by Petra Landon
“You’re up, Jerik” the Captain directed on the Hailer.
In the Shuttle Vestibule, the InnerWorlder strode up to the guard manning Ilar’s Justice’s gate. “What the Zeuf are you playing at?” he demanded.
“We are working on it, Sir” the guard assured him. “It’ll just be a few minutes more.”
Jerik waved his Hailer, taking the guard by surprise. Thus far, Jerik had been a model of patience and understanding. “If you can’t supply a docked ship, you should not be in the Vestibule business. We’ll see what the Guild Coalition has to say about this” he warned.
The guard, his expression alarmed, reached for his Hailer to summon his supervisor. “Sir, you better come out here.”
The Guild held major sway over the stars. A rural Vestibule could get in serious trouble if the Coalition started looking into its business practices.
Outside, by the Space Bay, Burok raised his thumb in a silent gesture. Zinera Jeryn and the Captain took position on opposite ends of the space door. The mechanic had promised that the engines’ initial burst would slide the Bay door up just a tad, enough to commence the operation. Then, he’d work to rev the engines to full power. They hoped that might be enough juice to drag the heavy door up.
The Wheeler’s engines revved, the noise drowned out by the Bay door as it shrieked its way up a few inches. They lobbed in two smoke devices, rolling them in carefully under the door. In response, flasher blasts hit the space door from inside the hangar, the noise deafening.
Yukon and Vizir hurried to flank the Captain and his deputy, and Burok slipped out of the driver’s seat to reach for the engine box.
Vizir put his mouth by Soren’s ears, as shots blasted the door from inside the Cruiser. “Not gonna to be pretty, Cap’n.”
“Kali’s holed up in there” Ryf said confidently. “If he sees an edge, he’ll take it.” The pilot had managed to warn them. Kali was resourceful and experienced.
“Cap’n” Burok called to him urgently through the din.
As the Captain strode away to join the mechanic, Vizir moved to take his position by the door.
“The initial rev should have slid the door up more” Burok explained to him.
Ryf frowned. “We don’t have the juice to open the door?”
“I can push the engines, get it closer to spec” the mechanic offered.
“But?”
“They might burn out if they overheat.”
“I need the Bay door up, Burok, just enough to get us inside. If the Wheeler burns out after, so be it. One problem at a time.”
“Understood, Cap’n. I’ll get the door open. But I need you in the driver’s seat — I must monitor the engines. When it gets too hot, we’ll have to cool it down before we rev it again.”
“Zin” Soren said into his Hailer. “Burok needs to babysit the engines.”
“We got this, Ryf” responded her steady voice. “You slide up the door and we’ll take the Cruiser.”
The Captain slid behind the wheel and Burok raised his arm. “Rev it, Cap’n.”
The space door screamed its way up, inch by painstaking inch, as Burok coaxed the Wheeler’s engines to hit their spec. But it was slow going. As the gap widened, Vizir and Zin pulled down their armored headgear to lay prone to the ground and use their sharp-shooter skills to lay down cover fire inside the Bay.
When the mechanic signaled for the second time that the engines were overheating again, the Captain shut it down. It took a few seconds for the shuddering door and the engine noise to diminish, though the steady blasts of flasher fire continued unabated. In the relative silence, Ryf heard the soft ping of his Hailer. To his surprise, it was another transcribed communication. He reached for the control to play the message, hoping that it was Kali.
Burok’s startled face flashed up as the Captain ran past him to the door controls to pull out the bypass cables connecting them to the Wheeler.
“Cap’n?” the mechanic inquired bemusedly.
“Power’s been restored to the space door” Ryf said briefly as the controls came alive.
This time, the door slid up smoothly as power flowed evenly to the system. Once it was a quarter of its way up, the Captain shut it down. The sharp-shooters by the door laid down cover fire and Yukon slipped through into the Bay.
By the car, Burok had abandoned the Wheeler’s engines to arm himself with a flasher.
“Nothing gets through the door, Burok.” Ryf gestured at the Bay before he slid under the space door into it.
