The Corsair Uprising #1: The Azure Key

by Trevor Schmidt

  20

  Nix waved his hand and an orb of light slowly illuminated the guest room. Liam entered the small room above the bar and looked out the window to the colony. Purple light still emanated from the web overhead, pouring through the window with blinding intensity. On the street he saw groups of Ansaran soldiers searching the streets.

  “Step away from the window,” Nix warned.

  Liam clenched his jaw before collapsing on the nearby mat. He didn’t like taking orders and he felt like he was losing control of his little group with each passing moment. Downstairs, Nix had given them a small piece of what tasted like compact bread. It was dense and sparsely flavored, but it did calm his stomach a bit.

  “You moved the bikes, right?” Saturn asked the shifty Dinari.

  “Taken care of. They were moved into the loading bay. Sestra is down there with them now.”

  “How long until light?”

  “A few hours,” Nix replied, finding his own mat and lying down. “We’re going to need the rest.”

  Saturn and Ju-Long laid down on their mats and were quiet for several minutes. Saturn spoke up first. “Nix, how do you know Zega? Are you sure we can trust him?”

  Nix’s face was motionless, seemingly sleeping with his eyes open. Liam watched for several moments, waiting for his chest to move, but it never did. Finally, Nix put his hands behind his head and spoke, staring at the ceiling. “Zega is an important man in this sector of Garuda Colony. When I was a child he saved my life from an Ansaran soldier who was trying to make an example out of me for disobedience. Zega’s ways are not always eloquent, but he does put the interests of his people first. It is because of him that I came to work in the spire, an upper class position for a Dinari.”

  “He put you there to spy,” Ju-Long stated.

  “Yes. But I could have been lying in a ditch. Instead, I helped the cause.”

  Liam moved his eyes up to the purple web in the sky outside the window, its brilliant energy flowing through the air like so many fireflies. Nix had probably given up more than anyone to get them out of the spire. He hadn’t even asked for a favor like the others. Nix was different somehow. Maybe some things were more important than compensation. Liam was conditioned to think in terms of reward. Being a freelancer will do that. At least now he knew that Earth wasn’t the only planet hung up on money and power and status. It was a small comfort.

  “Thank you,” Liam said. “You gave up a lot for us.”

  “It was a small price to pay.”

  Ju-Long turned his head and asked, “What do you mean?”

  Nix tilted his head to make eye contact with Ju-Long and spoke soft enough that the whole room had to prick their ears to hear him. When he spoke, he did so without any of his prior ticks, as though they were part of some elaborate ruse for the Ansarans’ benefit.

  “You do not yet realize your importance. For thirty thousand years the three intelligent races of this system have traveled this system. We’ve been to other stars too, but ultimately decided to stay in this one, settling every planet and every moon in some fashion. The best technology we could muster couldn’t detect your species all that distance away. The fact that you’re here at all is a testament to how little we really know.”

  “What are you implying?” Liam asked.

  “The Ansarans will remain in power as long as they hold the best technology, the means to stay on top. Your presence mocks them and their knowledge of the galaxy. They would use you as a bargaining chip to broker peace with the Kraven, and if that fails, they would kill you themselves, anything to keep you from the public’s knowledge. They will search this colony top to bottom to protect their illusion as the all-knowing leaders of the alliance.”

  “What would happen if our presence didn’t remain a secret?” Saturn asked.

  “Who knows?” Nix replied. “It’s unprecedented. They may still kill you, or maybe they would let you live as a testament to their benevolence.”

  “If our options are to be killed or possibly be killed, I’ll take the latter,” Ju-Long said, sinking back to his mat.

  “I thought you’d say that. That’s one reason Zega asked you to fight. Your face would be immortalized as the first outsider to fight in our ring. Every Dinari in this colony will know your name.”

  “And the Ansarans wouldn’t try to kill a celebrity of the Dinari,” Liam mused. “Too much bad publicity.”

  Saturn let out a sharp laugh and said, “Even on the other side of the galaxy it comes down to appearances. I feel right at home.”

  Nix rolled over onto his side, the purple light from the web of energy piercing the window and bathing him in violet. His golden eyes now seemed dark and faded, colored with sadness. “You’ll find much of what happens here is under the surface, hidden from view.”

  Liam nodded and said, “Let’s get some sleep. We’ve got a long road ahead.”

