Star Child- Awakening

by Petra Landon

  Her lips tightened but she answered readily. “I’m Kidani.” Her eyes flickered to Kali and the thick, whitish-colored blood flowing sluggishly from the gash on his brow. “There’s no need for violence.”

  “There isn’t” the man agreed readily. “If we get what we want, no one will be harmed.”

  In the access passage, a shaken Novi tried to make sense of the tableau. The strangers were professionals, and might even be military, though they wore no giveaway insignia on their uniforms. And, they were after Zufon Ventini’s cargo. Clearly, these men were confident that what they sought was aboard the Cruiser. Had they known that Ilar’s Justice would be on Zubiko Ethera, she wondered uneasily.

  In the Rec Chamber, the leader signaled to the last of the black-clad henchmen. “Give the others a hand.”

  The man shot Kali a threatening glare, to step away carefully, his eyes on the big RimWorlder.

  “Don’t give me any trouble” the leader warned Kali equably, ignoring the InnerWorlder girl. “And we’ll be out of your hair soon.”

  The two strode towards the exit. A faint whirring sound, like that of a door being forcibly scraped close, reached her ears. But Novi couldn’t tell for sure since she couldn’t view the exit from her vantage point.

  For a few moments, tense silence prevailed in the Rec Chamber.

  Eventually, Kidani turned to the pilot. “You’re bleeding, Kali.” There was concern liberally mixed with fright in her voice.

  He swiped at the blood on his temple with an impatient gesture, without taking his eyes off the exit. “Surface scratch. I’m fine.”

  Kidani studied him, her face reflecting her alarm, but she said nothing more.

  After a few seconds, Kali seemed to become aware of her silent regard. He shot her a glance.

  “We’ll get through this, Kidani” he reassured her, his voice hardening. “I will make sure of it.”

  Some of her tension seemed to wash away at his words.

  He cursed under his breath, something colorful in a RimWorlder dialect that had Kidani flash him a quick grin, despite the strain.

  “I should have been more vigilant” he admitted bluntly to her.

  “You couldn’t have anticipated this” she protested.

  “Cap’n left me behind for a reason” Kali reminded her. “He was suspicious.”

  She glanced at the door. “Can we …?”

  Kali shook his head. “We’d need a portable generator to operate the door controls. Without one, it would make a racket and they’d hear it.”

  Kidani met his eyes again, relaxing her convulsive grip on the platform behind her. “Perhaps, they’ll leave after they have the cargo” she remarked hopefully.

  Kali’s voice gentled. “Perhaps.”

  But even Novi could tell that the RimWorlder didn’t believe it.

  She decided it was time to announce her presence — the coast was clear. Novi pushed open the panel cover. Engrossed in each other, the two in the Rec Chamber didn’t hear her.

  “Kidani” Novi called softly, trying to pitch her voice low.

  The flame-haired girl jumped, her eyes flashing to the access hatch up in the wall, to stare at Novi in slack-jawed astonishment. Kali hid his emotions better, but he too looked a tad stunned.

  “The blackout released the cell gate, but I couldn’t exit the chamber” Novi explained, somewhat apologetically.

  Kidani goggled at her some more. In the excitement, they’d both forgotten about the stowaway in the hold.

  “I … um … know my way around the maintenance duct, after …” Novi’s voice trailed off awkwardly.

  Kali straightened in the chair. “They might search the Cruiser and if they …”

  “I took care of it” Novi jumped in to assure him. “No one will know I spent the night in the hold.”

  His eyebrow arched up at her words, but he said nothing.

  “I had this feeling” Novi muttered. “A ship losing power is catastrophic but doing so, while docked, is near impossible.” She didn’t bring up the Captain’s uneasiness with the convoy job. It was not the time to remind these two that she was a stowaway stranger who’d spent her time aboard the Cruiser spying on them.

  The pilot’s dark eyes took in her set expression. “You were right to be careful.” There was approval in his tone.

  “But Kali …” Kidani stopped, her expression stark.

  “She’ll be safe in the duct” he reassured her. “They don’t know about her.”