The mechanic placed himself behind the armored Wheeler, his flasher pointed at the half-open Space Bay door.
Inside, the smoke made visibility poor but this was his Bay and Ryf knew very inch of it. He took cover behind the cargo as Zin and Vizir followed him in. The steady beat of flashers echoed through the hangar but it took him only a few seconds to note that it was all at the other end, by the corridor that led into the Cruiser. They spread out to painstakingly fight their way through the Bay. As they neared the corridor, the marauders retreated into the ship. Ryf was nearly to the corridor when he heard Yukon in his ear.
The din around him drowned out the Hailer, despite the noise cancellation in his earpiece, but it was enough to make out the words. “Kali’s in the Rec Chamber” Yukon said. “I found the stowaway by the Bay console.”
Ryf’s eyebrows shot up. He’d forgotten about the stowaway. Was Yukon implying that she was responsible for the messages from Ilar’s Justice?
“I’m going in, Vizir” he said into the Hailer. “Cover me.”
“We have you” the RimWorlder said calmly.
The flasher fire was now intermittent and from deep inside the Cruiser. Ryf ignored it to make for the Rec Chamber. The corridor outside was smoke-free and empty.
He pounded on the door. “Kali?”
“Cap’n” Kali responded calmly. “Kidani and I are fine.”
“Novia” Kidani’s voice rose from inside. “Cap’n, do you have Novia?”
“Yukon has the stowaway” he assured her, making his way towards the airlock that connected the Cruiser to the Vestibule gate. Within moments, Jerik strode in from the Vestibule to meet him as the flashers fell silent.
Ryfkin Soren slackened the grip on his weapon. The Cruiser was clear of intruders — Ilar’s Justice was theirs again.
A stunning admission
As the man’s fingers tightened on the trigger, a trembling Novi closed her eyes. The resounding sound of a flasher at close range had her wincing back with a cry. It took Novi a few seconds to process that she was unhurt. Her eyes opened to stare in disbelief at the sprawled figure before her. He lay face down at an awkward angle, dangling half off the platform. Novi scrabbled hurriedly away from him on her hands and knees, her horrified gaze on the spreading dark stain on his back.
An InnerWorlder — the RimWorlders bleed white.
“Stowaway!” muttered an astonished voice from above her.
The exclamation had her glancing up with another cry. A man, large and covered in armor, stood over the bleeding slinger. Preoccupied by other matters, she’d not heard him come up the stairs to the console platform. The man shoved up his headgear and lowered his flasher.
Dark eyes met her reassuringly. “I’m Yukon.”
Novi let out her breath to slump into the ground, not trusting her voice. Relief flooded her. The crew of Ilar’s Justice was back in control.
He stepped over the prone man to crouch by Novi. Pulling down his headgear, he scanned the Bay carefully from behind the barrier that enclosed the console platform.
A numb Novi sagged against the barrier, trying not to look at the crumpled slinger on the ground.
Apparently satisfied by his scan of the Bay, Yukon settled onto the floor beside her.
“Kali?” he asked her.
It took two tries to force the words out and they still came out hoarsely. “Rec Chamber.”
He reached for his Hailer. “I have the stowaway by the Bay console, Cap’n.
Says Kali’s in the Rec Chamber.”
Novi’s eyes flickered to the slumped man by the stairs.
“He’s dead” the RimWorlder said to her, his voice gentling.
Novi nodded, forcing herself to look away.
Yukon’s eyes wandered to the wrecked console up in the wall before him. “You tried to use the console?” he asked, a note of curiosity in his voice.
Novi cleared her throat. “Kali told me how to power the Bay door.”
The RimWorlder said nothing, his dark eyes scanning her shell-shocked face. “Stay here” he said softly. “I’ll make sure the Bay is clear.”
Novi watched him slip away, the rush of adrenaline still strong in her. When Yukon came back to declare the coast clear, she skirted the slinger’s body gingerly to follow him down to the Bay. After the fury, din and confusion, the Cruiser was eerily silent.
Yukon made for Cruiser Control and it was Jerik’s voice Novi heard first as they neared the chamber.
