by T. M. Catron
Rance waited for Solaris to continue. James looked like he was about to interrupt, but she silenced him with a look.
Solaris took a deep breath. “Three months ago, I was meditating in my cell—”
“Your prison cell?”
“No, the cell at the temple. When the Galaxy Wizards aren’t on a mission, we—they—live at the Temple Station. Our quarters are small, so we call them cells.”
“What’s the temple look like?” Abel asked.
“Where is it?” James asked.
“Guys,” Rance interrupted, holding up a hand. She nodded to Solaris to finish his story.
He cleared his throat. “I was meditating in my cell and entered a deep trance, one unlike any I’d been in before or since. And I saw something.”
“What?” Harper prompted. She almost whispered the question, but her eyes were bright and inquisitive. Like everyone else, she had only heard stories of the Galaxy Wizards. Few people got a chance to question them.
Usually, the Wizards did all the questioning.
“Fire,” Solaris continued. “Consuming everything. It scared me. And when I woke from my trance, I knew I had to leave.”
Tally let out something like a snort. “I’d heard the Wizards were faithless sons of Triton, but I never heard of one being scared of anything.”
Rance glared at Tally.
“And you wouldn’t,” Solaris said, ignoring the engineer’s tone. “Fear isn’t something we’re encouraged to feel. And when I did, I knew it meant something.”
“What?” Rance asked, annoyed at the vague answers.
Solaris shrugged. “Death.”
“Whose death? Yours or ours?”
“Everybody’s.”
James broke into a grin. “Dramatic, isn’t he?”
“You’re one to talk,” Tally shot back.
Rance ignored them. “I thought the Galaxy Wizards protected us. Why wouldn’t you tell them what you’d seen?”
“Because it didn’t make sense. In my vision, the Galaxy Wizards were tied to it somehow.”
“As in, they were going to cause everybody’s deaths?”
“I don’t know, but I couldn’t take the chance. Look, I know I’m giving you the simplified answer here, but it’s all true, and if I were to go into detail about it we’d still be sitting here when we pop out of hyperspace on Ares.”
“You can’t tell us the world’s going to end and then go to bed, sunshine.”
“In this case, it’s not just a world or a planet in danger, but the galaxy. And before you ask, I don’t know from what—or whom.” Solaris ran a hand through his hair and looked at her.
Rance studied his face, looking for a crack in the facade. A signal that he was lying. So far, she had found none. “What are you going to do about it?”
“I haven’t been able to do anything about it because I’ve spent the last three months running for my life.”
“Why won’t the Galaxy Wizards let you go?”
“We’re too valuable.”
“You said you were running for your life.”
“I’m sure Orion would love to make an example of me.”
“Orion?” James asked.
“He heads up the Enforcers, a task force whose sole purpose is to clean up after the Wizards. They fly stealth ships that can’t be detected by anything. We could have one following us right now without knowing, even in hyperspace.”
Shocked, Rance half-stood. “Why didn’t you say so before?”
“Because even if they are, you can’t do anything about it. You might as well sit down, Captain.”
“This is terrible, Solaris!”
He took a deep breath. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think they are. James did some pretty great flying, and they wouldn’t have been able to see our appearance change so quickly. By the time they figured it out, it would have been too late to follow.”
Rance sat down again and glared at him. “Why didn’t you offer to change the ship’s appearance before we landed? You could have saved us a lot of trouble.”
“You wouldn’t let me speak. I was going to do it anyway and explain later, but James…” Solaris nodded to him. “That was some pretty astounding flying.”
James grinned.
“Astounding all right,” Tally said dryly.
“If they didn’t follow us, how did they find us on Doxor 5?” Rance asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“How did you change the ship and your face?” James asked.
Solaris smiled. “That’s my favorite trick. I’m better at it than anyone, even Orion. It’s a simple disruption of the electrical impulses going through your optic nerves.”
“What does that mean?”
“It creates distortion in your brain.”
“So,” Rance said slowly, “it changes how you look to us, but not how you actually look.”
Solaris beamed at her. “Correct. And the simplest changes are the easiest. Which is why I don’t change my height. I’m too tall as it is, and changing my perceived height takes more energy than just changing my face and hair.”
“And what about the energy needed to change a ship?”
“I do feel a bit drained after that one.”
“Where are you planning to go if you get away from the Enforcers?”
Solaris sighed and ran both hands through his brown hair this time. “I don’t want to lie to you any more than I already have. So I’ll tell you that keeping me on board is a poor choice—possibly the highest treason you can think of, unless you murder Emperor Arthos. It’s punishable by death. After today, I know they’re ready to kill me rather than risk me escaping again. Orion will view the Star Streaker and her crew as cleanup.”
Solaris paused to look at each crew member. “I only ask that you wait to dump me out after we reach Ares, and not while we’re still in hyperspace.”
James snorted with laughter. Tally rolled his eyes, and Harper put her head in her hands.
“We gotta work on your jokes, man,” Abel said.
Later, Rance paced up and down her tiny, quiet quarters while the rest of the crew slept. She didn’t know what to do about Solaris; helping him meant endangering her crew.
