Broken Horizon

by Charles Nall

  “I wasn’t expecting anybody to look under there!” Roach said.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Snipe said. “The mutineer was damaging our hyper-drive. There was a fight. A fight he lost. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.”

  “I see,” Sharon said. “Ugh, I don’t want to go down there. But you need off this planet.” She crouched down into the crawlspace. She pulled out a flashlight and illuminated the area. She crawled toward a panel under the hyper-drive system.

  “Seems like their story checks out, from what I can tell,” Jaxon whispered to Jacob.

  Sharon called up to the people in the engine room above her. “Looks like a resistor coil is burned out! We have plenty to spare on Lynx. We’ll just need to head over there and retrieve one!”

  “Excellent,” Snipe said.

  “Can I check your computer systems real fast?” Jaxon asked Snipe.

  “No!” Rex yelled.

  “Rex, these are our guests. You need to practice being cordial. There’s a computer panel right over there on the wall that links with the entire corvette. Be my guest.”

  Jaxon nodded.

  “I’ll just see if there’s anything else that needs repairing down here while I’m here!” Sharon shouted.

  Jaxon scanned through the computer logs.

  “So, do you guys support the Resistance?” Jacob asked.

  “That depends,” Snipe said with a toothless grin.

  “Don’t worry, the Union hasn’t quite picked a side, yet.” Jacob said.

  “Epsilon needed help. We had the means to help. Your Union has to respect that,” Snipe said. “Or should I say your Interstellar Federation?”

  “Believe me, we’re not too happy about the new alliances. Still, we’ll get you patched up as soon as possible,” Jacob said.

  “Mr. Snipe?” Jaxon asked.

  “Yes?” Snipe replied.

  “Your computer logs have been wiped. I see nothing here.”

  “Part of the mutineer’s plan, I suppose, during the failed attempt to take my life,” Snipe said.

  “I thought the mutineer was damaging the hyper-drive?”

  “There was more than one, obviously,” Snipe replied.

  “I see.” Jaxon thought a moment.

  “Boss, I’m gonna go back to the bridge and see if we got a response to our message from our...” Rex looked at Jacob. “Our other friends.”

  Snipe nodded. “Go ahead.”

  Sharon shined her flashlight to a vent on the side of the crawlspace. She gasped.

  “Well, we’ll get the thrusters repaired and get that resistor coil and we’ll be on our way,” Jaxon said.

  “Excellent. The repairs shouldn’t take too long on our thruster with your help,” Snipe said.

  “First, how about you explain this?” Sharon crawled back into the engine room. She then grabbed and pulled a small girl up into the engine room. She was wearing ragged pants and a torn, brown shirt.

  The girl cowered behind Sharon and hugged her leg. She shivered from the cold and from fear.

  “Well?!” Sharon yelled.

  Snipe shrugged. “I don’t know. Honestly! It’s the first time I’ve seen her!”

  “She’s no more than four years old! How did she get into the vent access system?!” Sharon yelled.

  “A stowaway,” Snipe replied.

  “Someone put her there, she’s not strong enough to remove the grate on her own. Did you?” Sharon said.

  “Of course not! That’s ridiculous!” Snipe said.

  The girl looked up to Sharon with puppy-dog eyes.

  “What’s your name?” Sharon asked.

  The girl was silent.

  “How did you get down there?” Jaxon asked the girl.

  “This is news to me,” Snipe insisted. He started walking closer to Sharon and the child. “I don’t understand how she could have—”

  The girl squeezed Sharon’s leg tighter and pointed at Snipe.

  “Akunin,” the child said.

  “What’s that, sweetie?” Sharon asked.

  “Akunin.”

  “What does that mean?” Jacob asked.

  Jaxon thought a moment. “I think it’s Japanese. I don’t recall what it means. Why is she your corvette?”

  Snipe put his hands up. “Look, this is just as confusing for me. It has to be a stowaway.”

  “From where? Where is this ship from?”

  “I, uh, the rim,” Snipe stammered. “Look, I don’t really know what’s going on!”

  The little girl reached into a pocket and pulled out a nametag and handed it to Sharon.

  “What’s this sweetie?” Sharon looked it over. “Looks like a nametag from a uniform. ‘Kaneko.’ Who is Kaneko?”