  “How can I help?” Novi asked.

  As the crew turned to stare at her again, Novi rushed into speech. “I can move freely in the duct” she reminded them.

  “The Vestibule” Kidani exclaimed eagerly. “If we get word to them, they’ll send in their guards.”

  “They must know the Cruiser has lost power” Novi said slowly.

  Kali shot Novi a sharp glance. The little stowaway was no fool, he realized. She’d drawn the same conclusion as him.

  “These men didn’t board through Space Bay, Kidani” he explained. “The only other way in is from the Vestibule.”

  Like the Cruiser’s hull, the Bay had a strong blast door. When operated, the vibrations could be felt all over the ship.

  Kidani gaped at him, an arrested expression on her face. “They cut power to disable our Automated Portico System” she murmured, as his words sank in. “Without it, the Cruiser would not raise an alarm.”

  Kali cursed silently — he’d messed up big time. He’d known Ryfkin Soren a long time — the Captain’s instincts about some things were always spot on.

  “The Vestibule’s in on it. Up to their feckin’ necks” he confirmed.

  “Kali” Kidani whispered, as the implications struck her. “The Vestibule, this planet … everything here’s owned by Deziti.”

  The RimWorlder nodded grimly. The full picture hadn’t escaped him. “They set us up. The convoy gig was the lure.”

  “No wonder Cap’n was suspicious” Kidani muttered, half to herself. All the incongruous details to draw the Captain’s suspicions had been part of the set up — the lack of any StarWeb reports of lawlessness on this world, the mystery of an unknown small corporation’s knowledge of Ilar’s Justice’s desire to broaden its base of clients, and so on.

  “But why go to the trouble?” Kali wondered at the puzzle. More importantly, why make an enemy of Ryfkin Soren? Deziti was not a powerful corporation or one with connections. What would make them gamble so dangerously, Kali speculated. Though not an influential man on the Inner Worlds, the RenWelder Captain had friends willing to back him up, as he’d amply demonstrated to the powerful Guild on the other side of the Ring.

  “The Ventini cargo.” Kidani looked skeptical, even as she offered the suggestion.

  “That might be an excuse” the pilot agreed with her.

  Novi had not questioned the strangers’ goal, simply assuming Zufon Ventini’s cargo to be valuable. But from the crews’ skepticism, it seemed they did not believe that the men’s intentions were as clear cut.

  “We must warn Cap’n” Kali said grimly. He didn’t know how far this conspiracy extended and what designs Deziti had on Ilar’s Justice or its crew. But if they could warn Soren that his Cruiser had been boarded, the Captain would never allow himself to be out-maneuvered on the ground.

  “Tell me what to do” a hitherto silent Novi offered, her voice colored by determination. She felt a weird kinship with this ship and its crew — had done so almost from her first foray onto the Cruiser.

  Kali sprang up from the chair to face her, his mind working furiously. The stowaway waif was offering her assistance and he was inclined to accept it. Even if her offer was insincere, he could see no downside to it. On the small chance that she was in cahoots with the thugs holding them captive, their predicament could certainly not get any more dire. He decided to give her the benefit of doubt.

  “Can you squeeze through the vent passages that lead to personal chambers?” he asked bluntly. The access
passages that connected crew quarters to the walkway were tight and nearly impossible for most adults. But Kali was fairly confident the stowaway could manage them — she’d escaped the hold through the chamber’s vent.

  Novi chose her words with care. “I believe so.”

  “Find the one that leads to the Captain’s chamber” he directed. “It’s the room with a large console inset into the wall. All the consoles should be powered by emergency reserves.”

  Novi, who knew exactly which passage led to Ryfkin Soren’s quarters, acquiesced mutely.

  “That console allows access to the Cruiser systems. There are consoles in the walkway too, but I don’t know where they are.” Kali was a pilot, not an engineer, and while he’d helped patch up the Cruiser during the war, it had never involved him tinkering with the critical tech systems in the duct.

  “I’ll find it” Novi assured him. “What do I use the console for?”

  “Send out a distress call” he said.

