on the lifeboat's wing. Joe had matched my speed as we cruised along Sojourner's starboard side.
The Sword of Terror, ponderous and slow as it swung around Sojourner, fired a burst from its beam ports that went wide.
I clung to the lifeboat and felt my magnetic belt clamp me to the hull.
Joe swung the boat down and around to Sojourner's port side and picked up speed slowly, so I wouldn't be wiped off the hull.
I inched my way to the boat's outer airlock, sprang the hatch, went through and locked it with trembling hands. Joe engaged the boat's Earth-class grav for the lock and I fell. I got unsteadily to my feet and waited for a full one atmosphere of class E air to fill the lock.
When the gauge showed that it had, Huff opened the inner hatch and shuffled to me. “Huff.” I fell into his arms.
“I have you, my Terran cub. I will not let go.” He guided me through the inner lock and to a back seat of the boat, behind Joe.
“They're coming around to port,” Joe said. “Hang on.”
“Huff, give me a hand with this suit.”
“I have paws. I will give you two paws.”
“Good enough.” When I was out of the suit, I slid into the co-pilot's seat. Sword had dropped below Sojourner to follow us around to port. We were a cheetah being chased by an elephant.
I wiped sweat from my face and gulped in deep breaths. Except this cheetah had a limited supply of air and was never meant for star battles.
“Joe,” I said, and strapped in, “give me the controls.”
He winked at me. “I was hoping you'd say that.”
I guided the lifeboat under Sword's belly and followed her as she searched for us around Sojourner.
“Uh oh,” Joe said.
“Uh oh? What uh oh?”
He pointed to a viewscreen that showed Sword's lifeboat Dagger being launched.
“On the other hand,” I said, “I'll bet they want Sojourner more than they want us or our lifeboat.”
Joe nodded. “The hull damage can be repaired. So can the electronics systems.”
“And Big Mack,” I added, “will have a replacement starship for the one we brought down.”
Huff leaned forward in his back seat with his snout between Joe and me. “It would be a better thing to keep Sojourner so some day in the time, we can all go home again.” He looked from me to Joe. “I pray to the Ten Gods that we all go home again.”
“Hope your prayers are answered, Huff,” I said, “but the mercs have all the blue checkers.”
“Blue chips?” Joe asked.
“Checkers,” I said. “It's Kresthaven's national pastime and sport, Joe. But they equate red with rage, murder, and death.” I winked at him. “Blue is the color of their ocean, and of life. Right, Huff?”
“Blue is true, my Terran cub.” He tousled my hair.
“Whatever.” Joe grinned. “How does it feel to be somebody's baby again?”
“Not too bad,” I said, “when you've got a g
ood friend and a bodyguard all wrapped in fur.”
Joe shook his head. “Whatever.”
“Huff,” I said, “you're not strapped in, are you?”
“O and K. I am strapping now.” He grunted.
“Let's make these crotefuckers go fetch,” I told Joe and banked toward Sword's umbilical that towed Sojourner. “You want to man the beam gun, Joe, while I steer this boat?”
“Can do, kid.”
I checked the screens and a forward viewport. “Where the hell's Dagger?”
“Dammit!” Joe muttered. “Hiding. Could be between the two ships.”
“Could be. Let's cut the cord and get our tails out of here. I don't like the odds.”
“Get closer to the tow line, kid. The beam disperses pretty quickly.”
I did, and watched as Joe sliced through the tow line with a sweep of our mounted laser gun. “Let's go!” He said.
I raced along Sword's belly, away from her guns and ion cannons. “You don't have to tell me twice. We're out of here.”
Or so we thought.
Joe pointed to a rear-view screen. “Bogie on our tail.”
“What? What bogie?”
“The merc lifeboat. She must've been hiding in Sojourner's open bay.”
“Son of a crotefucking Hang on!”
“If you know any tricks on losing a tail,” Joe said, “now's the time to show them off. She's closing.”
