A Planet Too Far: Beyond the Stars, #1

by Nick Webb

  She rose to her feet. “You are a deviant. A mockery of a true Kotkaa.”

  He made a tsking noise with his tongue and wrapped one hand around her neck just above the narrow metal band. “Do not make the mistake of angering me, creature.” His fingers tightened just enough to slightly restrict her airway. “You are helpless here and, although it would be inconvenient, the genetic material we need could be harvested from your corpse.”

  Rage simmered in Li’hanna’s narrowed eyes. She slashed out with one hand as far as the bindings would allow. Unfortunately, it was not far enough to gut the thing in front of her. The hand did drop from her neck, however, as he took a step back. She gave him a feral, sharp-toothed grin. “Death does not scare me. These restraints may hold me now, but, as I’m sure you learned from the mechanical problems your ship encountered, you will not be able to transport me any farther as long as they remain active. Do you imagine me to be a cooperative prisoner? How do you propose getting what you need from anything other than my corpse?”

  “Simple chemistry,” he said as he pulled a slim tube from his pocket and held it up for her to see the pale green liquid inside. “This compound has been specially formulated to work on the biochemistry of your kind. You will sleep through the remainder of our travel time.” He moved quickly, striking her in the upper arm before she had a chance to dodge it.

  Cold fire expanded from the injection point as the toxin spread through her body. The effect was near immediate. The room spun around Li’hanna’s head and she blinked rapidly trying to steady herself. Fog trickled into her mind as she struggled against the bindings and darkness ate away the edges of her vision. Moments later, her chin fell to her chest and her body went limp.

  * * *

  Jeren Skalos tilted his chair back and interlaced his fingers behind his head, watching the two men by the doorway. He’d pegged the duo as soon as they’d entered the dockside bar and he wasn’t happy. At one time his family’s shipping company had been one of the largest in the galaxy, but now… here he was, barely more than a smuggler and reduced to dealing with the two shifty-eyed characters scanning the room. With a sigh, he let the front legs of the chair go back to the ground and jerked his hand up to wave the men over.

  They made their way toward him, the tubby one squeezing between the packed tables and the shorter, slimmer one following behind. As they drew closer, Jeren’s upper lip curled in disgust and he had to resist the urge to get up and walk away, credits be damned. It wasn’t the greasy hair and sweaty face of the big one that put Jeren off, but the lithe, quick movements of the other and the way Jeren’s eyes slid over him no matter how hard Jeren tried to focus on the man’s features. It was bad enough that this job involved the fleet, but working with a Slither, one of the imperial fleet’s genetically engineered spooks‌—‌and the same type of creature that had murdered his family‌—‌was about ten times worse and a hundred times more repulsive.

  Slithers were some bastardized combination of human and the cat-like Kotkaa. They didn’t necessarily look like their feline-esque counterparts, but they moved like them and the alien genes gave them a mild telepathic ability which allowed them to hide their features or to project features a human mind expected to see. It gave Jeren a headache just thinking about it.

  “Mr. Skalos.” The Slither lowered his chin in a nod. “My associate and I are pleased to make your acquaintance.”

  “Bradley West,” huffed the large man, holding out a hand.

  Jeren ran his tongue over his teeth, glanced at West’s hand and then back to the Slither. Close up, the mental fog generated by the Slither lessened. This one’s true features were more human than feline and sharp-edged: a pointed nose, high-cut cheekbones, and a small mouth. He actually looks more like a rodent than a cat. At the thought, the Slither’s facial features stuttered, becoming even more rodent-like for a second before settling back. Jeren smirked. “And you are?”

  The Slither narrowed his eyes. “Who I am is unimportant.”

  Jeren felt the subtle push behind the Slither’s words. Apparently, this Slither’s abilities were a bit stronger than he’d thought. He scowled. “Drop the mind tricks. I know what you are. Now, who the fuck are you and what do you want with me and my ship?”

