by J. M. Page
Torak sat and pulled a harness over his broad shoulders and buckled it. Mara opened her mouth to ask where she should sit, but she was already too late. The ship lurched forward, rattling and trembling as gravity took hold. It careened toward the planet’s surface, feeling like they were in free fall straight down. All around her were calm placid faces, unconcerned with the violent entry. Mara reached out desperately for something to grab onto, to brace herself, to hold on for dear life, something. She found nothing and was thrown across the flight deck like a rag doll.
Her last thought before impact was Now they’re really going to think I’m useless.
She tumbled to the far wall, an explosion of pain in her skull as her head connected with the base of the Captain’s chair. The pain only lasted a moment before merciful blackness closed in.
Chapter Seven
Mara
She opened her eyes, blinking away spots, her head a mass of throbbing aching pain. She wasn’t even sure she’d lost consciousness, but then the Captain’s bulky figure cast a shadow over her as he scowled down, arms folded across his chest.
“Did you not hear the order to prepare for landing?” he said, those brilliant yellow eyes burning right through her.
Mara sat up a little, rubbing her tender head with a wince. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”
The Captain narrowed his gaze at her, something she couldn’t quite identify sparkling behind his eyes. Or maybe that was still the bump to the head playing tricks.
“You’re lucky,” he said, his tone somewhat gentler. “Next time, pay attention to orders, I’m not giving them to enjoy the sound of my own voice.” And just like that he was back to the jerk she expected. Mara sighed, the pain in her skull and the embarrassment of being scolded like a child in front of the crew again was nearly too much to bear. Tears pricked the back of her throat, trying desperately to push up into her eyes, but Mara refused to let it happen.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew unbuckled from their harnesses and Delta came over, wrapping an arm around Mara’s shoulder and helping her to her feet.
“Don’t worry about him,” she said, patting Mara’s shoulder affectionately. “He’s not as scary as he seems, he just doesn’t like when anyone gets hurt.”
Mara quirked a skeptical brow but didn’t argue with Delta. It seemed unlikely that the pirate captain cared about much at all besides himself and his profits. He’d probably be happy to be rid of her. She certainly hadn’t proved to be a worthwhile addition to the ship thus far.
Everyone started to filter out of the flight deck and Mara hung back, not sure of her place.
“Well you’re not just going to stand there and mope are you? Come on,” Delta said with an enthusiastic wave. “See a foreign world, meet the locals, live a little.”
Mara felt a frown pull at her mouth. There was no arguing with that really. She was only on this ship because she wanted an adventure and there was no way she’d be getting that by sitting on the ship while everyone else enjoyed port leave.
“Well, okay,” she agreed, with more than a hint of reluctance. It was one thing to say you wanted adventure. Another thing entirely to go out in pursuit of it. She never did things like this!
She followed Delta from the flight deck to the main unloading doors which she’d never seen. She braced herself for what would be on the other side. She’d gotten glimpses of lush greenery and misty clouds from orbit, but what would actually greet her on the ground? Was this a hideout for drug lords? A war-torn outpost in a battle for control? A pirate planet where anything goes?
They all sounded equally terrifying and — if she were being honest with herself — a tiny bit thrilling.
Instead, Mara and Delta joined the rest of the crew, winding up directly behind Torak and his First Mate as they awaited the welcome committee.
There was no doubt it was a welcome committee once the mass of happy smiling faces came into view, merry instruments accompanying their steps, a veritable parade greeting them. Mara didn’t know what to make of the fanfare. She wasn’t sure what to make of any of it, really.
“Welcome welcome!” a sage-looking old man boasted, stepping forward to shake Torak’s hand. They clasped their hands together and then the old man wrapped his arm around Torak, pulling him in for a one-armed hug. When they separated, the old man’s face was split by a huge toothy smile.
“So glad you could make it! No trouble with the asteroids, I assume?”
Torak chuckled and shook his head. “Me? Never.” He cracked a smile — the first of its kind that Mara had seen — and she felt her knees buckle a little. Everything was topsy turvy from what she expected. These ground people didn’t seem like criminals or thugs. And they didn’t greet this crew like blood-thirsty pirates. She couldn’t puzzle it out and her head still ached terribly the more she tried.
“You okay?” Delta said, noticing the way Mara wobbled on her feet.
Mara nodded, her fingertips going to the bump on her head again. “I’m just surprised, I guess. About the warm reception. I guess I expected…”
“Fear and intimidation?” Delta provided helpfully, making Mara’s face burn with shame. Delta wasn’t so bad — were there redeeming qualities she didn’t know with the others, too?
Delta shrugged, offering a sheepish smile. “Torak’s prices are steep, but he’s the only captain willing to come all the way out here and the only one foolish enough to brave the asteroids,” she explained under her breath.
