“What is it?” Svend looked concern. “Are you alright?”
“No!” Bentley exclaimed. “The sword! I forgot the fucking sword.”
Svend frowned. “What sword?”
Bentley hung her head and walked back to the sofa to sit down. After giving the floating rock a final look, Svend joined her.
“It’s the whole reason I’m in this mess.” she explained. “Ugh, how could I have left it? It just stopped talking to me, and I figured that meant I was on the right path or whatever, and so it just slipped my mind.”
Jelly Bean’s voice came over the intercom. “I believe I can be of service there.”
A concealed side panel which neither of them had noticed slid open next to the sofa.
“What the-” Bentley stood up and rushed over to it, crouching to peer inside. The sword glimmered faintly in the light that shone into the alcove. There was a note nestled beneath the sword’s pommel.
Thought you’d need this - Jelly Bean.
“Oh my god!” Bentley pulled the sword free and cradled it in her arms like a newborn baby. “Jelly Bean, you’re amazing! I stopped feeling its pull not because I was on the right path, but because it’s been mere feet from me this whole time.”
“But you are on the right path, too” Svend put a hand on her shoulder, “I believe it, and you should too.”
“Definitely the right path.” Jelly Bean confirmed, “I’m the one who plotted your course, remember?”
Bentley’s mind raced. “But… How did you know which pod we’d get on?”
Jelly Bean’s tone was verging on smug. “Well, let’s just say you had a helping hand with the systems. Once I’d deduced your only option was to head through the lower deck, picking the pod you’d use was rather easy. You needed access and fast. And you’d need one that wasn’t currently in maintenance.”
Bentley frowned. “That means you must have been on the deck moments before we…”
“Yes. The rest of the crew were occupied with games, and I had already retrieved the sword to come and help you.”
Bentley’s frown didn’t recede. “And when were you going to explain this?”
“Well, one doesn’t like to brag,” Jelly explained casually. “And it didn’t come up in conversation either.”
Bentley laughed out loud with delight and relief. “Jelly, I owe you more than one. You’re the best!”
Svend grinned and then nodded toward the cockpit. “Are you ready to go down?”
For a second Bentley had to reprocess what he’d just said. When she realized he had meant to the planet, she blushed. Bentley wrapped her fingers around the sword’s haft. It felt right in her hand, light and versatile and powerful. “Yes,” she said, “let’s do this together.”
She put the sword back in its alcove and took his hand. They headed back into the cockpit, strapped into the padded seats, and Svend took over the manual controls.
The pod arced over the dead rock and began its descent, striking the thin atmosphere at a sharp angle.
Something seemed wrong immediately. The pod vibrated as they neared the rock, almost as if it bore a planetary atmosphere. Svend’s knuckles turned white on the control stick as he tried to maintain a safe trajectory. He adjusted several of the instruments, frowning.
“Why is this so hard?” he growled. “It feels like there are invisible forces pulling the pod around. I’m doing my best to keep us on a true path.”
“It’s just a little rough,” Bentley assured him. “Come on, you’re a great pilot, you’ve got this.”
“Thanks,” he said, “but this little pod isn’t the Chesed. It doesn’t have the shields, the bells and whistles, or half the other technology your crew crammed into that ship. It is designed for re-entry, but this atmosphere is all…” He gritted his teeth.
“Wonky?”
Svend shook his head. “No, I think something is wro-”
The pod stopped vibrating, and then plummeted straight down.
+++
Captain’s quarters, Android Home Base, Orion Sector
“The sword isn’t on the Chesed anymore.”
Shango stared at his ship’s android. “Why not? Where is it?”
“It had more important business elsewhere. It’s with Bentley and Svend, on their way to QX849-LF.”
“How could you do something so irresponsible?” Shango demanded.
“What the hell were you thinking, you overclocked meat grinder?” Loco shouted.
Olofi looked at her, his eyes patient but concerned. “There’d better be a good reason for this, Jelly Bean.”
