by Dorian Dawes
Both the man and the woman were forced to their knees by the guards. Their heads were lifted so they were forced to stare into Ching Shih’s disapproving gaze. She drew her sword and pointed it at the man’s throat.
“What are your crimes?” she demanded icily.
“We were caught stealing from the private servers,” he confessed through tears. “You’re leading us to our deaths, you bitch! I wanted out!”
“Yes,” Ching Shih whispered, kneeling down to his level. She gripped his jaw in her hands, scraping her long fingernails across his cheek. “I am a bitch, but you weren’t stealing from me, you twit. You were stealing from her! And him! And him! And every one of your comrades.”
She stood and gestured widely. “Theft from this vessel is theft from you all. It is theft from the hardworking people who help us restock and refuel when we land on their planets. It is a violation of the systems we have put in place to ensure our survival.”
Once more she aimed the blade at his throat. “As such, I will let your crew decide your punishments. What shall it be? Shall I show mercy on one who would deign to steal from his brothers and sisters?”
She waited for their response. She knew what it would be. She’d given the same offer many times in the past, and in the past there’d always be the same response.
A sweeping cry rose from all sides. “Death! Death! Death!”
Talisha watched, mouth hanging open. A grimace formed across her face. Ching Shih ignored it. She cared little for the opinions of others.
Ching Shih raised the sword and brought it down on his neck. The sword glowed hot for a brief second as it made contact. Smoke rose from the wound and his head fell cleanly from his shoulders leaving an acrid stench.
She turned the sword on the woman next. “Do you renounce the actions of this man? I am not without mercy.”
“Just let me go,” the woman pleaded. “Don’t kill me.”
“Do you renounce him?”
“Yes! Yes! I let him talk me into it. I’m sorry.”
Ching Shih gripped the woman’s hair in her fist and yanked her face upward. She brought the sword against her throat and squinted. “That you would sell out your comrade so easily ensures that you know nothing of loyalty.”
The woman’s eyes widened in panic. She struggled against her captors in vain. “No! Please! Don’t! I didn’t—just please, don’t kill me!”
Ching Shih’s lip curled in disgust. “Die with some fucking dignity.”
The sword came down. Again, the blade burned hot and her head lopped against the ground and rolled along the deck. It sent a smear of blood across the metal surface.
“Clean this up!” Ching Shih barked to her crew. “Then prepare for battle! We have two armies to fight this day.”
While the rest of Ching Shih’s crew rushed to obey her orders, Talisha moved to confront her. “That was unnecessarily cruel.”
Ching Shih tucked her sword into her sash. “I didn’t ask for approval of my methods, bounty hunter.”
“No, but you asked for my help.”
“And that suddenly gives you the right to question my authority? It is not enough that I humble myself before you, but now you must challenge me in how I command my crew?”
“I’ve no right,” Talisha said, exasperated. “But I won’t hand over my culture to vindictive pirates. You had me believing you were about more than this.”
“You believed that all on your own. I’ve made no attempt to hide my true self from you.”
“But you wanted me to see you as desperate, as someone who needed my help.”
“And my harsh commands negate that somehow? Talisha Artul, I am who I am. Perhaps you ought to find out who you are before passing judgment, hmm?”
Talisha pressed further. “I get it. You’re doing what you have to do. So do I. I have to protect what’s important to me. I’m sorry.”
Ching Shih frowned. “Do not apologize. This is the first thing you’ve said since we met that was with absolute surety.”
“I wish your people the best.”
“You should prepare for your excursion into the temple.” Ching Shih turned her back on her.
“I understand.”
“And Talisha?”
“Yes?”
Ching Shih turned back to face her, retrieving the Valran key from her garments. “I’ve no anger over your decision, but you let me humiliate myself before you. You will pay for that someday. Pray that I do not survive this fight.”
