by Jaleta Clegg
Soon I was under the canopy of the stunted trees. The path was a lighter streak in the gloom. I watched for signs of animals or the men but saw nothing other than the path. I was alone with the plants. Even the thin breeze sighed away into stillness.
I came out of the trees. The border was sharp, as if a knife had cut their growth. A faint sizzling rose from the edge of the canyon. I picked up a handful of grit. I tossed it over the clear ground. It landed on a surface that curved up and away, sizzling and sparking with purple light. The base of the curve started just in front of my feet.
I stood under the trees and rubbed my cold hands together. My breath frosted in white puffs. The suit heater was set on max, but the cold crept in. The path was a dead end, at least until morning. I followed it away from the purple force field.
Halfway through the trees I noticed a path branching away to my left. I turned onto it, breaking into a trot to help me stay warm.
I broke out of the trees into a stretch of the lower growing plants. I skidded to a stop. A ship rested in the middle of the plants. The boarding ramp was down, lights glowing faintly around the open door.
I crossed the open stretch warily. The plants cracked under my feet, nothing else stirred. I came to the ramp and paused. I saw no sign of life, other than that faint ring of lights.
I edged up the ramp. Grit crunched under my feet, blown in by the steady daytime breeze. I took a deep breath of the thin air. The door into the ship gaped wide open. Dust had blown into the ship, a thin layer stirred at my entrance. The lights were completely off inside the ship.
“Hello?” My voice cracked. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Anyone there?”
No answer came. I stepped into the ship. My hand reached automatically to the right, where the door controls should be. I found the panel. The door rumbled closed, catching on dirt in its tracks.
The cabin lights flickered and came on. Warm air sighed from the vents overhead.
I stood in an area very similar to my own ship. An automated galley sat to my left, a larger cockpit to my right. There weren’t any cabins, just a row of bunks on the opposite wall. I counted twelve. The ship’s storage lockers hung open, bare and empty.
Aft, where I had the small cargo bay, was only an engine access door and a wide cargo bay door. I walked over and looked in.
The cargo bay was a jumble of broken packing crates. The far bay doors were closed. I turned back to the crew quarters. Someone had stripped everything useful from the ship.
They hadn’t touched the cockpit. Out of curiosity I booted the control systems. I ate a ration bar while I waited, lounging in the pilot seat. The screens took a while to warm up. The scan equipment showed system failures, not surprising considering what my own ship had gone through. I hit the system resets and let it reboot.
As far as I could tell, the engines were operational. Several systems showed yellow lights, but the ship should be able to fly.
I pulled up the ship log. The Korisan Mui, a registered trader from Kentarrus, had tried to make the trip between Parrus and Toko. The decision to take the Kumadai Run had been made after assessing all the risks, the same as we had done. They’d noted the distress beacon in their log. They’d been caught in the same trap. I tried to dig further into the ship records, but they were voice coded.
I unzipped my suit, flicking the heater off.
I went through the ship again, checking more thoroughly. It had been stripped of everything, every spare tool and blanket and item of food had been taken.
I yawned as I dropped into the pilot’s chair, studying the scans as they came in. The equipment still had a few glitches, but it gave me a good readout on the surrounding area.
The strange men with the golden skin and identical haircuts must have been very frustrated not to be able to get into the Phoenix. They’d left behind easily removed equipment on this ship, scanners and engine modules and med units. They only took loose items. I had no guesses why.
On a whim, I sent out a pulse from the com unit. Any ship within responding distance should respond. I expected a signal from the Phoenix. I didn’t expect forty other signals.
I stared at the com unit. Forty other ships? I swiveled to reach the scanners setting them to search for the locator transponders. Dots of green appeared on a superimposed landscape. Most were on this side of the canyon, stretched out in an irregular line along the rim. The Phoenix was at the end of a long blob of clustered signals.
