Bartoc Secret

by Clara Woods

  “Pretty neat.”

  Persia nodded. “Yeah. When there were only a few left, we dared go outside and get rid of the rest.” She shrugged. “They kept attacking until the last of them was down. Honestly, I hoped they would somehow leave, get scared, but I don’t think they are smart enough.”

  Lenah looked back down at the corpse, its pink eyes now staring blankly. “Yeah.” Her voice sounded hoarse. “Same here. They came at us in large numbers, and it wasn’t easy to lose them. I’m worried they might still be following us somehow.”

  “Then let’s go and find Uz,” Persia said with a worried glance toward the cave opening.

  Agreeing, Lenah dropped the crude weapon and made her way back to the construct.

  Persia stopped when they were almost at the ramp. “This is so creepy,” she said. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

  “The construct is turned to manual control, young Persia,” Zyrakath said, standing upright but barely reaching their knees. “I have personally done so. It is safe.”

  “What happened to you?” Persia asked, kneeling to take a better look at him.

  He shot her a sour glance but finally answered. “I was hit by a knife thrown by the primitives. I am currently unable to use the capacity of my wings.”

  “Oh, Zyr.” Persia reached out as if she wanted to touch him, but he quickly scrambled several steps back, surprisingly fast for someone his size. He made several quick steps toward the hatch, then proceeded to scramble in.

  Persia looked at Lenah, who just shrugged back, and they followed the drone inside. Lenah let her gaze roam over the walls of the strange construct. It was quite different from any human or even Craff ship she had ever seen or heard about. There was not a single button, but everything seemed accessible via hooks. The screens seemed to belong in another era, with their two colors only. They were actual screens, not holo. It made her wonder how old this construct was.

  Uz was crouching over the terminals and screens in the front but turned when she heard them approach. “Zyr! This machine is amazing; you wouldn’t mind helping me with translation? My Bartoc isn’t that great.” She grinned at him lopsidedly.

  Zyrakath squared his thin shoulders and stepped next to her, starting to explain what he had done.

  “I don’t want to interrupt, but I think we should get out of here as soon as we can,” Lenah said.

  Uz’s eyes reflected her disappointment, but she nodded. “Of course. You’re right, Captain.”

  Lenah smiled at her. “It’s too risky, and this is not our primary or even our secondary mission.”

  “The primary being leaving and the secondary finding the Strikers?” Uz asked.

  “I was thinking the other way around.”

  “Oh.” Uz seemed to process that for a moment. “The Star Rambler is almost ready. I still need to isolate the hatch better to make us space worthy. And I’m still running tests on the engine.” She looked down. “But, Lenah, it won’t fly like you’re used to until we go somewhere to pick up real replacement parts. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” Lenah said. “It’s next to incredible what you did in the short amount of time and with the limited pieces you had.”

  Uz smiled at that, then looked back at the console of the Bartoc robot. She petted it, then got up and turned. Lenah followed behind. They both froze when they heard Zyrakath hiss sharply. Lenah whirled around. A screen to the side of the console had turned to life.

  Lenah crawled back. “What is it, Zyr?” Her heart was beating fast, and she found herself scanning the purple and yellow proximity screen for incoming enemies. There was nothing there.

  “What is it?” she repeated when the drone didn’t answer. Instead, he just kept staring.

  After a few more tense seconds, in which Lenah could barely hold the instinct to either shake Zyr or move him out of the way to get behind the control station, he cleared his throat. “This machine appears to have sent a message.”

  He pointed a tiny finger at the new screen displaying undecipherable symbols. His lips moved silently as he translated.

  Lenah tapped her foot, anxiously waiting and unable to do anything but stare at the symbols on the screen. Uz hovered next to her, and Lenah saw her own emotions mirrored in the Cassidian’s face.

  “It’s—” Zyrakath said, then broke up.

  “What? What is it?” Uz urged.

  “—coordinates,” Zyrakath said. “Gate of space...no, a spaceport and—” he broke off again, then pointed a shaky finger. “That’s the symbol for human right there, and...oh...for gifted donation.”

