Burning Bright

by Michael-Scott Earle

  I had too much other shit to worry about, and my eyelids were already feeling heavy again.

  The parachute was still attached to my back, and I was able to use the mirror over the sink to pull it from the rear part of my armor. Once the bloody lump of nano-silk was free, I tossed it into the garbage receptacle and double checked my armor. I was missing the back piece where the parachute exploded outward. I had replacement parts for that as well as the chopped off pieces at my wrists. Almost every plate was covered with my dried blood, but it would clean off in the shower.

  I grabbed another IV bag and marveled at how easy it was to hang it over the bed, clean my arm, stab the needle in, and tape it down. I was happy to have my hands back. I was also happy I could shift again.

  I climbed back into the bed and closed my eyes. I didn’t even remember falling asleep, but I felt well-rested when I did finally open my eyes, and I saw that the IV bag was empty again. I got out of the bed with a grunt, attached another IV bag to the needle in my arm, attached the fresh bag on the armor of my shoulder with a half roll of medical tape, and then walked out of the infirmary.

  My legs felt strong, as did my back, chest, arms, and shoulders. The drug from the darts was probably out of my system now, and it felt good to have my body back at full strength.

  Even if my heart was still broken.

  I got in the elevator and took it to the bridge. I half expected Persephone to be surrounded by an armada of Elaka Nota spacecraft, or for the station we drifted beside to be dark again, but the lights of the place were still on, and there were no other ships on our radar.

  “Madalena, do you copy?” I asked as I slid into Zea’s seat. The leather wasn’t dirty from my earlier occupation, so I reasoned the blood on my armor was too dry to smear onto anything.

  “Youuuuuuuu!” her voice was an angry hiss that took me a bit by surprise.

  “I am recovered. Let’s talk,” I said.

  “You haven’t answered me in one hundred and twenty-seven hours,” she growled.

  “I needed to sleep,” I said as I did the math in my head. I had been asleep for more than five days. “I have questions for you.”

  “You need to fix the structure on the bottom of our housing tower and let us board your ship. Then I will answer your questions.” It sounded as if it was taking every ounce of her willpower to not shout at me, and I supposed the woman was not used to being denied what she wanted.

  “No,” I said. “I don’t know if I can trust you all yet.”

  “You activated our life support,” she said.

  “Yeah, I didn’t want you to die, but it doesn’t mean I want to let you and your crew aboard my ship. I saw the video of you on Queen’s Hat. Power armor is expensive, and your team looked like hardened veterans. You need to answer my questions first, then I’ll figure out how to get you out of your pod.”

  “I have already submitted to you, Adam. You do not need to fear me. I serve you.” She spat out every word as if they tasted rotten in her mouth.

  “You keep using that word as if it means something,” I said with a sigh.

  “Which word?”

  “Submitted,” I replied.

  “Yes. I told you that. It is the most valuable gift I have to give. I bartered my own freedom for the life of my crew. I will serve you until I die, they, in turn, serve me.”

  “That sounds a lot like slavery,” I said.

  “No,” she growled. “It is nothing like slavery. You are a fool, and--”

  “Hey Adam,” Mikhael’s voice came over the communication. “I think you might be better off talking to me until the Prime-- ahhh, Captain Vaish cools down. You see, we are--”

  “Put her back on, Mikhael. We were talking,” I ordered, and there was silence from their end.

  “I am here,” Madalena said after half a minute, and her voice sounded calmer.

  “Will you answer my questions?” I asked.

  “Once we are aboard your ship, yes.”

  “Nope. Sorry. I’m going to eat breakfast and do some ship maintenance, I’ll open communications when I am done.”

  “Wait, I--” she started to say, but I pressed the button to turn off Persephone's communication terminal.

  Madalena could sit on her thumb and spin. I wanted to help her out. More importantly, I wanted her to answer my questions, but I didn’t need to put myself or Persephone at risk any more. I had already given her a lot of favors, and I didn’t want to give up my leverage.

