Star Relic

by Clara Woods

  Shit, the others. If they hadn’t been injured in that last blast the ship had suffered, now he was about to hurt them. As fast as she could, Lenah programmed into the autopilot the coordinates to take them away from Port Dumas, and then ran after him.

  7 Unexpected

  She found the cyborg in the common room, one hatch down from the cockpit. The doorway stood open, and a mess came into view. The contents of boxes and random stuff lay all around, and a strong smell of alcohol was in the air. Persia and the Cassidian were both sitting in a chair with their hands tied behind them. The cyborg was kneeling in front of a bench that stood at the far end of the room. The wall behind it showed some serious deformations where the laser beams had threatened to melt the hull. Doctor Lund was tied there, sitting in an awkward position, and the moment the cyborg was done untying his hands, the doctor stumbled forward and would have fallen, had their kidnapper not held him.

  “Are you hurt?” the cyborg asked, letting his gaze run over the doctor.

  “I’m fine,” Lund said while coughing. “Just bumped my head a little bit, that’s all.” Sure enough, he had a streak of blood on the back of his head. The cyborg grabbed him and carefully hoisted the man toward the center of the room.

  “That needs to be reinforced, you know.” Uz pointed her chin toward the indent in the hull. “Once we enter the warp bubble, it might not be strong enough.”

  “Good thing we’re not entering a warp bubble, then.” The cyborg looked up from checking out Doctor Lund’s head and glared toward Lenah.

  She held up both her hands in a defensive gesture. “Not my fault you didn’t research who you were kidnapping.”

  “I didn’t kidnap you.”

  “Oh no?” Lenah managed to put some sarcasm into her voice. “Then what do you call entering a ship uninvited, tying everyone up, and making the unwilling pilot bring you to your chosen destination? All that without even introducing yourself.”

  Like several times before, he lowered his gaze, but then he simply ignored her and got up to fetch a worn-looking emergency box that hung from one wall. He pierced her with another of his dark looks before turning around and getting out a bandage. “Untie the others.”

  Lenah didn’t wait to be asked a second time, but quickly took two steps into the room toward Persia and Uz. After fumbling for a few minutes, she freed both women, not that it would help improve their situation. He knew that too. Even with the four of them, they were no match against a cyborg. That was the only reason they were free to move around now.

  “Did you set course to Oscuris?” he asked, getting up from bandaging Doctor Lund. It was irritating that he’d helped the man. Weren’t kidnappers usually brutal? Other than her, he truly didn’t need any of them. It seemed he couldn’t fly, so he needed her pilot skills. But the others? Stars, they weren’t even a crew. Might as well throw them out the airlock. Yet he’d run down to check on them the moment he realized they might be hurt, and now he’d bandaged and freed them.

  It was unnerving that Lenah felt grateful for it. “Not yet.”

  “Then by all means, go.” They stared at each other for a few seconds before Lenah lowered her gaze and turned around. What else could she do? She’d have her first spaceflight in the worst of circumstances, and she’d better not even think about what her father would do once he found out she’d stolen a pirate ship and was gone. Dark Raven already seemed to know, and she had no doubt her father wouldn’t be far behind.

  8 Cleaning Session

  “Why are we even doing this? We’ll just end up either starving on a clean ship or being thrown out the airlock of a clean ship,” Persia muttered while wiping furiously at the floor in front of the common room’s kitchen unit. Dark brown spots were splattered everywhere, occasionally interrupted by a white spot of something fresher, still decomposing.

  Lenah grunted. “Because it’s too filthy to even breathe in here while we’re still alive?”

  “You should talk. The cyborg needs a pilot, but he doesn’t need us other hungry mouths. You’ll get to enjoy the clean ship longer than any of us,” Persia answered.

  As if on cue, Doctor Lund’s belly gave a loud rumble, even though they’d just eaten one of the cyborg’s rations.