  The twitch of his head was the only evidence of the break in the Slither’s composure. “Darbin,” he said. “But my name is not important.” He lowered himself into a chair across from Jeren and motioned for his companion to do the same. “We are here to talk business, Mr. Skalos. Nothing more.”

  “And what type of business would a spook have with me? For that matter, what type of business would the imperial fleet have with me? The taxes and tariffs just about killed any small freelance shippers and the new permit regulations have knocked out almost all the rest.” At least those that haven’t conveniently disappeared that is. One of the consequences of disobeying the imperial fleet.

  “But not you.”

  “No.” Jeren shrugged. Not yet anyway.

  “The ship we were traveling in has engine trouble and we are in need of immediate transport to the imperial science station. There are few experienced pilots this far out with ships large enough to meet our requirements, as there will also be cargo involved.”

  “What exactly is this cargo?”

  “Property of the imperial fleet.” He cut off Jeren’s next question which a brisk shake of his head. “You have a crew, I assume. Are they trustworthy?”

  Jeren’s jaw tightened as he bit back a sarcastic response. “My mechanic, Arnold, has worked for me for years. Gretchen, my co-pilot, has also been with me for some time. I would trust both of them with my life.” And they hate the fleet just as much as I do.

  “I certainly hope you are correct about them.” Darbin narrowed his eyes. “The cargo, and our mission, are both highly classified. Were you or any of your crew to go snooping around… “

  Acid churned in Jeren’s stomach. This job was sounding less and less like one he wanted. If only he didn’t need it so fucking bad. He took a deep breath. If he and Gretchen switched off and kept the ship moving around the clock‌—‌and the engine held together under that much pressure‌—‌this job would mean quick and easy credits. He couldn’t afford to turn it down, no matter who he had to work for.

  He jerked his chin up in assent. “Half now. Half on arrival.”

  Darbin gave him a pitying look. “As an agent of the fleet, I do not have access to that many credits on my own.” He shrugged. “I can only offer full payment on arrival.”

  “Fine.” Jeren curled his hands into fists. The asshole knew he had him. “But I want a twenty percent bonus for my crew then.”

  “I believe that can be arranged Mr. Skalos. Please have your ship at dock sixteen for loading in two standard hours.”

  Jeren pushed back from the table and walked out of the bar. He needed to go round up Gretchen and Arnold and let them know they had a job. And warn them about who they’d be working with. They’d probably be just as overjoyed as he was.

  * * *

  Awareness gradually returned to Li’hanna, her senses checking in one by one. She was no longer at the space station, but not on her captor’s tiny ship either. The scentless one had found himself a new ship… and a pilot and crew. Her nose picked up three distinct and unfamiliar human scents. Two males. One female. Interesting. Most imperial ships were crewed with only males. Maybe this was not an imperial ship? Then, why had the scentless one chosen it?

  The… box… that contained her still dampened her abilities, but the restraints were no longer in place.

  Li’hanna smiled and thanked the stars that the elders had never handed over a live specimen from one of the higher clans. Most of the lower clans were little more than servants, but her clan was one of warriors. Not only trained nearly from birth, she was quicker, stronger, and smarter than many others. And apparently her metabolism was faster as well. The scentless one clearly expected the sedative to last longer than it did.
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br />   Her claws cut through the thin layer of metal surrounding her as if it was nothing and she climbed out into the room. Other boxes surrounded her and she had to bend over to avoid hitting her head on the low ceiling. It was a cargo hold and the door to her right was probably meant more to keep people out than to keep people in. This would be even easier than she had anticipated.

  She increased her energy levels to shift into a higher spectrum. Now essentially invisible to the occupants of the ship, she slipped through the doorway and glided down the corridor with her back brushing against the wall. Even if they could not see her, they could certainly feel her were she to accidentally collide with someone.

  She had to decide on a course of action‌—‌and quickly. It was possible she could manage to fly the ship, but she was not trained as a pilot and if she murdered everyone on board only to find her skill set was not enough… It would mean a slow death drifting through space. But waiting until the ship reached its destination was not a viable solution. It would be more difficult for her to escape from an occupied planet than it would be to take control of this craft.

