Repo Earth

by Jeff Walsh

  ҉

  “I don't think he's out here Taam,” Bartl said. “We've been cruising around broadcasting for far too long. We're running the risk of someone we don't want to face finding us at this point if we don't move. At least bring up the shields and run the scanners.”

  “Just a little while longer,” Taam said to himself. “He has to be out here.”

  “No,” Bartl said knowing full well Taam wasn't talking to him. “He doesn't. He could've very well been swallowed up by all of this.”

  “He's not that stupid,” Taam answered. “He would've stayed hidden.”

  “And if he didn't?” Bartl asked.

  “Then we've lost,” Taam bellowed. He stood and turned toward Bartl. “We just left Genny behind in the hands of Halen,” he continued. “There's not a single clue pointing us to Marcus and Alvin's location. If we can't find this blatnard, or if he's been lost to this devastation, then what do we have left?”

  “So you just let us float around out here, unprotected?” Bartl said calmly.

  Taam stared him in the eyes. “I don't want him thinking we're also hunting him down,” he said. “We're just as exposed as he would be making contact with us. He's not stupid; that's a clear sign we're offering help...that we need his help.”

  “Yeah,” Bartl said. “It's also a clear sign for everyone else to creep up on us, and then we're screwed.”

  “Just a little longer,” Taam muttered. He turned, sat, and worked the command console once again. “I know he's out here.”

  Anthony just sat, staring out of the main display. Debris and huge chunks of former planets were scattered across the darkness of space.

  “Who does this?” Anthony asked.

  “I know it's risky,” Bartl said. “We'll bring up sensors and shields in a minute.”

  “Look,” Taam said. “We need this guy to contact us, without him--”

  Anthony cut him off.

  “Not this,” he gestured indicating he wasn't speaking of their current course of action. “That.” He pointed at the display.

  “I know you both said the Zorg weren't the friendliest people,” he continued. “But they've been wiped out. And we're out here looking for some guy who might've been forced to watch his people get annihilated.”

  Taam and Bartl just remained silent.

  “Who does this to someone?” Anthony asked. He turned back toward the display. “What kind of person wipes out an entire species of people, just to take something from them.”

  “The Attillians aren't good people,” Taam said. “At least not anymore. They used to be, don't get me wrong. But something happened, long before even Bartl's time. They lost their planet, and the Attillians on that ship are all that's left.”

  “My guess is,” Bartl said. “They're hunting down Volja in the hopes of claiming it for their own. And if that's the case, there's not much they won't do to accomplish that goal.”

  “Even if that means committing genocide?” Anthony asked.

  “Apparently so,” Bartl responded.

  The ship's main display lit up white for a moment.

  No!” Tamm blurted out.

  He spun to work the console, but the bridge to the Platnium went black. Everything lost power.

  Anthony heard the engines power down.

  “Those plooks,” Taam blurted out.

  Bartl dashed across the bridge and ripped a panel off the wall.

  “I might be able to--” he started to say but a new voice interrupted him.

  A holographic image of a tall lanky man with white hair appeared in the center of the bridge.

  “I am Commander Tira of the Attillian Starfaller,” the holo image said. “We've destabilized your energy core. Prepare to be trans-warped aboard our vessel. Taam and Bartl Heezarian, you will be detained and transported to the Central Core processing center for your crimes. We are confiscating your vessel, the Platnium IV. All items aboard are now Attillian property.”

  Tira paused. His holo image turned and looked at Anthony.

  “Including the human.”

  Chapter 17

  Genny sat trying to catch her breath. Every movement she made tore open prior wounds that had barely closed.

  It's no use, she thought. Her mind flashed with images of Marcus: the day they met, their first date, their wedding day. His smile, the wide toothy grin that used to spread across his face, it'd been years since she'd seen it.