“May I assume, Miss Jelly Bean,” Blackfriar mediated, “that you know where Bentley and Svend are bound, then?”
“Of course, I do,” she told him flatly. “Who do you think cracked the code on those numbers of hers? They were coordinates, by the way. They were just dressed up to look like something else entirely. I got them started on their way, and I’ve been tracking them and checking in on them ever since. I’m very sorry that I couldn’t tell you, but this had to happen. I put the sword in the pod after calculating precisely where Svend’s getaway path would carry them. I knew he’d break her out based on previous behavioral patterns.”
“Fascinating,” Blackfriar marveled. “What a work of wonder you are, my dear.”
Loco scowled, folding his arms. “That’s one way of looking at it,” he grumbled.
“Why thank you, Captain.” Jelly Bean laid a hand on her chest. “My stars, you know how to make a girl blush.”
“Yeah, with a software update!” Loco teased.
“Why not?” Jelly Bean replied scathingly. “That’s all it takes to get a rise out of you.”
Loco tried to leap to his feet but banged his knee on the low table, fell back into his seat, from which he overbalanced, and wound up sprawled on the floor, writhing in agony.
“See?” Jelly Bean tittered, “I didn’t need any update for that.”
“Damn… stupid… empty… bean… can,” Loco mumbled holding his leg as pain shot up and down from where he’d struck a nerve.
“Oh no, my dear,” Blackfriar peered down at the writhing lwa, “it seems you’ve reset him to factory settings.”
“So he really is that anti-android at his core,” Jelly Bean mused. “Such a shame. I guess we’ll have to strip him for spare parts and melt whatever’s left for recycling.”
“Ha-ha, ha. You two are hilarious,” Loco muttered as he clambered to his feet and tested his leg. “I’ll be the one laughing when your warranty expires, and I swap you both out for a newer model. It’ll be half the size and a lot less talkative!”
“Loco, calm down,” Shango instructed. “This is getting out of control. One insult each is enough.”
Jelly Bean wrung her hands. “I’m sorry, Shango, I can’t tell you how much I hated going against your wishes. It grated at the very roots of my programming.”
The captain of the Chesed shook his head. “Why didn’t you just come to me, Jelly Bean? You know I would have listened to you if you’d taken me aside and explained the situation.”
“Maybe,” Jelly Bean replied tersely, “or maybe you would have said there was a fault in my circuitry and locked me up with Bentley. Frankly, it was difficult for me to say which way you’d flop on that, so I just decided to take care of things for you. It worked! Bentley and Svend have just arrived at their destination.”
“Which is where?”
“I’ll need to keep that to myself, at least for now.”
+++
QX849-LF, Dead Rock, Deep Space
“Nice landing,” Bentley commented as they stood together in the airlock. “Are you sure you’re the same android who flew the Chesed in that epic battle against the LaPlacian battleships?”
“Hey!” Svend called defensively. “You have to admit, the gravity on this rock feels wonky. It’s all over the place, very inconsistent. From one step to the next, I can't tell whether I’m going to float away or trip.”
>
“That’s your excuse for coming in like a one-winged goose in a sandstorm?”
“If you want,” Svend growled, “we can fly back up and you can try landing this rusty old boat.”
“No need to waste fuel,” she teased. “I was watching you on the controls and I know everything you did wrong. No need to be embarrassed by your mistakes.”
“I barely managed to keep us from crashing!” Svend insisted. “The weird atmosphere almost flipped us upside down at one point!”
She winked. “I’m sure, I’m sure.”
But she had noticed the same thing. Based on her rudimentary understanding of gravitational forces, the land mass they’d landed on should barely have been capable of holding the ship down. Still, her footsteps felt solid, except when suddenly they didn’t, as if the gravity were being generated by some inconsistent artificial source.
“Well here we go,” Svend flipped a couple switches and the airlock door slid upwards, revealing the landscape of the dead rock.
