by Troy Osgood
This was not a good situation.
Chances were good that I could disarm the guy behind me and get out of this. But not with the second person and Kaylia being involved. The crowd didn’t help any either. The being with the blaster in my back might not open fire in the middle of the crowd but could still do some damage.
Best bet was to let this play out for a bit.
“Right,” the one behind me said and nudged me that direction.
The Garand guiding Kaylia pushed her that way. We were heading towards a door, pushing our way through the light crowd. No one paid us much attention, beyond the angry glances at being forced to move. With so many different people and cultures, no one wants to ever get involved.
The unmarked door was set in the wall between the first shops and the lifts, a keypad next to it. Probably to the maintenance corridors and employee areas. The Garand reached out and hit numbers on the keypad, the door sliding silently into the wall. The room beyond was dark and she pulled Kaylia into it.
I paused and looked around quickly. I didn’t like going into a dark room and that they knew the code meant they had most likely been in the room already. They knew the layout, I did not.
“Move,” the Garand behind me said and jammed the blaster hard into the small of my back. I was assuming he was a Garand because they usually operated in mated pairs so it was a safe assumption.
I couldn’t wait to shove that gun down it’s mouth. Male Garands were big bastards, but that wouldn’t stop me.
I stepped into the room a couple of feet and heard the door shut behind me. There were no lights, it was dark and I could barely make out the darker shadows that were the female Garand and Kaylia. The one behind me pushed me forward hard and I stumbled a bit.
The lights came on and I saw we were in a square room, a couple storage closets along the wall, a hanging rack that was currently empty and what looked like lockers on another wall. A door was directly across. The female Garand had turned Kaylia around so she was facing me. The Garand had her arm hanging on Kaylia’s shoulder and under her chin. A clear sign to not do anything.
Kaylia was putting on a brave face. I knew she would be close to breaking. Kidnapped and now being held prisoner like this? She had to be wondering why this was happening to her.
I was getting angry. If they hurt her in any way they were dead.
Turning I saw the male Garand and he was a big one. About six inches taller than I was, but almost twice as wide. Garands are broad shouldered and built. Big and strong. He had the backwards bending knee and hooves like the female, along with the dark purple eyes and bluish gray skin. HIs face was blocky with horns that curled to the side growing from his forehead. Hanging from his chin were four long tendrils with another two hanging down his back coming from behind his pointed ears. I could see the end of his tail behind him, just hanging there. Unlike many other species with tails, for some reason the Garands wasn’t used. It was just there.
He still had the blaster pointed at me. A Duig Model XC. Decent gun. Good range, accurate and had a stun feature.
“Who are you,” I asked. I moved and shifted so I could see the male Garand, and his mate with her arm around Kaylia’s neck as well as the two doors. I took a couple steps back to get some more distance.
“I was going to ask you the same question,” the male Garand replied. “But it doesn’t matter. We’re just interested in her.” He pointed at Kaylia with his free hand, the point of the blaster never wavering from me. “Let us leave with her and you won’t get hurt.”
“Why do you want her,” I asked.
The Garand’s eyes never left mine, neither of them. The female held Kaylia tight but wasn’t watching her.
“There’s a big bounty out on a Thesan girl matching her description. Traveling alone or with a non-Thesan companion.”
Great. Bounty hunters. But they didn’t have my full description. That was good. I was surprised that the Tiat would go to bounty hunters but it really was the only way to spread the net across the galaxy. They probably limited it to a select few hunters. No way this was broadcast to everyone. I’d known a few hunters through the years and while they were all out for the money, some of them had a moral code or just hated the Tiat.
“This isn’t her,” I tried. “You got the wrong girl.”
“Maybe we do, maybe we don’t,” the male said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Only one way to find out.”
Of course these would be the moral less kind of hunters.
“Might as well drop that blaster,” the Garand said looking down at my weapon. “Slowly or the girl gets hurt,” he added.
Keeping my hands out, left one up where they could see it, I lowered my right to grab my weapon. I had to find a way out of this. These two would take Kaylia and turn her over to the Tiat. I couldn’t let that happen. I used a couple fingers to grab the blaster and lift it out by the grip. I was looking at the male Garand, his gun pointed at me and concentrating on my hand and gun, when there was a sudden movement from the female and Kaylia.
The female Garand yelled in pain, sharp and loud.
I looked that way quickly, fingers turning into a firm grasp on my blaster’s grip. Kaylia’s fingernails had grown again, long and sharp like claws. One hand was buried in the Garand’s side and the other in the arm across Kaylia’s neck.
There was an angry hiss and growl that I realized was coming from Kaylia. With her claws buried in the Garand, Kaylia pulled the arm free. Her other hand ripped out of the Garand’s side, prompting another scream of pain. Kaylia turned and somehow her small body had the strength to push the bleeding Garand to the ground. Blue blood dripped from the Garand’s wounds and from Kaylia’s claws.
The male Garand was stunned and so was I. Neither of us moved. I was frozen in the act of drawing my weapon. The Garand frozen half-turned with his weapon turning to point at Kaylia.
