by Jay Cannon
News about the unusual Cheoili twins spread quickly across the underworld soon after their arrival on Beakar. Natives of planet Cheoili, they have the ability to morph their appearance, a valuable trait for someone looking to become a successful criminal.
Averaging 1.73 meters in height, Cheoili humanoids have the ability to change the color of their skin as well as expand and contract the skin’s cellular walls to closely mimic the shape and texture of any other species’ skin.
The gangs of Beakar had enlisted the twins eagerly to help carry out their plans. Their brother, Tatan, played a minor role in any negotiations. But the gangs’ plans soon went south as they found that the twins and their brother could not be trusted. Daloi, in particular, had too much ambition to settle for being the lackey of a mob boss.
“Since you already owe me one, why don’t you take the lead on this, Tinsal?” said Juban, wanting to drive home the point that Tinsal’s actions against him warranted some sort of retribution.
“No problem, I’ve already sent some of my people out looking for the Cheoili.” Tinsal felt embarrassed, realizing that taking the lead would only be a down payment on what he owed his old friend.
“We should get law enforcement involved, too. Why use up all of our resources? I’ll call a contact of mine at the precinct,” said Juban, wanting to acknowledge Tinsal’s apparent remorse by showing his willingness to help, too.
“I’ll also pick up the twin’s lieutenant, Moyer, to see what he knows. I’m sure I can squeeze some info out of him.” Juban added, eager to start inflicting pain on the perpetrators of the attack.
The rival gangs, now working together, investigated the attacks on their offices. Normally not fans of law enforcement, they decided to share their intel with the local police to improve their chances of finding Daloi and Dholi. It’s never a bad idea to get in the good graces of law enforcement by giving them violent criminals to put away, Juban thought.
***
Daloi, Dholi, and Tatan relaxed at the cabin, confident investigations into their power play would turn up nothing that implicated them. Sitting in cushioned leather chairs around a large wooden table in the dining area, sharing a pitcher of Tammarian grog, the three began planning their next move when Daloi’s communicator rang.
“Daloi here,” she answered, apprehension making her voice tight.
“This is Tinsal. Do you mind stepping outside? Juban and I would like to discuss a recent irritation with you.”
“Hold on a minute, Tinsal.” Daloi whispered urgently to Dholi and Tatan. “Look outside, and tell me what you see!”
“Juban, Tinsal, and several of their people are outside. What should we do?” Tatan’s voice squeaked in panic.
“You two get the ship ready. I’ll see if I can reason with them,” Daloi told her siblings, though she didn’t expect to live long enough to escape.
“We’re not leaving without you sis,” stressed Dholi. Tatan nodded in agreement.
“Don’t worry you two. No one’s going to break us apart,” Daloi said firmly. “Now go prepare the ship. I’ll be right down once I take care of these clowns.”
“Tinsal, what’s the problem?” asked Daloi, infusing her voice with a nonchalance she didn’t feel as she looked out the window.
“Why don’t you step outside, so we can have a quick chat?” the gang leader purred, waving to Daloi with a fake smile on his round face.
“Forgive me, but you don’t seem to be in a chatting mood. If this has anything to do with those shootings, just ask Moyer. He can confirm our participation in a blogging event all evening,” Daloi ventured.
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” interjected Tinsal, losing patience and tossing the head taken from Moyer’s corpse towards the house.
“That wasn’t polite. We could have settled this without more bloodshed,” said Daloi, wracking her brain for a way she could get out of the mess she created unscathed.
“Oh, we are way past the ‘shedding blood’ stage, Daloi. You better believe that once this is over, what’s yours will definitely be mine,” Tinsal said, using her own words against her.
“And mine,” chimed in Juban. “You have one minute to step outside with your siblings, or we’re coming in, blasting.”
“Hold on, you two,” said a police officer, stepping into view with several others. “This is a law enforcement matter. You civilians step back across the road. Daloi, this is Chief Barer. Everyone come out of the cabin now with your hands up, or we’ll knock down the door and drag you out.”
Daloi made an obscene gesture toward the police chief and stepped away from the window to join her siblings. Juban, Tinsal, and their people hurriedly retreated across the road to watch from a safe distance.
