Heritage Lost

by S M Wright

  Ducking into a dip in the ship's corridor, Katya launched the ship's specs, scanning through them. Basic rooms. None of them, except for the medical wing, struck Katya as places where they would stow Sotiris. She surveyed the next level's rooms where she would be getting close to crew quarters. Already on that level, there were meeting rooms and several guest quarters. Would they put Sotiris there? Seeing room. She paused on that room, drawn to it. It was on the same level as the guest rooms but separated from them, more isolated.

  Katya reentered the lift and pushed the Jar'rasks' corpses from its doorway before hitting the button for the next level up. She prepped her new weapon. A round black spot stuck out against the silver ceiling, a camera. If their monitoring was decent, this might be the shortest escape attempt ever. Additionally, the possibility that Sotiris wasn't even on this level loomed over her. But it felt right. Perhaps their minds were not so incompatible; either that, or he was crafting hers into one that met his needs.

  The door opened to a vacant corridor. Disembarking, Katya slinked toward the seeing room. As she cleared a corner, she eliminated a Jar'rask before her presence even registered. Silence hung afterward. No alarms. No rushing enemy. Pressing her lips together, she ran along the corridor, never straying far from the wall to obscure her passage. None of the Jar'rasks had even attempted to summon their brethren via com, unable to move beyond their natural instinct to act on their own and not trust their own kind. A major flaw, one that should have sent red flags to the Magistrate's ruling council.

  She could exploit that weakness. Maybe she'd even get out of this. Of course, if there was a known threat—especially a sizeable one—the reptile creatures might band together in a temporary alliance. But that might be where a sudden freeze could make a difference. They were reptiles, so the sudden drop could potentially slow them. It might be her only option when it came time to knock out the FTL drive. Katya brushed salty moisture away from her eyes. The key, however, would lie in how quickly the temperature change would affect them.

  Katya crept nearer to the corridor with the seeing room, stopping short of it. Hisses and grunts of more than one Jar'rask emitted from the hall. Keeping close to the metal wall, she peeked down both ends of the hallway. Four Jar'rasks. They hovered near the vicinity of her destination. Katya fingered the flash grenade in her pocket. She'd hoped to save it, but—

  A commotion broke out, one of the Jar'rasks biting at another. Katya retreated away from the corner, resting her head against the wall and forcing her limbs to stop shaking. With their senses, she couldn't linger here. She removed the grenade and activated it.

  Clutching the firearm in her left hand, she tossed the grenade with the other, wincing with the effort. A bright burst of light blossomed in the corridor. Now. She pivoted around the corner, bathing the hall in a hailstorm of blasts. One down. Two—the other two sprung toward her, tongues lapping at the air to find her. Katya shot again, her arm giving, the shot going low. One of the Jar'rasks stumbled when struck in the knee. Its comrade, meanwhile, had crossed half the distance between them before Katya landed a solid hit to its chest.

  Krezk! Katya backpedaled as the Elite soldier descended on her. Damn it! Katya swung out her leg. Her kick threw off the Jar'rask's balance, but he'd already compensated, jaw loosening with sharpened teeth ready. Too close. Katya squeeze the trigger and dodged its falling corpse. The remaining Jar'rask tried to make a hasty retreat, crawling along the floor, but Katya stopped it. Silence followed. Nearby doors remained shut; still, her fingers rested against the trigger as she approached the room.

  "Eck—" Katya flinched, pain emerging behind her right eye. With her free hand, she activated the door only for it to blink red. Passcode. It required a passcode. Or card—there was a card reader. She searched the Jar'rasks' possessions even as her vision grew spotty. There! She grabbed a card from one of the Jar'rasks. Grimacing, she straightened. Sotiris's excitement seemed to rise as her vision dimmed.

  Stumbling to the door, Katya used the card. A green light flashed, and the door opened. Tears streaked her face upon entering, the liquid freezing to her face. Sotiris. Visible puffs exited her mouth with each breath as she lumbered across the room to where the toddler lay on a makeshift bed. Sweat drenched his brow even in the frigid room. His eyelids moved faster than she'd ever seen in his sleep before.