She crouched down, fury in her eyes, blood dripping from her claws. She hissed and growled at the Garand and took a step forward.
I pulled my weapon out of the holster and aimed at the Garand but he had recovered faster. His weapon was pointed right at Kaylia now and he pulled the trigger. A bolt of blue-white energy shot out and struck her in the stomach, streaks of energy cascading around her. She fell backwards a couple of feet, falling limply to the ground, hitting hard.
“NO,” I yelled. A sound of pure rage.
I hoped the Garand’s blaster was set to stun. Mine was not.
I pulled my trigger, a greenish bolt of energy shooting from my weapon hitting the Garand in the chest, just below his head and between the tendrils. The alien fell to the ground, smoke rising from the wound.
Keeping my weapon pointed at the female Garand, who was trying to stop the bleeding from her wounds and trying to pull herself across the floor to her dead mate, I ran to Kaylia. She lay in a heap on the ground, her fingernails back to normal but stains of blue blood on the tips.
I saw her chest rising slowly. Stunned.
Breathing a sigh of relief, weapon still pointed towards the Garand, I bent down to pick up Kaylia. Her body was so light, she was so small. How had she managed to throw the much heavier Garand? Where had that rage come from?
She was awkward but there was no way I was using two hands to carry her. The male Garand was dead and while she was wounded, the female might still be dangerous. She didn’t look it, bleeding out of multiple wounds and cradling the head of her mate. I regretted killing the bounty hunter but he had shot Kaylia.
Stun blasts were supposed to be non-lethal, but they could still damage a body. With the wide variety of beings in the galaxy, there was no way to create a stun frequency that treated all the same. It was just impossible. Each manufacturer had their own frequency which complicated things even further. Most humanoids were generally the same size, which was what most stunners were set for, there were still occurrences of permanent damage from being stunned.
I needed to get Kaylia back to the Wind where I could
run some tests on her, make sure she was okay.
Opening the door against the far wall, I stepped into a long corridor that ringed the outer shops of this level. I looked back into the room and met the eyes of the female Garand. There was hatred there, pure hatred. The door closed behind me. I leaned Kaylia’s body against the wall and aimed for the control pad. The blast was loud in the silent hall, the metal cover falling apart and sparks erupting from the crackling wires.
Holstering my blaster, I picked up Kaylia and ran down the corridor looking for a way out.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Why me?
Kahlia signed at me from where she lay on the bed in her room.
“I don’t know kiddo,” I said pulling the blanket up around her. “But I promise you that we’ll find out when we get you home.”
What is happening to me?
She held up one of her hands and looked at the remnants of the blue blood that was around her nails. Once we had gotten back to the ship, and that had taken a while, I had cleaned her up the best I could. She had woken from the stun blast midway to the ship, which was a surprise. That blast should have had her out for hours. So far everything seemed fine, no lasting effects from the blast.
“I don’t know but we’re figure it out,” I replied and it felt weak, inadequate. I brushed a loose strand of hair from her check. “Get some rest. Next stop is Turesa.”
I stood up as she turned on her side and closed her eyes. She’d be asleep in no time. The stress from the short fight and flight as well as still shaking off the effects of the stun blast, would have her out. But it wouldn’t be a restful sleep.
As I walked out of her room, I turned the light off, and headed for the bridge.
We were already in wildspace, our first hop would take three hours. I had laid her in the lounge well I got us out of Dynuit Station. I had carried her through the back corridors and out a door midway around the station. I’d managed to get to the lifts without drawing attention but it was a nerve racking walk. Couldn’t move too fast, had to carry Kaylia in a way that wouldn’t draw the eye, and had to keep my eyes out for the other Garand and any other hunters that might be around. Finally had managed to get to the lift and down to the docking ring. She’d woken up as we were in the lift. Groggy, she hadn’t been scared at waking in the changed surroundings so I had been able to explain what happened.
Once on the ship I had to get Dock Control to give me an immediate departure slot. That took a bit of doing and convincing. Half an hour later, the first hop calculated and we were out of that system. That’s when I finally managed to put Kaylia to bed.
I wanted to go back to the galley and grab an ale but as we flew out of the system I had noticed a message had come in on the Feed well we were on the station and avoiding bounty hunters. Now that Kaylia was resting, I could view it.
Putting the headset on, so the noise wouldn’t carry out of the bridge, I hit the play button.
The vidscreen filled with the head of a man, human. Much older than me, hair all gray with brown eyes. The hair was close cut, a military style, and he wore the uniform of an Earth Expeditionary Forces officer. There were wrinkles around the eyes and he had a face and look that had seen a lot and barely survived it. Colonel Terrence Jessups.
My former commanding officer and one of the few people in the galaxy that I trusted.
“Captain,” the message began and that voice brought back a flood of memories.
Even though I was no longer in the military, Jessups still called me by my rank. Just hearing the voice made me want to snap to attention. Some habits were never lost.
