Burning Bright

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “Wait!” Fredrick screeched when the warriors turned their weapons on him.

  “Oh, this should be good,” the blonde man said as he waved his fingers at his guards. The voice confirmed my belief. This was the same asshole.

  “I’m Fredrick James Gammon. This is my family’s planet. You have no right to--”

  “Whoops! I’m bored already. One of you kill--” the scientist didn’t even finish his sentence; both of the rifles barked, and the camera fell on the ground. The device rolled out of Fredrick’s dead hand and the lens pointed back toward the operating table where the tiger-man’s body lay.

  “I’ve been looking for you for a long time,” the blonde man said as he stepped to the side of the table and looked down at the mummified tiger-man. The scientist let out a little chuckle that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

  “President Yu, we’ve cleared the camp and eliminated ninety-four of them,” a soldier said from outside of the camera’s view.

  “Good, take this treasure back to the shuttle. Use care, please.” The scientist gestured to the corpse and then took a step back so that his men could remove the body from the bed.

  “What should we do about Gammon?” one of the armored men said as he came to stand next to the blond scientist.

  “They are too busy sniffing dirt to worry about this world. Torch the place with our plasma guns. They’ll just think it was pirates or a thruster accident.

  “Got it,” the other man said, and they walked out of the view of the camera.

  “Adam?” Eve turned to me with a surprised look on her beautiful face.

  “Zea, how old is this video?” I growled.

  “I’m not sure when it was created,” the hacker said as she tapped her fingers on the terminal. “It was copied to the Queen’s Hat’s mainframe a bit over a hundred years ago.”

  “That has to be a mistake,” I said as my vision started to spin.

  “Uhh. The file was corrupted, so it’s possible the date is wrong, but if anything, I would think it is way older than the stamp. The data compression was ancient.”

  “Look!” Paula pointed at the screen, and we turned our focus back on the video.

  The camera was moving in slowly broken slides, and I heard grunting from behind the lens.

  “Fuck.” It was Fredrick’s voice, and he’d managed to crawl to the entrance of the tent. We all watched with bated breath as the camera moved, then moved again with agonizing slowness.

  The tent was actually built on a metal platform, and the camera fell down the stairs before the injured young man rolled down. I could see that his chest had twin bullet holes in it, and I was surprised he was actually able to move. His face hinted at his agony though, so I guessed the man wouldn’t be able to escape death.

  He still managed to grab the camera and wiggle under the metal platform.

  Then there was a horrific noise, and the camera turned off.

  “That’s the end of it,” Zea said.

  “Damn,” Paula and Kasta said at once.

  “Adam?” Eve asked again, and the women turned to her, then to me, then back to her.

  “What’s wr--” Zea started to say, but I interrupted her.

  “The blonde man on the video. The one they called President Yu, he was the man who experimented on me,” I said.

  The monster in my stomach was screaming loud enough to fill my brain. My mind wanted to burst so the hate could pour out of my ears.

  “Uhh. Are you sure? This video is really fucking old.” Zea frowned and then turned back to her terminal.

  “I know him. He was the one who injected me, tortured me, and then put me on these assignments. I don’t know how long I was a prisoner exactly, but it was at least two years of seeing that fucker every day. I know it is him. His voice and mannerisms are identical.”

  I felt the beast in my DNA scream again and try to surge up from my stomach. It was intense. I had to lean back in the chair, close my eyes, and think about the oceans of Earth for a few moments.

  “I’ll tear this file apart and see if there is any other info in the data. There must be something wrong with the time-date stamp,” I heard Zea say, but it sounded like she was speaking from a hundred meters away.

  Then an alarm sounded, and I almost lost control of the monster living inside of me.

  “We are about to exit hyperdrive,” Eve said.

  “Okay,” I whispered without opening my eyes. “What is this world called?”

  “GUAAY - 23 - c,” Eve replied.

  “Let’s hope it has a civilization on it, and that they have food,” I said.