  I got up from Zea’s chair, inspected it again for bloody grime, and then returned to the elevator. The lump in my chest and the ice in my stomach made me think I wasn’t hungry, but I knew I needed to eat. It was a quick walk to the kitchen, and I soon had four massive steaks grilling over the stove top in the galley. I didn’t even bother putting any sort of butter or cooking oil on the skillets. I just salted the meat, threw them on to sear, flipped them, and then piled them on a plate.

  I also didn’t bother sitting down or using utensils. I just stood over the cold counter and gnawed on the mostly raw beef until I had consumed it all. I did remember to put the dish and pans in the automated washer before I left the galley.

  My room still smelled like Zea and Eve, and I tried to push the last memories out of my mind. I failed though and ended up collapsing in my chair with my head in my new hands. I didn’t know how long I sat there, but eventually, I got up and stepped into the shower with my armor on. The hot water felt good on my teary face, and I busied myself with taking off the plates. Once the armor was off, I ripped away my flight suit and soaped myself down. I did feel a lot better once I was clean, and I almost couldn’t bring myself to turn the water off and hit the heat blowers.

  I brushed my teeth, put on a new suit, and then grabbed my armor and guns. I took them all down to the armory, and busied myself with cleaning and oiling everything. It was all busy work, but it gave me comfort and helped keep my mind from the more painful topics. I didn’t keep track of how long I worked in the armory, but I strapped the massive revolver to my chest before I finally returned to the bridge.

  “Are you in a better mood?” I asked soon after I flipped on Persephone’s communication equipment.

  “No,” Madalena answered flatly. “It has been four and a half hours. You are completely unaware of the danger you are putting all of us in.”

  “Maybe so, but I can hyperdrive right out of here if I need to. I don’t think you can.”

  She didn’t answer me, and I almost thought about asking if she was still there, I didn’t though. Instead, I waited for her to eventually speak.

  “Will you turn your video feed on? I wish to speak to you face to face.” She actually didn’t growl her request, and I was a bit surprised.

  “No. I prefer to talk with just voice,” I said. “Have you ever heard of the Magate Order?”

  Another pause, but we were less than a kilometer from each other, so I knew the delay wasn’t from the signal distance. She was probably speaking with the rest of her crew.

  “I have heard of them,” she finally answered, and I felt my heartbeat quicken.

  “Do you know of a central planet they might occupy?” I asked.

  “I might,” she answered.

  I held my tongue and waited for a few moments while I planned my next words. I didn’t want to show my hand too quickly since she might be lying.

  “Adam?” she finally asked, but I didn’t reply immediately.

  “Fuck,” she growled, and then I heard her voice speak in a muffled tone, “did he turn off his communication again?”

  “No,” I heard another woman say, softly.

  “Why isn’t he answering?” Madalena asked. “Fucking cameras, I want to see his ship. It is probably a junker, and I’ve submitted to a space mutt.”

  “I prefer to think of myself as more feline than mutt,” I said.

  “I thought I lost you,” she said, and I had to hand it to her for recovering quickly.

  “I didn’t like your
answer to my previous question. Can you give me more details?”

  “Fine,” she grunted. “We have had dealings with them. I know where one of their central systems is. They have a large armada though, some five hundred ships. Before we were attacked, I could battle them, but now I do not know the condition of my fleet.”

  “What dealings?” I asked as I tried to ignore the number of ships she mentioned.

  “They are scum slavers. During my earlier years in my Overlord Clan’s navy, I boarded many of their ships, killed their crew, and took their slaves into custody.”

  “What did you do with the slaves after you took them into custody?” I asked.

  “Some we returned to their homeworlds. Others were too far out of our way so we gave them work. It was the best we could do. We are warriors. I am only interested in conquering the other tribes so that their rulers will submit to me, or at least, I once was.”