I hit the print button and was informed the unit was out of paper. I dug through the entire cockpit and couldn’t find any paper anywhere. I jammed my hands in my pockets, tired and frustrated. I found the wrapper from the ration bar crumpled in the bottom of one pocket. I pulled it out and smoothed it.
It wasn’t the best thing but it just might work. I popped open the access hatch and found the printer. I fed the wrapper in and hoped it would be accepted. I hit the print button and waited while the machine grumbled and whined.
The printer chewed the wrapper, and eventually spit it back out. The list was blurred, smeared by the coating on the wrapper. One edge had caught and warped the printing. But it was usable. It gave me a map with the location of ships marked.
Working from habit, I shut down the noncritical systems and put the rest on standby. I folded the map carefully, then tucked it into my pocket.
And found myself so tired I could barely move. I checked the door to make sure it was securely locked before falling into one of the naked bunks.
Something pulled me awake. I rolled out of the bunk and crossed to the cockpit. The sky glowed pale lavender with the promise of dawn. The scans showed nothing. I ran a new set, dismissing my worries when they came back clear.
I sat in the pilots chair and watched the sun rise, debating whether I should attempt going outside in daylight or not. The golden skinned men had run away when the sun set. I assumed that meant that they came out only during the day. Just to be safe, I'd stay in the ship until nightfall.
Time dragged by. The sun rose higher, burning an angry orange. I popped the covers off the controls and reset the switches for the ones still showing yellow lights. The Korisan Mui had landed in much better shape than the Phoenix. It hadn’t skidded across several hundred yards of the surface.
I went back to the engines. All of the bins and lockers were empty, no tools, no spare parts, nothing left. I checked over the engine anyway. It was something to do. I reset some of the switches, watching the power flicker and stabilize. I used my fingers to tighten loose hoses and fittings, but without tools, they wouldn't hold long.
I went back into the crew quarters and ate a ration bar. I fidgeted in the utter quiet and solitude. I went into the cargo bay where I spent a fruitless hour sorting broken bits of packing crates. Anything in them had either been taken or smashed beyond recognition.
I checked the scans again. Still no sign of the golden men. They didn’t know I was here, I reasoned with myself. I was on a completely different ship, one they’d already stripped bare. If they did come back, they’d be concentrating on the Phoenix. I pulled out the smeary map in my pocket and studied it. The next ship along the canyon rim was not more than a mile away.
I looked outside again. The sun was high overhead. Bushes waved in the constant breeze. The golden men wouldn’t be out looking for me. I could make it to the next ship before they even noticed anything. Under half gravity it would take less than ten minutes to hike over the ridge. I hit the airlock controls before I could talk myself back out of going.
The airlock door screeched from the dust and grit in its track. I stood in the open door a moment, watching for any movement. I was alone with the strong smelling vegetation and the wind. I gathered my courage and walked out, shutting the airlock behind me.
I got my bearings, finding the path I’d taken the night before and turning the other way.
The hike would have been pleasant, in a different set of circumstances. The air was cool, without being chilly. The low gravity
and the plants cushioned each step. I made my way up a long slope, away from the Korisan Mui. It took longer than I anticipated to reach the top of the ridge. I stopped to look.
Three ships sat scattered haphazardly across the rippled landscape. A narrow tributary canyon started not far away, growing quickly from a small gully to a treacherously steep slide into the main canyon. I still didn’t see any sign of life other than the plants, although a very clear path crossed the edge of the canyon. It petered out quickly, breaking into narrower paths that led to the ships.
I started down the far slope. The wind dropped, barely ruffling my hair.
The first ship I came to was very old. Its doors gaped wide, rusting and sagging on broken struts. From the extent of the damage, this one had crashed badly. The wind moaned through it, sounding like ghosts of the long gone crew. I was surprised its transponder had replied. I checked my map again and realized I’d been reading it upside down. There was only one green dot in this direction and it was still a ways off. I left the rusted wreck and headed for the next ship, hoping to find it in better shape. I needed information.