It was a mixture of blurred lines and sharp edges. In some places plateaus rose like giant steps of stairs and in others something had eroded the rock into smooth inclines. They moved cautiously down the landing ramp and allowed the pod to seal itself up. Bentley carried the sword in one hand, finding it gave her confidence. She wondered if there was something primal or ancestral, to that feeling… thousands and thousands of years earlier, a human might have taken great comfort in having a sword close to hand.
If only I knew how to use it. Really use it.
As the thought crossed her mind, Bentley experienced a strange sensation. It was like a vibration running down her arm and out of the sword. It was almost like the blade was a divining rod.
“This way,” she said, taking the lead, feeling like she could follow the tune of the sword. She held it in front of her and moved slowly, each footfall careful on the shattered stone ground.
“Are you sure?” Svend hesitated, standing still behind her. “Did the sword tell you to go that way?”
Bentley rounded on him, holding the sword out awkwardly at an angle. “Are you challenging my sword-whispering abilities?”
“Not at all.” He poked her gently in the belly. “I’m just wondering how it all works.”
“Well as soon as I figure it out, I’ll explain it to you. Now let’s go!”
Svend fell in behind her as they climbed over ridges, slid down small slopes, and detoured around tooth-like boulders. The sky was given a sort of semi-brightness from a nearby star separated by a hazy asteroid belt, and the air chilled Bentley as she began to sweat with exertion.
Soon their path led them into a ravine filled with small, stunted trees. Their twisted trunks and branches seemed to have grown haphazardly, seeking out what little sunlight speckled the rock, but they stood just tall enough to impede view and grew so thickly that they could not hope to squeeze through.
“Looks like we’ll have to go around.” Svend looked in both directions. “Which way do you think is fastest?”
Bentley closed her eyes and concentrated on the sword’s vibrations. “Right,” she confirmed at last, taking the lead again. “It’s leaning more in this direction.”
As they attempted to circumnavigate the miniature forest it proved larger than it seemed. Their weary footsteps brought them to the mouth of a thin path leading through the prickly woods.
“Let’s take this way.” Bentley stepped forward. It was only wide enough for them to progress one by one.
“No.” Svend stood back. “These trees and this whole planet, feels… wrong. I have a hunch there’s something living in there, Bentley, and we don’t want to meet it. Besides, that path could be a dead end that stops at the middle of the woods. We could get lost. Let’s just keep going around.”
“But the sword is pointing me in this exact direction!” she insisted. “I’m going.”
“No, wait up!” He hurried after her, following in her footsteps as she made her way into the thick of the thorny woods.
They followed the path’s twists and turns, soon losing sight of the path’s opening, but fortunately, never the sky. There were several offshoots of the path once they got deeper but using a combination of the sword’s vibrations and the position of the sun, Bentley was able to guide them on a seemingly true course. The path grew wider and straightened out, staying almost perfectly aligned with the sword’s desired direction.
Something skittered, and a branch snapped in the woods off to their right.
“I told you,” Svend hissed nervously, stepping closer to Bentley. “I knew there was a monster in this-”
Loam crackled, and then a small ferret sprinted out of the underbrush and across the path, vanishing into the trees on the other side.
“Wow,” Bentley said, “that was quite a monster!”
She chuckled, the laughter breaking the tension between them.
Svend couldn’t help but smile. “I’m not going to live this down anytime soon, am I?” Svend asked. “In my defense, you had the only weapon.”
As they reached the far edge of the forest the vibration coming from the sword intensified, and it practically pointed to an alcove at the nape of a hill. As they drew closer they spotted a distinct orange glow coming from within, making the cavern’s walls appear welcoming.
Bentley pressed a finger to her lips, and Svend nodded. She gestured that she would go first and then raised the sword high and stepped into the cave. A short, winding tunnel led her to the glowing warmth of a fire. She saw a pair of boots next to it. The boots were on feet attached to legs which her eyes followed to see the face of…
“Legba?” Bentley couldn’t believe it. He was really there, sitting with his back against the rock wall, warming his feet next to the fire. He looked up and gave her a cheeky grin and a wink.
