by Petra Landon
This was a holdover from their days battling the Guild on the other side of the Asteroid Ring. As a private craft in the Inner Worlds, they had no need for such stringent security precautions. But Zin had left most of the security procedures from the war in place, only tweaking those that required modifications to work with the Star Portico protocols in the Inner Worlds.
Ryf straightened. The tech that scanned for intruders aboard the Cruiser was typical of what was commonly used by automated systems on both star stations and ships.
“She hid in the maintenance duct” he murmured. “Can the system scan the duct?”
“Not all of it. Much of the tech in the duct, sensitive to temperature and other factors, is shielded. That might throw the system off.”
He met her eyes, an arrested expression on his face. “Zin, are you saying that somehow, the girl knew how to stay in the shielded portions of the duct to escape being flagged as an intruder?”
“Or she got very lucky.”
“No.” He shook his head. “That’s too much of a coincidence for me, Zin.”
“Me too, Ryf. You won’t get an argument from me.”
He slipped into the seat across from her, thinking back to the girl with the burumha eyes who’d dropped into his arms so unexpectedly. “She was eavesdropping on Cruiser Control when she fell. That hatch is right above the chamber. Surely the access passage is not shielded?”
The Commander shook her head. “I don’t believe it is.”
“Then, why’d it take so long for the ship to alert us?” he demanded.
“I don’t know, Ryf. But I plan to run some diagnostics on the system, and after Zubiko Ethera, I’ll do a full review of all our security measures. Clearly, there are gaps we must address.”
They contemplated each other.
“If you go after the Guild, Ryf, they’ll hit back hard” she said softly. “Sooner than later, if I know them. This is their backyard. Here, they believe they are unstoppable.”
“Let them come” he said, not noticeably perturbed. “Regardless of what they believe, the Guild possesses the same weaknesses in their backyard that they had on the Ren Welds. It’ll take me great pleasure to remind them of it.”
At his words, Zin relaxed into her chair. This is what she’d been waiting for. Once Ryf took on a cause, he was relentless. The Guild didn’t know what was about to hit it.
“In the meantime, I’ll make sure they can’t exploit any of our weaknesses” she assured him, her practical side asserting itself.
“I’m counting on you, Zin” he said confidently. “My job is to make sure we have the money to finance the venture — I’ll build us a profitable business on the Invun Welds without the Guild. Before I’m done, I promise you they will feel the thorn in their side.”
Zin knew that he meant the words. She’d known Ryf since before his turn as fearless and inspirational leader of the Renegades. An easygoing man with a zest for life and the unfettered freedom of space, he was a quintessential RenWelder. But the Guild’s ambitions and campaign had awakened something buried deep in him. Like it had for the Renegades who’d followed him. The very idea of a corporation upending their way of life, to exploit the natural resources of their worlds for financial gain, had roused the usually laid-back but independent-minded RimWorlders.
“Do you buy her story, Ryf?” she asked, her eyes wandering his familiar face.
He shrugged. “It should be easy enough to check out.”
“But?” she prompted. Zinera Jeryn knew Ryfkin Soren, like few others in the world.
“She claims to understand the significance of the Yedigrul. Anyone else boarding the Cruiser in error would make for the exit post haste, after sighting it. Instead, she ran for the Bay and hid in the duct.” He shook his head. To him, this seemed inconceivable. “There’s something more going on here.”
“A Guild spy?” Zin suggested with a smile.
He chuckled, losing the serious mien. “I doubt it. The Guild could do better. But she didn’t tell us the whole story. A few days in the hold might change her mind.”
As they stared at each other, he remarked. “Gotta admit, Zin. The coincidences are adding up. And I don’t like it.”
Zin knew what he meant. What the Guild could not take by force, they used guile and subterfuge to wrest away. They’d seen all the tactics up close on the Rim Worlds. While the stowaway seemed harmless, it would not do to lower their guard.
“What about the Synth?” she asked. “You believe him?”
“He has no reason to lie. And clearly, the Synths could use some help. I’ll reach out to friends, Zin.”