  “Look, ma’am. I don’t know,” Snipe insisted.

  “Little girl, what’s your name?” Sharon asked again.

  The girl did not say a word and clung to Sharon’s leg.

  “I think we should take her over to Lynx. Can we get a link out to Empyrean? We need answers,” Jacob said.

  Sharon shook her head. “Not in this weather. But I agree, if this child does not belong to any of you, we will bring her with us to Empyrean and figure out where she belongs.”

  “By all means,” Snipe said.

  “Sharon, go check their thruster, see if you can fix it,” Jacob said. “I’ll take the kid back to Lynx, if she’ll let me. Hayes, stay with Sharon. Keep an eye on our friends. Jacob, with me.”

  Jaxon walked over to the girl.

  “It’s okay, little one,” Sharon said. “He’s a friend.”

  Jaxon picked up the little girl. She did not resist. She pointed at Snipe again. “Akunin.”

  “Yeah, yeah, okay,” Jaxon said.

  Jacob and Jaxon made their way back to Lynx. They covered the little girl with a spare coat they found on the crashed corvette.

  “Something isn’t right here,” Jacob said.

  “Tell me about it,” Jaxon replied.

  Sharon climbed up the side of the corvette in the cold. She looked over the thruster. “I’m not sure if I can fix this without any tools. Some of the plates are busted off.”

  “But it is repairable?” Hayes asked.

  “Yeah, can you go ask them for some tools?”

  “Yeah, be right back, I saw some just inside.”

  “Sooner we get this fixed, the sooner we get out of here, this place give me the creeps.”

  “Oh yeah.”

  Jaxon and Jacob entered into the bridge of Lynx.

  “What’s up?” Arnold asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Jaxon said. “Think we can get a link off?”

  “No, not in this storm.”

  “I almost want to abandon them, but I have no way to disprove their story.” Jaxon put the small child down onto the bridge.

  “Who’s this?” Arnold asked.

  The little girl hugged Jaxon’s leg.

  “I don’t know,” Jaxon replied. “We don’t have NEP access either do we?”

  “Hell no.” Arnold laughed.

  “Check our hard drive. Any data on the Sunrise?”

  Arnold tapped on the console. “No.”

  “Any data on the Swan?”

  “Also no.”

  “Damn,” Jaxon said.

  Arnold shrugged. “It’s just pulling information from our local hard drives, it won’t be much data. It would have to be something somewhat important in order to be saved on these drives.”

  “Do a search for...” Jaxon thought a moment. “Kaneko.”

  “Hayes? You back yet? Hayes? Damn,” Sharon cursed. She climbed down the side of the corvette. “Hayes?”

  She turned the corner. The body of Hayes was face down in the ice next to the access ramp.

  “Shit.”

  A hand went over her mouth.

  “I got something,” Arnold said. “It’s not much. Kaneko was part of a crew that recently left the Confederates. He joined the Free Epsilon Militia with some o
ther people. That’s all I have.”

  “Why was a member of the Free Epsilon Militia on that corvette?” Jaxon asked.

  “I don’t think this corvette is from the rim, it’s from Epsilon,” Jacob said.

  Arnold sighed. “Shit, that means...”

  “It’s going to the rim,” Jaxon said. “We’re dealing with pirates. Shit. They must have overpowered the crew and stole the ship!”

  “That still doesn’t explain much,” Jacob said.

  “I know. Arnold, plot a course from the rim. Assuming a hyper-drive failure in the general area, tell me what the crash pattern would appear like,” Jaxon said.

  The girl still clutched onto Jaxon’s leg.

  “I’ll get a rough estimate, one second. From the spin of the world and the last known hyperspace data...”

  “And do another one from Epsilon,” Jaxon said. “Compare it to how the crashed ship looks currently.”

  “Mia,” the girl said.

  “Mia?” Jaxon looked down at the small child. “Is that your name?” Jaxon pointed at his chest. “Jaxon.” He then pointed at the little girl.

  “Mia,” she replied.

  “Hello, little Mia. Can you understand me?”

  The girl pointed toward the other corvette. “Akunin.” The girl frowned.