“The ship’s locked up tight on both ends, Boss.”
Cruiser Control seemed unusually crowded when Yukon escorted her into it. The eery blue emergency lights cast ghostly shadows over the looming figures. The Commander and another RimWorlder had their heads hunched over her console, while a small knot of people surrounded the Captain.
Kidani rushed to them, her expression one of relief. Kali followed more sedately, his eyes on Novi.
“Are you alright, Novia?” the flame-haired girl asked urgently, her bright hair glinting under the flickering blue lights.
Novi nodded mutely, still shaky after the slinger on the platform.
“Cap’n says you powered the space door.” The pilot addressed Novi. “And hailed him about it.”
Novi composed herself with an effort. “When they came into the duct, I escaped to the Bay, Kali” she said shakily. “There was a chance and I took it.”
“She nearly got flashed for her efforts” Yukon, following the conversation, interjected.
“I got him” he added brusquely, as the others glanced at him.
Ryfkin Soren straightened. “Dead, Yukon?”
The RimWorlder nodded. “By the Bay console platform.”
“You did very well” Kali directed at Novi, praising her publicly.
“Yes, Novia” Kidani reiterated warmly. “Thank you.”
Novi’s eyes wandered over the flame-haired girl and the tall RimWorlder pilot, their faces shadowed by the blue glow.
“Novi” she said softly. “My friends call me Novi.”
The overhead lights flashed on abruptly, blinding everyone as the chamber transformed from ghostly blue to bright and harsh. It was accompanied by the clang of alarms.
“We have power” Commander Jeryn remarked from her console.
As the crew turned their attention to the Commander, Novi reached for her locket. With the Cruiser systems back on, she must be a shadow no more.
“I want the ship isolated from the Vestibule, Zin” the Captain directed.
“We’re cut off from the Vestibule’s facilities” she assured him.
She met his eyes. “Burok forced the Cruiser System into operation mode but it’s draining our power reserves. How soon till we take off?”
“That depends on how much damage we took” he said bluntly.
“We could shut down some of the expensive systems while we take stock” Burok suggested. “It’ll stave off the power drain.”
“Do it” Soren directed. “But keep weapons online” he warned.
The Commander turned to the mechanic. “I’ll shut down the systems while you check the damage.”
“Space Bay is pretty shot up, Cap’n. And the Bay console’s toast” Yukon remarked. “But that shouldn’t stop us from taking off.”
There was a pause, his words reminding everyone of what had just happened.
“Who were they?” Vizir looked curious. “Vestibule guards?”
“They were slingers, Vizir” Kali interjected grimly. “Well-funded would be my guess.”
The Captain frowned. “Professional slingers! What’d they want with Ilar’s Justice?”
“Zufon Ventini’s strongbox” the pilot said succinctly, his eyes tangling with Ryf’s.
The Captain’s eyebrow arched as stunned silence descended on Cruiser Control. Even Zinera Jeryn abandoned her console to glance up, her expression one of astonishment.
“Those slingers were on the Cruiser long enough to do significant damage” Soren murmured.
“I’m running a high-level check for sabotage, Cap’n” Burok assured him.
“They were in the duct for a while” Kali pointed out.
“That’s going to take longer” the mechanic warned. “There’s a lot of tech in there they could mess with. And if the sabotage was subtle, it won’t show up on the high-level diagnostics.”
Novi hesitated for a split second, before speaking up. She was more composed now. “I was hiding in the duct when they first entered it.”
Ryfkin Soren’s silver eyes flashed to her to contemplate Novi. “What were they doing?” he asked.
“Searching for the box. I don’t think they did anything to the systems.” She paused, thinking back. “They might have, after I left though” she said candidly. “Their leader was losing his patience.”
The Captain turned to his mechanic. “Burok, just make sure we’re good to take off — navigation and weapons are a priority. Anything else, the repairs can wait once we’re in space. I want away from Deziti territory.”
“Understood, Cap’n.” The mechanic strode to his station.