I banked and headed back between the two ships. Dagger followed. “I know a few,” I said.
Sword sent out a second tow line, with a motorized clamp that guided it toward Sojourner. I turned our lifeboat ninety degrees as Sword got closer to Sojourner and extended the clamp. Dagger was right on our tail. I knew they wouldn't fire here, in fear of hitting their own ship or Sojourner.
“Now,” I said to myself and headed between the advancing clamp and Sojourner with our stubby wings in a vertical position.
“Put the pedal to the metal, as they used to say.” Joe's voice was tight as the clamp drew closer to Sojourner and narrowed our path.
“Ten Gods of Kresthaven,” I heard Huff murmur, “deliver us from the crunching I see ahead. If we live beyond the clamp, I will do grateful things in your names.”
I gritted my teeth and raced for the closing space. “Christ and Buddha,” I mumbled as the clamp approached. “Christ and– You're cutting it a bit close.” Joe's voice was strained. “Aren't you, Jules?”
I concentrated on our diminishing path. “That's the idea.”
We tore between the clamp and Sojourner. I heard a screech of metal as the clamp grazed our belly. But we were through and racing into deep space.
“I will sacrifice two dire flappers in your names,” Huff said and sobbed.
An explosion behind us registered on our screens. “Poor bastards,” I said as Dagger hit the clamp, spun out of control and smashed into Sojourner. I banked and returned to the two starships.
“Nice driving, son…where the hell are we going now?”
“They've only got two clamps, right?”
He nodded. “And?”
“And I don't think we should give them Sojourner.”
“You're out of your fucking mind.” He took the beam gun controls. “Maybe I am too. Go for it.”
I flew below the two ships. Flying metal from Dagger pinged off our hull.
“You only get one chance at that tow line, Joe,” I said.
“That's all I need.”
I flew below the tow line and their guns and cannons while Joe aimed. He fired. The towline split in half.
“Good shot, Dad!”
“Can we get the fuck out of here now, or do you want to take on the Sword of Terror?”
“No. That's OK. We've had enough fun for one day.”
I threw up my mental shields as Dagger's crew departed into geth state, between lives. Their silent screams flooded my mind. I groaned.
“What's wrong?” Joe asked.
“Their kwaiis…their souls are…”
“Break the link with their kwaiis. Now! Before they take you with them!”
I nodded. I could have comforted them in their passage, but I knew from past experience that I could also be taken with them. It had happened on planet New Lithnia with my dying friend Priest. He was so terrified of geth he tried to drag me along. If it wasn't for Great Mind's touch, Priest might've succeeded.
The tel-link faded as they drifted into geth. “They're gone,” I told Joe.
He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Thank God for that.”
Then we were past the ships and into the boundless silence of space. I programmed the boat for a landing back on New Terra.
It wasn't long before the planet's green islands materialized in our forward viewscreen, like patches in blue velvet. I wondered if the Orghes had survived Big Mack's attack. Chancey and Bat were down there too.
From space, the world looked tranquil and serene. But I knew better. “The islands of New Terra,” I murmured.
As we made planetfall on the dark side, in the clearing where we'd taken off in Sojourner, I saw the flaming ruins of the Orghe Village.
“Scorched earth policy.” Joe shook his head.
Chapter Ten
“You lost Sojourner?” Chancey asked. “Man! How we gonna get home without a ship?”
“Thumb a ride?” I said.
Chancey threw me a look that held a challenge.
I had landed the lifeboat in the clearing east of the Orghe Village and Joe had contacted Chancey and Bat by comlink to meet us under the cover of trees.
“Chancey,” Joe said as we stood together outside the crafts, “we didn't exactly hand her over to the mercs. It was abandon ship or be captured, or the alternative, go down with the ship.”
“We thought it would be better,” Huff said, “to go up with the lifeboat, than to go down with the ship.” He sat down beside me in the dirt and I scratched his ear.
“Big Mack still has one starship.” Bat rubbed under his cap.