Ching Shih clutched Talisha’s wrist and forced her hand open. She shoved the key into her fingers, then turned away. Talisha stared, mouth gaping. For the pirate queen, this had been a business transaction turned sour. The possibility of a violent confrontation would be nothing more to her than an inevitability.
Chapter Eight
PREPARATIONS WERE MADE, and battle plans were drawn. Given Talisha’s relative unease with spending any more time with the Red Fleet, she would be piloting her own ship to the Temple. She pulled up a holographic panel over her gauntlet and typed in the appropriate coordinates. The ship’s autopilot would track her down and begin charting a course in her direction.
While they waited for its arrival, Rogers turned to her, arms folded over his chest. “Is this thing battle capable?”
“Yes, but I’ve a feeling it wasn’t designed for military purposes,” Talisha said. “It’s Valran, just like my armor, so it has some of the same beam and energy-shifting technology, but really it’s built for speed. More useful for hit-and-run tactics than full-on fights.”
“Still, wondering why you didn’t call it down in our previous encounters.” Rogers shook his head. “Feels like an additional asset that might’ve saved us some headaches.”
Talisha chuckled nervously. “This ship has a bad habit of failing when flying in planetary orbit.”
“Faulty mechanics?”
“No, nothing like that. Just bad luck. Lightning storm on one planet, freak accident involving the climate on another. One time, a weird dragon monster tore a good chunk out of the wing as I made entry onto the planet’s surface. Left me stranded there for a good several weeks.”
Rogers stared. “You have seen some serious shit.”
Talisha made an ugly laugh. “You have no idea. Ship should be here in a few minutes, you should probably tell Cyrus we’re gonna head out soon. He’ll have to fly himself. No room on my ship for a wyvern.”
Rogers scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah about that.”
Her expression soured. “Oh no. What happened?”
“One of the pirates told me he flew off early this morning. Just skedaddled. Said he didn’t want any part of us anymore.”
“Oh jeez. I’m sorry to hear that.”
Rogers sighed. “Feels kinda crap, yeah. I used to see him as being kind of my id, ya know? He had control of a lot of my weapons systems that I don’t hardly use, so it feels like a piece of me just flew out without saying so much as a goodbye. Oh well, prolly for the best.”
“Maybe, but I’m here for you.” She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
“Thanks, cowgirl.”
The ship took about a half hour to arrive. It was larger and roomier than the scorpion, though clearly designed for only a small squad of passengers. It had the same faded sunset colors of amber and gold as Talisha’s armor, with many similar avian-inspired trappings along the wing tips and frontal nose area. The ship seemed to lack doors or windows. Its shape was completely smooth all across the surfaces. There was a raised bubble across the top of the ship where Rogers supposed a turret or some other form of weaponry might be stored.
He let out a pre-recorded whistle sound. “That’s a heckuva machine ya got there.”
Talisha gave a half-hearted smile. Her fingers brushed across the holographic display on her gauntlet. A whooshing sound emerged from the ship followed by a presence of steam as a panel appeared, forming seemingly organically from the ship’s left side. The panel raised
itself upward into a door and a short runway ramp slid into view.
“I’ll be cow-kicked, ain’t that something?” Rogers shook his head and made a tongue-clicking sound.
Bluebird bounded past them, hoisting her cannon onto her shoulders. She had to duck and turn to the side just to squeeze in the doorway. She turned around and stuck her head out the door and gave a thumbs-up.
“This is a fine vessel,” she called. “A bit small, though.”
“I don’t think it was meant for Karstotzkiyans,” Talisha replied with a smile.
Bluebird shrugged. “I will not hold it against them.”
They climbed into the ship to find claustrophobic quarters to the back and a few chairs near the cockpit in the front. Rogers had to wonder where the engine room or thrusters were located. He couldn’t accept that such a seemingly powerful vessel could fly without one.
Talisha hurriedly rushed across the ship, grabbing clothes and blueprints and folders that had been left scattered across the cockpit and seating area. Rogers chuckled, watching her. There were all the telltale signs that this had been a makeshift home to her for some time. He smiled, strangely pleased by her messy habits.
