Freedom by Fire

by C P MacDonald

  “Yes, I’m sorry too,” said Gunn giving a little bow.

  “Well, now that we are all sorry, why don’t we watch the jump together? We are entering the Gateway now,” the Flyer said, pointing to the windows. Turning, Blayne could see a bright chaotic glow shimmering on the glass. Stepping up to the window, he and Gunn peered toward the front of the freighter. They could see the gigantic round structure that was the Gateway. As big as the Federation freighters were, the Gateways dwarfed the ships.

  “We will cross the event horizon in 30 seconds, you may want to sit down. For the uninitiated, the transition can be a little… disorienting,” the Flyer stated.

  Blayne tilted his head and asked, “How do you know? How close we are I mean?”

  The Flyer gestured at his head, “I am connected to the flight system, the Flyer piloting this vessel is feeding me a constant stream of data for me to analyze. As I said, I am a student Flyer.”

  The bright flashing outside the window got brighter as the event horizon swallowed the nose of the ship. Blayne and Gunn sank into chairs near the window and watched with acute interest as the glow intensified, accompanied by a roar like monstrous waves bashing themselves on rocks. The room filled with a light that became brighter until it forced them to shut their eyes. With a disorienting jerk, they felt the ship jump across the event horizon of the man-made wormhole. And then nothing. The light dissipated and there was silence. Blayne could feel a slight vibration through the soles of his feet as the ship sailed down the wormhole corridor. His and Gunn’s eyes were drawn outside the window where there was a strange new universe. Swirls of light and shadows darted around the ship and raced by at the same time. He had the uncontrollable urge to rapidly blink the more he looked; it was very confusing to look at.

  “You may not want to watch it for too long, the un-enhanced human mind can have trouble understanding what it is seeing,” the Flyer advised from behind them.

  Gunn, after staring out the window, banged the side of his head and shook it, “Confusing is right. That makes me dizzier than that time we got into the Knight’s moonshine.”

  Blayne now understood why Morgan had said ‘you see one jump you’ve seen them all.’

  Turning back to the Flyer, Blayne asked, “Do you know how long the jump is to Crorix?”

  “Of course. We will exit into the Zalore system in 3 hours and 22 minutes.”

  “3 hours? I thought the jumps were instantaneous?” Gunn asked, confused.

  “I will not go into the temporal physics of a Gateway, you would not understand it anyway. But if you consider the hundreds of light-years between the solar systems that we are traveling, by comparison, you could say it is near-instantaneous. But even in a wormhole tunnel, there is acceleration and deceleration,” the Flyer lectured flatly. “And now if you would excuse me, I need to go analyze the data being fed to me. Enjoy the rest of the flight,” the Flyer bowed, then left the lounge without waiting for their reply.

  Gunn, scratching his chin said, “That was a strange one.”

  “I bet they are all strange,” said Blayne. “I got the feeling that he was only partially paying attention to us, the jump data was probably more interesting to him than conversing with low brows like ourselves.”

  Blayne dismissed the Flyer from his mind and leaned an arm on the window. Gazing into the maelstrom outside, he let his mind drift with the chaos. He needed to get some sleep, and soon. The past few days were catching up with him, and he hadn’t had time to process it all. The loss of his world, losing his mother. And he had no clue how his Father was doing, or even if he was still alive.

  Shoving off from the window, he clapped Gunn on the shoulder as he headed out of the lounge, “I'm going to get some sleep.” There was nothing he could do until they got to Crorix. And that was only if they located the small community of his people on a planet with a population of over a billion inhabitants. People that he suspected didn’t want to be found.

  Chapter 12

  Blayne woke up to Morgan shaking his shoulder, “Wake up Blayne! Wake up! We’re here.”

  Blayne rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He barely remembered laying down, he had crashed out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

  Cadee was already up, packing her few belongings into a bag. “Hey sleepyhead, it's about time you woke up. You would have missed the entire planet.”

  Blayne sat up and rubbed his neck. It was nice to see his sister in a better mood; he was worried about how hard the death of their mother had been on her. He knew she was reeling inside. But for now, they both had to suppress their emotions and try their best to function in a less than ideal situation.