  Another few explosions rang out, deeper in the engine bay. Genny didn't know if the light drive or the estroban containers would explode or not, but she watched as they were now completely engulfed in white and blue flame. Sir Halen had referred to the estroban as a fuel of some sort. Genny assumed it was only a matter of time before an explosion of greater magnitude would claim this entire section. She'd resolved herself to die on the floor. With her eyes closed she just hoped the devastation would be enough to take the entire ship with her.

  The sound of a click came from behind and caught her attention. She turned slightly. Her Bond-o-Threads had caked with blood and now pulled across her back. More wounds ripped open and a searing pain washed over her. Through gritted teeth she fought to hold onto consciousness. The agony of each movement left her shaking, but as she bent forward the pod door cracked open.

  Genny pulled herself to her feet. She could barely stand. Her legs shook uncontrollably. Pulling on the pod door Genny felt every laceration across her stomach chest and arms rip apart further. She screamed, but the pod door opened. She hobbled forward one step and fell into the pod. With her legs pulled in she watched as another door slid from above and sealed the pod shut. She attempted to look around; everything was cloudy and dark. Her vision was nearly gone. Every movement was a strain. What little she could see swirled and spun. The dizziness made her sick.

  The floor of the pod shuddered for a moment. Genny craned to look toward the view window. She'd been launched into space.

  As blood poured from Genny's newly torn wounds she laid motionless on the floor. Her breathing came in short bursts. After only a moment, Genny lost consciousness.

  ҉

  The bridge crewman kicked wildly as he was hoisted into the air by Sir Halen; the captain's hand clutched around his neck.

  “I gave no such order,” Sir Halen said.

  “I'm sorry sir,” the crewman choked out. “I just thought...if someone was still alive in the engine bay...I just wanted to save them.”

  With a flick of his wrist Sir Halen snapped the crewman's neck. He then tossed the lifeless body to the floor and stomped back to his captains seat. He worked at a console embedded in his chair for a moment.

  The bridge crew looked at the now dead man for only a second before returning back to work.

  “All systems have been transferred to command unit 001,” a computer-like voice said over the bridge's intercom.

  Sir Halen sat solemnly staring out of the Imperium's view screen.

  “Sir,” another crewman said. “If we don't do something about the damage in the engine bay, we're looking at an inverse spacial bend.”

  No response was given. Sir Halen just stared blankly out of the view screen.

  “Sir,” the crewman stood and said. “We're talking about ship-wide devastation. The Imperium will folded in on itself. We'll be shredded into nothingness.”

  Sir Halen looked down and swiped at his command console. He tapped the screen a few times then dropped his hand to the armrest.

  An alarm rang out across the bridge of the Imperium. The entire crew spun and turned their attention to their captain.

  He regarded none of them. Instead, he sat solemnly in his seat. Arms resting across the seat's rests. His eyes peering into the nothingness of space.

  One of the crewman turned back toward her console, then snapped her attention back to Sir Halen.

  “Sir,” she yelled.

  He paid her no attention

  “The ship's self destruct has been act...”

  In burst of firelight
, the Imperium exploded.

  ҉

  Marcus spun and grabbed the collar of the gentleman on the floor.

  “Who are you?” He belted out.

  “Calm down,” the man said. “I just saved your life. My name is Omnis Zept; I'm the captain of a star cruzer called the Sunspot. I believe we have a common acquaintance.”

  Marcus stepped back and allowed Omnis to stand. Marcus then stepped back a little further. Omnis was easily a foot taller than he was and twice as wide. His skin was dark blue with crimson orbs for eyes. His bald head gleamed under the artificial lighting of Qynn-9, and Marcus saw a series of tattoos etched over his scalp. Marcus turned for a moment and looked back out of the porthole and peered into space. Shards of the escape pod were fluttering around in darkness.

  “I'm sorry about your vessel,” Omnis said. “It was a Heezarian escape pod, yes?”

  It dawned on Marcus that he was suddenly speaking to an alien. In fact, Marcus realized that the noises he'd heard while walking this section of the station had suddenly become very clear. Instead of garbled languages, he now understood everyone on Quinn-9.