“Sorry. Not used to having passengers.” She bundled a pile of clothes in her arms and brushed past them to hurl the pile into her cramped quarters.
Rogers wandered over to what appeared to be an antiquated jukebox sitting in the corner. His fingers brushed across the surface. They’d had one like it in the Dover Town saloon, but it hadn’t functioned in years. This one appeared to have been kept in proper working order. Talisha slammed the bedroom door shut behind her. Rogers looked at her and jerked a thumb in the direction of the jukebox.
“Mind if you help me get this thing to work?” he asked. “Bit embarrassed to say this, but always wanted to hear one. My memory banks don’t have much access to music.”
Talisha winced visibly. “You’re not gonna like it.”
“It’s a jukebox right? They play jazz records and country and stuff.”
She crossed over to the jukebox, shaking her head. “Yeah. Stuff.”
“No stalling!” Bluebird called, leaning against the back wall of the ship. “Let us hear your joyous melodies.”
Talisha’s shoulders drooped and cringed visibly.
“Just remember,” she said, before pressing play. “You were warned.”
What followed was the heavy thud-thudding of aggressively distorted guitars and guttural wailing into a microphone. She had unfortunately neglected to lower the volume on the ship’s speakers first. That first guttural scream rattled poor Rogers, who’d had his head dangerously close to the speaker output. His entire body vibrated. He tried to scream at her to shut it off but found he couldn’t raise his voice louder than the angry din.
Bluebird’s face illuminated into immediate delight. She clenched her hands into fists and pumped at the air, making flailing motions and stomping in rhythm to the drums and distorted bass. Talisha made a quick effort to drastically lower the volume. Rogers nearly collapsed against the jukebox, keeping his hat pinned to his brow with a shaking hand.
“This music! It is for warriors! You’d fit in with Karstotzkiyan culture!” Bluebird shouted, continuing to thrash about in tune with the beat.
“I’ve heard some selections of music in films and holovids, and that most certainly is not music,” Rogers managed to pant. “What the hell was it?”
“Earth stuff. Heavy Metal. This is some really old junk though,” Talisha said sheepishly. “Helps me think.”
“How can you process thought with this racket?” Rogers said.
Bluebird grabbed him by the shoulders and swung him around in a circle. “How can you not dance to it?”
His voice came out in a distressed hiss. “Darlin’! I’d love it if you put me down!”
Talisha cut off the music. “Sorry, Rogers. You wanted to know. Bluebird, c’mon. We gotta focus.”
“Oh-ho! I am focused and ready for combat!” Bluebird deposited Rogers onto his shaky feet.
“Well, hopefully it won’t come to that,” Talisha said.
Rogers shook his head. “You can’t even understand the lyrics to that mess.”
Talisha looked at him kinda sheepishly. “Well for me, the lyrics don’t matter too much. It’s just about filling the room around me with something as angry as I am. Feels a lot better to throw it out into music than just let it stew, ya know?”
He thought about that for a moment, then chuckled. “We have very different uses for music, I guess. But I appreciate ya tellin’ me.”
Talisha made her way to the pilot seat. She sat down and moved her fingers over the Valran symbols across the touch panel. The ship hummed quietly to life and was soon shooting into the sky. It reached an altitude above the clouds in a manner of seconds. A screen appeared in front of the cockpit revealing a detailed look at the planet below. She quickly plugged in the coordinates to the Valran Temple. They were sure to reach the temple’s site before any of the approaching armies. With any luck, they’d be able to get in and get what they need before the conflict even began.
THE SHIP FLEW along at a steady pace, soaring on autopilot. It gave Talisha plenty of time to think about the trials ahead. She didn’t share Bluebird’s excitement for more battles ahead. She’d seen enough violence and bloodshed that week. She’d killed before, but she’d never put that much thought into who was at the other end of her guns. It left every other one of her missions in question.