  Morgan tossed a bag to Blayne, “Here, I’ve already grabbed your stuff. I sent Gunn ahead to meet with the pirate that will shuttle us down to the planet.”

  Blayne stood up and stretched the kinks out of his body. “You let Gunn go alone?” he asked surprised. It was no secret that Morgan thought Gunn was a goof-off. Which he was most of the time, Blayne had to admit. And that was one of the reasons he had chosen Gunn as a friend.

  “For once he had a good idea. As a servant, no one is looking for him.” Morgan pointed at Cadee and Blayne, “If you two got recognized roaming around in the more populated areas of the ship, Kessen would for sure find us. Even my name may be flagged. So yes, I let Gunn go first.” But Blayne could almost see Morgan grit his teeth as he said it.

  Blayne's wristcom beeped before Gunn’s voice came over it. “I’ve found him. Come to Bay 23DF.”

  Morgan spoke up to be heard over the com, “Is it safe? No questions?”

  “Yes, it is safe. No one followed me. But as for the no questions part, you will need to bring a few extra coins,” Gunn grumbled.

  Cadee piped up, “What does he mean by ‘no questions’?”

  Blayne reassured his sister, “It’s OK, don’t worry about it. Not all the shuttles flying out of Federation ships are tracked or keep a passenger manifest. We need one of those.”

  Cadee squinted, “Oh, human smuggling. Why didn’t you say so?”

  Blayne looked at Morgan who raised an eyebrow in return. His little sister wasn’t as naïve as he thought.

  Raising the hood of their travel cloaks to hide their faces, they made their way to the docking bay. Morgan marched straight through the crowded area, but Blayne and Cadee couldn’t help but gawk at the busy bay around them. It was an organized chaos of shuttles landing and leaving, crates being loaded and unloaded, and with long lines of passengers waiting to board the passenger services down to the planet. They followed Morgan, slipping through the crowds until they caught up to Gunn at Bay 23DF.

  The pilot of the shuttle leaned against the side of the engine pod, arms crossed and a frown on his face. “It took you long enough! Two more minutes I would have left without you!” the pirate barked. Morgan walked up to the pilot, leaned down and whispered something into the man’s ear that made the pirate’s eyes go wide and he visibly gulped. He held out his hand as Morgan dropped a few silver coins into it, the clink lost in the bay's clamor.

  After the pilot climbed inside his cockpit, the rest of them strapped themselves into the seats in the cargo area.

  Cadee, adjusting her straps, asked, “Morgan, what did you say to him?”

  “That if he mentioned any word of taking passengers down to Crorix to anyone I would strap him to the hull of his own shuttle in a spacesuit and set the autopilot for the sun,” Morgan said seriously.

  “Any idea on where we need to go on Crorix?” asked Blayne. But what he really wanted to do was turn around and go home, he was already tired of being on the run. He wanted to get back home, save his father, and somehow get life back to the way it was. That thought surprised him, considering he had spent most of his life rebelling against it. But now all that was gone, his home was gone, along with everything that he had ever known. It surprised him how much he missed his old life, almost as much as he missed his mother. What he would give to be doing nothing b
ut skysurfing again with Gunn, and all he had to worry about was the Patrol catching him before he had his fun.

  “We can’t land at any of the regular Custom points of entry. This smuggler said he can get us down to a sub-level without being detected,” Morgan explained.

  From the cockpit of the shuttle, the pilot yelled back, “I’m a pirate! Smugglers are amateur wannabes.” Morgan suppressed a chuckle before continuing, “The Dart District is one of the upper sub-levels, but to my understanding, it is one of the seedier and more dangerous places on Crorix.” Morgan stopped to point at Cadee, “You, young lady, are to stick close and keep your head down. A young lady like yourself would fetch a handsome price on the black market.” Turning his finger to Blayne he added, “And the same could be said for Princes, too. Keep your blaster unlocked and your eyes on your sister, understood?”

  Blayne pulled his blaster out and checked its power levels while giving Morgan a nod.

  “I am not kidding, this place we are going is no joke. Being royalty doesn’t mean jack in the underworld.” Pointing to himself and at his Knight armor, “Even this means nothing there, I will leave it with the pilot as part of our payment. Well, except for the bracer of course,” he held up his armored forearm and popped the blaster barrels out for emphasis. “Once we land, we are nobodies. Understand?”

