The Lost Sword

by Huw Powell

  “I suppose you right. It give me hope that I see Taan-Centaur again one day.”

  Jake understood what it was like to be far away from home. He had never felt so unsettled, so unanchored, so adrift. His father had been missing since he was almost two years old. When the monastery on Remota was destroyed and the cyber-monks were killed, Jake’s only chance for a normal life seemed to be on Altus, but he had abandoned that planet to search for his father. Now he was on the run from the Interstellar Navy and every fortune seeker in the galaxy as the most wanted space pirate in the seven solar systems, with a bounty on his head and nowhere to call home. How had things gone so wrong?

  All his hopes rested on finding Andras Cutler. Jake hadn’t considered what would become of him if he couldn’t locate his father. Was he destined to be alone, skulking in the shadows like a common criminal? His father’s friend, Amicus Kent, had gone from being a top Altian general to a space hobo before dying in a service port canteen. Jake had to find his father, whatever it took, but even that would have to wait until they had saved the seven solar systems.

  Nanoo helped Scargus and Jake connect the shield generator while Manik checked the engine. Squawk, the ship’s foul-mouthed parrot, flew in circles above their heads, screeching insults.

  “Fish face, potty pants, butt brains.”

  “Where does he learn those words?” asked Jake.

  “Granny Leatherhead, mostly,” said Scargus, standing back and wiping his hands. “There, that should do the trick.”

  “You fix everything?” asked Nanoo.

  Scargus shook his head. “Not quite; only the important stuff, like the shields, and the worst of the acid damage.”

  “I’ll tell Nichelle to prepare for takeoff,” said Manik.

  Jake and Nanoo headed to the guest quarters to strap themselves in. It had been a while since the Dark Horse had launched from a planet surface. If their escape from Altus was anything to go by, it was going to be rough. Jake had moved into the same room as Nanoo and Kella while Callidus and Capio were away. Any worries about sharing with a girl and an alien had soon been forgotten when the three of them spent the first night making up space shanties instead of sleeping.

  Inside the room, they found Kella sitting on her bunk, her arms wrapped around her knees.

  “Are you okay?” asked Jake.

  “No,” she said, without looking up.

  “That’s what I figured.” Jake kicked off his gravity boots and climbed into his bed. “I know you’re still upset about your sister. If there’s anything I can do . . . anything . . . ?”

  “I want you to destroy the Interstellar Navy,” she said bitterly. “I want you to unite the independent colonies and destroy the Interstellar Navy.”

  Jake didn’t respond at first, because he wasn’t sure if Kella was being serious. He watched a tear escape from her eye and trickle down her cheek.

  “I thought we try to prevent galactic war,” said Nanoo. “Not start one.”

  “Why not attack?” Kella’s expression hardened. “My sister was trying to take down the Interstellar Government. If she can betray the United Worlds, why can’t I?”

  “Because millions of people will die,” said Jake.

  Kella hung her head. “But what else can I do? The only way to get Jeyne out of Ur-Hal is to destroy the Interstellar Navy. I just want my sister back.”

  Jake didn’t respond. Kella was angry and it would only make things worse to argue with her. The three of them sat in silence, listening to the distant hum of the engine, when the intercom speakers crackled to life.

  “Listen up, everyone, we’re launching the ship in two minutes,” squeaked Farid like an excited mouse. “Blast it, Scargus, hurry up and fix this wretched thing.”

  Jake fastened his straps and counted down the seconds. It would be good to get away from the heat of Shan-Ti and back into open space. He pressed his hand against the wall and felt the hull vibrate as the engine grew louder. The amber ceiling light was broken in Kella’s room, but Jake could still hear the siren wailing in the corridor. His heart beat faster and he braced himself for takeoff.

  “Here we go!” he shouted, as the exhausts blasted the crater wall.

  The Dark Horse nudged forward, scraping along a temporary wooden jetty that Maaka and Woorak had constructed. Jake watched the evening sky pass by the porthole as the ship gathered speed and left the ground. The force of acceleration pinned him to his mattress and pulled at his sweaty cheeks. He had missed the thrill of the launch. It was the most exciting sensation in the universe.