  Perhaps the crew could be trusted? The scentless one and his human companion certainly could not be, but the rest? Li’hanna’s previous interactions with humans had been brief and involved unimportant matters, and she had no way of knowing what to expect from these humans. Some investigation was needed before she could come to a decision. Either way, the imperial fleet would not be getting any of her ‘genetic material’ even if the crew could not be trusted and she had to jettison herself from an airlock.

  She continued down the corridor until she reached an open doorway. It was an empty room, someone’s quarters by the looks of it. She slipped inside and ran her hand over one of the drawers next to the bed. It slid out from the wall under her touch. Empty. As was the next. In the final drawer, she found two imperial uniforms and an identification card. Her nose wrinkled. Ugh. She should have known.

  The lettering on the card was unfamiliar to her, but the picture was not. It was the large smelly human and under his picture was what must have been his name: BRADLEYWEST. Her lip curled up and she snarled softly. She did not like this Bradleywest. Li’hanna tucked the card back into one of the folded uniforms and closed the drawer. Further searching in this room would do her no good.

  The next two rooms she encountered were empty. But the third was not. It was occupied by a human female sitting at a small desk and moving her fingers quickly across the tablet resting on it.

  Li’hanna moved closer to peer over the human’s shoulder. Navigational charts. Flight plans. Trajectory calculations. The human was a pilot. Though both sexes were considered equal within Kotkaa culture, the humans still tended to… coddle their females. That this human female had such a position of influence on this ship boded well for the chance of the crew being sympathetic to Li’hanna’s plight. She would start with this one.

  Decision made, Li’hanna shifted into sight beside the desk.

  The female gasped and stared up at her with wide eyes. “Who… “

  “I am Li’hanna of the colorless clan. The scentless one and Bradleywest took me prisoner and appear to have hired your ship to deliver me to one of the imperial labs.”

  “The scentless one? Do you mean Darbin, the Slither… err the hybrid?” She rose to her feet with a wary look in her eyes.

  “The word ‘slither’ is reminiscent of the Earth animal the snake, correct? I believe that is an apt name for that perversion of genetics.”

  The female smiled and some of the tension left her body. “I’m Gretchen, the co-pilot.”

  “And the other crew members? I detected two other males.”

  The human’s‌—‌Gretchen’s‌—‌brow furrowed and she cocked her head to the side. “How… “

  Li’ hanna tapped the side of her nose with one clawed finger. “Their scent.”

  “Well, the ship belongs to my friend Jeren and Arnold’s our mechanic.” She pulled her lower lip into her mouth. “We should go speak with Jeren. You’re here against your will and, even though we need the credits, we aren’t slavers.”

  “He would go against the imperial fleet?”

  “He has no loyalty to them. None of us do. The fleet‌—‌”

  “Will now be taking control of this ship,” said Bradleywest as he stepped through the doorway, a small blaster pointed at Gretchen’s chest. “We only need one pilot to get us the rest of the way and, to be honest, I’d prefer it was you, but it looks like that’s no longer an option now that you know about our cargo.”

  Li’hanna growled low in her throat and sprung forward. Bradleywest’s eyes widened and his finger tightened on the trigger as she collided with him. The shot grazed her shoulder, but did not stop her. She grabbed his arm and prepared to swipe a claw across his throat. His other elbow caught her in the face and she took one stumbling step backward, her claw missing its target and slicing his upper arm.

  Bradleywest cried out in pain and dropped the blaster. He sent one booted foot into her thigh, pushing her farther back into the room, then spun away and ran out the doorway, one hand over his injury. The door slid shut behind him and a crunching sound met Li’hanna’s ears. The datapad? An attempt to lock them in?

  Li’hanna stepped closer to the door. Behind it, Bradleywest was breathing heavily and speaking softly. She took another step and placed an ear against the metal.

