From the Ashes

by A B Lucian

  Now that Yosh knew Olexander expected him to lead the rebellion and free Earth, he wanted to be strong for him—for his memory. How in the Great Void will I do that? Sabina’s hand grabbed his and squeezed tight in response to his unspoken doubts. She’d be there for him and that made Yosh feel better. They walked hand in hand the last couple of feet until they entered the room where Olexander had been imprisoned and where he met his demise.

  Yosh choked and fought back tears at the sight of his grandfather lying broken on the metal table. Equipment had been knocked over and shattered. Spatters of blood and scorch marks covered the walls. Small fires had melted furniture and licked at the walls, but had died when Yosh vented the atmosphere. Yosh closed his eyes and wished away the tightness in his throat, but it worsened. He squeezed his eyelids as hard as he could, but he still saw the image of his grandfather’s twisted body. Suddenly he didn’t feel guilty for killing every blasted arkanian on the ship. He would kill even more if given the chance—their entire cursed species!

  Yosh dropped to his knees, leaned his forehead against the cold edge of the table, and clutched his grandfather’s inanimate hand in both of his. Minutes later, he eased his grandfather away from the table, resting his head on his lap. Blood—too much blood on him, too many wounds. Yosh clenched his jaw and pressed his forehead to his grandfather’s. His limbs shuddered every time he sobbed.

  After what must have been half an hour, Sabina squeezed his shoulder. “Let’s take him somewhere his body won’t be disturbed until we can bury him,” Sabina said after a while, her voice unusually shaky.

  Yosh’s brain was numb. It took a few seconds to decipher the meaning of the sounds he heard. “Bury him?” He hadn’t even noticed Sabina on her knees next to him, holding one of Olexander’s large bloody hands.

  Sabina nodded. “His last wish was to be buried on a free Earth. Somewhere near a river he said.”

  Yosh pressed his lips together and nodded. “Buried on a free Earth, eh?” Yosh had been a boy and had been pushed to become a Protector. There was no turning back now. “It’ll probably take a while, but I guess we have to do it.” He gulped and rose to his feet. “I read about this ship in the Protector database. It has a series of cryo units close to the engineering bay. Help me get him there.”

  ◆◆◆

  The Archibald had already docked with the cruiser and the crew was waiting for Yosh and Sabina on the bridge when they finished with their grandfather. Yosh stood in front of the gray cryo unit where they laid his body. He pressed a hand against the cool smooth surface, unwilling to break contact and move on. It took another five minutes to gather the resolve he needed, but he finally removed his hand and strolled out into the hallway.

  Sabina joined him, and they walked in silence back to the bridge. The crew of the Archibald was expecting them. They probably wanted to celebrate and congratulate each other, but Yosh didn’t feel like celebrating. He didn’t know what to say to them. He didn’t feel like saying anything to them. Mandessa was safe, but his grandfather was gone. What would Yosh do now? He couldn’t go back to the dog herd. Great Void, even the dog herd was gone. Yosh had killed the dogs along with the arkanian crew loyal to Mikail, those loyal to Kagos, even Kagos himself. The corridors blended into a single long hallway riddled with bodies, as Yosh let Sabina’s hand guide him. The eyes still stared accusingly, the open mouths still shouted at him, but they reached the bridge faster than he expected. He still didn’t know what to say—what he was supposed to say.

  They stopped fifty feet from the bridge doors. Assai waited outside, alone. She leaned against the wall with her arms across her chest. Yosh was stricken when he saw her. A thick white bandage covered her mauled eye, her forehead, and her right cheek. A patch of red showed the exact location where her eye had been and another thin streak crisscrossed the bandage down her cheek. Her small pointy ears sprang on the top of her head above the waves of bandage. His throat tightened. He should say something, anything, but he couldn’t form any words. Assai’s eyes lifted from the floor and seemed to notice Yosh’s disheartened expression, so she showed him the bravest smile in the entire galaxy.

  He didn’t even realize when they both moved. One moment they stood fifty feet apart staring longingly at each other and the next they were in each other’s arms. Assai’s body pressed against his, warm and soft, and her tail wrapped around his leg. Yosh had longed for this feeling ever since his mad rush to find the Black Silence. There had been countless occasions when he thought he’d never feel it again.