  “Gifted donation?” Lenah shook her head. That didn’t seem to make much sense.

  Zyrakath nodded. “Yes, donation or donor. The symbol can mean many things. The Bartoc language is crude, lacking elegance and...”

  “Got it.” Lenah interrupted him. “And did it get an answer?”

  Zyrakath nodded once more, then climbed toward the screen and moved his lips again.

  “Should I bring Doctor Lund?” Lenah asked.

  Zyrakath shook his head. “No, if the Cassidian could stay. I might require some assistance.”

  Uz squeezed by Lenah and knelt next to the drone. Lenah fell back watching them. Zyrakath was fully concentrating on his translation, and Uz lifted off the panels. She quickly revealed some of the wiring below. Even from the inside, this construct looked quite different from any human or Craff-made system Lenah had ever seen. Multiple hooks where connecting cables. After a minute, Lenah decided to let the others know what had happened and climbed back out.

  She found them in the common room, where Cassius and Martello were cleaning their own and Corinna’s wounds. After her ordeal of getting taken by the construct, she seemed in the worst shape from all of them, leaning heavily against the wall and letting herself be cleaned up by Martello, who didn’t appear particularly careful with the disinfectant.

  The hatch opened behind Lenah, and Doctor Lund walked in, arms laden with medical supplies. He dumped everything on the table and looked from one to the other before focusing on Corinna. “You first.” He put on gloves and got out a stitch-kit. Tearing the pack open, he shooed Martello away. Corinna’s eyes snapped open for one moment, then closed again as Doctor Lund began cleaning her wounds with a lot more care than Martello.

  Lenah sank down on a chair and peeled up her pants leg to take a first look at her knee. She winced, glad she hadn’t had time to take a look before.

  Martello whistled behind her when he saw the angry yellow and blue swelling. “That’s quite the bruise, girl.” By his tone, that was something to be proud of.

  “You ran all that way with this?” Cassius knelt next to Lenah, touching her skin. Lenah hissed in pain. “Sorry. Lund, I think you might want to look at Lenah next.”

  Doctor Lund shuffled over a minute later, after sending Corinna to lie down in her cabin. Martello helped her up, and together, they vanished through the door. The fact that Corinna Cheung was letting herself be escorted to bed by the old smuggler spoke to her exhaustion.

  “Zyr and Uz discovered the construct sent a message,” Lenah said when Martello walked back in a few moments later.

  “What?” Cassius asked.

  Lenah flinched at the sharpness in Cassius’s tone.

  “You say that now?” Lund exclaimed and jumped up, presumably to go back into the construct himself.

  Lenah sighed. “Let’s finish in here first.”

  Doctor Lund dropped his hand that had already gone to the hatch button and turned around. “Oh, of course.”

  Lenah tried to smile, but it came out as a frown when Doctor Lund dropped a healing pad on her leg. “Zyrakath deciphered that it sent coordinates to a spaceport and something about humans and a donation.”

  “A donation?” Cassius asked.

  Lenah nodded. “Yes, or donor; he wasn’t too sure about the translation.”

  “Hmm, that doesn’t sound good,” Martello said. “Was Corinna the donation?”

/>   Lenah lifted her shoulders. “I told you all I know.”

  “Stars,” Cassius said. “That’s creepy.”

  No one answered, and he added, “We should post guards outside. I don’t like that we can’t tell when someone finds us until they have already found us.”

  Lenah looked up. “That’s a good idea. Everyone who can will take a shift. The ones who need the least rest go first.” She looked around. “Lund, go find Persia and let her know that the two of you will take the first shift. After six hours, you can come get me and Martello.”

  “I should go before you, Lenah,” Cassius said. “You should rest your leg.”

  Lenah smiled up at him, his repeated use of her name soothing like a salve for her mind. “You should rest your head.” She was glad he didn’t argue, too tired to keep talking.

  Doctor Lund stepped away from Lenah, and she got up to make her way into her cabin. She was asleep before her head even hit her pillow.