“Is the Star Hailer online, Zin?” inquired the Captain.
“Yes.”
Ryf strode to the Command Seat to reach for its console. Within seconds, a man appeared on it.
“Mr. Benito” he greeted the man on the console.
The Deziti executive’s voice echoed in Cruiser Control, though his video was restricted to the Command Seat console.
“Captain Soren” the man greeted him guardedly. “The guards tell me that you have vehicle trouble.”
The Captain ignored the remark. “There’s an abandoned storage shed by the Shuttle Vestibule. Meet me there in half an hour.”
“I’m not sure I understand, Captain.” Benito sounded uncertain.
Ryf’s voice hardened. “You’ll have your cash once I get my answers.”
“And Benito, don’t bring an entourage unless you want a fire fight. In the mood I’m in, restraint flies out the window”
“I will be there, Captain.” The executive looked subdued.
“Half an hour” Soren signed off.
Zinera Jeryn looked at him, reading the Captain in the uncanny way she had. “You’re not thinking of going alone, Ryf?”
“He’s a bureaucrat, Zin. I’ll have the Wheeler, just in case. But you need all hands to get the Cruiser ready to sail.”
“No, Ryf” his deputy said firmly, catching Novi by surprise. She’d never seen the Commander openly defy Ryfkin Soren before. But the crew appeared unsurprised.
Kali opened his mouth but surprisingly, it was Burok who stepped in.
“The Cruiser will be ready, Cap’n.” The mechanic glanced up from his console to assure Soren. “Don’t go alone to the meet.”
Ryf gave in. “I’ll take Kali and Jerik with me.”
“Watch his back, Kali” Commander Jeryn said pointedly.
The pilot looked grim. “Watch yours too. The slingers did not find what they were looking for.”
At the pilot’s words, an arrested expression flit across the Captain’s face. “Check the duct, Kali. Let’s make sure the box is still here.”
As Jerik and Kali exited Cruiser Control with the Captain, Burok addressed Commander Jeryn. “Preliminary diagnostics indicate damage to a few systems.”
“How bad?” she asked.
“I’ll have to check them out.”
“Yukon” she directed. “Help Burok with the tech.”
“Viz
ir and Kidani, you’re with me. We must shut down as many non-essential systems as we can before we drain too much power.”
As the Commander delegated her crew to various tasks, frenetic activity pervaded the chamber. A sense of urgency was now palpable in Cruiser Control.
Novi took a deep breath. “I’ve done maintenance on tech before, Commander” she offered. “I can replace damaged parts or run diagnostics to isolate problems.”
“Where?” the Commander asked bluntly.
“On a cargo-hauler I crewed on. And on Idriko.”
The Commander said nothing, her eyes studying Novi. Kidani sent Zinera Jeryn a discreet nod. It seemed to do the trick.
“Alright” the Commander agreed briskly. “You’re with Burok.”
The mechanic looked Novi over, before gesturing at Yukon. “Take the console. Run through the list of diagnostics and keep your Hailer open.”
He moved away from the console, signaling to Novi to follow him. “We’ll check for damage to the systems in the duct.”
In Space Bay, Jerik worked on the door controls while the Captain strode up to the console to inspect the damage and the body slumped by it. Kali hauled out a body bag from a storage container and the two RimWorlders hefted the dead slinger into it.
“What do we do with him?” Kali asked the Captain.
“Let’s see what Benito has to say.”
Soren’s eyes wandered to the shattered console. “The stowaway took a risk.”
Kali shot him a glance. “She came looking for us to offer her assistance.”
Ryf said nothing as they strode down the stairs. Jerik had the Wheeler outside and ready to go.
“Whatever she’s running from, I don’t think she means us harm” Kali remarked.
It was a short ride to the abandoned shed. Darkness permeated the world and everything lay silent around them as they waited by the shed. The Deziti executive was on time, sweeping up in an official vehicle. Kali’s sharp eyes noted that the man was unaccompanied. His driver made no move to exit the vehicle as the representative stepped out. Ryf signaled his entourage to stay put and strode out to meet Benito.