  After a minute Yosh grabbed Assai by the shoulders and pulled away from their embrace. He held her at arm’s length and studied her injuries. His jaw clenched spasmodically as he cupped her delicate head in his hands. “I’m sorry,” he said as the tears gathered behind his eyes and his neck muscles tightened. “It’s my fault. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  Assai’s eye was wet. She shook her head hard. “Yosh… No, no… Sweet Yosh, it isn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself. I would have given both eyes to save you.” Her tail unwound from around his leg, wrapped around his waist, and pulled him close to her. Their lips met, hot and wet, and everything was better. Assai pressed herself to his chest and started purring, soft and deep. Despite the bandages scratching at his face and the pain Assai surely felt, it was the sweetest kiss Yosh ever had.

  “Well then… I’ll go and… wait on the bridge. Glad you’re safe, kitty,” Sabina said from somewhere very, very far away.

  By the time they separated, their tears had dried. Yosh’s waist hurt like hell where Assai had squeezed, but he didn’t mention it; he adored it and he adored her. They didn’t speak much after their lips parted. Assai had told Yosh everything he needed to know through the language of her body, just as she had when they sparred. They nodded to each other and started for the bridge. Whatever the future held, they would always face it together.

  ◆◆◆

  Most of the Archibald’s crew was gathered on the bridge. They stopped their chattering and poking about the consoles and stared as Yosh walked in, holding Assai’s hand. Bob rose from the pilot’s console, his gray overalls barely containing his muscles, and inclined his head toward Yosh solemnly. Sabina stood a few feet away, brushing the jagged shards away from the weapons console. Headly and Captain Dupont halted their gruff conversation by the engineering consoles and Headly raised one of his pudgy arms in the air to welcome Yosh. Miles sprawled in a seat at one of the security consoles, his injured leg stretched out before him. Two of his security boys, both short and stocky with sandy hair, flanked him. They had pistols in their hands, but holstered them when they saw Yosh and turned to face Miles with their hands behind their backs. Miles grinned in his usual style and raised two fingers to his bald head to greet him.

  There were significantly fewer smugglers than before this madness started. Seven had died in their failed assault and many others were severely injured. Yosh clenched his jaw tight and greeted the people on the bridge with a nod.

  Captain Dupont approached him. “Yosh Farmer, we have been waiting for you,” he said, pointing toward Miles. “Mister Crosby has done a full sweep of the ship’s interior. There are no survivors.” Yosh cringed at his words. “We can be at ease for now.” Then he turned to Headly and his enormous gut. “And Mister Headly has jammed all communications from Mandessa. The local arkanian garrisons will figure out what happened eventually, so it is safer to jam them.”

  Yosh frowned. He hadn’t considered that. The arkanian guards in the other slave settlements were bound to notice communications breaking down with Shacktown, all the smoke and fire, and the explosions Headly had rigged. Teams might already be on their way to investigate. Someone might even have noticed the Black Silence’s detonation in orbit. Eventually they would try to contact the nearest arkanian military outpost.

  “Can you scan for life signs, Mister Headly? Down in Shacktown I mean,” Yosh said. “I’m interested in non-arkanian life signs.”

  Head
ly turned to a console. “One minute.” He toyed with the controls, studied a few info panels that popped up on the display, and faced Yosh. “I’m sorry, lad. There’s only five arkanian life signs in a ten-mile radius around Shacktown.”

  Yosh scowled and muttered a silent curse. He had hoped some slaves survived, but the five arkanian life signs were likely Enforcers left behind by Mikail or guards from the other settlements. Either way, they didn’t deserve to live while all the slaves of Shacktown lay dead in a scattered heap in the mess hall. “Is it okay if we launch a torpedo or two at Shacktown?” Yosh asked Captain Dupont, trying to keep his tone light, but he fixed his eyes on the captain so he knew Yosh was serious.

  The captain’s eyes narrowed. “Yosh Farmer, this ship is in our hands only because of your efforts and sacrifices,” he said, spreading his arms, as if to encompass the entire bridge. “It is yours to command.” Then he turned to Headly. “Mister Headly, as of this moment, whenever we are on this ship, Yosh Farmer’s authority supersedes mine. That applies to everyone. He is the captain of this vessel. Understood?”

