Bartoc Secret

by Clara Woods

  “Not an excuse, my dear.” Martello sat down at the table, looking deeply troubled. He waved his hand at Uz. “Go ahead, serve that tea, but I don’t think I want any.”

  Looking stunned, Uz turned to prepare the beverages for the others.

  “Let me help you.” Lorka joined her at the counter.

  She just nodded, handing him the cups of cold water. Lorka closed his eyes, and Lenah saw him use warp magic to heat the water. A moment later, he handed back the steaming mug. Uz froze for a moment, looking wistfully down at the water, then started to fill them with the tea leaves. Uz gave the first one to Lenah, who sat down at the table next to Martello and took a grateful sip. With some Marches tea, she felt almost ready for anything. Lenah took a deep breath and told them everything that had happened during the battle.

  “And Regilus?” Persia asked when Lenah had finished.

  Lenah shook her head. “The ships were all empty.”

  “He once gave me a prize,” Persia muttered. “When I won a local gladiator tournament on Arcadia. He was very handsome, not as handsome as Martius Buntus, of course…”

  Lenah set her cup down with a clunk. “Can’t you think of anything else other than flirting these days? Persia, people died!” She made to get up, but Martello grasped her arm to keep her in her seat. She turned to him to tell him to let go when a knock sounded from the cargo hold.

  “Did you hear that?” Lenah asked.

  Cassius nodded. “Are you expecting someone?”

  “No. I was told that we’d be able to leave once the danger is over.”

  “Oh, stars, you don’t think there’s another attack?” Uz set down her own cup with a loud clank. Some tea spilled out. “Lenah, maybe they are attacking again!”

  “Stars,” Lenah jumped up, and this time, Martello let her go. She sprinted down the corridor and through the cargo hold. Cassius caught up to her and hit the open button. “It’s Corinna,” he told her just as the hatch swung open.

  It was indeed Corinna, still wearing her Cheung fighting suit. Her top bun was slightly lopsided and her makeup a little smeared.

  “What happened?” Lenah asked without preamble.

  “Inside.” Corinna stepped into the ship and strode ahead into the common room.

  Lenah followed. She tried to calm herself. If another attack were happening, Corinna would not have taken her to the common room but straight back into battle. It was something else.

  “Some are coming back from Saltoc,” Corinna said once everyone had assembled in the common room.

  Silence.

  “What do you mean, coming back?” Lenah finally asked. “No one can. That’s what Thuat Jones told us.”

  “Well, they are doing it. In and out, as if there was no barrier. Buntus thinks it’s the sheer numbers they have. Saltoc’s force field—or whatever they have—can’t hold back infinite numbers. A small group is coming. But that’s not the main news. A huge army of Cava Dara has been detected on course to Arcadia.”

  Martello inhaled sharply. “Aren’t we going there then, girl? What are we doing sitting around here?”

  Corinna shot him an annoyed look, then calmly answered. “The center of humanity is being attacked. Of course, we’re going. We’re onboard the ship that’s going. There’s nothing to do until we get there.”

  Lenah took a shaky breath. “Any news from the surface of Juan’s World?” She thought of the friendly Thuat Jones and his wife Akimi.

  “Thuat has—”

  A sudden crash sounded in the corridor.

  “Did you bring someone, Corinna?” Persia sounded perplexed.

  Lenah, however, who knew that Corinna had been alone, exchanged a glance with Cassius.

  7 Of Hatches Gone

  Lenah was first to the door with Cassius right behind her. He pushed Lenah to the side. Martello jumped up with a speed and agility that defied his age. He was holding a gun. Had he been armed all this time? Lenah hadn’t even seen it. Cassius jerked at the hatch, making a shooing motion to Lenah. He sprinted out.

  Ignoring his command, Lenah ran after him.

  Three newcomers were disentangling themselves close to the cargo hold. Lenah stopped dead in her tracks.

  All three Cassidians wore blue robes. Librarians, preachers of the Old Ways of Cassidia.

  Wise Ralika’s eyes, burning with hatred, found Lenah’s. “I have come to deliver you to your destiny,” she said coldly.