“You thinking about stealing it, bubba?” Chancey asked.
“What I'm thinking,” Bat said, “is that we sneak into their ship and contact Alpha on their SPS. The government might not have jurisdiction over New Terra, but if Joe tells his buddies in WCIA that we're in deep doo doo, they just might send help.”
“If I know you, Bat,” I said, “you're hoping the help they send will also include the Orghes.”
Bat's expression turned painful. “These people don't stand a chance against Big Mack's guns.”
I put a hand on his shoulder. “Weren't you the one who told me back on New Lithnia that we couldn't save the whole galaxy?”
“An' weren't you the one,” Bat smiled, “who said 'What would you do, leave them without hope?'” He shrugged. “So we all got involved and freed the slaves from the lithium mine.”
“You tags,” Joe looked from Bat to me, “better not figure on telling your grandkids about your escapades. You'll never make it to old age.”
“How do Terrans stay young?” Huff asked.
“By dying first, buddy,” I told him.
“This here's my last gig!” Chancey kicked a rock.
“C'mon, Chance,” I said, “what would you do for fun?”
“I can think of a few things, superstar, like tryin' to outrun fast-moving trains. Probably a lot safer than chasing after you from planet to planet.”
“Where are the Orghes holed up?” Joe asked.
Bat gestured toward the eastern woods. “They're scattered in hideouts.”
“And the mercs?” Joe asked.
“Searching for them.” Bat stared at the dark woods. “The Orghes took only what they could carry and pack on their draks. They won't be able to hold out for long.”
“Are you sure,” I asked Bat, “that their hideouts aren't stocked for just such an emergency?”
Bat shrugged. “They didn't say. But I hope so.”
I heard the deep throb of star engines as the mercs' rema
ining ship and hovair flew overhead in a northeasterly direction.
“Looks like they're heading back to base,” I said. The whine of ground vehicles followed their path. “We'd better get deeper into the woods.”
“Chancey,” Joe said, “drive the hovair to the Orghes' Village. Go with him, Bat. Jules, you pilot the lifeboat. Keep her on the ground. We'll meet there and search for survivors.”
Huff and I strode on either side of our team leader. “The village,” he said, “is one place the mercs won't bother returning to.”
I smelled burned timber as we disembarked in the village, and heard the snap of heated wood bursting. There is a silence to death, even without bodies, in the stillness of blackened ruins where people once lived.
Dangling wood creaked as it swayed in wind. The remains of children's toys lay broken and black on the scorched ground. I picked up a burned doll, its legs gone, and tried to brush it off, but it crumbled in my hands. I could almost hear the echo in the wind of children's laughter at play as I walked through the village.
Ashes from cook fires still smoldered and stone ovens that once held baking bread now oozed the bitter smell of charred food.
We were quiet as we searched for living Orghes, as though too awed by the silence to speak.
“Anybody here?” Joe finally called. “Hello. We're friends!”
I gasped as we reached two dead Orghe women, one just a teenager, who lay huddled together beneath the blasted rocks of a destroyed oven.
“God!” I rubbed my eyes.
Huff murmured some words over them in Vegan.
“These mercs are animals, Joe!” I said.
He patted my shoulder.
“Animals,” Huff said sadly, “do not make war. They only kill to eat and for a place to hunt and mate. This hurts my liver.”
I closed my eyes and formed a red coil in my mind, a gentle probe designed not to frighten a sensitive who would be aware of the intrusion.
“There!” I said as a feeling of terror and pain invaded my mind, and pointed to the collapsed remains of a smoldering wooden home. “We're coming!” I ran to the structure and flung scorched boards aside. “Help me!” I called to my team. “Help me. There's somebody trapped in here.”
Bat and Chancey came running and we threw aside boards, some still sparking, and uncovered a young silver-coated male Orghe whose fur was laced with adult golden tufts. The same one, I thought, who had thrown a rock at me and hit the Orghe beside me.