  “… old mechanic is the last of our worries. The Kotkaa is loose. I’ve managed to contain it for now, but at least one crew member knows. We have to take them out. The course is already set and I can fly this hunk of junk from here. Shut down the ship’s communications system and meet me on the flight deck.”

  She stepped away. The rest of the conversation did not matter. They had to take action now. “They’ve disabled the communication system and are going to take over the ship. Direct me to the flight deck and I can neutralize them while you check on your mechanic.”

  Gretchen nodded stiffly and pulled up a diagram of the ship on her tablet. She traced her finger over the most direct route. “Jeren keeps a couple blasters secreted away around the ship. There’s one‌—‌”

  Li’hanna raised her hands and extended her claws to their full two inch length as she shifted out of sight and back in again. “I do not require a blaster. I prefer to bathe my claws in their blood.”

  * * *

  Jeren hit the com button. “Gretchen?” She wasn’t answering and, although not unheard of, it was… odd. She knew they’d be docking soon and she should have already been on the flight deck. Something wasn’t right and each second that ticked by with no response from the com sent another needle of anxiety into his spine.

  “Your co-pilot is unavailable,” the Slither said from behind him.

  A jolt of alarm ran through his body and he stiffened. “What’d you do to her? Where is she?”

  “Unfortunately, some of the classified cargo went missing and your co-pilot then became a liability.”

  “You killed her. You son of a bitch, I’ll‌—‌”

  Darbin settled a hand on Jeren’s shoulder and pinched the bundle of nerves there. “You will continue on to our destination and then you and your remaining crew member may yet be spared.”

  That’s what he thinks. Jeren yanked out of Darbin’s hold and spun to the right, reaching for the blaster in the holster bolted to the underside of an auxiliary console. Too slow. His fingers scrabbled over empty space. He looked up to find West had the blaster and it was pointing directly at Jeren’s forehead.

  “Sorry about this, Skalos. We’re close enough now that I can fly this thing and with it loose on the ship‌—‌”

  There was a blur of movement by West’s shoulder and the skin of his throat parted as something sliced into his neck, nearly severing his head. Blood splattered across Jeren’s face as West fell to his knees and then face first onto the ground. Jeren stared at the motionless body in shock. What the hell?

  Darbin hissed
and took a step backward, his eyes darting around the room.” The course has already been set. We will be docking at the imperial science station very soon. You won’t be escaping now, creature.” Another step back took him outside the doorway as it slowly slid shut, leaving Jeren inside with West’s corpse and… whatever had killed the tubby bastard.

  Jeren ran to the door and banged his fist against the metal. “Creature? What the fuck‌—‌” The question he was going to ask glued itself to his tongue as the air in his peripheral vision shimmered and a female form with cat-like features appeared. A Kotkaa. A full-blooded one. In a color he’d never seen before and nothing like the small-statured ones shown on holovids around the galaxy when the species was discovered.

  She smiled, baring sharp teeth. “You have nothing to fear from me, human. I have spoken with your female crew member and decided that you and I are not enemies.” She raised one hand to her mouth and licked West’s blood from one of her claws. “Unless you would like us to be?”

  Jeren glanced at West’s limp body. “Well, I’m guessing that wouldn’t be particularly good for my health, yeah?” The Kotkaa let out a sound somewhere between a purr and a laugh. Amusement. He hoped. “Wait. A female crew member? Do you mean Gretchen?”

  “Yes. Despite what the scentless one said, she is safe and unharmed. She went to check on the other male. The mechanic.”

  “I need to manually disable the auto-pilot assist in order to alter our course and, with the coms out, I need to get to the engine room.” He reached down and pulled the blaster from under West’s hand. “I could probably use your help with Darbin if you’re willing.”

  A predatory glee took over the alien’s face. “Bradleywest was a coward and a fool who deserved to meet his death quickly, but the scentless one deserves a much worse fate, one that I will deliver with pride.”

  A little odd, but she was helpful. And she had saved Gretchen’s life somehow, so he didn’t mind having the alien at his back as he opened the door and moved blaster-first out into the corridor. Empty.