“And we’d be lost without him!” the old man chimed in, having overheard their conversation.
Mara’s eyes went wide at the comment, both because she didn’t realize anyone else was aware of her — or the conversation — and because of the sentiment itself. She sent a curious look to the Captain and he met her gaze for a brief moment before looking away, seeming almost… bashful?
“You know I never shy away from putting my neck on the line if the price is right,” he said, still seeming uncomfortable with the acknowledgement of his good deed. But Mara saw something else in him. In the way he interacted with the locals. He was one way on board the ship — though people seemed to think him fair and were loyal to him, he was certainly tough. Another way entirely when he came to collect her father’s debt — ruthless, intimidating, and outright abrasive.
But here, he seemed freer. Less guarded in a way. Smiles came more easily to him, his posture was relaxed and he greeted half the parade with a warm handshake and exchanged pleasantries. If she didn’t think the notion preposterous, Mara would think the Captain looked comfortable here.
This was definitely a puzzle she wanted to solve, but Mara didn’t know if she possessed the courage to get close enough to him to try.
The crew unloaded their cargo — mostly construction supplies and farming equipment for the isolated planet — and after a ridiculously amazing meal, they all filtered back onto the ship, ready to head towards their next stop.
Mara was still reeling from all this new information. From the constant challenges to her perceptions of things. Torak and his crew were an enigma, difficult to pin down and even harder to label. But maybe they weren’t as bad as she first suspected. Maybe they weren’t the criminal outfit she assumed. Maybe her father had been the cause of his own misfortune and they really were just conducting business as usual.
The thought deflated her a little. She missed her father, but she was still angry at him for so many reasons.
“Delta, status report,” the Captain said once they were all back at the flight deck. Delta had kept Mara in tow during the whole of their port leave and Mara had no complaints about that. She didn’t want to get lost or do something offensive to the ground people. Once they’d gotten back to the ship, Delta insisted Mara come to the flight deck to see a launch.
“Warm up sequence initiated. Fuel systems normal. Shields normal. All clear, Captain,” she said with a wink in Mara’s direction.
“Everyone brace for launch,” Torak said, sending a
specific and weighty look at Mara. When she still didn’t know where to sit, he gave her a look — and she could’ve sworn he rolled his eyes, just a bit — and gestured beside him.
“Take my seat,” he said. Mara’s mouth went dry, glued shut by the piercing look he pinned her with. She wanted to have a snappy comeback, but none was forthcoming so she did as she was told, fumbling with the buckle as she felt all eyes in the flight deck settle on her.
That part might have been in her imagination, but she couldn’t shake the thought that everyone watched her every move.
“Here,” he said, softly, near her ear as he bent, covering her hands with his. He slipped the buckle into its catch and tugged on the harness to make sure it was secure. He lingered there for a moment, the rich masculine scent of him overpowering and intoxicating. His hands were so big over her petite fingers and so warm, so strong. Mara’s mind went blank of everything other than the Captain.
“Wouldn’t want you flying across the ship again,” he said, a lilt in his otherwise gruff voice that sounded almost… amused?
Mara’s pulse raced, but she told herself it was the launch that had her nervous. Not the enormous blue man that did funny things to her insides.
The launch went off without a hitch and before long, Torak expertly navigated through the asteroid field, more than once causing Mara to grip the chair arm with white knuckles.
Once they were free and clear, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“Great job everyone,” Torak said. “Another successful delivery and another substantial payment for our coffers.” A round of cheers erupted and Mara found herself grinning just from the sheer infectious nature of it all.
The planet they’d just left grew smaller and smaller in the distance until it was nothing more than another pinprick of light amongst billions of others in the vastness of space.
“Alright,” Torak said, sounding authoritative and commanding once more. “Prepare for warp speed. I need diagnostics, everyone.”
Crew members all seemed to know the routine, each one rattling off numbers and figures in turn. No one talked over each other and no one gave any more information than necessary. They were a well-oiled machine.
After he gave the order to warp, there was a collective sigh throughout the flight deck. Once they were at warp speed, there wasn’t much to do but sit back and enjoy the flight. Sure, there were always maintenance tasks to take care of, and general duties around the ship, but the hard part was over.
“Hey Delt, did you have any of that roasted savva root?” Eddi asked from his position in the room.
“Her, eat solid food? Don’t you normally drink your meals on port leave, Delta?” someone else chimed in.
Delta chuckled, sending the second guy a rude gesture in good fun. “Yeah, I had some Ed. Makes it almost worth the risk of being plowed to smithereens by asteroids just for the feast they give us.” She patted her belly with a wistful sigh.
“Still not as good as the breakfasts your mom makes,” Eddi said, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
Delta started to say something, then recognition dawned and she glared daggers at him.