  “How'd,” Marcus paused for a second and looked back at Omnis. “Who are the Heezarians?”

  Omnis smiled.

  “I can see why Taam picked you,” Omnis said.

  “I don't know who or what you're talking about,” Marcus replied. “I need to go talk to some folks about a new vessel.”

  “Dirillium escape pod,” Omnis said. “Only two people in the known universe who'd flaunt such a thing. Not many people knew they had them.”

  Marcus stood and looked Omnis in the eyes.

  “Although with the Central Core issuing kill or capture orders out,” Omnis continued. “There are plenty of people with that information now.”

  “What do you want?” Marcus asked.

  “I told you,” Omnis said. “I'm friends with the Heezarians. I used to co-pilot with Bartl when he and Taam would run med kits and tera-seeds out on the rims.”

  Marcus didn't say a word.

  “Although,” Omnis said. “I don't know who you are or how you managed to get all the way out here in one of their pods.”

  Marcus stood solemnly, not a word came forth.

  “I only knew about the pod because I scanned the station,” Omnis said. “I comm'd the pod, but no one responded. I figured Taam and Bartl were in the station, but no such luck. Thought maybe their AI droid, Alvin, might've been out here needing some help, but I came up empty again.”

  Marcus felt his face flinch at the mention of Alvin.

  Omnis looked at him for a moment.

  “C'mon,” he said to Marcus. “My ship's just down there. We can talk more privately.”

  Marcus lingered for a second.

  “Look,” Omnis said. “If you don't want to follow me, we can grab something to drink and talk all this out on the promenade. But there's lots of ears here on Qynn, some just nosy, others looking to sell out and make a quick credit.”

  Marcus said nothing.

  “I get the fact that you don't know me,” Omnis said. “But I owe Bartl and Taam more than most. They were there for me when not too many others would've been. Plus, I've actually saved your life twice in like the last few byts.”

  Omnis kicked at an unconscious fellow on the floor.

  “This guy and his partner got the drop on you in the pod. They were trying to claim the bounty the Central Core has issued out for anything attached to the Heezarians. Not sure what those two are into but the Core is dropping some serious heat.”

  Marcus remained unmoving.

  Omnis chuckled. “Stubborn, I like it. Well, if you're thinking I just want you dead, I could've just left you on the pod. The torpedoes would've done the job nicely.”

  Marcus finally broke his gaze and looked down; he'd not even noticed the man on the floor.

  “He and his friend followed you out of that shop you were in,” Omnis said. “Once I realized it was you who came in on the pod I followed. I wanted to figure out if you'd jacked the pod, or if you were friends with Taam and Bartl. Good thing too, these guys disabled the pods security fields and were ready to snatch your unconscious body off the pod.”

  “You keep saying two,” Marcus said. “I only see one guy here. Your partner waiting on your ship?”

  Omnis let out a laugh. “You're not going to give me a break are you? I only had time to pull you off the pod, so this guy's buddy was lost to the torpedoes.”

  Marcus felt his stomach churn; he was so far out of his element. As Omnis recounted the situation a sense of overwhelming despair washed over over Marcus. Alvin was gone. The pod destroyed. He had no way to get into contact with Taam or Bartl. He was lost in space, and his involvement in all this had now put a bounty on his head.

  Marcus breathed deep and steeled his resolve.

  “Okay,” Marcus said. “Let's play this out. You want me to believe you're here to help, but what's to stop you from just making all of this up? It'd be a lot easier to turn in a bounty if the person thinks they're being rescued.”

  “No offense,” Omnis said. “But if I wanted to claim a bounty on you, the easiest way would be to blast you unconscious and drag you onto my ship.”

  Marcus' eyes widened.

  Omnis laughed.

  “Look,” Omnis said. “I'm not forcing you to go with me. But you came here in a pod, not the Platnium, and that means trouble. Also, don't forget that whoever just torpedoed your pod is probably still around. If you stole the pod, congrats, you've fooled me, but I'm judging you as a friend to Taam and Bartl. And in my experience any friend of theirs is good. You need help and I'm offering. My ship's docked at bay M-16. If you want to take me up on my offer I don't leave for another two diatryls.”