  “Anndddddd, let’s hope they don’t try to kill us and steal Persephone like everyone else has,” Zea said with a sigh.

  Chapter 7

  “Well, there are cities on it,” Zea said after we’d popped out of hyperdrive and she’d run the scanners.

  “No ships in orbit,” Eve said.

  “It’s a nice looking world. Reminds me of Uraniel,” Paula observed.

  “Scanners say its atmosphere is a few degrees celsius cooler than Uraniel. There is a bit more snow on the poles. It’s ninety-six percent of Earth’s size, but scanners say ten percent more core mass. Could be a good mining world,” Zea stretched her arms over her head and wiggled her long fingers a bit.

  “What’s the technology like?” I asked. Almost as soon as I spoke, one of the front display screens zoomed in on a city. There were a few larger buildings, but it was mostly homes made from wood, stucco, or adobe.

  “Population is about ten million in this hemisphere. Don’t see any motor vehicles. Looks like the larger cities have electricity. Coal power plants.”

  “Farms? Ranches?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” Zea confirmed. “All over. Shouldn’t be any problem with supplies. Thank the stars.”

  “This was one of Juliette’s recommendations?” I asked.

  “Yeah, she landed here a few times for cattle. We also had a manifest confirmation from another ship at Queen’s Hat, so it might be a popular layover spot for travelers looking for free range cattle.”

  “So, another ship said that it came from this planet?” I asked.

  “Yeah…” Zea’s voice trailed off, and the blonde woman exchanged looks with the twins sitting next to me.

  “I’ll fly around to the other side of the planet,” she said. “Maybe the scanners will pick something up.”

  “Will take ten-ish minutes,” Zea said as she leaned into Persephone’s controls and aimed her at the left side of the planet.

  “When can we use the warpdrive again?” I asked.

  “We are good to go,” Paula answered.

  “Did you plot to Epsilon Tauri - b?” I asked.

  “I’ll do it now.” The blonde woman got out of her chair and looked over her shoulder toward the gunner’s station. Then she turned back to the front of the bridge and pointed at the unoccupied chair to the left side of Zea. “Can I sit there?” she asked hesitantly.

  “Of course,” I said. “It’s the navigator’s seat.”

  “These three all pilot and navigate,” Zea said as she cleared her throat slightly. Then she smiled at Paula and nodded at the seat.

  The engineer sat down and began to move her hands over the keys of the terminal.

  “I’m fine just sitting up here alone with you, Captain,” Kasta whispered.

  “You could probably plot the course with the controls on your chair,” I smirked as I pointed at her armrest.

  “Of course, but what would Paula do then?” She winked at me.

  “Ha,” Paula let out a chuckle and shook her head at her sister.

  “I’ll want you to plot a course to Parnarta once we finish chasing the Dance to the Dirge lead at Epsilon Tauri - b,” I said to Kasta.

  “I can do that easy. I have the coordinates up here.” The android tapped on her temple as she smiled at me.

  No one else spoke as we flew on our orbital path around the planet. I wasn�
�t looking at the time, just the planet down below us, so I guessed only five minutes had passed. Then the unseen part of the planet became revealed to us, and I needed to blink a few times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

  “What the fuck is that?” I asked as I looked at the terrain. The globe had been Earth-like, with oceans, green forests, and steep snow-capped mountains, but the part of the planet I now saw looked like it was a giant scab. The ground was burnt to a black crisp, and the terrain looked perfectly level.

  “Looks like lava damage. The whole place is burnt, or melted,” Zea gasped.

  “What could have caused it?” I asked as more of the planet’s burnt surface was revealed to us.

  “It doesn’t seem organic,” Kasta said. “Look at the perimeter, it is very even. Paula, can you run a longitude comparison on it?”

  “Yep,” her twin said. Then she hit some buttons on her control terminal. “I can make it overlay the image. Here.” Bright green grid lines fell on top of the planet, and I could see that the edge of the burned terrain lined up perfectly with the longitude line.