They had been in danger plenty of times before, but this time the risk was different. They’d had close calls with Unity, mostly because of Rance’s father. It was like a prolonged game of cat and mouse. Davos would get wind of her somewhere, send patrols to get her, and Rance would disappear again.
With the exception of Solaris, the current crew knew the consequences. They might get a slap on the wrist if Rance were ever caught, but no one took it seriously. The secrecy and low profile they kept as a result of Rance were something they had all agreed to. Some, like Tally and James, would never leave her, consequences or not. She had known Tally all her life, and James credited Rance for ‘making him what he was.’ At least, she had given him a chance when no one else would.
Where did that leave Solaris? The crew owed him nothing. He should leave. The Star Streaker’s crew was the only family Rance had. They wouldn’t abandon her like her mother had. And they wouldn’t force her into anything hideous like her father’s ridiculous marriage arrangement.
“We’re with you,” James had said.
Well, Rance was with them. No one gets left behind, she thought. Even face-shifting ex-Galaxy Wizards.
Was he an ex? She needed to ask him, added the question to a growing mental list. In fact, why was she pacing up and down her quarters when she could be questioning him again? She was the captain. Until they landed on Ares, Solaris was still her CO.
Rance stepped out her door and walked down the hall to Solaris' room. She tapped lightly on the metal, not wishing to wake anyone but him.
It slid open two seconds later. Solaris stood in the doorway, fully clothed and unsurprised to see her. “Captain?”
“Thought you were drained,” she said a little too caustically.
Solaris stepped out
of his room and pressed his hands to his eyes. “I had a feeling you weren’t going to let me sleep. More questions?”
“Yes.”
Now that Rance was here, though, she couldn’t remember any of them except one. “Why did you come find me on the street? You could have left me for the soldiers.”
Solaris dropped his hands and quirked an eyebrow. “You’re my ride.”
Apparently he could make a joke after all.
“Okay.” Rance motioned for him to follow her to the cockpit where she sat in her chair and rested her feet on the console. Despite its tight space, Rance found comfort in the glowing screens and wash of blue through the viewport.
Solaris sat in his own chair and spun it around to face her with his elbows resting on the armrest. “Can I ask you a question, Captain Cooper?”
“Sure.”
“Why’d you think Unity would send UDFs after you? That’s unusual for someone skipping out on a Founders’ Marriage.”
Rance cringed. She’d spent more than five years hiding, and now here she was, sitting across from a man who had spent many, many years upholding the laws of the Empire. For some reason, a twinge of guilt washed over Rance as she realized just how far from the law she had run. Would Solaris approve?
Then she remembered why they were having this conversation. Solaris was on the run, too. The thought made Rance more cheerful. Here was someone who would understand what it felt like to always look over his shoulder.
She considered how much to tell him. “My father, Davos, has been very persistent in looking for me. I thought he had made some new acquaintances.”
“Your father seems very devoted to the Founders.”
Rance rolled her eyes and swiveled back and forth in her seat. The rocking motion made her feel younger, more carefree. But her worries were real.
“You have no idea,” she said finally, staring out the window into the blue haze. She always wished the stars were visible while in hyperspace. On Rance’s first jump from Xanthes with her father, she had been disappointed. She liked watching them.
Solaris leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands. “Are you going to let me stay?”
Rance looked over at him. “I’m sure you have other places you want to go.”
“Right now, just one: wherever we’re headed that keeps me out of Unity’s sights. For now, that’s Ares.”
“After that?”
“Depends on whether you let me stick around.”
“I’m pretty puzzled as to why you’d want to. We’re a small operation. What I told you is correct. We’re basically interstellar couriers.”
Solaris stood and looked out the large window. “Nevertheless, I would like to stay if you’ll have me. I can’t think of a better way to hide, for one thing. And for another, I’d hate for you to have to look for another CO when this one was just getting settled in.”
He looked back at her, waiting for a reaction.
“Are you still a Galaxy Wizard?”
“Once a Galaxy Wizard, always one. Is that a problem?”
“I don’t know. Up until a few days ago I didn’t really believe they existed. What do they do?”
“Uphold the code.”
Rance snorted with laughter. “The code?”
“Live to die. Die to live. In us will the universe be saved.”
“What does that mean?”
Solaris shrugged. “I’ve repeated those words every day for twenty-three years. If I ever reach a level of enlightenment wherein I figure them out, I’ll let you know.”
“Has anyone ever figured them out?”
“Sure, but they’re all dead.”
Rance frowned. “Where are you from, Solaris?”
The corner of his mouth played upward in mischief, and he sat down again. “I’m from the Star Streaker—if you’ll keep me.” Then he leaned forward, all traces of amusement leaving his face. “Will you?”
On principle, Rance hesitated. Solaris was more than capable, and despite his previous career, he fit in with the crew. And she really hated to look for another CO.
Rance stood. Solaris did too.
“A trial,” Rance said. “I need to know I can trust you, and you need to decide if this is a good fit for you. I imagine the quiet life of a smuggler is less glamorous than the adventures you’re used to.”