  20 Nightwatch

  Lenah woke with a jerk what felt like a minute later. Someone was in her cabin.

  “Lenah?” Persia whispered.

  “I’m up.” It came out barely a croak. She cleared her throat, then repeated, “I’m up.”

  “Sorry,” Persia said. “Lund said to wake you. It’s your shift.”

  “Right.” Lenah sat up, feeling groggy but realizing she was fully clothed. She hadn’t even taken the time to wash up before falling like death onto her bunk. “Ugh. Do I have five minutes to clean up?”

  “Sure. Martello is already outside with Lund,” Persia said from very close by.

  “Did something happen during your watch?” Lenah asked, turning on the light.

  “No. The sun went down, and we heard shuffles. But nothing showed up.”

  Lenah felt instant relief. “That’s good.” She got up from her bunk to limp toward the one drawer that was her closet.

  “If you’re considering which of your numerous outfits best fit a watch duty, I recommend the black,” Persia said.

  Lenah smiled. “Right.” She grabbed a pair of black pants and her black jacket full of holes on the back and shoulder, then made her way toward the lav unit. “I’ll be five minutes.”

  It took her six minutes, but then she joined Martello in the cold night air of the cave entrance. The old man sat on a large boulder and didn’t even look up when she joined him. He was as motionless as a statue.

  Lenah sat down on the next boulder, glad to be able to take the weight off her leg. She was pretty sure it hurt even worse now that the healing process had begun.

  They sat in silence for several more minutes, until Martello spoke. “The best watchers are as silent as the night, girl. I’m a good watcher and don’t like breaking my rule.” He nodded at her. “But how are you feeling?”

  Lenah shrugged. “It could be worse.”

  He smiled at that. “That’s usually true. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here to talk about it.”

  “Fair enough. Let me try again: my leg hurts like hell, I’m tired, and every muscle in my body is sore. I’m hungry, and I hate that we’re still stuck here.”

  “Better.” He smiled broadly at her as if she had delivered good news. “It never hurts to be honest. Just that as captain, you have to choose well who to be this honest with.”

  Lenah flinched, but Martello waved a hand. “No worries. Your secrets are safe with me.” He gave her another smile. “And I agree with many of those. It’s been a while since I had to make such a trek on foot. Or since I rolled over rocky ground to avoid being hit by a knife-pistol.” He rubbed his chin. “Now that I think about it, that only happened to me once, ninty-four years ago, when I was exploring the Galtacan wilderness with my cousin. Aaah—” He stretched his long legs in front of him. “—what a good time we had.”

  Lenah gasped. “You saw this type of weapon before?”

  Martello shook his head. “No, girl. Not precisely. I wonder if any human has ever seen this type of contraption. These were a colony of rebels, though not rebellious enough to not make a giant profit with a gem mine that happened to be next to their settlement. And, stars, did some of them know how to throw a knife!” He chuckled. “And, well, they didn’t appreciate us stealing their precious gems. For my cousin Edson and me, they were the perfect victims. Rich, arrogant, and not in need of their treasure.” Martello rubbed his belly. “Those riches were a lot more useful in the coffers of the Martello family.”

  Lenah was silent, remembering that she herself belonged to such a class of rich and arrogant people. If not a rebel, it was a class that didn’t need all the wealth they owned. How crazy was it that she sat here now with a smuggler who was proud of his trade? Her ancestors would not approve.

  Surprisingly, that thought no longer hurt her. The world she had grown up in was indeed very far away. Life with her crew was now the one tangible thing she would keep fighting for. Lenah sat up straighter, peering into the darkness ahead. She looked up, realizing for the very first time how beautiful the sky above them looked. Not a single cloud was obscuring the view of the thousands of stars over her head. There was even a moon that hung heavy and yellow overhead.

  Something shuffled behind them, and both Lenah and Martello turned. Lenah’s hand closed around her laser weapon. A small dark shade broke into view, and something moved in front of them on the ground. Lenah held her breath when she saw that it was the same animal that had spit acid on her.

