Bartoc Secret

by Clara Woods

  “Thanks,” Lenah said, but Martello shoved her gun back into her hand. Lenah deposited Zyrakath and joined Martello at the front again. He was pressed against the wall, every few seconds leaning out and shooting.

  Lenah imitated him, and when the outside came into view, it was a messy blur with Cassius at its center, jumping everywhere and trying not to present a target, felling as many creatures as possible with the swinging of his arm.

  When he landed on the construct’s roof, Lenah bent fully around, shooting a constant stream of laser into the remaining aliens. A high-pitched hissing was audible in the distance, and as one, the creatures froze.

  Cassius, not losing a second, jumped down from the roof, his hand pulling at the hook above the hatch. It hissed open, and he vanished inside. Lenah, seeing their opportunity, jumped out once more and started to shoot at the group. They still hadn’t moved.

  She shot five of them when their stupor ceased as suddenly as it had started, and Lenah found herself surrounded. She spun, trying to find a way out, but a solid wall of aliens surrounded her.

  She saw Martello peek out, then aim his gun right at her. Lenah froze, worried that if she moved, he’d hit her. She felt the fire of his laser, then a sharp hiss right behind her ears. He instantly changed aim, and Lenah, trying not to move more than her arms, aimed her gun forward, sending blasts of laser forward, while Martello was covering behind.

  Their construct squeaked, then tilted sideways. More aliens had arrived and seemed to have decided that brute force was the better tactic over using their shooting contraptions. They were climbing the roof, and under their combined weight, the construct’s legs bent. Lenah swallowed, seeing how many there were.

  Martello skidded next to her on the ground, pulling Zyrakath out with him. Doctor Lund appeared right after him, shoving at one alien who was at the hatch trying to grab another knife from its pouch. Lenah shifted aim and shot before it could so much as touch the hilt.

  The ground shook under their feet, and the hisses grew excited. Several adversaries turned their heads, presenting easy targets. Lenah tried to see what they were looking at, but a group of three appeared right next to her, poking their knives at her chest. Lenah leaped sideways, then tried to catch herself, stumbling. She lost balance, only to be caught mid-fall by a c-nano hand. It closed around her arm, then yanked her up and toward the hatch of the second construct. Cassius dumped her next to him, then jumped down onto the ground where his grandfather, Zyr, and Doctor Lund were fighting and felling many but being swallowed up under the sheer masses. The ground trembled harder, and Lenah gasped as she saw an even larger group approach on pounding feet.

  “Let’s go!” she yelled, trying to shoot a pathway toward her position for the others. Doctor Lund was the only one who seemed to have heard her because he flung himself in Lenah’s direction. She caught him, and he crawled into the machine behind her. When she turned again, Cassius was there, carrying both Zyr and his grandfather. He shoved Lenah inside, and she crawled back as fast as she could, passing an unconscious Corinna on the floor and joining Doctor Lund at the control station.

  “Zyr, Zyr!” Doctor Lund yelled; his voice shaky.

  Lenah grasped the hooks and pulled the thrust, but nothing happened.

  Zyrakath suddenly appeared, half-flying, half-walking. “Out of the way,” he hissed. “We need to program manual mode.” He crashed into the console on shaky wings. Lenah grabbed the drone and held him in place. The fact that he didn’t comment, but instead, leaned over the console in concentration, told her of his urgency. “Up, left,” he told her after pulling some smaller hooks marked with symbols.

  Lenah complied, and Zyrakath activated a screen. He typed something on the strangest keyboard Lenah had ever seen. It was like a ring, where he hooked in both his short arms, and then moved around. The shapes he made were mirrored on the screen. Lenah wasn’t sure if it was writing, letters, or just specific shapes.

  Now that she thought about it, she didn’t remember if the Bartoc had any kind of alphabet or writing in their language.

  “There we go. Done,” Zyrakath said.

  Lenah set him down carefully, then grabbed the hooks again. The hissing from outside was as loud as ever and accompanied by scratching and wedging sounds from the hatch that someone had closed.

  “Lund, I need you at the stinger.”

  The doctor crawled closer.

  “Ouch!” Zyrakath yelled when Lund missed him on the floor and almost sat on top of Zyr.

