Bartoc Secret

by Clara Woods

  The hatch opened, and Persia and Doctor Lund stuck their heads in. “We’re leaving?”

  “Yes.” Lenah turned to Uz. “You outdid yourself. Thank you.”

  The Cassidian’s face, or what was visible of it under all the smear, flushed a deep green shade. She acknowledged with a small nod, then averted her eyes to look outside. Her face fell. “We’re blocked off.”

  Lenah’s gaze snapped forward. Instead of the horde of knife-throwing attackers, the Bartoc construct stood in the cave exit where Lenah had left it the day before.

  Lenah hit the comm button, struck with an idea. “Zyrakath, to the cockpit, please.”

  Doctor Lund turned from the open hatch and came back a minute later, carrying a grumpy-looking Zyrakath in his arms.

  “I told you I am well capable of walking for myself. Set me down,” Zyr said, and not for the first time by the sound of it.

  Wordlessly, Doctor Lund complied and set him down on the floor in between the two seats.

  Zyrakath let go of an exasperated sigh, then stared up at them. His gaze finally ended up on Lenah. “What did you require me for?”

  “I’ve been thinking about how we wouldn’t be able to approach any Bartoc settlement without immediately giving away that we’re from the Cassidian sector.”

  Zyrakath let go of a theatrical sigh. “Alas, that is unavoi—” he stopped and followed Lenah’s gaze toward the view window.

  “You want to take that?” Corinna’s voice erupted in the cockpit.

  Lenah hadn’t seen her join them. “Aren’t you on watch?”

  Corinna shook her head. “It sounded like we were leaving, so we came in. And I repeat my question: you want to take that?” She pointed. “It kidnapped me and almost killed the rest of you!”

  But Lenah was watching Zyrakath’s eyes. They were sparkling. “That is indeed a wonderful idea,” the drone finally said, then turned toward Corinna. “I am confident that turning on the manual mode has blocked off any aggression the machine might have against us. And our captain is right. We will face difficulties approaching Kalhhok in a human ship or even on foot.” He spat the last word.

  “No worries, Zyr.” Lenah tried to smile. “We’ll get your wings working again.”

  “I can take a look,” Uz chipped in. “After I wash up.”

  Zyrakath made a face, but luckily Uz didn’t seem to notice as she squished by all of them to leave the cockpit. Corinna, when she saw how dirty the Cassidian was, literally jumped out of Uz’s way.

  Lenah turned toward Doctor Lund and Zyrakath. “Let’s go and get the construct.” She didn’t want to go back there alone despite Zyr’s reassurance.

  She stopped at the common room where Cassius’s and Martello’s voices were drifting through the half-open hatch. “Hey, can you go and gather any rope, clamps, or anything that we could tie down a Bartoc-shaped mech with?”

  Martello didn’t look surprised, but Cassius looked horrified. Then, he seemed to catch himself and slowly nodded.

  23 Taking Off

  “It’s big.” Persia shivered as she looked at the Bartoc robot that was taking up most of the Star Rambler’s cargo hold.

  Lenah wiped a sweaty brow. Getting the monstrous thing through the hatch had been tight work, and nothing the strange control hooks inside the construct were made for. She had scratched part of Uz’s newly installed hatch.

  She glanced at Uz, who was crouching next to the dent Lenah had left. The Cassidian had shot Lenah a miserable glance, then gone for her toolbox.

  Lenah felt terrible, especially since she would have to get the construct out again. And the next time, they might not be conveniently parked in a cave with time to fix things.

  She watched Cassius and Martello. They were tying the machine down, so it wouldn’t bang around the hold should the Star Rambler hit any turbulence.

  “It fit five of us in the inside after all,” she answered Persia.

  “I don’t feel very safe with this on board,” Persia said after a brief pause.

  Lenah sighed. “Me either. That’s why Zyr and Lund will spend ample time inside to find out anything about its current mission and history. And that’s why we’re posting a guard in the cargo hold.”

  “That cannon stinger is creepy.” Persia shuddered.

  “Yeah. It can tear a hole in our hull, no doubt. But hey.” Lenah lifted her palms. “No risk, no fun.” She gave her best imitation of Martello’s grin.