“Do you have a death wish?” Torak joked. “Or have you forgotten how skilled she is with a soldering iron?”
Delta sent the Captain a smugly satisfied look and Eddi’s vermillion scales paled a few shades, making the whole flight deck erupt in laughter. Mara couldn’t help but join in, feeling lighter than air as a part of the crew, a part of this camaraderie. With every passing moment, she felt less and less like an outsider. A part of Mara loved the feeling of belonging, but the other part rebelled against that feeling being associated with these people.
She didn’t want to like them after all the turmoil they’d caused her. But was it really their fault? Her father entered the transaction with full knowledge of the consequences. If she should be upset with anyone it was him.
A strange chirrup sounded through the intercoms and the laughter died down in an instant, a definite chill permeating the flight deck. Mara looked around at the somber expressions and frowned, still sitting in the Captain’s chair.
“What’s that?” she asked, as the First Mate — Sande, she remembered someone saying — approached the transmissions panel.
“A distress signal,” he said, his voice musical and mercurial even tight with worry.
The Captain closed in on her other side, a deep frown marring his face. Only a moment ago he’d been smiling and laughing — it suited him so much better.
“Play it,” he ordered, his voice barely more than a gravely husk.
“I— Are you certain?” Sande asked. Torak answered him with a silent look and the other man’s shoulders slumped a little as he reached for the panel.
Static crackled through the intercom and a frightened plaintive voice cut through. The words were quick and emotional, clearly pleading though Mara didn’t know the language.
Sande translated for everyone. “They are an aid ship full of medicine for a planet stricken with the Asanin Plague and they’re being attacked by pirates. The medicine is worth a fortune, but if they can’t get it to the planet, everyone will die.” Hearing Sande’s rough translation didn’t convey the sheer terror and desperation in the voice that still echoed through the intercoms. She was clearly on the verge of losing hope, praying for a miracle.
Too bad she’d only found another ship of criminals.
Mara wished there was something she could do. Something to help the woman and the planet full of sick people. Her heart clenched with futility and annoyance clawed at her. She was so helpless. So useless again.
She looked up at the stone-faced Captain and wanted to scream at him to go help these people. What was he doing just standing there not even acknowledging it? How could he be unmoved by this woman’s desperate cries for help?
Mara wanted to say they should go help, but she knew her opinions weren’t welcome. She herself wasn’t very welcome on this ship, so she bit her tongue as the transmission continued, sending chills up her spine and tears to her throat.
“Reset the coordinates,” Torak said. The flight deck fell completely silent. No one even breathing after his command. Did he really mean—
“Well, what are you all waiting for?” he barked, sending up a flurry of activity.
Mara turned to him, flabbergasted, shocked, and oddly appreciative. “You’re going to help them?”
He didn’t look at her, his jaw set into a rigid line, his eyes staring, unblinking, into deep space. The Affliction shuddered and slowed out of warp speed as they changed course for the distressed ship. She thought she saw him expel the tiniest sigh before he said, “I’m going to try.”
After that brief moment of vulnerability and uncertainty, the Captain was back in full command, his face slipping into a mask of barely contained fury, his jaw set hard as he reached for the communication panel.
“This is the Queen’s Affliction, responding to a distress signal sent by aid ship Sekhmet. Stand down or we will have no choice but to use force,” he said sternly, never pulling his eyes from the pirate ship, still barraging the poor little aid ship with attacks.
Everyone on the flight deck held their breath as one. Mara went as far as crossing her fingers, whispering a silent plea that they would leave. She wanted to help the aid ship, but she didn’t exactly want to be in a deadly space battle. That was perhaps more adventure than she’d bargained for.
After a long moment passed and the attacking ship made no acknowledgement of their transmission, Torak tried again.
“I repeat: stand down or we will use force.”
Mara’s heart raced, her palms damp with nerves. She worried her bottom lip and tried not to think about that frightened woman’s voice playing over the intercoms.
Another long beat passed. “Destroy them,” Torak said calmly.
Mara gasped, her hand covering her mouth. This was way more adventure than she ever wanted. She didn’t want anyone to get hurt! But it s
eemed it was the pirates or the medicine and she knew which side she rooted for. She was only a little surprised that Torak picked the same side.
“Weapons ready,” Eddi said, his voice flat.
Mara looked all around the flight deck and saw reflected back the same grim determination that Torak had. They were of one mind.
“Fire,” the Captain ordered after locking aim on the pirate ship.
The ship jolted slightly, sending a wave of energy toward the offending craft, blasting a hole in their shields.
“Sekhmet, are your systems operable?” Torak asked the aid ship.
Alien words answered and Sande’s face screwed up into an expression of displeasure. “Their engineers are working on the damage as fast as they can. It will be at least ten minutes before their engines are online again.”