  Novi knew about security aboard a Cruiser. A ship’s communicator was a highly secure system. “Won’t I need a passcode to access the Hailer on the Captain’s console?” she asked.

  “Under normal circumstances, yes. But with the ship on emergency power, I’m hoping it won’t ask you for a code.”

  Kali met her eyes. “Cap’n is the only one with a console in his quarters. If you can’t get in, we’ll use my passcode, but then, we must attempt the Bay console or one in Cruiser Control.”

  As his words seeped in, Novi took a deep breath. The stakes were ratcheting up. The location of the hatch in Cruiser Control made it nearly impossible to access the chamber through the duct and entering it through the corridor was nigh impossible. Space Bay, of course, crawled with men searching for Ventini’s cargo.

  She girded herself. “What’s the Captain’s Hailer ID?”

  “You won’t need his ID” Kali explained. “Look for an ID marked home in the Hailer. It’s programmed to cycle through an ordered list of individual IDs until it succeeds. It will try the Cap’n first, followed by Commander Jeryn, then me and so on.”

  He shot a quick glance at Kidani, who looked taken aback. “It’s a relic from our Renegade days” he remarked.

  Kidani nodded. She could see why such a group-linked communicator list might prove useful in a war.

  He turned his attention to Novi again. “There’s a chance the external interface is disabled, to prevent all outgoing Hailers.”

  “Yes, all external communication is usually disabled when we dock” Kidani exclaimed. She had often wondered at the policy.

  “The Cruiser is the most vulnerable when connected to a station’s facilities” the pilot explained. “The Portico can snoop on all communications from the ship. It was Zinera Jeryn’s idea to only allow internal communication within the Cruiser when docked. Technically, a station could also snoop on incoming Hailers, but we didn’t want Ilar’s Justice to be unreachable, so it was felt that the risk was worth it.”

  Not with the Guild watching them. Though Kali didn’t say the words aloud, Novi understood him. That first day, she remembered the Captain taking an external Hailer call from Zedak Ventini, so obviously exceptions were made in certain cases.

  “Can’t be too careful, I guess” Kidani murmured, with a pointed glance at the pilot. Commander Jeryn had been right to be suspicious, she mused. After all, it was a Portico that had enabled the current breach of their docked Cruiser.

  “But we’re not in dock mode anymore” Kali continued. “And I’m hoping emergency power has restored full Hailer access and will allow you to transmit an SOS.”

  “Won’t they be scanning for outgoing communications?” Kidani countered.

  “I could make sure there’s no one in Cruiser Control before I transmit the message” Novi offered.

  “Don’t bother.” Kali shook his head. “They could monitor the Hailer from anywhere on the Cruiser if they know what to do. We have to assume that they will. Which means they might be able to pinpoint which console the message went out on.”

  He directed a pointed look at Novi, brimful of warning. “Once you transmit the message, get the Hadis out of there, Novia.”

  Novi took a deep breath. “I will.”

  “But if they detect an outgoing transmission, they’ll know there’s someone else on the Cruiser, Kali” Kidani asserted soberly. “They’ll tear it apart searching for her.”

  “I can hide in the duct” Novi said bravely, trying not to let the thought panic her. “There are places in there they wouldn’t think to look for me.”

  “It’s too risky, Novia.” Kidani looked grim.

  Kali pursed his lips thoughtfully. “There might be a way around it.”

  Ten minutes later, Novi peered carefully into the Captain’s quarters to confirm that the coast was clear, before she opened the vent to clamber down. In the bluish light, the room looked very different from when she’d listened in on the Captain’s conversation with Jerik the first day she had boarded the Cruiser.

  The console loomed large in the wall. She made for it, trying to ignore the dark shadows at the corners of the spacious chamber. The console switched on to display a handful of Cruiser systems. Novi touched the Hailer symbol to access the system, quickly searching for the ID she sought. With great care, she typed out the one sentence message from Kali to ready it for transmission. When no warning about transmission being disabled popped up from the system, she relaxed a little. Giving the message a quick once over, Novi touched the transmit button and waited a few seconds, her eyes on the blue-tinted console screen. When the light flashed to indicate a successful transmission, she switched off the console to bolt towards the open vent cover, conscious of Kali’s warning. For a minute, she waited, crouched behind the vent. But when no one made a beeline for the room, Novi crawled towards the walkway to make her way back to the Rec Chamber. In the chamber, Kali and Kidani conversed in a low voice by the table, with no sign of their guards.