  Cassius leaped toward her. In the last moment when he was just about to reach her, all three Cassidians vanished, then reappeared a couple of meters back. Cassius adjusted quickly and jumped after them. He vanished and Lenah heard cursing from the cockpit behind her.

  Corinna came sprinting out of the common room, and the bright fire of her laser gun almost blinded Lenah. Cassius burst through the hatch of the cockpit and launched himself toward the Cassidians with stoic determination. They stood calmly, protecting themselves behind a warp bubble from Corinna’s fire and, once more, wrapped another one around Cassius. He vanished, only to come running out of the cockpit a heartbeat later.

  Wise Ralika smiled, a cold and patronizing expression that didn’t look good on her. She flicked a hand at Martello, who had joined Corinna with his laser gun, and he vanished as well. Lenah expected him to come running out of the cockpit behind Cassius, but she heard his faint curses from the other direction, from the cargo hold behind the Cassidians.

  Lenah surveyed the area, trying to think what she could do that wasn’t feeble and would end in her and Corinna’s death. These creatures were powerful warp mages, and the rings that protected them against mind magic shimmered on their fingers. She felt helpless. How had the Cassidians even gotten in here when Lenah and her crew had done their best to keep the Star Rambler as changed as possible? Lenah noticed a fallen painting that had tumbled to the floor near the Cassidian’s feet where she had punched the wall earlier. Lenah almost laughed at the irony.

  Wise Ralika’s gaze broke from hers, and the Cassidian’s eyes took on an absent look.

  Shaking herself out of her stupor, Lenah followed Cassius who had just sprinted out of the cockpit again. She channeled all her anger and willed herself to reach—to injure—the intruders. Within the blink of an eye, she fell and hit her knee painfully against the copilot’s seat. Lenah hadn’t even felt the warp bubble wrapping itself around her. She jumped up immediately, only to knock her head painfully into something hard. It took her a moment’s confusion to realize that it had been Cassius’s head. He had already moved away, and Lenah made to follow him, though her confusion was amassing. Why hadn’t the Cassidians killed her? Why warp her away to gain a few seconds? But she ran behind Cassius, nonetheless, aiming straight for Wise Ralika.

  The Star Rambler lurched, and rainbow colors became visible outside the front view screen. A warp bubble?

  “No!” Lenah yelled, sure that they would be taken to Cassidia. Wise Ralika had come to finish what she had started a few days ago.

  The colors of the bubble vanished quickly. Too quickly to be warped all the way to Cassidia. She hovered in the hatch for a moment, staring at the outside where black space had replaced the colorful swirls. Maybe the Rambler was in low orbit around Cassidia, about to be attacked by Cassidian ships.

  Staring straight at Wise Ralika, Lenah channeled all her frustration, fear, and grief at the Cassidian. “You won’t warp me away,” she hissed between clenched teeth and then sprinted down the corridor. Deep inside, Lenah’s rational brain told her that this was not a clever path of action, that she was exhibiting irrational behavior. But she somehow got closer than ever to them and could almost touch those blue robes.

  Next thing Lenah knew, she connected painfully with the wall. She knocked her head once more, pain exploding behind her eyes. Instead of confronting the Cassidians, she’d run herself into the wall.

  Something screeched, and Lenah groaned, unable to pick herself up from the floor.

  “Where are they?” Persia hissed, and
Lenah opened her eyes. Persia was sitting next to her. “They’re gone!”

  The screeching intensified, and Lenah wondered if it was only in her head, but then a loud crack sounded, followed by silence.

  Cassius, who had stopped in the middle of the corridor, ran toward the cargo hold.

  The Star Rambler rocked, hard, and an emergency alarm beeped to life.

  Lenah bit her lip as she tried to ignore the pain in her head and got up. She jogged to the cockpit as the ship shuddered, then dipped. “We’re under fire!” Lenah shouted and doubled her speed. Cassidia or not, they needed to get out of here. “Lorka, you—” she yelled, but broke off when she slid into the pilot’s seat and saw what they were facing. It wasn’t Cassidian ships at all.