  “It was a weapon,” Eve said.

  “You think so?” Kasta asked as she tapped her chin with a finger.

  “Yes,” the vampire said with a frown. “I can feel the horrific power.”

  “We haven’t reached the end of it,” Zea said. “Looks like there is a bit of an ocean left there.” She pointed at the screen, and I saw what the hacker indicated. It looked like a small sea in the middle of a vast expanse of smoldering rubble. The water was a putrid black color, and I imagined it smelled of sulfur and death.

  “Fuck,” Paula said. “It’s huge. Keeps going.” She tapped on her terminal and then some of the green lines moved on the image to only be on the edges of the burn mark. The entire thing stretched to the poles, and we had yet to see where it ended.

  “That looks like a ruined… something,” Zea said as she pointed at the display.

  “I’ll zoom,” Paula said, and the image sharpened around what looked like smoldering rectangle shapes.

  “Was it a city?” Kasta asked.

  “If so, it was a huge city,” Zea said gravely. “Looks a bit bigger than my home, and that city housed some six million.”

  “What kind of weapon could have done this?” Paula asked.

  “A big one,” Kasta said with a sigh. “On a really big ass ship that in all likelihood uses craft of Persephone’s size like shuttles.”

  “Why would they burn this part, and not the rest of the planet?” Paula asked.

  “I’m not sure, but there are other cities on the other side of the planet that aren’t damaged. They must know what happened.” I pointed back up to the front display. The scorch marks ended in the same perfectly cut lines, as if someone used a giant ruler to make sure the burning didn’t consume the entire planet. Paula typed some more on her terminal controls, and she pointed up the the display screen.

  “Sixty-four million square kilometers,” the blonde engineer said.

  “Shit,” Zea sighed.

  “There is a city at the edge,” Kasta said, and her sister pressed some buttons to zoom in. This city looked as if it had more technology than the settlements on the other side of the planet. There were roads paved with asphalt. Some metal bridges, buildings that were more than five levels tall, and I saw a few cars moving along the roads. There were still horse drawn carriages, but it looked like the city was on the cusp of an industrial revolution.

  “Eve are they--” I started to ask, but she already had her mouth opened.

  “Yes, I just received a communication request from someone there. It is video. Shall I display it?”

  “Only audio.”

  She raised her hand to indicate it was open, and I cleared my throat.

  “GUAAY - 23 - c, my name is Adam, I’m the captain of the starship Persephone. We are looking for food supplies, are you interested in trading?”

  “English?” the voice asked. The accent was heavy, and it sounded slightly Japanese.

  “I can speak Japanese,” I said in the language.

  “Yes, that is better for us,” the voice was male, but his accent was still a bit different from what I was used to on Ganymede.

  “Are you open to trade?” I asked again.

  “We are not allowed to trade,” he said.

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “The Magate Order has told us that visits from starships will corrupt our bloodlines. They punished the country of Yeehan for their heretic ways.”

  “Was that what caused the burn marks on the planet?” I asked.

  “Yes. They told the Emperor of Yeehan that his actions would lead to his destruction, but he didn’t listen. He traded with starships, and then he built some of them. The Magate Order punished him.”

  “How did they punish him?” I asked. “Did they have their own starships that attacked him?”

  “No. The Magate Order would never attack us. They just tell us of God’s ways. Yeehan didn’t listen, he didn’t give tribute as they asked, and God punished him and his people. You cannot come here. We don’t want to die.”

  “Ahh shit, they are getting scammed,” Kasta said under her breath.

  “What are they saying?” Zea mouthed. I figured Eve understood our conversation because she could read my mind, Kasta spoke all languages, but Zea and Paula were probably clueless about what was going on. I raised a finger to indicate I’d tell them in a moment and picked my next words carefully.

  “Are there other kingdoms on this planet?” I asked. “What do you call your kingdom?”