  Persia grunted. “What’s gotten into you today? You seem happy about everything, no matter how unreasonable.” She eyed Lenah sharply. “Wait. Tell me it has something to do with—” she leaned in to whisper in Lenah’s ear. “—Cassius.”

  Lenah gave her a conspiratorial smile. “Maybe.”

  “Hah! I want details!” Persia said so loudly Cassius, who was hanging on the construct’s back, turned.

  “Ssh.” Lenah slapped Persia on the arm. “Not here.”

  Persia lifted her palms. “Sure, Captain. But later. I’ll go take a very lonely nap now. Not everyone can have hot boyfriends on board, and I don’t want to reach whatever hellhole we’re going to without my beauty sleep.”

  Lenah groaned, but Persia simply smiled and turned. Lenah stayed where she was, watching how the two Lombardis tied down the construct with all the talent of smugglers who had done similar work before. She briefly wondered what they had smuggled that would require this kind of tying down, but ultimately decided that she didn’t want to know.

  She hoped it wasn’t wishful thinking to see Cassius as someone who had started a new chapter in his life, doing the right thing and shedding the role of the smuggler. But apart from her very first encounter with him, when he had kidnapped the Star Rambler, he had behaved just like that.

  When Lenah saw Uz pack up her tools, she made her way into the cockpit. She couldn’t wait to leave Balhudh behind.

  Uz joined her in the cockpit shortly after. She had freshened up, but now streaks of a red paste streaked her face. “Done with the hatch, Captain, and Cassius wanted me to tell you that the cargo is fastened too.”

  Lenah nodded. “Thank you, Uz. And I’m sorry that I bent your new hatch.”

  The Cassidian smiled weakly. “It’s fine. Using thin c-nano alloy isn’t going to be the same as a solid component. We really ought to stop somewhere and do some repairs.”

  Lenah grimaced. “I doubt that will happen anytime soon.”

  “No.” Uz agreed. “But once we’re back in the Cassidian sector…”

  “We’ll put it on the top of our list,” Lenah said quickly when she felt Uz’s spirits sink. She wouldn’t allow herself or her crew to go down that path of negative thought.

  “Now, let’s go and find us some humans in Saltoc.” She grabbed the flight stick. The cave was narrow, with a low ceiling, but Lenah had already given her engineer enough grief for one day and was determined not to cause any more.

  She pulled the Star Rambler into a low hover, barely high enough so they wouldn’t scrape the cave’s bottom. Turning the ship, she brought them around to fully face the cave opening.

  Balhudh’s day had arrived a few hours ago, and bright sunlight bathed the blue peaks and valleys.

  A scraping sounded from the Star Rambler’s roof indicated they connected with the cave’s ceiling. Uz twitched.

  “I’m sorry,” Lenah said. She lowered the ship and brought them through the opening, this time without a further scratch.

  She had to blink against the bright light as they lifted out of the canyon and into the air.

  24 Arrival

  “What do we know of this planet?” Lenah asked Doctor Lund, who was sitting next to her in the copilot’s seat. Zyrakath was perched on the control panels in front of him.

  “Kalhhok is one of the original planets in the Saltoc sector,” the drone answered.

  “He means that it’s not terraformed to expand livable habitat.” Doctor Lund leaned forward to squint at the planet that still showed as a distant speck ahea
d of them.

  Cassius moved behind Lenah, his hand brushing her shoulder. She had asked him to be here in case they needed to use the Star Rambler’s starboard weapons. But, for now, nothing had locked in on them.

  “And it’s one of the main hubs?” Lenah asked with a view on the proximity radar. They were surrounded by hundreds of dots, each representing a ship in orbit of Kalhhok. Visible at their starboard side was an enormous space station. The ellipsoid structure even dwarfed a moon that hung next to it. A constant stream of ships was coming and going from the station, many of which had the typical shape of mining ships with huge and bulbous cargo holds.

  “Can we hope that space around this area is so busy they won’t see us?” Lenah asked.

  “Not impossible, but unlikely,” Zyrakath said. “Like any civilized culture, they must use a system of identification, one we don’t have.”