  With chattering teeth, she took another step before crumpling to her knees, her vision blurring, eroding. She crawled forward, then froze. To the side, a preteen lay suspended on a bizarre gurney. Black hair, far too lean, pale—Oneiroi . . . what Sotiris, with his defect, would grow to resemble. A variety of machines—controlling and maintaining bodily functions—hung from his body; their lines suspended by metal stands.

  Something warm trickled from her nose. It traveled across her philitrum to her upper lip, a coppery taste reaching her tongue. She wiped the substance away; her eyes widened when she saw red. Sputtering, Katya scrubbed the remaining blood from her face. She banished the Breks and Jar'rasks from her mind. Her gaze settled on the older Oneiroi, her thoughts flickering back to Jordah and their capture. They had used an Oneiroi, one with the defect. He'd yanked Sotiris out of his dream world, ousting their unknown defender. This is what the Magistrate had done to them, turned them into unseen weapons.

  Clawing her way forward, Katya reached Sotiris, more blood—its warmth contrasting with the room—dripping from her nose.

  "W-we need . . . go." Katya rested her head next to him. Consciousness rapidly fled from her as surely as her blood did. Her head pounded, eliminating rational thought. Her brain could be turning to mush, being pulverized from the inside. She touched Sotiris's small hand, squeezed it. The ship needed to stop spinning. Then maybe she could put distance . . . a portion of her brain chimed in that there'd been distance between them when they had been on Jordah. A sinking sensation took root.

  She lost track of how long she sat there, her head next to Sotiris. But gradually, the pain lessened, allowing her to sit and wipe away the blood. Across the way, the other Oneiroi stared at the ceiling with unfocused icy blue eyes. A squeak from Sotiris drew her attention. He stretched his hands toward her.

  "Yeah." Katya lifted him after her vision settled.

  She glanced at the other boy, taking in all the machines, some of which exited from his back. Sotiris nestled his face into her shoulder, and her thoughts reminded her of Mina waiting in a storage room. She gave the boy one last look before proceeding out the door, first picking up the handgun she couldn't recall dropping. There was nothing she could do, at least not at the moment, not when he had presumably been hooked to those machines for the majority of his life. Technology, Katya could understand. Medicine, particularly pertaining to other life-forms, was not among her talents.

  Her kids had to come first; she could try to do more for the other Oneiroi once they were safe. Their parents deserved to know what had become of their children, the Aletheia. What weapons the Magistrate had made: unseen, no capability of defending against them . . . No wonder Plasovern strove to create a cure. The Oneiroi on their own were fearsome, but this defect . . . She wiped her nose again, subconsciously. Strom's words rang in her head as she ran with Sotiris, her promises. Katya checked Sotiris's outfit; the communicator device and the keycard remained tucked within his pocket.

  Jar'rask footsteps reached her, and Katya retreated the way she'd come before darting into another corridor, one that curved. If the Jar'rasks continued down the corridor she'd just abandoned, they would stumble upon their comrades and then realize Sotiris had been taken. She sped up, time slipping away for a stealthy getaway. She hoped there'd be a lift along this stretch of hallway. But perhaps an alternate route would be wiser. If they stopped the lifts, she'd be trapped. Passing several evenly spaced doors, the end of the corridor came into view a few feet ahead, opening to another one. No lifts.

  Swoosh!

  As a door to her left opened, Katya swung around. A pounding consumed her hearing, her pulse
skyrocketing.

  "You bastard!" Katya's cheeks burned. Her firearm trained on the man who faced her. "Nice cushy quarters, aye, Rein?"

  Rein lifted his hands, a muscle in his neck pulsating. "I gave you a chance, Katya. You spat in my face. Now put the gun down. You're just making things harder on yourself."

  "I'm the armed one here, not you." Katya ran her finger along the trigger. "Do you even realize what they did to us—what they did to Mina? You turned us in! You—"

  "I tried to put a good word in for her," Rein said, arms still suspended in front of him. "I really did, but—"

  "In the end, you didn't press. You had to look out for yourself. You are—you are beyond words!"

  Farther down, Jar'rasks spoke in their reptilian tongue, distant for now, but that could change. Only one sound. The blighters were fast.