  “Arnold... can you translate this through our computer systems?” Jaxon asked.

  “Sure,” Arnold said. “Translating... Oh, and the crash fits the profile of a journey from Epsilon 73% more than a crash from the rim.”

  Jaxon groaned. “I had a feeling that was the case.”

  Arnold studied his console. “Looks like she’s saying... ‘Bad man’”

  “Bad man. She was trying to warn us,” Jaxon said. “Arnold, scan the kanji on that corvette. What does it say?”

  “According to this, ‘Swan.’”

  “I knew it.”

  “Sharon is still over there. We need to go,” Jacob said.

  “I’ll come too,” Arnold said.

  “Watch Mia. We’ll be back,” Jaxon said.

  Arnold shrugged. “Alright.”

  Jacob and Jaxon made their way back to the crashed ship. They couldn’t find Sharon but they did find the frozen body of Hayes outside the corvette.

  Jaxon frowned. “Shit.”

  “Sharon!” Jacob yelled.

  “Be quiet, Jake.” Jaxon pulled out his sidearm. “Come on, let’s go.”

  They both climbed up the ramp into the loading bay. A large amount of heat was now emanating from the open bay. The snow and ice near the ramp was turning to slush.

  Jacob retrieved his sidearm from his hip.

  Jacob and Jaxon snuck into the bay. Their eyes darted around. Chains rattled from the ceiling. A large wooden crate was precariously hanging from a few chains above the bay. They heard a muffled cry. They turned the corner around a large box and found Sharon tied to a chair with tape over her mouth. Two other empty chairs were next to hers. A coil of rope and a roll of tape were lying on the ground next to the chairs. Jacob ran over to Sharon and removed the tape.

  “No! Get out of here!” she yelled.

  “Stay where you are,” Snipe said from behind them. Rex and Snipe were carrying automatic rifles. Roach cowered behind them.

  “Your bitch killed your guard,” Snipe snarled. “What sort of trick is this? What are you trying to accomplish?”

  “You killed him!” Sharon yelled.

  “I did not. The poor man was stabbed in the back,” Snipe said.

  “Give us the murder weapon and we’ll check it for prints. We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Jacob said.

  “Getting prints won’t help. First off, it’s cold outside. She’s wearing gloves. Secondly, the murder weapon is right over there,” Snipe pointed at a puddle on the ground. “It was a sharp chunk of ice. She did it, though. Believe us.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Jacob said.

  Snipe chuckled. “Fine. You can have her. That marine wasn’t one of ours. Gather the supplies we need to get off this rock and then leave us. But first, truce.”

  “Truce?” Jaxon said.

  “Drop your weapons.”

  “I don’t see how that’s a truce,” Jacob said.

  “She killed someone!” Snipe shouted. “I’m terrified of each and every one of you Union pigs!”

  Jaxon dropped his sidearm to the floor. “Do as they say.”

  “Alright.” Jacob dropped his sidearm.

  Snipe smirked. “Tie them both up. Sharon, is it? Help us fix our ship. If you don’t, we’ll put bullet holes in these two men.”

  “Quite the truce,” Jacob said sarcastically.

  Roach and Rex began tying Jacob and Jaxon up on the other two chairs.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Snipe said. “Instead of stealing one corvette... how about two?”

  “This one was even easier than the last one!” Rex said triumphantly.

  “Yes, Rex, but you didn’t have to kill the marine.”

  “He looked at me funny!” Rex yelled.

  “Everyone looks at you funny, Rex. You’re ugly.”

  Rex grumbled to himself.

  “Pirates? Yeah, I figured as much,” Jaxon said.

  “Pirate is an archaic word. We’re Wraiths,” Snipe said. “We’re damn good at acquiring what we want. When a government is destabilizing it’s a perfect time to orchestrate the perfect crime. We pretended to be refugees on Epsilon. This ship had recently defected from the Confederation and was taking the refugees somewhere safe. Well, that was the idea anyways. The majority of the people on this ship were weak. We easily took over this ship. We kept a few alive, those with some skills we could maybe sell into slavery on Delphi Prime. We kept the little girl, too. Little girls are high dollar.”

  “You are sick,” Sharon said.