  Sighing, Lenah grasped the flight stick and let the ship scanners plot a route toward the planet. “There’s a giant ship making its way from the space station to the planet.” She pointed at a large green dot on the screen. “I’ll fly in its shadow.”

  “Doesn’t sound like a solid plan, but I cannot think of anything better myself.” Zyrakath nodded.

  Lenah gave forward thrust, quickly closing the gap to the big ship. It had a large platform, and its hull was filled with multiple hatches and no weapons. Lenah reached its rear, flying as close as she dared and sticking to the underside. If someone decided to shoot at them, they’d have a hard time aiming well. The sound of the vibrating engines overhead rang in her ears as she matched the ship’s speed and motions.

  When the comm screen blinked with an incoming message, everyone froze and stared at the screen.

  “Cassius, sit in the copilot’s seat.” Lenah waited for Doctor Lund and Cassius to switch spots. Once Cassius was sitting next to her, she pressed the button on the recorded message.

  “Akkakaka, baahaka bahud,” an impossibly deep voice rang throughout the cockpit.

  “Um.” Lenah looked at Zyrakath in question.

  But the drone shook his head. “My spoken Bartoc is not sufficient to translate this. I would require written symbols.”

  The comm blinked again, and Lenah played the new message. It was equally short and sounded slightly different.

  “Should we try G-Standard?” Doctor Lund asked.

  Lenah shook her head. “No, that would clearly mark us as outsiders. Unwanted outsiders.” She grimaced. “I prefer not to answer at all. At least then I won’t be distracted should someone start shooting us.”

  “Do you think that’s likely?” Doctor Lund’s voice shook.

  “That’s why we’re snuggling up to a behemoth mining ship. And wherever it’s going, that’s where we are going too.”

  The mining ship started into a soft downward angle, forcing Lenah to react quickly to lower them before they collided. A ship this size likely wouldn’t even feel the crash, but the Star Rambler wouldn’t survive the impact.

  Slowly, the planet grew in their view window. Dark and dirty-looking clouds shrouded most of their view of the surface. They were approaching the night side and darkness made it difficult to even tell land from water mass. Purple lights illuminated many areas, indicating that Kalhhok was densely populated.

  “Do they have oceans here?” Lenah asked.

  “Theoretically, yes. Or there used to be,” Zyrakath answered. “This is where the Bartoc produce their vast fleets of spaceships, military vehicles, and more. There were notes that most of the planet’s surface is covered in factories, and that only the unprivileged are condemned to life here.”

  “Is that the right place to find mind mages then?” Cassius asked.

  Zyrakath inclined his head. “It is my understanding that the Bartoc are conquerors. They do not allow anyone a station that’s higher or even equal to them. They rule.”

  “Wonderful,” Lenah muttered.

  Doctor Lund whined, and Zyrakath looked at him. “Doctor, you are old enough to control your emotions. Please do so.”

  Doctor Lund, who had his eyes closed, opened them to slits for a moment before apparently deciding to ignore the drone.

  Lenah couldn’t suppress a grin. “Well said, Zyrakath.” She patted Doctor Lund’s arm. “We’ve made it this far, Doctor, not least because of you and your research. And we’ve survived worse.”

  * * *

  “What is that?” Lenah gawked at the small ship that had appeared out of the blue and cut right in front of them. It flew several loops, then disappeared over the opposite side of the large ship. Something flashed red, then the weapons alarm started beeping.

  “Weapons have locked on us,” Lenah announced, rounding the mining ship and coming out on top of it. The small ship came into view once more, nimbly avoiding streaks of red. A red laser?

  “Lenah, atmosphere approaching,” Cassius said urgently just when the comm unit blinked again. Lenah turned it off and brought some distance between the Star Rambler and the mining ship while also flying what she hoped was an unpredictable pattern. A few moments later, the ship rocked, and adrenaline surged through Lenah. She stared at the shield display, but it didn’t go down. And then Kalhhok loomed before them, a dark and dirty speck that was not a bit more inviting from up close than it had been from orbit.

  Lenah sped away from the large ship, but when red laser followed her, she approached its hull again. She came within mere meters from the dark outline.