  The two royals nodded in agreement. The shuttle lurched underneath them as the pilot lifted off. His voice came over the speakers, “Double check your safety harnesses, we are going in unpowered so we don’t show up on sensors. We will fall like a brick and it will feel like it. And if anyone pukes back there, you clean it up yourself.”

  Chapter 13

  After what felt like an eternity to Blayne, the shuttle finally landed on the surface of Crorix. The flight down, if you could call it that, was worse than any amusement park ride, real or virtual, that Blayne had ever ridden. He had to fight to keep from getting sick by clenching his lips and swallowing constantly. Morgan, on the other hand, laid his head back in his seat and started snoring. His poor sister had turned green within the first three minutes of the flight and ended up vomiting into a bag. But he had to give her credit, she never complained out loud, not once.

  With a hiss, the loading ramp in the back of the shuttle lowered. The pirate came into the cargo area, “Everyone out, now! I can only sit here for a minute before a traffic patrol shows up. Out!” he barked, pointing down the ramp.

  Blayne led his sister out. She was still a little wobbly from the flight. Morgan followed behind them, a large blaster rifle strapped across his back. Blayne notice that the Knight, without most of his armor, seemed less than the larger-than-life character he had always viewed him as. In normal clothing, which Blayne was sure he had never seen Morgan in before, he looked like a regular man. Well, a regular man carrying a very large gun on his back. But even without his armor, anyone could tell by the way he moved he was not a man to mess with.

  Stopping at a dumpster in the alley, Cadee tossed in the bag she had gotten sick in and untangled herself from Blayne's supporting grip. “I’m OK now, really.” The edge in her voice betrayed the anger she felt at herself, as if getting airsick was a sign of weakness.

  Morgan clapped her lightly on the shoulder as he passed by to take the lead, “Don’t worry about it, darling. It’s not uncommon to get sick on a suicide drop like that, at least once.” He looked over his shoulder and gave her a reassuring grin, “You only threw up once,” he jerked a thumb at his chest, “On my first drop I threw up all the way down and for five minutes after landing. Be proud of yourself, you did good.”

  With those words of encouragement, Cadee stood up a bit straighter. Blayne was happy to see a sliver of his old sister coming back. Even if, in his opinion, she spent an exorbitant amount of time on fashion and social engagements in true princess style, she also had an inner strength and determination he did not. She was the sibling who took on the royal duties without a blink of an eye. She was the one who excelled in her studies of history and diplomacy. Unlike him, who was always looking for the next adventure, the next exciting activity that would piss off his parents.

  He checked the charge on his blaster and focused his attention back to the situation at hand. Following behind Morgan, they exited the wide alleyway the shuttle had landed in and out onto the main thoroughfare. The city’s assault on his senses halted Blayne, causing his sister to walk straight into him. Cadee craned her head and turned in circles, trying to soak in the new world around them.

  Growing up on Dunadd, Blayne was used to the wide-open plains of an agricultural world. Their Capital was the largest city on the planet, and they built it up on a mountain so as not to take up valuable crop real estate. Most towns on Dunadd were small, only meant to be functional and to support the local farmers and serfs. Blayne was used to being able to see the horizon no matter where he looked.

  But here, in the underbelly of Crorix, they were deep in the bowels of an alien land. All around them, wherever they looked, were endless mountains of metal, concrete, and flashing neon lights. A safety barrier across the street prevented foot and ground traffic from going over the edge and taking the fast way to the lower sub-levels of the city. Blayne cut across the crowded street and peered over the ledge. The world below disappeared into a maze of balconies, bridges, and pipes crisscrossing from building to building until they faded into the fog below. Looking up, he could barely see sunlight hitting the tips of the building high above. Besides the maze of bridges, cables, and pipes there were lanes and lanes of flying traffic, from sky cars to delivery drones buzzing through the city like an overcrowded hive.

  Morgan interrupted his awe, “Come on, we need to get off the streets.” Grabbing Cadee’s elbow, Blayne maneuvered her down the crowded street as she continued to look around in astonishment. Gunn, hitching his bag on his shoulder, murmured to Blayne, “Why do I have the sudden urge to get on a skyboard and fly through this maze of a city? Imagine it! It’s the TriadVerse largest obstacle course!”