  “We are the people of Haatoo. There are other kingdoms, but they are on the other side of the planet. They also follow the Magate Order. I’m sorry, but they will not trade with you. You are violating God’s laws.”

  “Who am I speaking with?” I asked.

  “I am Shiro Saburo, assistant to the head magistrate. Please, if you land, we will be punished.”

  “Alright. We won’t land. Can I ask how long the Magate Order has been around? Do they live on the planet?”

  “No. They come once a month to take our tribute for God and instruct us in his ways. We are thankful for them. Without their help, we would not have been able to survive. Emperor Yeehan told them he would not pay tribute. He built starships. God punished him.”

  “How often does the Magat Order come to take tribute?” I asked.

  “Once every three dual-lunar cycles they visit,” Shiro answered.

  “When is the next visit?” I asked, and I tried to keep my voice calm.

  “They are almost here. Just a quarter more of a cycle. So please do not land. They will punish us.”

  I looked at Kasta, she had pulled out the controls from under her arm rest and was sliding her fingers over them.

  “Seventy-two Earth hours,” she whispered, and I nodded.

  “What do the Magate Order collect as a tribute?” I asked Shiro.

  “Honored ones. Our healthiest women of menstruating age. God loves them because they can produce offspring in his image.”

  “How many do you offer as a tribute?” I asked as I tried to keep my anger in control. These fucking Magate Order dickbags were grifter-slavers, and they’d managed to convince an entire planet that they needed to give them women.

  I wanted to destroy every last one of them.

  “They tell us how many God needs. Sometimes it is only a hundred, sometimes it is five hundred,” Shiro seemed very proud of these numbers, and I wanted to bitch slap his idiot head off his dumbass shoulders.

  “Is that from your entire kingdom, or from every city?”

  “Each of the cities in our kingdom. The Magate Order has told us that we are blessed by God since we give him the most tribute.”

  “And the other kingdoms? Do they give tribute?” I asked, even though I guessed at the answer.

  “Yes. Of course,” he said, and his tone made me think he was about done answering my questions.

  “Did t
hey give you the equipment you are using to communicate with us?” I asked, but I guessed the answer to this as well.

  “Yes,” he answered. “They told us to use it to tell other starships to fear God’s wrath, for only the Magate Order is close enough to Him to travel through the stars.”

  “How long have your people been paying tribute?” I asked through my clenched teeth.

  “I don’t understand your question. We have always paid tribute. Now please leave your orbit. We do not want the Magate Order to punish us for your presence.”

  “We’ll leave. Thanks for the notice,” I said as I gestured for Eve to turn off the communications.

  “We have to stop them,” Kasta said, and I was a bit surprised by the rage in the android’s voice.

  “What’s going on? What did they say?” Zea asked.

  “Those fucks believe these slavers are the mouthpieces of their God. They are giving them young women every three months.”

  “Fuck.” Zea and Paula’s blue eyes hardened, and the four women turned to face me.

  “Seventy-two hours?” I asked Kasta, and the android nodded without speaking.

  “The Dance to the Dirge lead is already cold,” Paula said.

  “Yeah,” Zea agreed. “We can wait a few days.”

  “They have forbidden us to land,” I said.

  “But--” Kasta started, but I interrupted her.

  “--In their kingdom. I don’t give a fuck about what that idiot thinks though. I doubt he has the technology to see us land on the other side of the planet. I would guess the majority of the people in this world don’t like handing over their women every few months.”

  “They might,” Eve said, and we all looked at her our eyes open.

  “Huh?” Zea said with obvious confusion.

  “I do not agree with their practice, obviously.” The vampire frowned and crossed her arms. “We do not know what these people actually believe. We have talked to one man who is a representative in one kingdom. It could be that everyone is convinced this is the best course of action for their religion.”

  “Then they are all a bunch of idiots,” Zea hissed.

  “Perhaps,” Eve said with another shrug, “but consider that we all have personal beliefs which are hard to change. You have recently had a powerful personal belief change.”