  The Star Rambler rocked again, and this time, the shield display went down. She tried to find the ship that was shooting, but it was impossible to trace with the hundreds of ships all around. It was one of the rare moments when Lenah wished for a newer, more modern ship.

  “Shields at twenty percent,” Cassius said, gripping his weapon controls.

  “I know,” Lenah pressed between tight lips and flew down, then up again. Suddenly, the other small ship approached and passed them by a mere few meters. It was showered in red light. They were close enough to see the scraps of hull flying everywhere. Several even connected with their front window. With a sharp cry, Zyr slipped down the control panel and landed on the floor.

  They were maybe twenty clicks away from the ground now, and Lenah abruptly abandoned trying to stay close to the big ship and let them drop down. Red light encircled them.

  Lenah tried to scan the ground, thinking that she could make out some mountains below. “If we need some luck, it’s now,” Lenah hissed between clenched teeth, realizing that Cassius must have heard because he gave her a grim glance.

  She clutched the flight stick as they flew into some clouds. Lenah tried to steady the ship there, putting as much distance as she could from their current location. Deeper into the clouds they went, until only blackness surrounded them. Lenah dropped out of the layer of clouds.

  “Mountains,” Cassius said sharply and pointed to his right. Lenah flew them in a tight curve, rapidly dipping the ship lower, and indeed, a mountain range loomed just underneath them. She decelerated and dropped them down so fast that Zyrakath lifted off the floor and would have collided with the ceiling had Cassius not grabbed him.

  “Sorry,” Lenah mumbled, eyes darting between the mountains below and the proximity screen. It was hard to see, but the area seemed to be littered with steep holes and flat walls indicating mining operations. She approached a spot that lay in the darkness between two sharp peaks and set the Star Rambler down. She turned off all systems, leaving only the shields and weapons turned on.

  And they waited.

  When nothing happened for five minutes, Lenah dared breathe easier. After ten minutes, Cassius leaned back in his seat, letting go of his weapons stick.

  After twenty minutes, Lenah stood up. “Let’s get going while it’s still dark,” she told everyone in the cockpit.

  Cassius followed Lenah through the hatch, his face full of worry. Lenah touched his arm. “We’re pretty far away from the coordinates, but I want to get a feel for the planet. W
hat do you think?” Lenah asked him.

  Cassius sighed. “I don’t have to like it to think that it’s a good idea.”

  They passed the corridor and soon stood in front of the Bartoc construct still strapped tightly in place.

  “Are we going in that?” Cassius asked.

  Lenah nodded. “Yes, that’s by far the best way we have to pose as Bartocs.”

  “We could all crawl and pretend to be Bartoc that way,” Persia said from behind Lenah, startling her. She was dressed for combat, her hammer hanging off her belt, a hand resting on its handle. “I don’t like this, Lenah.”

  Lenah let out a long breath. “Me neither, but unfortunately, we have to set out to find humans. We can’t do that from far away.”

  “We could have just...” Persia started, then broke off. “Yeah, I guess.”

  Corinna and Lorka stepped out of their cabins and joined them. Corinna’s top bun was tighter than ever, and her lipstick was so bright red, Lenah almost had to blink.

  “Arm yourselves,” Lenah told them.

  Cassius had already climbed onto the back of the construct and was making quick progress removing the ropes.

  Lenah took a moment to stare at him. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that hid most of his physique, but she now knew from up close how he looked.

  “While our captain is ogling the cyborg’s butt, I’m going to bring our last rations,” Persia declared.

  Lenah, feeling herself blush, only nodded at Persia. “Where’s Uz?” she asked, realizing that the Cassidian was the only one who hadn’t joined them yet.

  “I’m here,” came her muffled voice. A moment later, Uz walked in holding a long piece of metal.

  “What is that?” Lenah asked her.

  Uz pointed her metal rod at the hatch. “That is our way to easily open the replacement hatch I made. It’s not automatic right now and very heavy. But I made this little hook so that we can lift it up and down.” Uz placed her new hook into a small contraption next to the hatch and pressed down on it. With a protesting whine, the hatch opened upward.

  Cassius, telling them to be quiet with a finger to his lips, jumped down from the construct and went to stand next to Uz.