  Marcus puzzled his face.

  Omnis chuckled a moment.

  “Listen kid,” Omnis said. “Translators struggle with all the different references to time and distance. There's millions of species out here in space, all of which track things differently. So, to keep things easy there's a general standard we all use. The shortest amount of time is a tryl. After that you just add the proper prefix, hecatryl, benatryl, and so on. Same thing for distance, except, instead of a tryl it's a nec: unec, parnec, dranec. Once you know those, you have your time or distance. I suggest, if you're going to venture out on your own, you learn it. The problem we have here, you didn't know about the Universal Standard System.”

  Marcus started to say something but got cut-off.

  “Don't try and feed me a lie,” Omnis said. “You're as fresh as they come out here. And that tells me Taam and Bartl pulled you from someplace they shouldn't have.”

  Marcus' eyes dropped to the floor.

  “I told you,” Omnis said. “I'm here to help.”

  Marcus looked back at Omnis who shrugged. He glanced around at all the people bustling around. The entire station began to look ominous. He looked back to Omnis.

  “I'm lost out here,” Marcus whispered. “You're right, I need help.”

  The two made their way back to Omnis' ship, the Sunspot. The two wove through a few corridors. Marcus memorized the path.

  The two came to an open area and Omnis plopped down in a chair. There was a small kitchen terminal within arms reach and a glass materialized. He then grabbed a bottle, popped the lid and poured a golden liquid into the glass.

  “Inris wine,” Omnis said as he held the bottle aloft. “Best booze in the deep black.”

  He held up the bottle as an offer.

  “No thanks,” Marcus said.

  He took notice that this ship was significantly smaller than the Platnium. The screens and controls told Marcus that he sat within the bridge of the ship, but it looked more like a large cockpit than anything else.

  Omnis motioned for Marcus to take a seat across from him. A second later Omnis jumped to his feet. Taking a couple steps he snatched something from a shelf, fell back into his chair, tossed the item to Marcus.

 
He caught it and flipped it over. It was an image of a younger Taam and Bartl, smiling, with Omnis grinning wide between them. Behind all three were the Platnium and what Marcus assumed was the Sunspot.

  “Told you I knew em,” Omnis said before he sucked down his drink in one gulp.

  “I'm sorry,” Marcus started.

  “Hey,” Omnis said. “Listen, don't worry about it. But I'm guessing you've got something to do with all the trouble they're in. Heck, based on the issue the Core dropped on freenet, I might dare assume you're the cargo mentioned in the deets.”

  “Cargo,” Marcus chuckled. “They're calling me and my friends cargo.”

  “So how'd you end up out here in their pod?”

  “It's a long story,” Marcus said. “Taam sent me out here with...” Marcus turned and looked out of the view window.

  He couldn't see the debris of the pod, but he knew somewhere out there Alvin's data unit fluttered about, probably in a thousand pieces.

  “You okay?” Omnis said.

  “He sent me out here with Alvin,” Marcus said.

  “Alvin?” Omnis said. “Alvin's on Qynn? I scanned for him but didn't pick nothing up. Why didn't you just say so; he can tell ya all about me.”

  “No,” Marcus said. “Something happened to him before all this; he lost power or some such. There was this huge ship baring down on us. It all happened so fast. We had to escape the Platnium. Taam removed Alvin's data unit and transferred it into the pod.”

  Omnis dropped his head and closed his eyes. He shook his head for a moment.

  “I'm so sorry,” he said. “I had no idea Alvin was in the pod. I would've at least attempted to grab it. I know Alvin meant a lot to both of em, especially Bartl.”

  “It's not your fault,” Marcus said. “You couldn't have known.”

  “Listen,” Omnis said. He sat forward and slapped Marcus' knee. “It's not your fault either.”

  Marcus let the silence linger for a moment.