“The Ring is treacherous” she agreed. RenWelder pilots could certainly teach them how to survive the asteroids, but she sensed that the Synths had bigger concerns to deal with. “I’ll reach out to a few too, Ryf.”
The Commander paused to reflect on the Synth’s revelation.
“You think Vedino’s information can be used against the Guild?” she asked. Like the other RimWorlders, Zin’s knowledge of history and religious practices in the Inner Worlds was limited to what she’d learned in the six months spent on this side of the Ring.
“I don’t know enough about the Sacred Realms, Zin” he said thoughtfully. “But I believe it could.” Both Jerik and Kidani’s stunned reactions had convinced Ryf that if true, the Synth’s accusation would play havoc with the Guild’s reputation on the Inner Worlds.
From what Ryf had observed, the InvunWelders were a religious people. Perhaps, the Guild playing fast and loose with their religious beliefs might be the spark that led to a mass repudiation of what the Coalition stood for. This time, he didn’t intend to fight a costly and frontal war. Unlike before, this would be a war of attrition — death by a thousand cuts. This time, he vowed silently, it would be the Guild that made sacrifices and found itself forced into tough decisions that risked the lives of allies and friends with risky gambits. After the Edhoran Accords, Ryf had promised himself that neither he nor his friends would ever again pay the price for the Guild’s greed or ambitions.
Blackout
Novi slept well that first night in the hold — warm, on an actual bed, with access to facilities she didn’t have to sneak into. And, she counted the absence of the debilitating effects from the carved box a marked improvement. The energy emanating from it had made her temporary abode in the duct almost untenable. But one mysterious aspect of the ship continued unabated. She was still interrupted in the night with agonizing pain that stabbed at her head and made her see stars. This time, she fancied the agony lasted just a tad longer before she blacked out into blessed oblivion.
In the morning, she was awakened rather unceremoniously. A jangling noise had her springing up, her heart thudding in its cage. It was Kidani unlocking the cell gate, a large basket in her hand, its contents covered by a starched napkin.
The flame-haired girl placed the basket on a small table by the gate, to shoot a curious glance at the inmate. Eyes stark with alarm, Novi perched on the bed, tangled up in the folds of a blanket.
“There’s a fresh bottle of water and hot seidoki leaf tea for your breakfast.” Kidani gestured at the basket. “The RimWorlders prefer unsweetened coria juice in the morning. Let me know if you’d prefer that instead.”
“Tea is fine” Novi answered, her heart still thudding too fast for comfort. “Thank you.”
Her eyes wandered to the basket — a distraction to calm her racing heart. The generous-sized hamper looked full and Novi wondered at it.
Kidani caught the glance. “Your breakfast as well as lunch. I’m headed to the local markets.”
The Cruiser was stationary. They must be at Zubiko Ethera, Novi surmised. She recalled that it was an agrarian planet — a perfect opportunity for Ilar’s Justice to stock up on fresh produce from the markets.
Novi watched the flame-haired InnerWorlder exit the cell and enable the electronic lock on the gate.
Kidani made to exit the chamber. But as the door
slid open for her, she cast a last glance back. Tangled in the blanket, Novi looked a little lost and young.
“If you’re who you say you are, you have nothing to fear, Novia Dozanti” Kidani said deliberately. Her voice softened. “Cap’n is a fair man. He’ll not punish you for a mistake.”
Novi straightened, inordinately grateful for the simple words of reassurance. She acknowledged the other InnerWorlder with a nod as Kidani exited the room. Somehow, she felt better. But as Novi glanced around her, she couldn’t help but sigh. Emptiness and boredom, a day of it, stretched before her. At least, in the duct, she’d busied herself by observing the crew.
After a quick shower, Novi made a mental note to ask Kidani for her case to be brought in from its hiding place by the walkway. While she waited for the Captain to decide her fate, she might as well have fresh attire.