  The old cargo hauler climbed steadily higher into the sky, until it escaped the planet’s atmosphere. When Jake felt the temperature drop and his body lighten, he unclipped his bed straps and floated free from his bunk. Kella and Nanoo released their straps and joined him in the air. Jake pushed himself into the center of the room and turned a double somersault.

  “That nothing,” said Nanoo, holding on to the top bunk. “Watch this.”

  Nanoo kicked off with his legs and performed three perfect backflips before landing on the ceiling. Kella cheered and applauded.

  “Nice one, Nanoo,” said Jake. “At least you can move better than you can sing.”

  “What you mean?”

  “Sorry, Nanoo, but your space shanties are pretty jabberish,” said Kella. “None of them make any sense.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” laughed Jake. “I liked the one about life as a spice parrot, or was that supposed to be space pirate? It made me—”

  Jake’s voice was drowned out by the ship’s alarm.

  “Battle stations,” said Farid through the faulty intercom, his voice scratchy and warped. “Maaka, Woorak, roll out the laser cannon.”

  “Interstellar Navy?” wondered Nanoo. “Or fortune seeker?”

  Jake scrambled to the porthole. “There’s nothing on this side.”

  “Let’s get to the bridge,” said Kella, plucking her gravity shoes off the wall.

  The three of them hurried to the top deck, where Farid, Kodan, and Nichelle were dressed in their pirate combat suits, complete with padded gloves, kit belts, and silver skull-shaped space helmets. Jake spotted a large vessel through the front window, but it wasn’t a naval warship or fortune seeker.

  “What’s going on?” he asked. “Is that a spaceliner?”

  “You bet your bones it is,” said Farid, rubbing his hands. “We’re going to spacejack it.”

  “No,” protested Kella. “We can’t.”

  “Why not?” Farid seemed taken aback. “That’s what we do; we’re spacejackers.”

  “The captain needs to rest,” said Kella.

  “And we’ve got to find Baden Scott,” added Jake.

  “I’m sorry,” said Farid. “But we can’t keep this ship running on promises.”

  Jake watched the luxury spaceliner on a display screen, alone and vulnerable. Despite being aboard a pirate ship for three months, he had never witnessed a real spacejacking. It was one thing to steal supplies from a naval gunship, but it felt wrong to attack innocent people. How would he like it if someone took his gold pendant?

  “What if Dark Horse get damaged?” asked Nanoo.

  “We’ve been doing this for years,” boasted Farid. “I think we can handle a lone spaceliner.”

  “We’re within firing range,” said Nichelle.

  Kodan opened the panel beneath the main display and squeezed into the secret compartment, ready to unleash his multibarreled laser cannon on the unsuspecting ship.

  “Stand by to reveal our colors,” instructed Farid, his eyes fixed on the main display.

  “We’re being hailed,” said Nichelle.

  Farid laughed. “Let me guess: they want to know our intentions?”

  “It’s not the spaceliner.” Nichelle spun around in her seat. “We’re being hailed by Admiral Vantard. He wants to speak with Captain Cutler.”

  Farid dived across the bridge to check the scanners. “It’s the ISS Magnificent. Turn this sh
ip around, full speed away.”

  Nanoo fiddled with a display screen and located the naval warship. It hurtled toward them with its mighty laser cannon and huge launch locks. There was a time when Jake would have given anything to see such a powerful ship in space, but now it only filled him with dread. No wonder the spaceliner didn’t need weapons; it was traveling with the finest warship in the Interstellar Navy. Farid had been too busy playing captain to check the long-range scanner.

  “The ISS Magnificent is preparing to fire,” warned Nichelle. “We’re still in range. What do we do?”

  Farid stiffened. “I . . . I don’t know.”

  “We give them everything we’ve got, by Zerost,” barked a voice in the doorway.

  Jake turned to see Granny Leatherhead holding on to the hatch frame, her silver hair hanging in straggles over her floral nightgown.

  “Captain,” exclaimed Kella. “What are you doing out of bed?”

  Granny Leatherhead ignored her. “Kodan, introduce those naval numpties to Old Lizzy.”

  Kodan squeezed the trigger, releasing a torrent of laser bolts from the nose of the ship. Jake watched as they exploded against the warship’s shields, but the ISS Magnificent held its course.