  “Sorry,” Doctor Lund said, then leaned in and grasped the hook to operate the stinger.

  Lenah pushed the construct to full speed, and they jumped forward. Multiple hisses rose in intensity and then fell away. Lenah saw that they were gaining distance. But several aliens had climbed their roof and were successfully holding on. Light shone through the corridor as Cassius opened the hatch, then his and Martello’s laser fire flickered behind Lenah.

  Lenah gazed at Doctor Lund’s screen, following how he brought the stinger around, then let it scrape against the construct’s backside. Several aliens fell.

  They dipped low, and Lenah struggled to keep the construct upright. She peered at their screen. Darker shaded areas littered the ground, and by the feel of it, that meant dips and holes. She walked them out of the dip carefully. Cassius pulled himself up on the roof, his heavy boots thumping loudly over their heads. Hisses sounded, followed by more thumps. With her inner eye, Lenah saw that not a single alien was left on their roof. Cassius reappeared and closed the hatch. He crawled through the corridor and knelt next to Corinna just as Lenah picked up speed again, carefully maneuvering around any dips in the terrain.

  “How is she?” she asked Cassius over her shoulder.

  “Just unconscious,” came his instant answer.

  Lenah let go of a breath. “Thank the stars.”

  “The human female was lucky. Your bodies are fragile when thrown through the air, and she connected hard with the ground,” Zyrakath said from below Lenah.

  “Thanks, Zyr, for that adequate summary of our short-comings.” But Lenah couldn’t hide a grin. “Have you read about these aliens?”

  “I have not,” he answered. “The documentation about the Saltoc’s worlds is random at best. Most we know about the Bartoc themselves is they venture out of their sector every now and then. But there is almost nothing about the races they subdued on their worlds.”

  “Well, we know now that everything here is hostile,” Lenah answered. She leaned over to pull on the hooks, setting them on a course back toward the Star Rambler. They had failed to get food, but all she wanted right now was to be back to her crew and ship. And hopefully leave this strange and hostile world behind.

  “Any news about Corinna?” Lenah turned to see Cassius and Martello both sitting at her side.

  Cassius shook his head. “She groaned a minute ago but didn’t wake up.”

  “At least, there’s that,” Lenah said, then stared at the rocks in front of her. “Um, Lund. It’s left here, no?”

  He blinked a few times at the screen, scratching his chin. “I think that’s right.”

  Lenah hesitated. The terrain was almost impossible to recognize with the awkward shades on the screen. Finally, Lenah took them left, thinking she remembered coming down that ledge. They were climbing up now, and the machine swayed uncomfortably on the uneven terrain. She had to lower their speed considerably and was about to tell everyone that they would have to get out and walk when they reached the upper plateau. Lenah let out a breath, recognizing the area from their earlier hike. At least she wasn’t getting them lost.

  Someone groaned behind them, and she turned to see Corinna stirring. She froze.

  “It’s fine,” Cassius said. “You’re with us.”

  Corinna’s eyes snapped open, and her gaze met Lenah’s.

  Lenah grinned widely. “Welcome back.”

  “Welcome to your new ride,” Martello added. His voice sounded more excited than worried n
ow.

  “Why...?” Corinna said. “Ugh, all I remember is being hit by the largest Bartoc stinger I’ve ever seen. Did I dream that? And, where are we?” She looked around in wonder.

  “We’re inside the Bartoc construct with the stinger,” Cassius explained. “It hit you, then took off with you.”

  “It took me?” Corinna gasped, and Lenah could hear the shiver in her voice.

  “Yes,” Cassius nodded. “We ran after you, took over your construct, and are on our way back to the Rambler.”

  Lenah thought that was a very friendly version of their desperate pursuit.

  “When you say construct, you mean a giant mech the shape of a Bartoc?” Corinna sounded disgusted.

  “Yeah. It’s pretty cool, if you think about it,” Cassius said, and Lenah turned to him in surprise. Corinna stared at him as if he’d gone mad, and he patted her shoulder. “But it’s good to have you back too.”