  When he’d discovered how little food they had on board, the cyborg had confiscated all remaining ration bars and separated them into portions. Tiny portions. Surprisingly, it had looked like he was giving everyone the same amount, including himself. Or maybe he’d gone back for a second ration afterward, though Lenah had seen him divide the stuff into five sections. Then he’d proclaimed a change of plans. Instead of going straight to Oscuris, they’d stop on Odin’s Station to pick up some rations. That would add almost an extra week to their trip, and it had left them all sitting around the common room feeling depressed. That was when the idea of a deep-cleaning session had come up. Everyone had instantly agreed. The ship was disgusting, and Lenah preferred to do anything other than sitting around and worrying. When the cyborg had come in a few minutes after that, he’d wordlessly grabbed a bucket and vanished into the Rambler’s filthy lavatories. It had been at least an hour, and he hadn’t come out again.

  “Maybe he drowned himself in a toilet,” Lenah said, rubbing a hard bar of soap against a cleaning rag. This ship didn’t come with a cleaning robot. Not even the servants back home needed to clean anymore. Those were practices that had died hundreds of years ago, or so Lenah had thought until she’d boarded the Star Rambler. Now she was trying to figure out the best way to transfer some of the tough curd soap – whatever that was, but Persia had called it that – onto the rag. It was clear that even these archaic cleaning supplies hadn’t been used in quite some time.

  “Already need a break, my lady?” Persia said with a mock bow, taking the soap from Lenah to furiously rub it into her own rag.

  “Not funny. It’s not like you seem to be having a good time either.”

  “Of course I’m not. But I’m also not the spoiled brat who’s never even cleaned a dish in her life. Who’s now the only person this cyborg needs, and who therefore will, as always, come out on top.”

  “Seriously?” Slowly, Lenah got up from her kneeling position to face Persia. Maybe she was the one being stupid, but she’d found herself liking the gladiator a lot after going through all those adventures together last night. Persia, however, wasn’t even looking at her, but instead kept rubbing the soap on her rag. “At least look at me when you’re insulting me.”

  “That’s enough.” A low but firm voice came from behind.

  Uzara had gotten up as well, making slow, controlled steps in their direction. She looked like she was ready to jump in case Lenah and Persia started fighting, as if Lenah would let herself get provoked to such a level. Belatedly, Lenah noticed her clenched fists and lowered them quickly.

  What had gotten into her? Was it all the stress?

  Uzara nodded to her, then turned to Persia. “You feel vulnerable, and that’s okay. But there’s no need to fight with your allies.”

  “My allies? Now look who’s talking. You almost attacked us when we freed you.”

  “Persia, don’t take your frustrations out on us,” Uz answered with the same calm voice Lenah already admired. Persia, on the other hand, looked like she was about to murder someone, or something, by the way she was stabbing at the kitchen sink.

  “I will not be told what to do by some opinionated alien cripple.” Persia threw her rag down and turned with a jerky movement.

  “Okay, that’s enough.” Lenah dropped her own cleaning rag and took a position between the two women. “Persia, calm down.”

  “Okay, fine. Whatever.” With that, Persia walked briskly toward the door. A second later the hatch closed with a loud bang. Lenah let go of the breath she’d been holding. She searched Uz’s eyes. The moment their gazes met, the Cassidian went back to cleaning, but not before Lenah saw the telltale shine of liquid forming in her green eyes. For once, Lenah found herself at a loss for words.
She didn’t think Persia had meant the comment, but after all, she’d only known her a day. Without her abilities, Lenah felt like a blind person trying to steer a ship through an asteroid field.

  “I don’t think she meant that,” she finally heard herself say by way of an excuse. A lame one.

  “I know,” Uz answered. She actually sounded more convinced than Lenah, which was a good sign. She seemed insightful at interpreting people, so maybe Lenah wasn’t that far off.

  Lenah, Uz, and Doctor Lund silently continued to clean. Uncharacteristic nerves jolted through Lenah as her mind wandered off to digest their current situation. Had her choices been the wrong ones, such as her insistence to make it to Port Dumas at all costs? She didn’t believe in a pre-determined destiny, but looking back at the events of the past hours, it certainly had the bitter aftertaste of everything that could go wrong actually going wrong, in a spectacular way. She hoped her persistence didn’t get anyone killed. She also hoped that things back home were okay. After all, there’d been criminals shooting in the corridors. Something like that hadn’t happened since—well, ever.