  “Nichelle, give me your best evasive moves,” said Granny Leatherhead. “I want to make Admiral Fancy-pants feel spacesick just watching us.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “And what are the rest of you idiots waiting for?” Granny Leatherhead grabbed the intercom. “Maaka, Woorak, target any naval fighters that poke their heads out of the launch locks. Scargus, Manik, squeeze every watt of power you can from the engine.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “What about us?” asked Kella.

  “Don’t you know by now?” Granny Leatherhead shuffled over to the captain’s chair. “Kella, wait in the medical bay. Nanoo, keep the shields working.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “Do you want me in the engine room?” asked Jake.

  “No, not this time,” she said. “I need you here. It’s you he’s asking for, not me.”

  Kella and Nanoo rushed off to their posts, leaving Jake on the bridge. Granny Leatherhead thrust the communicator into his hand as the ship twisted and turned like a rickety roller coaster.

  “Well?” she said. “Distract him.”

  Jake held the communicator to his mouth. “Ahoy, naval warship?”

  “Ahoy, pirate scum,” said a loud, confident voice. “This is Admiral Voratio Vantard of the righteous ISS Magnificent, ordering you to cut your engine and surrender immediately.”

  Jake tried to think how Granny Leatherhead would respond to such a demand. “This is Captain Cutler of the Dark Horse cargo hauler. I’m sorry, but it’s not in a space pirate’s nature to surrender without a fight.”

  Admiral Vantard let out a sharp laugh. “I was hoping you would say that. I’m not afraid of you, Kiddie Cutler. You might be the most dangerous pirate of all time, but someone has to make you pay for murdering Admiral Nex and his crew.”

  “It wasn’t murder,” said Jake. “The ISS Colossus attacked us and then it got sucked into a black hole.”

  “Do you spacejackers ever tell the truth? Naval warships don’t just stumble into black holes. I’m going to make you pay for every single trooper you killed.”

  “Oh yeah?” Jake tried his best to sound like a ruthless pirate captain. “If you don’t turn your ship around, I’ll destroy you as well.”

  “Give me your best shot, boy,” said the admiral. “I love it when space pirates fight back.”

  The ISS Magnificent opened fire with its massive cannon, narrowly missing the Dark Horse with a string of barrel-sized laser bolts and flooding the bridge with light.

  “Faster, Nichelle,” croaked Granny Leatherhead. “We need to outrun that warship before it locks onto our rusty rivets.”

  “I’m trying, Captain,” said the pilot. “Just give me a minute.”

  “We don’t have a minute,” snapped Granny Leatherhead, holding on to her stomach.

  Jake realized that the captain was still suffering, and she had sent Kella to the medical bay to get her out of the way. If the Dark Horse was going down, Granny Leatherhead wanted to be on the bridge, not strapped to a bed.

  Kodan stopped firing Old Lizzy to leave more power for the engine. It wasn’t much use having a laser cannon at the front of the ship when the enemy was behind them. Maaka and Woorak also struggled to get a clear shot with the side cannon.

  “Captain.” Farid looked up from his scanners. “I’ve picked up another craft heading straight for us.”

  “Another warship?”

  “No, it’s a star frigate,” said Farid. “It’s the Divine Wind.”

  “What?” Granny Leatherhead limped over to the scanners. “Well, well, it looks as though the crew survived their last encounter with Admiral Vantard and they’ve come back for seconds.”

  Jake squinted at the front window and spotted the scorched yellow hull of the Divine Wind hurtling toward them, its pink laser cannon stretched out like fingers.

  “It’s going to ram us,” said Nichelle.

  “Hold your course,” instructed Granny Leatherhead. “If those pirates wanted to destroy us, they would have done so by now.”

  Jake watched the Divine Wind storm toward them and pull up at the last second. It shot over their heads with a playful spin, passing so close that Jake was surprised not to hear the hull scrape. He turned to the main display and saw the star frigate fly straight into the path of the ISS Magnificent, its lasers blasting.

  “That crew has a death wish,” said Granny Leatherhead.