  A stone moved when Martello shifted, and the animal froze. Its eyes turned around carefully, taking a 360-degree view of the area. It let out a small shriek and scrambled away. It was gone in a second, its footsteps retreating. Then silence fell once more.

  Lenah let out a shaky breath and looked at Martello, who shrugged. “This planet is quite something,” he finally said. “At least, for once, we didn’t get attacked.”

  Lenah lowered her gun. Her foot had certainly remembered its recent pain. “I can’t wait to leave this hell hole.”

  “Are you so eager to get us killed finding those Strikers?” he asked.

  Lenah squared her shoulders. “That’s what we have to do. It’s the right thing,” she added.

  “I won’t doubt you on it, girl,” Martello said. “And it will take only one more day. That mad Cassidian is fixing the engine as we sit here.”

  “Is she?” Lenah felt a wave of gratefulness toward Uz. If not for her undeniable skills to fix the Star Rambler with virtually nothing, they wouldn’t even have made it this far.

  “My grandson is with her.” Martello said, nodding.

  Lenah sighed and fell silent again, trying to order her thoughts. Since being teleported through the Bartoc border, there hadn’t been time to make a plan. Yet, in her gut, Lenah knew she had to take advantage of their unique situation. Being the first ship from the Cassidian sector to break through the border. What an opportunity. And if Lenah’s upbringing had taught her anything, it was to take advantage of any situation. While it bothered Lenah that so many people were in this with her, she couldn’t change that now; she could only try her best to make sure they survived. And she was damn glad for their company.

  But what would she do if they really found the Strikers? Would they even be willing to come back to fight in a war where the odds were stacked against them? When they had been living hidden away in this sector for such a long time? Then Lenah remembered the Muha Dara breaking through the Saltoc border. The war was coming for the Strikers anyway.

  “What kind of dark thoughts are you thinking?” Martello’s voice made her jump. She had completely forgotten where she was.

  She realized she had gotten out her gun and was clutching it in one hand. Lenah sighed. “Evaluating our options for the near future.”

  Martello nodded. “And what have you evaluated?”

  “That there are only poor options, so we better give our best to take as many Strikers with us as we can.”

  “Then you no longer have anything to brood about,” Martello said, his
voice showing no humor. “Might as well take any day any minute as it comes and try to enjoy it.” He pointed at his chest. “I know that I would. If my Iris and Ida were only here.”

  Lenah laughed, actually laughed.

  Martello raised a gray eyebrow.

  “You’re not like your grandson at all, do you know that?”

  “Of course not.” Martello looked offended. “Who do you take me for? I preserved my youthful audacity. The most audacious thing my grandson has ever done was run away from his father to come rescue his old grandfather, the only person who has ever cared about him and whom he didn’t want to lose.”

  Lenah swallowed, no longer feeling like laughing.

  Martello patted her knee. “No worries, girl. I see him coming around. This planet might just bring out the daredevil in my grandson.”

  21 Bartoc Coordinates

  When Lenah walked into the engine room after her watch, she felt lighter than she had in days. Martello’s company had soothed her. His unworried attitude to life having rubbed off some. Uz and Cassius were both sitting on the floor, the Cassidian so smeared with dark-brown grease that Lenah could hardly see any of her green skin.

  She smiled broadly at Lenah, revealing white teeth. “Almost done, Captain!” Uz pointed at several sheets of metal that were encasing the Star Rambler’s engine. They were covered in the same brown stuff Uz had all over her.

  “The engine works?” Lenah asked, feeling some of Uz’s excitement seep into her.

  “Theoretically.” Uz nodded. “I still have to run some tests and diagnostics. Just a few more hours.”

  “That’s great.” Lenah clapped her on the shoulder and immediately regretted it when her hand came back sticky. Swiping her hand on the leg of her pants, she stepped around the engine. “What did you do?”

  Uz, who was muttering to herself over a screen, didn’t react.

  “She sheathed the engine in this isolating stuff.” Cassius got up from the floor and pointed at it. He, too, was smeared all over.