The strong antiseptic smell of the plants rose in a cloud as I crunched them under my boots. I saw no insects, no small scurrying things, nothing alive except me and the plants.
The old wreck had been here for at least a couple hundred years. How long had the trap been working? The distress call was a lure to drag in unsuspecting ships. But why? So some strange not quite primitive men in short tunics and ponytails could steal loose items? They looked human, but that didn’t mean much. Out of the dozen or so alien races in the Empire, most of them looked human. Several of the races would have to strip naked and take a medical exam to tell the difference. Even humans varied widely in appearance. Their appearance gave few clues to what they really were.
The next ship stood at the bottom of a slope. It didn’t have a boarding ramp, only a series of rungs that climbed the side to the airlock. A Patrol logo stood out in the dust on the side near the door. The name was still legible—Tommy Ruiz. It looked like a scout, a small class of cruiser that carried messages for the Patrol.
I climbed the rungs then stood on the narrow platform in front of the airlock. The door was shut. The lock light glowed red. I palmed the controls anyway. The door stayed shut. I pried the control panel loose, then stared at the buttons. The faint glimmering of a memory teased me with an idea. I thumbed the voice override.
“Voice code activated,” the ship said in a breathy female voice.
“Emergency override, code alpha beta omega.” I didn’t expect it to work, but Tayvis had done something similar, once.
To my absolute surprise, the door light blinked green and the airlock slid open. I grinned and stepped inside. Maybe my luck was finally changing for the better.
Chapter 6
The path along the side of the canyon twisted and turned as it snaked its way down the side of the sheer drop. Jasyn stumbled and went to her knees, her head hanging over the drop. The constant breeze blew in her face, rising up and over the top. She swallowed hard, trying to get her breath back.
A giant golden-skinned man jerked her to her feet and set her on the narrow trail. She glared but walked sideways down the path, keeping as far from the edge as she could. He prodded her with his wand. The wands looked flimsy but they sent bolts of pure pain when activated. She and Clark had both found out the hard way.
She glanced back, past three of their captors to where Clark stumbled down the path. He tried to smile. It only pulled his split lip. He dabbed blood from his mouth. She turned forward again.
The white tunic of the man in front of her stood out starkly against the rusty rock of the canyon wall. Tiny grayish green plants clung to tiny cracks in the stone. She grabbed one by accident and jerked her hand back. The plant was covered with tiny stinging hairs.
Far below, a solid wall of green lapped against the sides of the canyon. The wind carried the smell of thick jungle, a fetid smell of warm dampness. The trail turned a sharp bend and took them another step lower.
Jasyn stopped to catch her breath, leaning against the solid rock cliff.
“Agarus noda,” her guard said.
She looked at him blankly. She'd never heard anything like his language.
“Agarus noda,” he repeated. “In sothinga maru, noda,” he added more impatiently.
He lifted the wand. She started walking again.
The sun crept overhead, moving slowly towards afternoon. The air thickened as they dropped lower into the canyon. Gravity levels crept higher, closer to ship norm. The temperature rose. Sweat trickled across her forehead. Her hand stung where she’d grabbed the plant.
The trail widened as the bottom of the canyon drew closer. The slope leveled out. Loose soil allowed thin grasses to take root. The plants grew larger, more green. Large, widely spaced trees covered the floor of the canyon. Bushes and other plants grew between the trees.
The path twisted again then leveled out, running diagonally into the trees.
“Harupt shet!” The leader broke into a trot.
Her guard prodded her with the wand. She stumbled into a run. Her feet ached with each pounding step. The heat clung like a wet blanket.
The jungle closed over them, thick and dark with damp shadows. The path turned to coarse sand, beaten into a hard track by the passage of many feet. She kept moving only because the guard behind her threatened her with his wand.
The path twisted and turned, dodging through the trees. The golden men kept up their pace. Jasyn stumbled and fell. Her guard barely paused as he dragged her to her feet. He shoved her into motion again.