  The Divine Wind circled the naval warship like an insect bothering a wild animal. What did the blood-red letter K stand for? Jake could only think of one pirate crew name that started with a K, the Killer Kings, but they flew a white space clipper, and they were rarely seen outside of the third solar system. It felt odd to be in the debt of a mysterious ship.

  Granny Leatherhead looked ready to collapse as the Dark Horse made its escape. Farid tried to assist her, but she shrugged off his arm. The first mate had messed up and it had nearly cost the lives of the crew. Farid was lucky that Granny Leatherhead was so weak; otherwise he would not have still been standing. Kodan emerged from his compartment and held on to the captain’s arm as she hobbled from the bridge.

  “Where now?” asked Nichelle.

  “The sixth solar system,” said Farid, grumpily. “But this time, don’t stop for anything.”

  Chapter 8

  The Captain’s Daughter

  It had been several hours since leaving Shan-Ti and there was no further sign of the Interstellar Navy. Jake had finished his engine room chores and he was now lying on his bed, making up space shanties to pass the time. Kella sat on her bunk, using the handheld computer to browse medical sites, while Nanoo performed zero gravity acrobatics.

  Jake sang them his latest song:

  Brave captain and hardy crew,

  Blast this ship into the black.

  Hey ho, to adventures new,

  Full thrust ahead and attack.

  Let me feel a blade of steel

  And a laser in my hand.

  Raiding ships, plunder and steal.

  Only dead men dare to stand.

  Kella peered over the top of the screen. “Only dead men dare to stand?”

  “Yeah,” said Jake. “It’s piratey, like in the stories.”

  “I haven’t read many pirate tales,” she sniffed. “I prefer stories about magic.”

  “Well, I thought it magnifty,” said Nanoo. “You good with songs, Jake.”

  “Thanks, matey.”

  “Why do they always have to be about spacejacking?” asked Kella. “You should make one up about helping people.”

  “What, a space shanty about crystal healing?”

  “Why not?” she said. “It would be a change from blood and treasure.”

  Jake admired Kella’s talent with
crystals, but he doubted it would make a very good pirate song.

  “How come you don’t sing anymore?” he asked. “Your voice is, you know, beautiful.”

  It was difficult to tell who was more embarrassed by this statement, Jake or Kella. She ducked behind the handheld computer, so that only the top of her head could be seen.

  “I only sing when I’m alone,” she said. “I don’t like people hearing me.”

  “Why not?” asked Nanoo.

  “I get embarrassed.” Kella lowered the device, but kept her mouth covered. “Jeyne used to enter me in competitions, but I hated the thought of singing while strangers stared at me.”

  The hatch door slid open and Maaka Metal Head entered.

  “Hello, Space Pups.”

  Jake hated it when the crew called them that.

  “What up, Maaka?” asked Nanoo.

  “The captain wants to see you three in her quarters.”

  “Why?” asked Jake.

  “You’ll find out when you get there.”

  Jake had never been inside the captain’s quarters. Maaka led them up to the top deck and knocked on the black hatch door.

  “Enter,” said a muffled voice.

  The door opened, releasing wisps of fragrant incense. Jake stepped inside a wide cabin with two large portholes that overlooked the rear exhausts. The walls were decorated with star charts and a pair of crossed cutlasses. There was also a tarnished brass plaque displaying the ship’s name. A large desk was fixed to the floor beside a model of the seven solar systems. In the corner of the room stood an empty cabinet, which Jake assumed had once contained a collection of fine dresses.

  The low ceiling was bolstered by thick metal pillars, each wrapped with the flag of Zerost. Scargus had told Jake about the ice planet and how the Galactic Trade Corporation had abandoned it, forcing the starving colonists to become space pirates to survive. It turned out that Jake’s ancestors, the crew that discovered Altus, were from Zerost, which meant that spacejacking was in his blood.

  “Thank you, Maaka,” said Granny Leatherhead, who was strapped into a curved wooden bed. “That will be all.”

  The metal-faced shipmate nodded and left the room, leaving Jake, Kella, and Nanoo with the captain. Jake spotted a needle and thread in her hand. He smiled at the thought of the tough old captain embroidering patches for the crew. It made her seem much less scary. He noticed a photo above her bed of a woman holding a baby. She looked like a younger and prettier version of Granny Leatherhead, only without the eye patch.