These were survivors, refugees of a system that had destroyed their world and then abandoned them. Any violence they committed was in response for survival. She was the invader, upholding the very same corrupt laws and systems that had turned those individuals to violence in the first place. Her mother had been the same.
Talisha’s eyes widened and she groaned out loud. She swore and kicked the dashboard in front of her repeatedly in her own frustration.
“Hey.” Rogers grabbed her by the shoulder. “You okay?”
Talisha turned to him. “I think I get why Mom hung it up so suddenly. I get why she didn’t want me doing this.”
“Why’s that?”
“She figured it out,” Talisha said, staring off into the distance. “Working within the law is only right and good when the law is just. She put down rebel uprisings, dooming those planets to more decades of suffering and degradation. I’ve been just as complicit. I thought I was the hero just like she did. Really, I’m just a heavily armed destruction tourist.”
No one had a response to that. Talisha was glad. She didn’t know what she would have done if they had tried to console or contradict her in any way. She needed to focus.
They disembarked at the edge of a barren cliff overlooking a canyon. It was a gray area, utterly devoid of life. There were no visible trapezoidal structures as indicated on the scans Snidely had shown her. She almost believed for a second they were in the wrong place.
“Where is it?” Rogers asked. “I don’t see nothin’.”
“Gonna do a quick scan for any Valran technology in the area,” Talisha said. “Might give us a better read on where to touch down.”
The screen turned black for a brief second before revealing a constructed grid outline of the surface below. Sure enough there was a massive underground structure with adjacent piping and structures stretching up just beneath the planet’s surface. Closest detection to an entrance was deep within the heart of the canyon.
Talisha pointed at the screen. “All right, looks like there’s our way in. Let’s go.”
She pulled the ship lower, delving deep within the heart of the canyon. A heavy green fog covered the area, and the ship seemed to vanish beneath it. Her scanners indicated a poisonous atmosphere, harmless to the skin, but dangerous if ingested. She gave Bluebird a spare gas mask from a compartment just over the cockpit.
The ship docked in a wide-open area on the canyon floor. They stepped out into an eerie quiet. The fog was so thick down here that it
obscured even the canyon walls.
“If I hadn’t seen the scans myself,” Rogers commented. “I’d say we were in the wrong place.”
Bluebird shook her head. “Do not trust your eyes, metal-man. Feel it? This place is marked by death.”
“Gotta agree with Big Blue,” Talisha said, taking in a quick retinal scan of the surrounding area with her visor. “More important the ancient thing is, the creepier and more desolate its surroundings are gonna be. It’s like a rule or something. All right, I found it. Over here.”
She suddenly rushed forward, almost vanishing within the soup-like fog. Bluebird and Rogers had to run, switching to thermographic vision just to be able to keep track of her. She finally stopped a yard away, dropping to her knees.
“What did you find?” Bluebird stood over her.
Talisha’s fingers brushed along the ground. There were lines here visible only to the tracking technology in her visors. Her fingers traced them till she found a large enough indentation within the ground for the key.
“We’ve got it,” Talisha said. “Step back. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
She retrieved the key from her pack and shoved it smaller side down into the triangular indentation. The key turned all on its own, making an audible click. Bluebird could now see the lines for herself as they glowed and revealed a series of esoteric alien symbols in lights all along the ground. Talisha stood quickly and backed away from the key, putting protective arms in front of Bluebird and Rogers.
A rumbling was felt from deep beneath the earth. The canyon walls shook, and ancient boulders were dislodged, falling into the canyon and smashing against the rocks below. A black structure thousands of feet in height and width slowly rose from the planet’s surface, uprooting ancient vines and scraping along the sides of the canyon walls.
The structure was made up of a slick ebony material, with small traces of amber-colored grooves and inlets all across its surface. Talisha recognized the symbols as Valran, but even with her mastery of the language couldn’t place or translate them. This was completely alien to her.