  Beads of sweat formed on Rein's face, his hands wavering. Katya jerked her attention back to him, the manic energy blossoming in his limbs, which resembled coils ready to spring. The hisses and shrieks echoed. Fire or run. A tremor passed through her arm, the barrel shaking—a smile played on Rein's face. She caught it out of the corner of her eye. If she turned her back to him to escape, he'd take advantage of it, anything to curry more favor, and with Sotiris, she'd be off-balanced, too distracted. He might even wrestle the firearm from her, especially with her bum hand.

  His weight shifted, and Katya pulled the trigger, maintaining a steady hand just long enough. The firearm emitted its recognizable sound and a dull thud followed. Katya didn't give Rein a second look. Biting back nausea, she let her feet carry her at a record pace in the other direction.

  The emergency alerts would be sounding before long. Lifts would be locked—a hatch.

  Katya bent down and pried it open, tears flooding her eyes as prickles coursed up her right arm. This enterprise would kill her, but there was no choice. "How about we end this like we began it, aye?" Sotiris merely batted his owl-like eyes at her.

  She did not have anything resembling a carrier, leaving her settle him into a more seated position against her hip after she'd strung the gun onto her belt. Then wrapping his hands around her neck, she put pressure on his them, hoping he'd understand to hold on.

  "Tightly," she said, still unsure if the word held any meaning to him. "No sleeping."

  Satisfied with his grip, Katya swung both of them into the lit maintenance tube and closed the hatch behind them so as not to leave a red flag. As they descended, she was forced to loop her right arm through each rung; her hand couldn't be trusted to support her and Sotiris's weight. It made for slow going.

  "Only a couple of floors to go."

  With each rung, she talked to Sotiris; the majority amounted to nonsense, being little more than noises and randomly slung together words designed to keep him from sleeping and her mind from screaming in pain. He blinked at her, a dazed expression on his face.

  "Just a few more rungs," she told him—herself. An orange glow alerted her to the next level's hatch.

  "Shi—" Katya grappled at the rungs when the ship shook violently. Sotiris screamed, his little fingernails digging into her skin. His eyes went quite wide—until he closed them tightly as if he were willing himself into his sleep state. Her grip wavering, Katya ran both her arms around the rung while the ship shuddered. Her left arm and elbow braced Sotiris in case he succeeded in his mission. The motion slowed to a mere tremor several minutes later, and then to nothing. They were dead in space, Katya realized, noting the absence of the small vibrations that the engines and FTL drive would send into the metal walls of the maintenance tube.

  Katya jerked her shoulder up and smiled when blue eyes glared back at her. "Rest of the way now."

  Her heart pounded. There had to be an external factor for why the ship had stopped, and it would either be a boon or bane for them. No matter what, she'd capitalize on it. Grab Mina and then a ship. It became almost a mantra to her as she descended the rest of the way.

  Now low enough, Katya pressed the mechanism holding the next level's hatch in place. It opened with a whoosh, and she pushed Sotiris through before excavating herself from the tube. Overhead, the warning lights blinked manically. A Jar'rask could be heard over a speaker, hissing out something. She readied her weapon, then picked up Sotiris. They reached the storage room without anyone impeding them, though Sotiris's weight wore heavily on her hip.

  "Mina, it's me," Katya said after closing the door behind her.

  Mina in return staggered onto her feet, using the wall she had been resting against for support. "W-what happened?"

  "This"—Katya gestured to the warning lights with the firearm—"has to do with something else. The ship was pulled from FTL, and not by me." She eyed Mina's pale face; beads of sweat still clung to it, and her eyes were dull. Tremors also passed through her limbs. Was it shock? "We're going to the hangar bay. Be prepared for more resistance," Katya said. "Depending on what stopped the Jar'rasks, there may be a lot in that area."

  Mina nodded. Katya frowned when more visible tremors overtook the girl. But there was no choice.

  "Here." Katya handed her Sotiris while taking the firearm away.

  The girl sagged with the toddler's weight on her hip; however, she managed to remain standing. It'd be rough going, and Katya wasn't certain if Mina would make the distance with Sotiris. Gnawing on the interior of her mouth, she prepared herself to take back the toddler if needed.

  "I'll cover you both. You just get to the ship I point out and get it started. Understood?"