  “How did you get captured? And why you two?” Lenah asked a few minutes later, feeling curious, but also trying to end the train of thoughts that was quickly catapulting her into a depressed state.

  Doctor Lund was the first to answer. “I was researching a temple constructed by the first humans on New Earth when they came for me. I mean, specifically came for me. I know a lot about human technology. Apparently, not being part of an official research organization or academy made me a prime candidate for kidnapping.”

  “Climbing around ruins on New Earth? Wouldn’t everyone assume you’d died there if you didn’t make it back?” Lenah asked. New Earth was a no-go zone. The first planet humanity had settled on when they came to this part of the galaxy was dead. Like Old Earth, humans had destroyed it. The nuclear contamination, an archaic power source, left behind on the planet was enough to leave vast parts of the continents still completely uninhabitable, even several thousands of years later. The only visitors there were historians and archaeologists who climbed around in special suits, digging out stones and bones from the dust.

  Doctor Lund nodded. “I suppose so. Though with the right protective suits, it’s an amazing place.”

  “So you’re saying they came specifically for you? What does being an archaeologist have to do with mage farms?”

  Doctor Lund shrugged. “I’m a scientist, not an archaeologist. I’m certain they wanted my vast experience on explaining the phenomenon we commonly call magic.”

  “Pffft,” Uz huffed beside him.

  Lenah furrowed her brow. What a funny way to phrase it. Before she could inquire further, however, Doctor Lund continued.

  “They’d already picked up Uz on Arcadia.”

  “I was kidnapped during my shift in Arcadia’s First Port,” Uz said.

  “Your shift?” Lenah asked.

  “Yeah, as a mechanic. Assistant.”

  “You’re a mechanic?” Even though Lenah had already seen Uz’s skills when she’d unlocked the Star Rambler, it was still a surprise.

  “I was studying to become one.” Uz’s face broke. “But I left all my books and notes behind on my cot. They probably threw them away weeks ago, when I stopped paying the rent.”

  “I’m sorry, Uz. I’m sure it can’t be easy for you.”

  The Cassidian looked at her, smiling. “I’m glad I didn’t become a research subject, at least. I thank you for that, Lenah.”

  “Speaking of which, do you know what those experiments were supposed to be?” Lenah tried to say it nonchalantly, but couldn’t fully control the quiver in her voice.

  “No, just that it was on Astur for Starwide Research. There aren’t many Cuts outside of Cassidia,” Uz answered, throwing Lenah a thoughtful look.

  Lenah feared that her attempt to appear generally curious had failed. If Uz knew who she really was, she wouldn’t be thanking her any longer. “But there are Cuts on Cassidia?”

  “Sure. We’re workers. Even the most warp-connected Cassidians need to eat or have a roof over their heads.”

  “But how? I’ve never—”

  “Why don’t other races know about Cuts?” Uz interrupted. “For starters, it would ruin the impression everyone has about Cassidians. But more importantly, no Cassidian is allowed to leave Cassidia if they don’t absolutely have to. The galaxy has moved on, but we’re not supposed to know that. Because then, who would still read the old books?”

  9 Relic

  The day cycle was about to start; not that it mattered up here in the infinite darkness of space. Lenah checked the small digital clock in the cockpit. Just after 4 a.m Cassidian Standard. Not being able to find sleep, she’d come up here a few minutes ago.