  “Don’t get sentimental on me, cyborg,” Corinna muttered, and Lenah was relieved to see that she was herself again. With Cassius’s help, she sat up. “Thanks. You hit your head pretty hard with those bone-eaters, are you sure you’re alright?”

  “Positive,” Cassius said. “Careful now, or I might hug you.”

  “Ugh,” Corinna said, and Lenah heard shuffling. Seconds later, Corinna appeared at her side. Letting go of the hooks, Lenah put her arms around Corinna.

  “But I’m gonna hug you. I’m also glad to have you back,” she muttered into Corinna’s hair.

  The other woman went stiff but finally brought her arms around Lenah and patted her on the back. “Thank you,” she said, then let go.

  Thinking that was much more affection than she’d ever gotten from Corinna Cheung before, Lenah turned back to her hooks and brought them around the last bend. The cave opening with the Star Rambler came into view.

  Lenah gasped.

  19 Catching Up

  Lenah stared. Were those corpses on the ground around the Star Rambler?

  “What by all the asteroids is that?” Corinna exclaimed. She pointed her finger at the yellow and humanoid-looking beings littering the cave floor. The limbs were long, too long to be their crew, but there were so many. Cassius clanked behind her and was about to open the hatch.

  “Wait.” Lenah pointed at the screen in front of her. “There might be survivors.” She closed her eyes, struggling to conjure up her mind magic. She was exhausted. After a long moment, the minds surrounding them became visible. There were just three of them, all inside the Star Rambler. Lenah breathed out in relief.

  “We’re safe. It’s just Uz, Persia, and Lorka.”

  Cassius grunted a reply, already on his way back to the hatch.

  “Let’s all go together and greet—” Lenah said when a loud noise, like a spaceship engine running inside a tight space, interrupted her. The Star Rambler jerked into the air and promptly crashed into the ceiling. Rocks fell.

  “By the asteroids,” Doctor Lund yelped out in surprise. “They don’t know who we are.”

  The Rambler turned around, its hull making a terrible scraping sound on the ceiling.

  “Oh, no! They are trying to turn the laser on us!” Lenah jumped up, realizing what was happening and promptly hit her head hard on the low ceiling.

  “Lenah,” Corinna hissed. “I’m too tired but use your star-damned magic!”

  Lenah plopped down on the ground, rubbing her head and realizing that Corinna was right.

  She closed her eyes once more, even as she realized Cassius had opened the hatch and jumped outside. She saw the shape of his mind move toward the Rambler’s front view screen.

  Lenah gathered her power, a mere fraction of it. She sent the idea of safety and to cease the attack out toward the three minds inside the ship. Meanwhile, Cassius had moved into the ship’s front. And just then, two minds started to move inside the ship. When she heard the Star Rambler settle down on the ground of the cave once more, Lenah opened her eyes and dropped her power. She was sweating. A yell that she identified as Persia’s voice reverberated through the chamber.

  Lenah crawled to the hatch where Martello was helping Zyrakath down. She overtook them and saw Persia hugging Cassius, then Uz and Lorka walking down the Star Rambler’s hatch.

  Lenah grinned at Uz who was staring with an open mouth. Her eyes wandered over Lenah, Martello, and Lund, then to the construct, and finally snapped back toward Lenah. “What? How?” She shook her head. “We thought you had come to kill us!”

  “Sorry, we should have realized,” Lenah said, still grinning. “But we were all too eager to come back to the ship.” Her smile failed her as she remembered the fight with the humanoid aliens, then looked at the corpses of the same species all around the cave. “And I see that you ran into similar problems as us.” She pointed at a body sprawled next to her.

  Uz shuddered. “Yeah. We were in the middle of fixing the hatch when these showed up.”

  “Wait!” Lenah interrupted her. “We have a hatch again!”

  Uz grinned. “Yeah. We’re missing some plating in the cabins now, but we have a—”

  “Lenah!” Lorka interrupted. “You’re back! We were so worried about you out there. And then our own fight, of course. We could have died.” He was speaking very quickly. “Now you come in this.” He pointed at the machine looming darkly behind them. It was so black in color that it seemed to be eating up the little light falling through the cave opening.

  “Yeah,” Lenah nodded. “Long story short, we were attacked by this, it took Corinna away, and we had to fight it to get her back.”