“I knew you would find me. Took your time though, eh?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Captain’s Quarters, Android Home Base, Orion Sector
Loco screamed, leaping to his feet and clearing the table. “You think you’ll keep it to yourself for now?” His eyes bulged, and spittle sprayed from his mouth. He kicked a cushion out of his way and stalked around the table toward Jelly Bean, violence clear in his eyes.
“Loco, calm down,” Shango ordered, climbing to his feet, warning in his voice.
“Fuck that!” Loco shouted. “First this apparently loyal android of ours lies to us and helps with the escape of a deranged crew member-”
“Loco, that’s just cruel.” Olofi tried to interrupt, but Loco continued to steamroll right over him.
“Then she gives away the sword. The fucking sword. The thing we risked our damn lives getting back from Amroth.” Loco tried to move around his captain, eyes still locked on Jelly Bean.
“Loco!” Shango warned, stepping into his path, “I won’t tell you again.”
“Tell me what, huh? What are you going to do, Captain?” Loco reached out to shove Shango, but he twisted aside cleverly and grabbed his extended wrist. When Shango pivoted back, he tossed Loco neatly sideways. Loco performed a scissor kick to avoid spilling on his face and re-gripped, grabbing Shango’s arm and twisting it behind his back.
“Think you can get the drop on me, old man?” he growled.
“We’re the same age!” Shango laughed as he spun out of Loco’s grip.
“Should I?” Blackfriar asked.
“Call security?” Barnabas prompted.
“No need,” Olofi assured them.
“Yeah,” Jelly Bean confirmed, “they do this from time to time. Usually I grab the tequila and popcorn, but tea will do.” She took a long sip.
Jade watched the physical exchange in rapt attention. “I’ve never seen this happen before!” She winced and leaned left then right, as if she were facing Loco in Shango’s place. “Get him, Shango!”
The Chesed captain leaped high and grabbed his comrade’s head, pulling Loco into a controlling chin lock in an attempt to overbalance him. Loco bulled t
hrough the attack, snatching control of his chin back and shoving Shango away.
“This should happen every day!” Jade laughed, sipping her tea daintily as she watched the combat. She waved her hands in the air. “Give me an S! Give me an H!!”
“Hey, whose side are you on?” Loco demanded, turning toward her.
“Isn’t that obvious?” She stuck out her tongue.
Shango hit Loco with a short rapid punch to the solar plexus and then attempted to fold him into a shoulder throw. Gasping, he wrapped his arms around his captain’s hefty frame and stalled the toss out. Shango repositioned and grabbed a leg and rolled, but Loco rolled with him, growling like an angry badger. They somersaulted the length of the room together and wound up jammed against the wall with neither of them having an advantage. After struggling against each other they let go and reset, climbing to their feet.
“Why don’t you just call it a draw?” Barnabas suggested.
“Because he enjoys getting beaten!” Shango panted.
“Phaw!” Loco snorted. “We’ll see about that, old man.”
“I already told you, we’re the same-”
Shango was cut off as Loco shot in low and grabbed ahold of his leg. Shango had to hop backwards on one foot in a tight circle, leveraging Loco’s shoulder with his arms until he managed to break the bigger man’s grip. They locked together and shoved one another back the full length of the room, looking for an opportunity to overbalance the other.
“Well, enjoy it while it lasts,” Jelly Bean laughed. “It usually doesn’t go on very long.”
Loco was the bigger and stronger of the two, with his rippling muscles and long thick limbs. On the other hand, Shango had a natural grace and fluidity to his movement, and more cleverness and tactic to his choice of technique.
Loco was grunting like a prize hog as he put all his strength into muscling his brother into the corner of the room.
“Don’t let him do that to you, Shango!” called Blackfriar, getting in on the merriment.
Resistance Page 11