  “Once?” I asked.

  “Now I will serve you, but I still wish my crew and myself to live. I will ask you again to help repair the bottom of our structure and take us on board your vessel.”

  “I have more questions.”

  “And I will answer all of them when I am onboard your ship, and we are safely away from this place,” she growled again.

  “How many of your crew are with you?” I asked even though Mikhael had already given me an answer.

  “Eight,” she answered after a moment.

  “You had twelve. What happened with the other four?”

  “My ship has fifty-eight in crew positions. Where do you get the number twelve from?”

  “At Queen’s Hat, you came into the station with twelve. Each wore power armor. Mikhael was one of them.”

  “That was many years ago, Adam. We only visited Queen’s Hat once. I do not recall who left my ship.

  “What was your business on Queen’s Hat?” I changed the subject a bit since I thought the other four of her crew were on Dance to the Dirge and not here.

  “We wanted to trade and find information,” she answered.

  “What were you trading, and what information?” I wanted to ask about the file they retrieved, but I didn’t want to show too much of my hand yet.

  “Why does it matter? Why are you so interested in me? Wait, no. My questions do not matter. I will give you whatever you want once I am onboard your vessel.”

  “How did you acquire your ship?” I asked as my heart hammered in my chest. This was the main question I wanted an answer to. I hoped it would give me hints about Persephone, and maybe the ship I had seen in the video on Parnarta.

  “My ship?” she seemed confused.

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “We built it.”

  “I doubt that,” I said.

  There was silence, and I reached my left finger over the button to end the communication.

  “I don’t have time for bullshit,” I said. “I’m going to take another break. I’ll talk to you when I feel like it again.”

  “Wait!” she barked, and I stopped my finger from descending.

  “Yeah?”

  “Why are you asking about my ship?”

  “Sorry, Madalena, I’m asking the questions. We’ll talk later.” I pressed the button to turn my communications off, and then I leaned back in Zea’s chair.

  The scent of her on the leather both comforted and saddened me, and my memories returned to the scene of their capture. I was angry at myself for putting my friends at risk. We should have dragged the carcasses inside the hold and processed them there. Hell, we should have just flown back into orbit to do the work. I knew that Paula and Kasta wanted to feel the weather on the planet, and feel the sun on their skin, but--

  I opened my eyes when I thought about the twins. Kasta shouldn’t have felt the effects of the poison, but she had. Or at least, I saw her lying unconscious on the grass beside the tables.

  “Persephone, did you record the video of the men attacking us with their blow darts? Can I see it?” I reached over to the buttons on the terminal I thought controlled the video sensors around the ship and tried pressing a few of them.

  The side of my display flickered to form a smaller screen. My friends and I were working on the butchering, and I leaned forward in my seat to study the footage.

  I took a stack of meat from the table, and walked to the rear of the APC. Ten seconds after, I saw them turn to me with surprised faces. This must have been the moment I warned them we were under attack.

  Zea opened up her mouth to shout, and then I saw her reach for something on her shoulder. By the time her fingers touched the dart, she was nodding off, and she fell onto the grass. Eve, Paula, and Kasta turned to Zea with their mouths opened. Almost as one, the three women made expressions of sudden pain.

  I focused on Kasta while Eve and Paula leaned against the table. There was a barb in her shoulder, and the android stared at it for a few moments with a puzzled expression on her pretty face. Then she turned to look at the three other women, and her eyes opened wide.

  I saw another dart hit her in the stomach. The android glanced down to it, then she looked at her friends, back to the dart, and then over to the rear of the APC where I ducked back to shift.

  Then she put the back of her arm up to her head in an exaggerated gesture and fell to the grass beside her sister.

  “Good job, Kasta,” I said as relief flowed through my body. Their captors would probably keep the women drugged. Since Kasta was faking it, she might be able to do something. Between Eve’s magic, Zea’s computer skills, and the twin’s engineering ability, I knew that they had a good chance of escaping their captors.