  “Corinna?” Uz looked at her in alarm.

  “She’s fine,” Lenah answered. “Bruised up, but fine.” She turned and saw Corinna climb carefully out of the construct’s hatch. She grimaced and limped, apparently in a lot of pain.

  Before Lenah could move, Uz was already halfway across the cave to help her out. Corinna leaned on the Cassidian. Just like Lenah, she seemed to be favoring one leg and winced with every step.

  Lenah stood and watched for a moment, the gravity of their situation suddenly hitting her hard. What a ragtag group of people they were, most of them limping, or sporting bloody head injuries, and in Zyr’s case, unable to fly. This planet had not been good to them, and Lenah could remember few situations where she felt so out of place. And they hadn’t found any sign of humans, or a way back or even food.

  Cassius walked near, and their gazes met. His eyes were serious as if he could read Lenah’s grim thoughts. Maybe he was thinking along similar lines. Blood was smeared across the left half of his face, giving him the fierce look of someone who had fought for their life.

  He stopped in front of her, taking Lenah in from head to toe. “You look terrible,” he said.

  “So do you,” Lenah answered and broke out laughing.

  After a moment, his deep laugh mingled with hers. They kept at it for over half a minute, until Lenah swallowed, trying to get serious again.

  Cassius wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye. His hand came back bloody. He made a face.

  “How’s the head?” Lenah asked, serious now as she remembered how beside himself he had been a few hours ago.

  “It’s alright.” He touched his head again and winced. “I need some tupa leaves. Didn’t Persia have some?”

  Lenah nodded. “Yeah.”

  Cassius turned toward Persia, who was greeting Corinna now. He halted, his eyes once more searching Lenah’s. Their gazes met, and in the next moment, Cassius’s arms wrapped around her.

  She sank into the hug, feeling his warmth, not caring he smelled like blood, dust, and sweat, just like she probably did as well. His arms almost crushed her, but that felt right. They stood there, the cave, the others, all vanishing into the background, hanging on to each other. No words were spoken, yet Lenah felt they were communicating more and better than they had in weeks.

  “Lenah!” Persia’s voice burst into Lenah’s bubble. “I’m very sorry to interrupt the r
eunion, but we should go back inside.”

  “Better yet, we should leave,” Lorka added, sounding nervous.

  Reluctantly, Lenah lifted her head away from Cassius’s chest and faced her crew. She took a deep breath, shoving her own fears into the back of her mind. She needed to be strong for them. If they thought she was scared, they might not have the courage to carry on.

  “How’s the Star Rambler doing?” Lenah asked, stepping away from Cassius.

  “I think we’re almost ready to take off,” Persia answered. “But you should ask Uz. We were just her assistants.” As always, when it was about Persia helping with engineering work, she sounded gruff.

  Lenah looked around. “Where is Uz?”

  “Uh,” Persia turned with her.

  Corinna limped toward them. “She’s inside that.” She pointed a dusty finger at the Bartoc construct. “With the Syrr.”

  Lenah nodded, not really surprised. Now that they were no longer fighting the construct, she could see how fascinating this piece of engineering was. Lenah slowly made her way over toward the open hatch but stopped at one of the corpses sprawled on the ground.

  She bent and picked up its knife-pistol. It was surprisingly light, but not made of wood. In fact, made of no material Lenah knew at all. A simple rail ran along its barrel, the knife had been clamped into a mechanism, ready to be loosened and find a target.

  “They did more damage with that than we expected,” Persia said next to Lenah, making her jump.

  “Us, too. They came in large numbers, all armed with this.”

  Persia nodded.

  “How did you defend yourselves?”

  Persia sighed. “It was all thanks to Lorka, really.” She looked guilty about that. “We were all fixing the ship, I was holding a large piece of plating for the final fitting of the hatch when this clicking started. Right next to us.” She shuddered and averted her eyes from the corpse. “They had silently crept in on us, and only because of that sound, we realized early enough for Lorka to wrap us in a warp bubble.” She stroked a hand through her short hair. “We hid back inside the ship and just kept shooting through the open hatch. Lorka made it so that our weapons were outside the bubble, but we were protected inside of it.”