In the basket she found two steaming pancakes, a pat of butter, a generous helping of fruit compote and two loaves of freshly baked bread. In addition to this, her lunch was packed neatly at the bottom. The crew on Ilar’s Justice certainly ate well, Novi mused. The tea, sweetened with xura nectar, was hot and syrupy, just the way the InnerWorlders liked their morning cuppa. Digging further into the basket, Novi uncovered cutlery, cups and plates. She poured herself more tea and carried her haul back to the bed to sit cross-legged on it and feast upon the food. Wy, a fairly decent cook, had nothing on Kidani.
Once replete, she carried the debris back to the basket. As she straightened, the hold plunged abruptly into darkness. It was so sudden that for a moment, Novi simply stood still, nonplussed by it. The cell and the room that housed it were pitch dark. But within moments, tiny flickers blinked on in the chamber beyond, though the hold continued to be enveloped in uncompromising darkness. Novi recognized the blue-toned glow as emergency lighting. As the eery blue light cast mysterious shadows, she pushed at the gate of the cell, driven by instinct to test her wild theory. It swung open — the gate’s lock was disabled.
The Cruiser had suffered a blackout. Novi stepped out of the cell to glance around the bare room. Something was off, she knew. Ships didn’t lose power like this — not without exigent circumstances. Without power, a starcraft would be dead in space. Every system on a spaceship, even the minor ones, required power to operate, including the tech responsible for sustaining life aboard it. Yet, something had caused a catastrophic blackout on this Cruiser.
As she glanced around the blue-hued chamber, questions bombarded her. They were docked at Zubiko Ethera — she’d overheard the Captain confirming that Deziti Corp would reserve a slot for them at the Shuttle Vestibule on the planet. It meant the Cruiser was hooked up to the Vestibule’s facilities and drawing power from the station. While smaller shuttles on Vestibules sometimes did not avail of this facility, a Star Cruiser could not choose to simply idle on a planet, especially not for a day-long gig like the payroll convoy. Even docked, a Cruiser required substantial power to sustain any crew aboard it. Novi frowned, as the implications hit her. The chances of a ship losing power were slim, but that of a Vestibule being blacked out was highly improbable.
Galvanized by a sense of urgency, Novi attempted to exit the room. But, as she’d suspected, the door remained stubbornly shut. The electronic door controls were useless without the power to operate them. She was locked in here. Novi cast another assessing glance around her. If her time as a stowaway on the Cruiser had taught her anything, it was that most chambers on the ship had a hatch or a vent that led into the duct. For personal quarters, the vents were small, not meant for access to the maintenance duct, but she could crawl through them, as she had when using the facilities in the empty chamber she’d adopted while hiding out as a stowaway. High up on the wall, outside the confines of the cell, her keen eyes sighted the vent that fronted the access passage to the duct.
Novi bit her lips, indecisive and hesitant. If the blackout proved to have an innocuous explanation, the crew would be rightly suspicious of her attempts to escape the hold. On the other hand, it had been minutes since the first plunge into darkness and the blue glow of the emergency lights made it clear that power had not yet been restored to the Cruiser. Striding forward, she placed her ears to the door, hoping for a clue. Or even a cue. To no avail — the doors of the personal quarters were thick and meant to provide a measure of privacy for the crew. Yet, her sense of impending doom did not abate. If anything, it seemed to ratchet up with every minute of silence. Even with Kidani off the Cruiser to replenish supplies, the RimWorlder pilot, Kali, should still be aboard. As she pondered the matter, the crew’s palpable astonishment at the Captain’s stated intention of leaving behind a senior member to watch over the Cruiser flashed through Novi. Ryfkin Soren had been uncharacteristically cagey about the convoy job, not denying his unease when the Commander had called him on it. The timely reminder had her scrambling, her decision made.
The vent was too high for her to reach. She looked around the bare chamber before zeroing in on the cell. The table under the basket would do, she decided. Novi hurried into the hold to dump the hamper of food onto the floor and steer the table into position under the vent. As she clambered onto it, something, an instinct for self-preservation perhaps, had her pause, the Captain’s suspicions and the inexplicable blackout very much on her mind. Novi’s eyes flickered to the hold, to wander over the gaping gate, bedclothes piled on the bed and the basket of fresh food on the floor. It was clear that the cell had been inhabited recently. Her instincts screamed at Novi to not leave behind any sign of her presence in the hold. Just in case!