  The girl nodded again.

  "Can you do that?" Katya pressed. She wanted more than a nod at this point, especially when she was anticipating a heavy presence of Jar'rask Elite fighters. They were on full alert now, resembling hornets whose nest had been kicked repeatedly. "Can you?"

  "I got him," Mina said rather snappishly, bringing a grin to Katya's mouth. There was still fire there.

  Katya turned off the safety on the handgun she had taken from Mina and led the way to the door. Outside, the hallway was empty except for the emergency lights. Gesturing with her hand, she directed Mina to follow her. They continued together, slowing as they neared another corridor. Clawed feet clacked against the metal ground, and there was the telltale hissing that belonged to Jar'rasks. A group of three raced in front of them in the other hallway, never glancing their way. They were headed to the hangar bay. Her grip tightened on her firearms.

  "Wait here," she whispered before darting into the next corridor.

  Sure enough, farther down synth glass revealed the hangar bay and some of its varied vessels. Gritting her teeth, Katya fired shots at the Jar'rasks' backs, tearing as she struggled with the handgun in her right hand. They toppled, unprepared for the attack.

  "Katya!" Mina screamed.

  Katya swung around. Successive blasts exited her weapons, sending more Jar'rasks to the ground. "Mina, keep going!"

  The teen stumbled past her toward the bay; Katya followed close behind, catching up after taking out a couple of Jar'rasks coming at them. Yanking out the card she'd picked off the one Jar'rask earlier, Katya opened the synth glass door to an observation deck overlooking the hangar bay. Attached to it on the other side of a wall of synth glass was a grated catwalk—several like it crisscrossed throughout the bay, creating different levels. On either side of bay were two open lifts that connected all the levels. Katya closed the sliding door behind them and shot its control panel, effectively sealing it.

  "W-which s-ship?" Mina asked. She leaned into one of the observation deck's walls. She was probably minutes away from passing out.

  Coming to stand beside the girl, Katya squeezed her shoulder. "We're almost there. I promise."

  Around Mina, Katya examined the ships. Several of them were personal fighters designed for hunting down and stopping enemy ships. They would need something larger but equally fast. A siren blared, and Sotiris wailed. More hissing and grunted words, or at least she assumed they were words, followed over the intercom.
They sounded more frantic.

  Farther below in the tiered bay, some of the small fighters exited. The ship was under attack. She checked the Plasovern communicator. No, it hadn't been accidentally activated. Had Strom had them tailed? Were they now mounting a rescue effort? Or had there been an incursion? Pirates were out of the question; they weren’t stupid enough to attack an A-Class warship. Likewise, Medzeci wouldn't encroach this deep into Magistrate space.

  Flashes appeared on the other side of the shielding, and remnants of fighters struck it and the exterior of the warship. What had—

  A larger B-Class Boita interceptor glided in through the shields. Katya's eyes widened: It was Magistrate. Their credentials had allowed them entrance, despite any defense the Jar'rask on the bridge might concoct. A major weakness. It left Katya to wonder why the Magistrate hadn't weeded it out long ago. Perhaps the easiest answer being it'd never been exploited before.

  "Mina," Katya said, pointing to a C-Class interceptor one level above the bottom floor. It was fast and large enough for all of them. "That's our ticket."

  "What about them?" She nudged her head toward the B-Class Boita.

  "The Jar'rasks should keep them occupied long enough for us to get out of here. They'll make a great diversion."

  Together, they hurried through the door, feet banging on the grated catwalk. They climbed onto the nearest lift, with Katya lowering them; however, the lift traveled no faster than sap. Below them, five Magistrate officers—specials ops from their uniforms—exited the interceptor and engaged the Jar'rasks. Their ship, meanwhile, fired bursts of its own, targeting the hangar bay's defenses. After the bay's gun turrets were dismantled, it turned on the live fighters that had angled themselves to take out the intruders.

  Amidst the fray, the team of Oneiroi—their telltale pale skin and black hair clearer—moved unperturbed. Their movements were meticulous, eerie in their silence. No directions were barked; they simply moved knowing precisely were their fellows were. In some cases, the Oneiroi didn’t even hit their targets, yet the Jar'rasks crumpled to the deck, writhing.