  “It keeps food on the table. Is it any less barbaric than your ships of war? Please. I don’t need a lesson on morality from the likes of you.”

  Mia pointed at the crashed corvette on the viewscreen.

  “Yes?” Arnold said.

  Mia looked distraught. “Akunin.” She started to cry.

  Arnold sighed. “You know what? You’re right.”

  “When we crashed we had to lighten the load,” Snipe said. “Just in case someone else detected our signal before the Wraiths did. We buried their bodies in the ice not too far from here.”

  “What happened to your drive?” Jaxon asked.

  “Captain Kaneko, who had been cooperating for the most part, disabled it. He was hoping the sudden jolt of exiting hyperspace would allow his friends to overpower us. Luckily, Rex here caught him in the act. Rex beat the shit out of him. You should have seen it.” Snipe laughed. “He bled everywhere. Man, it was hard to clean up. Although we still dropped out of hyperspace, we had enough of a warning to stop them. Apparently, before Kaneko destroyed the drive he stashed his daughter in the crawlspace. Stupid little bitch. No wonder we couldn’t find her. Anyways, thanks for your help. Two ships are much better than one.”

  Suddenly, the loading bay was plunged into darkness. The occasional lightning flash from outside the bay was the only thing that lit up the room.

  Snipe growled at Roach, “What’s wrong with the reactor?”

  “I don’t know, boss,” Roach replied.

  “Then go find out!” Snipe tossed a flashlight to Roach.

  Roach stumbled away.

  Rex pulled out a flashlight of his own and darted it around the room. He began patrolling around the area.

  “Is there another one of you?” Snipe asked.

  “Of course not!” Jaxon said.

  Suddenly, the crate that was suspended crashed onto the bay floor. Splinters of the crate sliced into Rex’s face. Rex stumbled backwards onto the ground. The flashlight landed on the ground and shined toward Snipe.

  A gunshot rang out.

  Snipe stumbled backward, clutching his arm. He raised the rifle in one hand and fired toward the upper catwalk. An
other gunshot echoed in the bay and Snipe fell limp onto the ground.

  Arnold swung down one of the chains onto the bay.

  “You guys getting in trouble without me?” Arnold began untying the three prisoners.

  “Thank god!” Sharon exclaimed.

  “Let’s go!” Arnold exclaimed after his friends were free.

  Arnold, Jacob, Sharon, and Jaxon began their escape. They grabbed the weapons that were still lying on the floor. They had to dodge pieces of the shattered crate on the floor as they made their way to the exit. The four moved as fast as they could down the access ramp.

  Rex pulled himself up. He was bleeding profusely from the face. He wiped blood from his eyes. “Boss? Boss?”

  Rex could barely see, but he saw the four friends escaping the corvette. “You aren’t getting away!” he yelled.

  The four friends started trudging across the slush. Rex began firing at them with his rifle from the top of the ramp. The bullets danced along the frozen ground. They heard what sounded like a crackling of thunder, but it didn’t come from the sky—it came from beneath them.

  “Go! Go!” Jaxon yelled.

  They ran up the ramp into the loading bay of Lynx.

  Rex continued pursuing them. He ran along the unstable ground and fired upon them.

  The ice began to crumble and started collapsing under Swan.

  Rex panicked. He wasn’t quite close enough to Lynx. He turned to look at the corvette they had stolen. It was gone. It must have fallen into the ice. Suddenly, the ice crumbled beneath him.

  The ice continued collapsing toward Lynx.

  Sharon gasped.

  “Get me off this planet!” yelled Roach in the center of the loading bay.

  Roach held a sidearm to Mia’s head. She was sobbing.

  “Don’t move!” Roach yelled.

  “Calm down, Roach. Calm down...” Jaxon said.

  “I am calm!”

  “Well, I do need to get to the bridge to start the thrusters,” Arnold pointed out.

  “Go then! Everyone else stay!”

  Mia continued to wail.

  “Shut up! Shut up!” Roach yelled as he continued to press the weapon to Mia’s head.

  Jacob looked behind him. The frozen ground continued to plummet with sounds of shattering and scraping. A huge pit was opening behind Lynx. The edge of the pit was approaching the corvette. The collapse did appear to be slowing down.

  “Just let her go,” Sharon said.