Novi bolted back into the cell. Stripping the linen from the bed, she piled it over the basket to hide it, before dragging the bundle to a corner. Now anyone glancing in would only see a pile of used linen in a corner, hopefully enough to allay any suspicions. Carefully closing the gate behind her to look undisturbed, Novi clambered onto the table to open the vent and swing herself into the hatch.
Darkness enveloped her in the passage, but up ahead, the glow of light from the walkway beckoned her. She closed the vent behind her to crawl towards the brightly lit walkway. The emergency reserves powered the maintenance duct more brightly than the faint illumination in the room with the hold. Novi supposed that the crucial tech systems that lined the walkway took precedence over personal quarters. After all, any technician attempting repairs would need to see his way well. Once at the familiar walkway, she made for her case to unearth her flashlight and clip it onto her wristband. Next, she made for Cruiser Control. For once though, the big chamber was empty and try as she might, she could hear no sound from below. Novi crawled back to the walkway to ponder her next course of action when the murmur of voices drifted in from the Recreation Chamber. She breathed a sigh of relief. Like most areas on the ship, with the exception of Cruiser Control and Space Bay, the access hatch was located high into the wall of the room. Thus, Novi had a good vantage point into the Rec Chamber, even illuminated only by the faint bluish glow of emergency lights.
But the sight that met her eyes, through the panel cover, had Novi catch her breath in a silent gasp. A grim-looking Kali faced her, seated in a chair with his hands stretched out on the table before him. Behind him stood a thick-set man with a flasher pointed at the RimWorlder. A little distance from both men, with her hands gripping the kitchen platform behind her, a white-faced Kidani stared at the two. Abandoned on the floor beside her was a hamper, larger than the one delivered to the hold this morning. Novi surmised that the InnerWorlder had been on her way out, when surprised. Another man, his back to Novi, had his flasher pointed at the flame-haired girl, though it was clear from his stance and their focus on Kali that the strangers were far more attentive to the RimWorlder. They did not consider Kidani much of a threat, unlike the pilot.
YanTeo, watch over them.
The Captain had it right — something’s very wrong here.
As alarm spiked through her, Novi derived a measure of comfort. She’d made the right call by erasing all trace of an occup
ant in the hold. These strangers with flashers, whoever they were, would not suspect her presence aboard Ilar’s Justice. It was time to be a shadow again. Novi reached for the locket around her neck to deactivate it. Now, they’d have to physically search the Cruiser to find her.
Down in the Rec Chamber, another man strode in, his flasher strapped to his thigh. Unlike the others, he was very much at ease. They were InnerWorlders — that was all Novi could tell. Attired in plain black garb, the men were heavily-armed with the latest military-grade flashers she recognized from her favorite StarVision show. Novi was no stranger to flashers — her childhood on a mining outpost and her adulthood working in a tavern had taken care of that. She knew her way around the weapons — how to fire one and when to run to avoid one. Wy had made sure of it. But the men in the Rec Chamber carried no ordinary flashers meant to hunt game or protect property and family on a rural outpost. They were armed with assault weapons, capable of wrecking a Star Cruiser and wreaking havoc on its crew.
The man with the strapped flasher addressed Kali. “Where’s Ventini’s cargo?”
“Ventini?” The pilot appeared puzzled by the unfamiliar name.
The man chuckled in response, and the one with the flasher pointed at Kali clubbed him on the temple with a blow that had the pilot cursing.
As blood seeped down from the gash on the RimWorlder’s temple, Novi’s eyes widened.
They bleed white.
“All cargo is stored in Space Bay.” Kidani’s clear voice rang out, though Novi could hear the underlying fear in the calm tones.
Novi sympathized with her — these strangers clearly meant business with their casual violence and the powerful flashers they carried, capable of terrible destruction.
The man asking the questions gestured at the henchman who had his flasher pointed at Kidani. “Check it out.”
As the man exited the room, the leader addressed the flame-haired girl. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”