The chief ordered his officers to join him in front of the cabin. Moving to meet them in a crouch with a two-handed grip on his blaster, Barer paused to scrutinize Moyer’s head, turning to look at Juban and Tinsal, who merely shrugged.
“Take down the door!” the chief shouted, returning his focus to the cabin. Seconds later, the building exploded in a giant fireball, incinerating all of the police officers. Within minutes, a small airship rose above the smoke and soared into the sky.
“Look, Juban, those bastards are getting away,” said Tinsal, shaking his fist at the spaceship as it quickly gained altitude and distance from the confrontation.
“They won’t get far,” said Juban. “I have a pirate ship in space that’s on its way here. It should be able to intercept them. I’m just glad we didn’t decide go in after them.”
***
“Daloi, I’m sure that killing those police officers is not going to help our cause,” said Tatan, worry clouding his pale yellow eyes.
“What did you expect me to do, invite the officers in for tea and crumpets while harboring a spaceship full of stolen goods in our basement?” Daloi demanded angrily. “Even if we avoided being arrested by the police without incident, there is no way we would have been able to get rid of Juban and Tinsal. You missed the part when they rolled Moyer’s head up to the house.”
“Did he have to be that damn obscene,” said Dholi, her hand to her mouth as nausea swept over her.
“So what do we do now?” asked Tatan, who calmly checked his seat restraints.
“We go to the next planet in the Alpha quadrant, refuel, check the newsfeeds, and then we head to Euclidia. We can easily get lost there. The long-range sensors are clear. Let’s get into hyper-sleep, so we can save our resources. I’ll wake you, once we arrive,” Daloi said, her adrenaline from their narrow escape beginning to recede. Daloi placed her hand on the transparent covers of her siblings’ sleep chambers as they closed and gave them each a smile before climbing into hers.
For six months, the ship sailed along in the splendid isolation of deep space. The three fugitives rested undisturbed in their sleep chambers, an automated system feeding them oxygen, water and all necessary nutrients, intravenously. But Juban’s pirate ship finally intercepted them.
“What the hell’s going on?” shouted Tatan, awakened by a jarring of his sleep chamber and loud beeping alarms.
“Someone’s firing on us,” said Daloi. “Now they’re hailing us. Just be quiet, while I answer this. This is Daloi from the planet Cheoili,” Daloi replied to the caller over the ship’s communicator. “My siblings and I are taking a leisurely trip through the Alpha quadrant. What is your intention?”
“Cut the crap,” said the pirate commander. “Juban told me you murdered several of our people, along with a group of police officers, and to bring you back dead or alive. What’s your choice?”
“I suggest you back off before we disable your engines with our weapons,” threatened Daloi.
“You are piloting a recreational vehicle. It has no weapons,” the commander replied dryly, his tone laced with amusement at the feeble bluff.
“Fine, I choose death then, but you’ll have to catch me first,” shouted a defiant Daloi, engaging the small ship’s grav
itational engines. “Bye, bye, asshole.”
The ship’s sudden acceleration threw Dholi and Tatan against the bulkhead as the big engines kicked in. Caught by surprise, the pirates watched futilely as the Cheoili craft sped away.
“What happened?” asked a dazed Tatan, pulling himself off the floor.
“Sorry about that. I engaged the gravitational drive. We lost them for now, but that cost us a lot of energy. Uh oh, I got another blip on my screen. Damn! It’s a military vessel. I don’t think we’ll be able to outrun them.”
“What should we do?” Tatan asked, his muscles going rigid at news of yet another threat.
“It’s still several days away. I’ll head for an asteroid field and try to buy us some time. Get some rest. I’ll wake you, if I need your help,” said Daloi, trying to reassure her siblings.
The bolder twin used every clever trick she knew to lose the pursuers, but nothing worked. The private spaceship had neither the speed nor maneuverability of a military cruiser. Though she reached an asteroid field before the heavily armed vessel caught up, the ploy only bought the trio a few additional days of freedom. Daloi, fearing they would soon be boarded, decided to wake Dholi and Tatan. Configured for long space voyages, the little craft, contained an escape pod for use in emergencies where the vessel became inoperable.