  •

  Liam tossed in the night, vivid images flooding his mind. Tiffany stood before him in the small room above The Sand’s Edge, dressed in her tight jeans and purple T-shirt, a thin hole piercing her skull so Liam could see through to the other side. As she stared at him, blood began to drip from her wound and down the bridge of her nose. She looked so sad standing there, her tousled red hair blowing with a nonexistent breeze.

  She opened her mouth to speak and only managed to say, “Why?”

  Liam’s eyes opened and he shot up to a seated position on his mat. Sweat seeped through his gray jumpsuit and down his clenched jaw, merging on his chin. He ran a hand through his blond hair, darkened with sweat, and slicked it back away from his eyes. His gaze moved to the window, where Nix stood examining the purple web enveloping the colony. Nix turned with a solemn look that didn’t suit him.

  “Can’t sleep?” Liam asked him.

  “My work at the spire has made me more nocturnal than I’m used to, but I have always enjoyed the night. Bad dream?”

  “You could say that,” Liam said, lying back down on his mat.

  Nix turned his gaze back out the window. Softly, he said, “We all have our burdens to bear.”

  Liam’s eyelids began to droop and once again he fell into darkness. Nix’s words remained at the forefront of his mind. He wondered what secrets their Dinari friend held. Surely they were no worse than Liam’s destructive past.

  •

  “Take these,” Nix said, passing Liam and the crew rough brown cloaks similar to his own. “Keep your hands in the pockets and your hoods up, you’ll blend in better on our way to the hangar. The last thing we want is attention from the Ansarans.”

  It was early morning when Liam unzipped his grey jumpsuit and stepped out of it, putting the cloak on over his head, its long brown fabric hanging down to his knees and curling around him like a cape. The loading bay had just about anything Liam could think of. More and more, Zega was starting to remind him of some of his old contacts at Vesta Corporation. They were never short of supplies and were found in places just as seedy as The Sand’s Edge.

  Liam pulled on a matching pair of pants and pulled the ashen drawstring tight. Last, he strapped the energy weapon to his thigh. Liam felt odd wearing the Dinari outfit, but the oddest part about it wasn’t what he was wearing, but what he wasn’t. Even in this sandy environment, most Dinari didn’t wear shoes. Liam found himself thinking about how hot the sand was going to be on his toes.

  As though reading his mind, Nix reached into a crate and pulled out a pair of thin boots. “These are meant for a Dinari teenager, but they might fit you.”

  Liam tried on the tan boots, which conformed nicely to his feet and looked like something out of an ancient history book from Earth. They had several leather straps and made their way almost to his knees. There was a little extra room at the end where a Dinari’s claws would probably have fit. All in all they fit well, considering they weren’t even made for his species. Liam pulled the hood over his head, the tip of which hung down past his eyebrows.

  Saturn and Ju
-Long finished strapping on their boots while Nix checked them all over. Anyone getting a close look would know they weren’t Dinari, but the disguises were good enough that on a speeding hover bike they shouldn’t be noticed. Nix smiled in admiration of his work. “I think we’ll be fine. Let’s go.”

  “What about Sestra?” Liam asked.

  “She’s got other priorities. Besides, this kind of mission isn’t her style.”

  Without offering any more explanation, Nix pressed a button on the wall and a corrugated metal garage door opened, morning light flooding the loading bay. Liam took the nearest hover bike, expecting Saturn to hop on the back. Instead, she took one of the other bikes, shooing Ju-Long away when he tried to get on with her. Dejected, Ju-Long walked up to Liam’s bike and got on. When Liam powered on the bike, Ju-Long put a hand awkwardly on his shoulder to steady himself. The hover bikes made whirring noises, quiet at first, but rising in volume until the loading bay was filled with their deafening hum.

  Nix powered on his bike and fiddled with his console, projecting his face as a hologram on Liam and Saturn’s bikes. “When we get out there, if a patrol catches wind of us, split up. I’ll send a map with the location of the hangar. Don’t let them follow you, though. We can’t afford an open fight.”

  Nix pointed his clawed toes, pressing down on the accelerator and quickly turned left out of the loading bay followed closely by Saturn. A holographic map appeared on Liam’s control panel, hovering above the display in a yellow outline, their destination flashing in red. Liam turned a copper knob, increasing power to his engine until the whir became a steady but deafening hum. He pointed the toe of his boot and sped out into the morning light.