  Blayne laughed with Gunn as they both made skyboard swooping motions with their hands.

  Chapter 14

  They followed Morgan through the crowded streets and walkways of the Dart District. The large rifle strapped to Morgan’s back helped part the crowd in front of him. Blayne did his best to be on the lookout for pickpockets, thieves, and hustlers in the surrounding crowd, but he also attempted to rubberneck at the city vista around him at the same time. When he looked up, it was the same everywhere, towers, skyscrapers, and flowing streams of traffic. Annoying garish advertisements for products and questionable services flashed wherever he looked. He could barely hear the traffic above over the din of the street crowd. He almost missed it when Morgan took a quick left down an even darker alley where hawkers yelled from the shadowed doorways, promising escape and relief from the dim world of Crorix. It seemed drugs, virtual escapes, sex, and every perversion under the sun could be had down here.

  Blayne kept one hand on his blaster, and the other one free to push people away who got too close. Never in a million years would he have believed a dark and filthy place like this could exist in modern society. He had grown up in sunshine and wide-open crop fields. A whiff of sewage assaulted his nose like a hammer, inciting a gag reflex. He always complained that Dunadd smelled like dirt, but now he would do anything to smell that again, to feel the warmth of the sun and the breeze blowing across the fields. When he looked up now, he couldn’t see the sky anymore.

  Beside him, the same smell must have hit Cadee’s nose because she started gagging, her stomach still sensitive from the shuttle flight.

  Distracted by his concern for Cadee, he didn’t see the grimy and stinky beggar until he stumbled into him, muttering “My apologies sir,” through cracked lips and missing teeth. The smell of his breath made Blayne jerk his head away in reflex, so he almost missed the grime encrusted hand slip in and out of his jacket pocket.

  “Hey!” yelled Blayne, but the beggar had already
disappeared into the crowd. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he felt a slip of paper. Frowning, he pulled it out and unfolded the tiny square.

  “Morgan!” he barked, waving the Knight back. “A beggar slipped this to me, what do you think it means?”

  The greasy piece of paper had only a few characters scrawled on it, “Jct 89”.

  “Hmm… Junction 89, maybe?” Morgan suggested.

  “What the hell is Junction 89?”

  Gunn offered, “I saw a map terminal about a block back.”

  “Let’s find out. Come on.” Morgan said, hitching the heavy rifle on his back into a more comfortable position as he led the way through the crowd again. It didn’t take long for them to find the terminal, Morgan looked at Blayne and jerked his head at the screen as he turned and face the crowd behind him. Blayne took a second to examine the interface and swiped up on the Map option. Immediately he wiped his hand on his jacket, everything in the Dart District was covered in a greasy grime, even the map screen had a slick film covering it. Trying to use just the tip of his index finger, he scrolled down through the listings until he reached the J’s and there it was, Junction 89. Tapping it, the map zoomed over a few blocks and a red block flashed on the screen.

  Speaking over his shoulder to the group, he said, “It’s a building a few blocks over and a level down, it shouldn’t be too hard to find. Do you want to check it out?”

  “Yes, I do. No one should know we are here, or even who you are. If this is a threat, we need to know,” Morgan grumbled.

  Blayne shrugged and offered, “Or maybe they are friends, allies you are unaware of.” He pressed his lips together in frustration and then mumbled, “We could use a few,” before they headed off through the streets.

  If Blayne thought Dart District was bad, he soon revised his opinion after they went down a level toward the location indicated by the map. Here, half the streetlights didn’t work, leaving dark pools scattered along the concrete world. Most of the businesses that lined the roads were abandoned, the doors and windows shuttered and covered in layers of graffiti. Of the businesses that were still open, Blayne was willing to bet none had the required business permits. Although the services and goods available in Dart District were surprising, the deprave and vile offers he heard here were outright shocking. A scratchy old voice rang out from one such business doorway, “Would you like your fortune read boy?” Even though he didn’t respond, the offer caused Morgan to jerk his head around and give the dark doorway a glare. The Knight quickly grabbed Blayne’s arm and pulled him along, “Gypsies!” he snapped. “I hate Gypsies. Filthy scavengers of the human race!” he snarled.