Solaris raised an eyebrow. “A quiet life?”
Rance sniffed. “We try.”
Solaris nodded. “Yes, Captain.”
“Okay then. We’ll give it a few weeks.” The captain smiled before turning to the ladder.
“Captain,” Solaris said.
Rance paused.
“When you say quiet…”
Rance shrugged. “Everything is relative, I suppose.” Then, she winked at him and climbed out of the cockpit.
The crew spent the next few days going over every inch of the Star Streaker. James had achieved a new level of daring, and his flying stunt had spurred Tally into inspecting the entire ship. James grumbled on principle, but he loved the Streaker as much as Tally, and he was just as particular about the flight deck as Tally was about engineering.
Determined to see work done correctly, Tally began ordering people around even when they weren’t assigned to him. It was a habit born from years of managing others. The crew grumbled more, but Rance didn’t intervene, preferring to let Solaris deal with the situation.
Ever since the crew had learned of Solaris’ identity, they interacted with him as if he were a zoo specimen. Abel, not convinced Solaris hadn’t murdered his family, glared at him whenever they passed in the hall. Since the Streaker was a small ship, his behavior created many awkward moments.
James and Tally, often at odds, had united in their scrutiny of the Galaxy Wizard. Both the pilot and the Graeken mistrusted their new CO now that they knew he had lied to them. Neither would be outright disobedient, but they took orders begrudgingly from him.
“To be fair,” Solaris pointed out one day as he inspected the gun locker. Their few weapons were stored in a secret panel near engineering. “I never told you I wasn’t a Galaxy Wizard, James.”
Rance, who had just exited engineering, paused to listen.
“The captain trusted you,” James said. He was helping Solaris reorganize the locker. “You misdirected her by lying about your credentials, you lied by omission, and you’re a fugitive. It’s kind of a big deal.”
Solaris glanced at Rance. “The captain is a fugitive.”
“That’s different,” James said. “The captain is escaping tyranny and oppression.”
“She has the moral high ground.”
“Exactly. I’m glad you see things my way, Solaris.”
“You haven’t said anything for me to argue with. Not all of us can be as noble and wrongly treated as the captain.”
Rance scoffed and moved over to pretend-inspect the locker. “Is that what you think of me, Solaris?”
Solaris smiled, shrugged. “That would be a poor way to repay your kindness.”
Rance smiled.
James pointed at Solaris. “Are you always this polite?”
Solaris handed the rifle he had been cleaning to James. “No reason not to be.”
Rance took a look at the locker. The reorganization was better. She didn’t carry a weapon other than a stunner at times, but having guns on board was always a good idea. The Empire was too big to police itself, and too many pirates took advantage of small ships. There were also opportunists out there who weren’t pirates, but waited for an accident, a malfunction that would strand a crew.
And then there were the mercs. Sometimes law-abiding citizens, sometimes pirates. Always untrustworthy.
The captain wouldn’t be caught unaware.
Later that day, Rance ran into Solaris in the galley. He sat on the table, one foot propped on the bench. His staff lay extended next to him, but the CO wasn’t looking at it. Instead, he stared at the far wall as if in another world.
Rance cleared h
er throat.
Solaris shook himself and reflexively placed a hand on his staff. The movement was small, involuntary. His hand relaxed when he recognized Rance.
“Did I startle you?” she asked.
“Just thinking.”
Rance nodded at the staff. “May I?”
Solaris picked it up and handed it to Rance. It was heavier than she expected, but not so heavy as to be cumbersome. The dark metal was free from symbols or insignia. She turned it over a few times, then rested the end on the floor.
“I don’t believe it’s magic,” she said.
Solaris made eye contact with her. “What do you think it is?”
“Hallucinations?”
He laughed. “Something like that.”
“You’re not going to tell me?”
“No.”
“Even though you’re running from the Galaxy Wizards?”
“It doesn’t mean I’m ready to give up trade secrets.”
“Tell me one thing about them. Satisfy my curiosity.”
Solaris stood and held out his hand for the staff.
Rance stepped back, keeping it out of reach. “One thing.”
“Captain,” he said in an annoyed tone.
“Solaris,” she said, “one thing.”
He sighed. “It’s not hallucinations… exactly.”
“Then what is it?”
“I told you one thing, now you have to give it back.”
Reluctantly, Rance handed the staff back to him.
Solaris’ eyes squinted. “If you allow me to stay, Captain, I’ll tell you more.”
Rance moved to sit down. “That’s blackmail.”
Solaris shrugged. “Call it what you want.”
“Do you want to stay here that badly?”
Solaris looked around the galley, at the gleaming surfaces, the two benches under the table, the warm lighting. His gaze settled on Rance. “I was teasing you earlier today, about your moral high ground. You have created one of the best working environments I’ve ever seen on a ship. No small feat, especially for one so young.”
Rance smirked. “How young do you think I am?”
Solaris gave her a knowing look. “I know better than to play that game.”
“Chicken.”
“Yes. But you obviously want to be asked. How old are you?”