  Novi opened the panel cover with a soft click. This time, they both turned to her, anticipation on their faces. She gave them a thumbs-up in the universal sign for success, accompanied by a broad grin.

  A corresponding smile bloomed across a clearly delighted Kidani’s face, and even the undemonstrative pilot looked pleased.

  “Good work, Novia” he said.

  “I’ll go retrieve the other thing you asked for” Novi said confidently, on a high from her success.

  He opened his mouth to give her more directions, but before he could say anything, Kidani jerked her head.

  “Someone’s at the door” she said urgently.

  Novi needed no second warning. She could hear the mechanical whirring of the door, faint as it was. Closing the cover with a soft click, she waited behind the panel.

  In the chamber, Kidani scrambled back to her old position by the kitchen platform but Kali remained standing, his attention on the door.

  Two men strode in. Novi recognized the man she’d designated as the leader of the thugs — the one asking questions about the cargo. Accompanying him was a henchman with a raised flasher. As before, he ignored Kidani to point his weapon at the RimWorlder, who made sure to keep his hands where the men could see it.

  To Novi’s astonishment, the leader addressed Kidani. “Who else is aboard this ship?” he asked her.

  But Kidani, initial flush of fright vanquished, was up to the challenge. Kali had come up with a plan and she had a part to play in it. While the stowaway took all the risks, Kidani knew that Kali and her ability to bamboozle these men would decide Novia’s fate.

  “Just the two of us.” She displayed commendable acting skills to look convincingly puzzled.

  For a moment, the leader contemplated her.

  “There was a message transmitted a few minutes ago. From the Captain’s private console” he said.

  Kidani looked bemused. “I don’t understand. Cap’n is not aboard.”

  The leader flashed a sidelong glance at Kali but kept
his attention on the flame-haired girl. “The message was in a RimWorlder dialect.”

  Kali said nothing. Neither did Kidani, though she did allow genteel surprise to flood her expression.

  “I had it translated” the leader continued. “It said ‘salutations to RimWorlder patriots’ followed by the name of a Rim World.”

  Kidani looked confused, and even a little apologetic. “We sail with a mixed crew and all communication on the ship is in Zirati.” She met the leader’s gaze head on, confident that he knew about Ilar’s Justice’s crew. Kali was convinced that these men were professionals. If so, they’d never embark on this venture without doing their homework.

  “You don’t know what it means?” the leader persisted.

  She shrugged. “Who was it sent to?”

  “An ID marked home.”

  “Home” she muttered, shaking her head. “I don’t recognize the Hailer ID.”

  “We’ve both been locked in here” Kali chimed in unexpectedly, for the first time. “You should search the Cruiser for others.”

  A watching Novi marveled as the two comrades in the Rec Chamber played the men like a perfectly-tuned violin. Kali had already proven himself to be stubborn and recalcitrant. It had always been Kidani who gave the leader the answers he wanted. So of course, any hint of cooperation from the pilot would only serve to make the leader suspicious and question Kali’s intentions.

  The leader studied the RimWorlder. Novi wished she could see his expression. She sensed that the leader was more dangerous than the combined threat of all his henchmen with the waving flashers.

  The leader turned back to the flame-haired InnerWorlder, ignoring Kali once more to focus on her. “Remember what I said, no violence if I get what I want” he chided softly. “I’m a reasonable man, Kidani. I won’t order my men to shoot unless I have to.”

  Kidani took a deep breath, to shoot Kali a sidelong glance. The pilot shook his head at her, a gesture Novi was sure the leader caught.

  The man waited patiently, his eyes on Kidani and eventually, she responded with seeming reluctance. “I can’t be sure, but there was some gossip from the RimWorlders on the crew.”