  But I was still going to chase after them.

  “Persephone, I need to learn how to use the navigation system. Can you show me the manual?” It didn’t seem like the ship could independently operate most of her systems. But, she had been able to show me the videos, so I knew she could control the holographic map.

  The smaller set of screens on my pilot’s terminal blinked, and I saw a cluster of text wrapped around various pictures of the control terminal buttons. I read a few words, and it was clear this was the manual for the navigation system.

  “Thank you, Persephone. I couldn’t do this without you.” She didn’t respond, but I hoped she still heard me and knew how thankful I was for her.

  My eyes were tired again, but I rubbed them, took a deep breath, and got to reading.

  She was my ship, and I needed to learn how to use her.

  The manual wasn’t written for a meat-head like me, that was for sure, and I couldn’t understand most of the words. Fortunately, I could press on each of the words I didn’t understand, and the text would shift to a definition. Unfortunately, I often times didn’t understand the definition either, and I had to click on even more words.

  There was a clock on the side screen of my terminal. Before I knew it, two hours had passed while I dove down the rabbit hole of space-time navigation theory. My head was hurting a bit, but I was starting to get a solid grasp of how the navigation system plotted a course. It would probably take me another twenty hours of study, but I decided to take a bit of a break and stretch my legs.

  Then I returned to Zea’s chair and pressed the button to open communications.

  “I’m back,” I said.

  “Hello, Adam,” Mikhael answered pleasantly. “Thank you for speaking with us again.”

  “No problem. I wish to speak to Madalena again,” I said.

  “She is sleeping. I am sorry,” he said.

  “Wake her up then. I have questions.”

  “I am sorry, Adam, but I can’t. I’ll gladly answer any questions you might have about--”

  “No thanks. You seem like a nice guy, but I want to talk to your boss. I’ll try again in a few hours.”

  “Wait, I ca--”

  I turned off the communications again and let out a groan. I knew I was being a bit of an asshole to them. I just didn’t want to risk their presence on my ship u
ntil I had my questions answered.

  It was going to be a problem, though. I wasn’t going to leave them, so I needed to figure out how to get them on board without getting a bullet in my head in case they decided they wanted Persephone. Yeah, Madalena was telling me she was ‘submitting’ to me, or whatever the fuck that meant. From my experience, everyone tended to be a pirate in space, and these people didn’t have a spaceship. There was a good chance they would get aboard, see I was alone, and decide they needed my ship more than I did.

  They looked like hard ass fuckers on the video I watched, and I doubted they would even crack a smile when they killed me.

  “Maybe I should leave them,” I said as closed my eyes. Even though no one besides Persephone heard me say the words, I regretted them instantly. I knew I was going to help them. I just didn’t want to get betrayed.

  “Mikhael?” I said after I hit the button to turn our communications back on.

  “Yes! Thank you! I got Captain Vaish,” he said.

  “Good. Let me speak with her,” I replied as I shook my head. I doubt that the woman had been sleeping. They didn’t want her to talk to me because it seemed like we weren’t getting along.

  “Adam,” she growled a moment later.

  “Are you ready to answer my questions?” I asked.

  “Our ship is a sentient being. My grandfather discovered her during one of his explorations. I have been her captain for the last fourteen years.”

  “Ahh,” I said.

  “Ahh? Was that the answer you were looking for?”

  “How do you know she is a sentient being?” I asked.

  “She speaks to the crew and me. Why are you asking these questions? Did you suspect this already?”

  “Do you know anything about any other advanced races?” I asked.

  There was silence on the other end and I crossed my arms over my chest to try and hold onto my patience.

  “Who are you?” Madalena asked.

  “I’m the one with the fucking spaceship. I’m the one who turned back on your life support. I’m the one asking you the questions, and I’m starting to wonder why I am even bothering. You don’t seem grateful for the help I’ve given you.”