  When she was ten years old, her father had arranged that she could sit in the pilot’s seat of one of their shuttles, and she’d never forgotten how right that had felt. Ever since, returning to the pilot’s seat and actually flying a ship had been her biggest dream; not that it was something the daughter of a rich businessman could hope to do. Lenah had never understood who had classified piloting as a mundane job, too low for a member of the corporate families. Shouldn’t whoever wanted to fly be able to? But here she finally was, and she couldn’t deny how excited she felt about it. Her rational brain, the one that had been trained to become an executive in her father’s company, knew that she was getting herself into more trouble with every ticking second. Why had she ever even decided to go to Port Dumas? The very first time she’d made contact with the informant through the old friend who had, some years earlier, gotten her the illegal copies of the flight simulator, she’d already felt in over her head. Getting software and dealing with spies were two different things entirely. If her father just hadn’t blocked off every time she’d asked or tried to walk into one of his private meetings under an excuse.

  Now their chances to successfully drop off the cyborg on Oscuris didn’t look rosy. She kept thinking about their side trip to Odin’s Station. Having to make a detour to stock up on food was an obstacle in the cyborg’s direct path to his destination that must be good for them, right? She just couldn’t think how. But thinking and gazing up at the vastness in front of her was better than turning restlessly in bed and feeling sorry for herself.

  Her thoughts also kept returning to the pirate ship shooting at them back on Astur. That was even more disturbing than being kidnapped by the cyborg. He had a clear motivation and destination. Kahoot’s motives, however, were less obvious. If they wanted their ship back, they wouldn’t have fired, so that couldn’t be it. Did the owners of this ship steal something? Was something about the hostages important? All this was truly unnerving. Plus, that freaking informant hadn’t answered any of her questions. Who was the Queen? What did it mean to dabble in ‘things forbidden’? And how could some answer to this be stored in some ancient knowledge terminal? Which led to the next question: in case she got out of this mess alive, should she go to Lunara Station, or should she go back home? After all, Uz’s story matched up with the rumors about a lab subject passing away at Starwide Research. Those rumors, and her father’s secrecy, had prompted Lenah to go see the informant in the first place.

  Approaching footsteps caught her attention, and she put on a mask of composure. A few seconds later Persia stuck her head into the cockpit, looking as exhausted as Lenah felt. Apparently she wasn’t the only one not sleeping. Lenah hadn’t seen Persia since she’d stormed out of the common room, and had assumed the gladiator was resting.

  “Um, Lenah.” Persia fiddled with her skirt, suddenly quite interested in a deep scratch on the front. “I wanted to apologize. I’m usually not like that, but I was hungover and stressed and kidnapped and…you know.” She barked out a small laugh and shrugged, finally looking up from her skirt.

  “Apology accepted. I can understand being freaked out by all of this.” Lenah smiled as Persia sighed and dropped her shoulders. “But you sh
ould apologize to Uz.”

  Persia nodded, then stepped into the cockpit and returned Lenah’s smile. “So, things all right in here?” She slid into the copilot’s seat. “You’ve been serious, but in the day I’ve known you, you’ve never been this serious.”

  Lenah shrugged.

  “At least for now it still looks like our cyborg friend wants us all to go to Odin’s Station, instead of throwing us out of the airlock,” Persia continued, misreading the source of Lenah’s worries.

  She was right, though. It was unnerving that he’d been quite civilized with them – apart from taking over the ship, of course. Lenah would prefer him living up to her expectations of the heartless kidnapper. Otherwise, how would she be able to understand his actions?

  “I’m not happy about having him on board for an extra six days.”

  “You think he’ll really let us go with the ship in Oscuris?” Persia said in a low voice after making sure no one, especially not a certain cyborg, was coming down the corridor.

  “Not really. He probably has people waiting there to take over the ship.”

  “Mmh.” Persia got up and closed the hatch before continuing. “What I don’t get is why he needs to wait until Oscuris to get rid of us. Why not throw everyone out into space and be done with it? Or why, by the galaxy, did he kidnap us out of everyone who had their ships parked in that parking lot? Wasn’t there a better-looking ship around?”

  “I know. I don’t like that either. Makes me think something else is going on.”

  Persia tapped a finger against the armrest of her seat. Lenah waited to see if she was going to continue the conversation, but Persia just sat there. Was she nervous about something? Lenah got the feeling that Persia had come here to chat about more than their host.

  “Do you think we could get rid of him on Odin’s Station?”