  All around the Star Rambler, Lenah could see the gray bodies of Muha Dara illuminated by laser fire. The ship’s shields were already depleted, alarms blinking to indicate a hull breach close to the engine room. In the background hung a giant wall, stretching Lenah’s full field of vision. It was made of multiple hexagonal shapes, many flickering in and out of existence. The laser fire was coming from the wall, even though Lenah couldn’t see a single ship. It was the wall itself that was firing.

  “Lorka!” Lenah yelled once more, in desperation now. “Warp us away!”

  Uz came running into the cockpit. She gasped, then turned. “Lorka!” She yelled.

  Lenah grasped the flight stick, trying to get an overview of the situation. She needed to get them out of the line of fire before handling any Muha Dara. Another alarm started beeping, this one from the cargo hold. Was that…? Was the hatch gone?

  “Lenah! They’re in here!” Corinna’s yell confirmed Lenah’s worst fear. No time to get out first. She closed her eyes, opening her inner view to all the presences on the ship. Dozens of cloudy wisps were inside already, crossing the cargo hold. Lenah felt Corinna target the ones closest to them. Lenah sent her own magic further outward, to the masses that were trying to get on board. There were so many. There were thousands, all seemingly focused on the only living beings around. Lenah almost lost control of her power when she heard Uz shrieking. “Lorka, no! No bubble, we don’t have a hatch!”

  Realizing that Uz was right, that the ship couldn’t warp safely without a complete shell of c-nano, Lenah doubled her efforts on the Muha Dara. She sent the clearest images she could come up with of Muha Dara flying through black space, then attacking each other, not the spaceship they were heading for.

  “Move over.” Someone nudged her in the shoulder. Too concentrated on her own task, Lenah let herself be moved, then fully focused back on the Muha Dara. Corinna had joined her outside now, targeting areas in a wide circle around them.

  Lenah’s concentration finally broke when the Star Rambler tipped sharply downward. She opened her eyes, her hands going automatically forward to grab the flight stick.

  They came back empty. Lenah focused, realizing that she was sitting in the copilot’s chair. Next to her were Persia and Uz, Persia’s hand clutching the flight stick and trying to pull the Rambler back into a steady course.

  “Softly now, don’t make any rocky movements,” Uz said. “We’re in a hurry, but that won’t help.”

  “I’m trying,” Persia pressed through clenched lips. “It’s not working.”

  “Now, look at the altimeter. And keep the ship steady,” Uz said in a warning voice as the Rambler tilted sideways.

  Persia didn’t answer.

  “Let me,” Lenah interjected. She reached out her hands to wrap them around Persia’s on the flight stick. Gently, she moved them and then pressed the brakes. The ship felt hard to control as if all the extra weight and the hull breach had impacted its ability to fly. It kept rocking for long seconds, until finally evening out somewhat.

  Deciding that was good enough, Lenah let go of Persia’s hands and closed her eyes again. It seemed that the Muha Dara’s numbers had doubled in the short time she’d flown the ship. Lenah saw Corinna’s power out there, reaching hundreds, but there were so many more, so Lenah pulled her power back.

  She imagined it in a room, then pushed it out through a door and toward Corinna. She held there, resisting the temptation to use any power for herself or even check what Corinna was doing with it. Time became fluid until her power surged back toward Lenah. She allowed herself to open her senses. She only saw sentient presences around them, not a single Muha Dara.

  Lenah snapped her eyes open to find Persia still at the piloting station. She was sweating, her tongue flicking out between her lips. The flight stick was trembling vigorously in her hands, and the ship rocked hard. At least it was dark around, no more laser actively shooting at them. Lenah squinted. The hexagonal wall was gone, replaced by the far stretches of empty space.

  “I’m back,” Lenah said, and Persia immediately moved sideways to let her take control of the Star Rambler. Lenah instantly felt it wasn’t Persia’s fault for not being a trained pilot. The ship was continually dipping, forcing her to adjust constantly. Red alarms blinked from the cargo hold and the engine room. The engine itself was at sixty-one percent power.

  “Lenah, where are we?” Uz said. Lenah followed her gaze onto the screen that gave their coordinates. She gasped, unable to say anything.

  In a trembling voice, Uz asked, “Are we in the Saltoc sector?”

  Numbly, Lenah nodded. She cleared her throat and refreshed the screen. “That’s what it’s showing, but that must be wrong. How could we have gotten here?” The screen refreshed, but it still showed the same improbable coordinates.