“I looked into that name you sent me. I couldn’t find much and most of what I found was classified far beyond my paygrade. What I did find was that a Thesan named Yoterra was part of their War Applications Division. You know the stories associated with them. That was all I could find. Sorry Captain.” He paused and the look changed, the military commander fading and a man that was like a father to me replaced it. “I don’t know what you got yourself involved with, but the coding on the files I found was pretty high up. That along with what the Thesan War Applicators were up to, you’re getting into some deep waters that you may not be able to swim in. Watch your six.”
The message terminated and I took off the headset, leaning back in my chair.
I really needed that ale now.
*****
Forty years ago the Earth developed the tech to explore our solar system. We settled on Mars and one of the moons of Jupiter, Europa. We couldn’t escape our solar system yet but our advancements had caught the attention of the Thesans. Thirty years ago they had helped develop our warpthrusters and once we had those, we expanded out into the larger galaxy and the Earth Expeditionary Forces, nicknamed the 2Es, were created. We’re human, so our first impulse was to expand and the Thesans were happy to do that with us.
Turned out that the Thesans were looking for allies to help them expand and protect their territory. Another species, the Tiat, were aggressively taking over more and more systems. The Thesans wanted to strengthen their own forces and expand their influence, while using us as a buffer against the Tiat. They thought they could dominate us, as we were the newbies to space. That was quickly proven wrong.
The alliance didn’t necessarily start out on the right foot, Terrans and Thesans have been strong allies since that day. It’s kind of a mutual aid thing. No one else really likes us. Or the Tiat. But the Tiat are strong enough to stand on their own.
One of the first places beyond our neighboring systems that humans expanded into was a system that the Tiat had designs over as well.
And the Third Galactic War happened. The Tiat versus the Thesan/Terran Alliance. It went on for years and spilled out into other systems. Billions died on all three sides, as well as countless members of other races caught in the crossfire. The Tiat outnumbered our Alliance and the Thesans were starting to get desperate.
That’s where the War Applications Division entered the picture. They were the idea factory. Anything that could help end the war in the Thesans favor. Some of the stuff never saw the light of day, thankfully, but the stuff that did was pretty bad. Not the brightest spot in Thesan history.
I’d run into some remnants of War Applications stuff during my time in service, and that was years after the war ended with the non-aggression treaty signed between the three parties. What I had seen was enough. I couldn’t imagine what they had been up to during the height of the war.
What did a former member of the Division have to do with Kaylia?
Had a feeling that I wasn’t going to like the answer.
*****
The next stop wasn’t Turesa. We had to stop half way there at a station in the Hui System to refuel. Kaylia stayed in the ship well I was dealing with Hui Station Control to get what we needed. The first day of the trip after Dynuit, she had spent in her room recovering and dealing with the realization that something was happening to her. It was hard as she had no idea what was happening, the changes to her body as well as people hunting her. I tried to comfort her as best I could, but this was beyond my limited abilities.
I did some research and it definetely wasn’t normal Thesan development. At her age, Terran kids started going through puberty. I had hoped this was a Thesan equivalent. Nope. On top of the wildness and other changes associated with it, she also had the Thesan version to still look forward to.
Poor kid.
We spent most of the early time after leaving Dynuit either on the bridge or in the lounge working on my sign language. I did wonder at a couple points why I was bothering with this. I’d be dropping her off soon and then back to my life. It wasn’t a great life, constantly moving and by myself, but it was my life.
I read a lot, it’s a good way to pass the time while flying through wildspace, and Kaylia dug into my collection. I had a couple tablets connected to the ship’s library and she took one as her own, downloaded a couple of books onto it and would disappear for hours i
nto the novel. When we had stopped at Hui Station, I showed her how to get more books from the Feed and she grabbed a couple that fit her interests. From Hui Station on, we were either in the bridge or lounge and there was usually a book being read.
We didn’t talk much and it was fine, a companionable silence.
The trip was only a couple of days and we settled into a routine that surprisingly I found I enjoyed. I was used to being by myself and now I had this kid along. I was okay with that.
But it was only for another couple days then back to normal.
I didn’t question her anymore, there was no need. Everything would be answered soon enough. Kaylia asked me a couple questions about myself; where I came from and so on. I told her. I didn’t hold anything back. I didn’t go out of my way to give all the details but if she asked, I answered truthfully.
She had given herself to my protection and she deserved to know who I was, what kind of person I was.
Why the..
Kaylia started to sign and paused, unable to figure out the right way to say what she wanted. She waved her hands to indicate the ship, reaching over and patting the back wall of the bridge.
“Why is she called Nomad’s Wind?”
She nodded.
I leaned back in my chair, looking around at the control stations with pride.
“Nomad means wanderer. And a nomad’s wind is what pushes the nomad around so they don’t stay in one place for long.”
She thought about it for a bit and nodded, satisfied with the answer. A couple seconds later she was back buried in the book.
I looked around the bridge, thinking back to the day that I had bought the ship. There had been no name picked, I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for. Just a vague idea of what I wanted to do. I’d been in the military for so long and I was ready to just roam. I saw the ship and the name just came to me, fitting what my life was going to be. A nomad, going where the wind took me.