  Was he serious? Yosh frowned and looked around at the crew, expecting them to protest—that he was too young, that he was too inexperienced, or even out of pure loyalty to Captain Dupont. But no one protested. They all smiled and replied with a hearty “Yes, sir!”

  Headly chuckled. “Captain Farmer, will two torpedoes do?”

  Yosh stared at him for a moment. The ship was his? He smiled. The ship was his. It wasn’t the Black Silence, but Yosh wouldn’t turn it down. “Two torpedoes will do. Thank you.”

  Headly armed the torpedoes and launched them at Shacktown. Yosh didn’t see the explosion, just tiny lights on the planet’s surface. Shacktown was no more. The crumbling shacks, the dozens of arkanian bodies, the dead slaves, Ghett’s corpse and the remains of his family, Commander Kagos’s tail, the ragged hill the Black Silence had left behind instead of the only home Yosh had ever known, and the bodies of friends who died trying to save his grandfather—gone, incinerated.

  “Two more please, Mister Headly,” Yosh said, nodding. “One aimed at the dog pens outside the settlement and one at the canyon where the Archibald hid. We leave no trace of what transpired. If anyone investigates what happened, they will only discover four craters.” Craters were silent. Craters would keep the secret of the massacre and the battle.

  Headly launched the torpedoes.

  “Thank you,” Yosh told Headly when it was over. “Now, please a ship-wide channel and include the Archibald. I have something to say and I want the entire crew to hear it.”

  Headly tapped a few commands on the console and gave him a thumbs up.

  The moment was ripe—he felt it. I’m actually going through with this. Steady Yosh, steady. They’re already on your side, all you have to do is not lose them. You’ll need them if you’re to fulfill grandfather’s last wish, he thought. Yosh took a shaky deep breath and started. “Captain, I can’t ask you or your crew to risk any more than you already have.” The captain’s dark eyes darted to him in an instant. “My grandfather wanted a free Earth. He believed it was possible, so much that it was the last wish he uttered before he died. I intend to fulfill it. I’ll do it because it was his dying wish, and I’ll do it because I know billions of humans across the galaxy ache to be free again, and they yearn to have their homeworld back.” He paused, straightened his back. “And I’ll do it because it’s in my blood, because I am a Protector of the Earth.”

  He saw the crew’s eyes spark, and those that had been sitting were now on their feet or edging closer, watching and listening to him. “For the first time in decades, humanity has a chance. Mikail Munov is dead! There will never be a better time.” He clenched his jaw. “But I can’t do it alone. I know I’ve asked much of you already, but I need your help. So far, the new rebellion comprises myself, my sister Sabina—” Assai’s tail whipped across his back and coiled around his waist. He looked at her, smiled and nodded. “And Assai. Together we can make a difference. I know you all have suffered greatly on my account, but—”

  Yosh hesitated and Captain Dupont interrupted. He stepped closer until there were only three feet between them. “Yosh Farmer, the Archibald is all that is left of the old rebellion. We were on the verge of launching our liberation campaign when Mikail destroyed Vega 9 with your father on board. Everyone scattered after that, afraid of the repercussions, but we stayed with Olexander. We helped him keep in touch with the various shards of the rebellion.” A broad, white smile spread across his face and he took Yosh’s hand in his and shook it heartily. “You want to ask us if we will join you in the new rebellion? If we will join the fight to free Earth? Well, Yosh Farmer, you have no idea how long we have waited to hear that question.” Then he spoke louder, his voice booming through the bridge, as if for the entire galaxy to hear, and pumped a giant fist in the air. “Of course we will join you. For Earth, for freedom!”

  The first one to overcome the apparent shock and burst into a deafening cheer was Miles, with his thick, booming voice. “Now that’s more like it. Let’s crack some arkanian skulls!” His boys from security, Bob, and Headly followed soon after.

  It took over ten minutes for the cheers to subside. A new light shone in everyone’s eyes now, which Yosh could only associate with hope. They must have dreamed of a free Earth for countless nights, and now they could finally do something about it. Yosh cringed at the sudden thought that he might lead them to failure and death. He couldn’t let them down, he couldn’t let them end like the slaves on Mandessa. But could he ensure their safety? Could he bring them victory? Was he actually as strong or as smart as they thought he was?