“Sorry to wake you.” Daloi apologized for rousing her siblings from hyper-sleep for the second time. “We are probably going to be captured soon, and I need your help getting you two to safety. I can overload one of our engines and jettison it in the path of their ship. During the explosion, the two of you can get away with some of the money in the escape pod. Dholi, you load up the escape pod. Tatan, look for a place to send it. Hold on, I’m being hailed. I’ll try to stall them while you prepare to evacuate.”
Thumbing on the ship-to-ship communicator, Daloi answered the hail, “This is Daloi from the planet Cheoili. State your business,” she said, infusing her tone with a touch of indifference.
“This is Capt. Kraton with the Alpha military police. You are wanted for murder and grand larceny. Shut down your engines and prepare to be boarded.”
“Those are all lies. We’ve been in space for several months and couldn’t possibly be guilty of those crimes,” Daloi cried.
“I’m not here to argue with you. If you are innocent, you will be cleared in court. Stop your vessel or be fired upon,” the Alpha commander countered. His military-grade fighting cruiser came equipped with weapons easily capable of destroying the Cheoili vessel. It also contained plenty of trained soldiers to overwhelm the trio if they had to board the Cheoili craft.
“Don’t fire, I’m slowing down, now,” Daloi cried, before muting the ship’s communications. “Tatan! I need those coordinates for the escape pod! Dholi, when you finish loading the pod, bring our weapons up here. I want to be able to defend us, if they board the ship.”
“What guns? There are no guns on this ship,” Dholi shouted from below.
“What do you mean, there’s no guns? How are we supposed to protect ourselves?” Daloi demanded.
“It’s supposed to be an emergency spaceship, not an armored car,” Dholi retorted sarcastically. “We kept all of our guns in the cabin where we needed them. When we ran for the ship, we grabbed money and food. Things we would need in space.” I can’t believe she is giving me crap about not loading guns as if I had time to go through a packing list, Dholi groused inwardly.
“Well I’ve got my gun, so at least I will be able to shoot back if I have to. What are you going to do if law enforcement or bandits are waiting for you when the pod lands?” Daloi asked, annoyed by her sibling’s lack of forethought.
“If we survive the pod landing, I don’t think we’ll be able to walk, let alone engage in a shootout,” snorted Dholi. “I’ll tell you what. If we survive this stupid trip, the first thing I’m going to buy is a bunch of guns. Cause we don’t need fuel, food or water on a long space voyage. We need GUNS!!”
“Will you two stop fighting? I think I found something better than squeezing into an escape pod,” said Tatan. A devious grin lit his countenance.
“What’s that?” asked Daloi, hoping for a worthwhile response.
“There’s a small planet near us. We could reach it in nine hours with the gravity drives.” Tatan’s brows arched in hopeful inquiry.
“If we do that, and there’s no fuel on that planet, we’ll be stuck there,” Daloi argued.
“I’d rather take my chances being stuck there than in prison or dead,” Tatan retorted, hoping Daloi would embrace his suggestion.
“Okay, punch in the coordinates. We can use the gravity from that planet to give us an extra boost,” Daloi replied, before shouting, “DHOLI, STRAP IN. WE’RE FIRING UP THE GRAV ENGINES AGAIN.”
“You have five seconds to bring your vessel to a stop before we fire on you,” warned the Alpha commander.
“Relax commander, I’m engaging the reverse thrusters now,” Daloi cooed, after momentarily flipping on the communications switch. “Tatan, those coordinates had better be correct because we’re going there now. BRACE YOURSELVES. I’M ENGAGING.”
Daloi accelerated, using the gravitational engines, keeping them engaged as she drained their energy cells. The small craft zoomed away from the cruiser before its weapons officer could fire the first shot.
Kraton resumed the chase. A few hours later, his vessel again drew within firing range and locked onto the smaller craft.