The path dipped through a narrow stream. They splashed through without slowing. Jasyn stumbled climbing the far bank. Her guard swung her over his shoulder and carried her. She bounced upside down, exhausted and humiliated at being handled like a package.
The path took another wide turn, climbing a hidden rise, buried under trees and bushes. The men broke out of the canopy, then stopped in front of a bare rise. Jasyn’s guard dropped her to her feet. She staggered before finding her balance. His hand landed on her shoulder, pinning her in place.
Not one single rippling muscle twitched as the aliens faced a stone cave in the hill. Huge rounded stones framed the entrance. The cave mouth gaped wide on a pitch black interior.
The men hummed, low and constant on the same note. They swayed side to side. Her guard gripped her shoulder so hard she winced. The humming echoed into the cave and came back, doubled in volume. The men raised the pitch and the cave reflected it back, the volume rising. The leader threw his hands into the air. The humming stopped abruptly.
The cave resonated with sound. Her guard shoved Jasyn forward. She fell onto her knees in the blackness of the cave. Clark landed on the sand beside her. She tried to reach for his hand, but the buzzing echoes were everywhere, in her head, blinding her eyes. The dark filled her mouth so she couldn’t scream. It wrapped her body in long strands until she couldn’t move. The humming grew in volume. She tried to fight, tried to push it away. It filled her, smothering her.
She caught whispers of words along the edge of hearing. The darkness forced her mind open. The buzzing hum rearranged her thoughts. The voices slid inside then settled, speaking an unfamiliar language that echoed harshly. Their words filtered into her brain, filling the spaces created by the darkness.
Splitting pressure built until her mind fragmented, whirling through the darkness. She was a disconnected series of thoughts that coalesced back into a person. The darkness and voices slid away, sinking into her head.
She blinked, gasping for breath. She was on all fours in the shallow cave. Gritty sand stung her hands, dry and dusty. She coughed and sat back on her heels, exhaustion and sweat blinding her. She wiped her face with one grimy hand.
Clark sprawled in the sand next to her. His face was gray. His eyes were closed. She reached for him with one swollen, reddened hand. Her fingers touched his cheek. He opened his
eyes, then coughed.
“Are you—” She fumbled for words in her jumbled, disordered mind. The words she wanted wouldn’t come.
He closed his eyes, reaching for her hand.
The golden men dragged them out of the cave. One of them moved towards her with a strap of cloth in his hand. She tried to back away. He grabbed her arm, then wrapped the cloth around her neck. She grabbed at the cloth and pulled. It wouldn’t come off. She felt no seams, no evidence that it would open. At the front was a thin strip of metal.
“You will obey,” the leader spoke. “Or you will be punished.”
Something was wrong with her ears. She heard the strange language they’d spoken before, but now it made words in her head.
“Take her to the cooking pots,” the leader said. “Take the other one to the fields.”
They took Clark’s arm and hustled him down a new path. She started after him. Her guard stepped in her way.
“No!” She tried to dodge around him.
He did something with his wand. Shards of pain lanced out from the collar they’d put on her. She clutched her throat, whimpering.
“You will do as you are told,” her guard stated.
The pain ended. She slumped in defeat. They took her arm and marched her away, out of the clearing in the opposite direction that they had taken Clark.
Chapter 7
The Tommy Ruiz had not been stripped. It looked as if a tornado had blown through it instead. Belongings and paper were strewn across the floor. Bins and lockers hung open, clothing spilling across the doors. Every sign pointed to a hasty exit of the crew.
"Hello?" I didn't expect an answer.
I stepped out of the airlock, the ship’s lights brightening as it sensed me. I walked through the crew quarters, trying to avoid stepping on anything that might be useful. The Patrol tended to spend less space and money on the crew and more on the engines and equipment. The airlock opened into a small area with bunks along the wall. A narrow ladder set in the wall led up to the cockpit. I climbed, saving the cabins and personal belongings for later.