  He inhaled shakily. What if he wasn’t? Suddenly, the enormous bridge seemed too crowded. The steel walls pressed in on him and he couldn’t get enough air. No matter how hard he breathed in, the air stopped just beyond his throat. He turned his back to the crew and gasped. A giant invisible hand was constricting the muscles in his throat.

  Assai pressed her soft hand against his cheek. She looked him in the eyes and his doubts melted away. She nodded, and air flowed back into his lungs. Everything would be fine. They were together now and everything would be fine. He nodded back, and they pressed their foreheads together. “Great Void, how I love you, Assai.”

  “I love you too, Yosh.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Captain Dupont, Headly, and Sabina got to work getting the arkanian cruiser ready for a hyperspace jump, and Assai joined Miles and his boys in clearing away the bodies. Yosh sat in a corner of the bridge, still overwhelmed, thinking about what their next step should be. They needed to find supporters for the rebellion. It would take much more than a single severely understaffed cruiser and an old, battered freighter to win back Earth. The compulsion to be sure was oppressive. He couldn’t hesitate if anyone looked to him for guidance. When someone asked, he wanted to have a clear answer ready.

  Four new figures stood before him. It was the lorran woman in the yellow assault suit, Alora. She had a bandage wrapped around her head, and her eyes weren’t as hard as before. Skrill and Ara, with Merril propped between them, stood to her right. Poor Merril hung too high on one side and too low on the other. It would be comical if not for the horrible burns on Merril’s face.

  Alora motioned to them with her rifle and stepped back. “These three insisted on seeing you.”

  Ara let her father hang from Skrill’s massive shoulder. She jumped forward and slammed into Yosh, wrapping her slender blue arms around his neck. She kissed him hard on the cheek with her cold thin lips, and then pulled back quickly and put her hands behind her back. “Sorry. I’m just glad you’re okay, Yosh.”

  The girl’s sudden outburst and the powerful squeeze had brought back several aches in Yosh’s shoulders, spine and head, but it felt good and he smiled despite the pain. “I’m glad you’re safe too, but...” Yosh’s shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save the others. Your… Your mother—”

&nbs
p; “Yosh,” Merril said through the brown skin clinging to his face. The burn mark must have hurt terribly. “Thank you for saving my daughter’s life. I owe you a debt of gratitude. I wronged you in the past and I must apologize.”

  Skrill sat Merril on a seat close by and approached Yosh. “Yosh human is strong. Take cruiser from arkanians.” He swept his arm in a wide arc to make his point. “Kill all arkanians. Skrill respect Yosh. Skrill fight for Yosh?”

  Yosh’s eyes widened. “Fight for me? What do you mean?”

  “Fight mean fight. Yosh save Skrill from Pitts. Yosh fight mad arkanians, cruel arkanians. Skrill want to tear hearts out. Skrill join you.”

  It didn’t sound like a request. The hairy mountain would fight for him, Yosh understood. The huge sylosian was too close, but Yosh refrained from backing away despite the sudden urge. The more Yosh thought about it, the more he liked having a sylosian on their side. “Are you sure, Skrill? We can drop you off on a nearby planet.”

  Merril stirred in his seat. “Yes, are you sure about this, Skrill?”

  Skrill raised his hands toward the ceiling and let out a growl. “Great honor to fight with Protector! Lots of honor to take. Skrill fight.”

  Merril sighed and his flat fish lips opened and closed a few times. “Then I’m coming too.”

  Skrill showed Merril his teeth in a pleased grin.

  The butt of Alora’s long rifle slammed against the floor. “You? Why would you risk your neck for the humans? I can understand the hairy ape’s stupid desire for honor, but you? You have a daughter. What are you thinking?” Yosh had forgotten Alora was even there. If she felt so strongly, why had she risked her life for Yosh’s grandfather? Why was she on Captain Dupont’s crew? She had already agreed to join the new rebellion along with the others. Skrill growled at Alora but she ignored him. She was waiting for Merril’s response and so was Yosh. It seemed they were both curious.