Daloi quickly jettisoned her gravitational engines and detonated them in the path of the cruiser. She then used her ship’s remaining plasma engine to propel the craft to within the gravitational pull of the nearby planet before jettisoning and destroying the drive. This maneuver bought the Cheoili several more hours of freedom, but eventually their little ship again loomed in the targeting grid of the military ship’s weapons.
“Daloi, what happened to our engines?” yelled Tatan, his fear mounting as the seconds ticked past. “What about using the escape pod now? I don’t want to die out here.”
“It’s too late for that,” said Daloi. “They would easily capture the pod at this point. One more shot and our shields could be gone. But we are so close I don’t want to give up now. If we go back, you know we are as good as dead.”
Another hit flung Daloi forward and completely disabled the ship’s shields. Without shields and engines, the tiny craft was incapable of evading the military vessel.
“BRACE YOURSELVES!” Daloi shouted.
“Now what?!” muttered Tatan.
“Shut up, and let her concentrate!” barked Dholi, nervously.
“Now that we’re entering the planet’s atmosphere, I’m putting us in a death spiral and setting the controls to automatically start the landing sequence once the ship nears the ground. Of course, the bad news is the ship may break apart or burn up in the next few seconds, or crash land and kill us all. The good news is we’ll all probably be unconscious the whole time. Either way, we should avoid another direct hit. ENGAGING!” Daloi yelled, then pushed herself back into her seat and pulled hard on the restraints.
The trio’s ship started to spin in a wide arc as it headed toward the tiny planet, which seemed to grow in size as the craft careened toward the surface.
Above, Kraton let out a grunt as he watched, flabbergasted, as the Cheoili ship spiraled erratically toward the planet’s surface. If he did nothing, the ship would more than likely be destroyed, killing everyone aboard. But he wanted to be sure the craft’s occupants died.
“Weapons officer, fire on that ship as best you can,” he ordered.
“Yes, Commander.”
The military cruiser fired numerous shots at the small craft before finally scoring a direct hit, sending sparks and debris streaming from the ship just as it deepened its plunge into the atmosphere.
“Should I continue firing, Commander?” queried the weapons officer.
“No, they are outside our jurisdiction now. If they don’t die in the crash,
they’ll freeze to death, be eaten by wild animals, or the local authorities will drag them to prison for invading their territory. Rest assured, that ship won’t be taking off again. Navigator, set a course for home.”
“Yes, Commander.”
***
The navigation computer aboard the Cheoili ship adjusted its wings to glide to a less than destructive landing. The computer evaded the trees and large rocks, steering the vehicle onto a wide snowfield and bringing it to a somewhat gentle, yet lopsided stop.
“I can’t believe we’re all still in one piece,” said Dholi, unbuckling her restraints and tumbling to the floor. “Are you two still alive?”
“I am, but I’m not sure I want to be,” groaned Tatan. “I’m in crazy pain.”
“At least we’re alive,” said Daloi. “Pain is always better than death. Dholi, get the medical kit and look after Tatan. I’ll see what I can find out from our instruments.”
Daloi checked the ship’s vital signs then moved to her twin sister’s side, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Will we survive, sis?” asked Dholi, turning to look up at her sister.
“The ship is intact, but unless we find food somewhere we won’t last very long,” said Daloi. “We should at least be able to stay warm for a while. Eventually the batteries will give out and we will freeze to death. There is no warm spot on this planet and no life that I can find with our limited sensors, except for a few animals that would love to eat us.”
Daloi walked back to the ship’s sensor control panel in response to a beep. “Wait, I lied. This is odd. There is someone standing on top of a ridge a way from here, but I can’t see any buildings, or a ship, or any other people near him.”
“He must have come from somewhere,” said Dholi.
“I can’t tell with our limited sensors. He’s about 50 kilometers from here. Let’s suit up, get the speeder from the cargo hold, and see what we can find out.”
The three put on their foul weather suits, installed nasal filters, grabbed a bunch of their stolen gold coins and stepped outside their ship. They were greeted with a bright sun and a slight breeze that brought a chill to their bodies. Their feet sank almost a meter into the snow as they worked to position the speeder for mounting. As far as they could see in every direction were snow covered hills and mountains. It was like looking across tall mountains in the dead of winter.