  “They must have warped us here,” Persia said in a voice as shaky as Uz’s. She sat up straighter in the copilot’s seat, grabbing onto the controls of the rear laser the Star Rambler possessed.

  Lenah activated the comm, sending a message to the King Arthur. Nothing. To Juan’s World. Nothing. Finally, to her father, but it wouldn’t go through.

  “That was their plan.” Sadness crept into Uz’s voice.

  “What?” Lenah and Persia said at the same time.

  “They brought us here, so either the Muha Dara or the Bartoc defenses would finish us off.”

  “Delivering us to our destiny,” Lenah murmured. “That’s what Wise Ralika said.”

  “This is what she meant.” Persia groaned. “Deliver us to where the Muha Dara were going so we’d get swallowed up in sheer numbers.”

  “She’ll be so pissed when she realizes that we’re still alive.” Uz sounded triumphant now.

  Lenah let out a breath. “It would be better if she never finds out that we’re still alive.”

  Cassius stuck his head inside the cockpit. “Is granddad here?”

  Lenah turned to face him. “He’s not with you? I haven’t seen him since he was warped away by the Cassidians. Stars…” she broke off.

  “What?” Cassius barked.

  “I think I last heard him cursing in the cargo hold.”

  Cassius moved instantly.

  “Cassius!” Lenah yelled after him. “You can’t go there. It’s not pressurized.”

  “Then what?” Cassius whirled around.

  “We’ll figure it out.” But Lenah realized herself how hollow those words where. If Martello had been caught with all the Muha Dara inside the cargo hold…It may even have been her who controlled him to attack one of his new comrades.

  Lenah swallowed through the giant lump in her throat. She pressed the comm button for the internal speakers in the cargo hold and the engine room. “Martello, are you there?”

  To keep her fingers busy, Lenah turned on the cameras in both rooms. The cargo hold showed a floating graveyard of crumbled limbs and torsos. The camera in the engine room didn’t turn on.

  Cassius had moved behind Lenah and the back of her seat crunched as he grabbed it hard. Seconds ticked by in which neither of them spoke. Lenah didn’t know what to say. Cassius had overcome so many obstacles to get his grandfather back. He seemed the one family member who had his full loyalty.

  “
I’m here.” Martello croaked through the heavy silence. Lenah turned, elated.

  Cassius met her eyes briefly, then bent toward the comm button himself. “Granddad, where the stars are you?”

  “Engine room,” came the creaky response. “Had to bolt myself in here when those creatures ripped away our hatch. Luckily, they were not coming for me. If they’re gone, I’d very much appreciate a rescue followed by a stiff drink and a pretty woman. Not necessarily in that order. It’s awfully hot in here, and the engine is not looking so good.”

  “What’s wrong with it?” Uz stepped out of the corner.

  “You’re the engineer. I’m just and old man, needing to get out of here.”

  “We’re coming,” Cassius told him, then grinned down at Lenah. “That old man.” He shook his head. “He’s unkillable.”

  Lenah nodded absently, already thinking of how they would get to the engine room. None of them was wearing a full spacesuit, not even Corinna whose company made lightweight suits that could be worn in space. All the other suits—what they had left of them after their adventure inside Asteroid 14.666’s prison mine—were securely stowed in a shelving unit inside the cargo hold.

  8 Wise Ralika’s Plan

  “What?” Cassius asked, his grin faltering. “Stars, they are all…”

  “Inside the locker in the cargo hold.” Lenah finished the sentence for him.

  They stared at each other.

  “Maybe Lorka can walk over inside a warp bubble?” Uz asked.

  “That’s a great idea!” Hope flooded back inside Lenah.

  “Lorka!” Cassius went through the hatch first, and Lenah, after a careful glance at the empty space around them, followed suit.

  She found them in the common room.

  “You have to, Lorka.” Cassius’s voice shook from the tension.

  “It’s too dangerous, Cassius.” The young mage shook his head. “It’s space, and this can only be done somewhere with gravity. I can’t anchor us onto anything out there.”

  “You move spaceships without an anchor, don’t you?” But the fight seemed to have left Cassius.