Hand of Steel

by Jessi L Roberts

  Voices emanated from the captain’s quarters. I took a few steps backward and put my ear to the hatch.

  “The sooner we pawn her off, the better.” From the slight rasp of the voice, I guessed it was Tenned. “We spent way too much coin on her the way it is.”

  “I’m not leaving her on Derbis,” Klate growled. “They wouldn’t take her anyway.”

  “Fine. Someone on Tupra might take her. Watch that she doesn’t sabotage the Deathhorn before we make it back there. She should be locked up, not free to roam and find a way to get revenge.”

  Anger surged through me. They were going to pawn me off. I clenched both fists and imagined my steel one slamming into Tenned’s chin.

  Booted footsteps headed toward me. I scrambled away from the hatch.

  It whooshed open. Tenned stepped through.

  “What are you doing here?” he snapped.

  I stood tall. “Exercising.”

  Tenned glared.

  Klate ducked through the hatch. “Krys, we’re about to land on Derbis. Would you like to see the landing?”

  I glanced at Tenned. In this case, Klate had to be the safer option of the two. “I guess.”

  “Follow me.”

  I followed Klate past Tenned and to the cockpit. Three seats were bolted to the floor. A hirsut woman sat in one chair. The hair covering her face and head had turned gray with age, but her dark eyes were still sharp.

  Klate waved his hand at her. “This is Amellia. She’s our pilot.”

  Amellia smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

  I nodded.

  “Well, strap in.” Amellia pushed a button. “We’re coming up on Derbis. Brace yourselves.”

  Wasn’t artificial gravity supposed to make landings smooth? I sat in a chair and buckled the harness attached to the seat.

  Klate did the same.

  The Deathhorn turned. Below us, a planet floated in the blackness of space. When I’d first heard the name, I assumed the pirates were using some other name for one of the Ordained planets. I’d been wrong. None of the three Ordained planets had continents like this. This wasn’t Tupra or Korska either.

  The Deathhorn dropped toward the planet. As we approached, I spotted two continents, one near the equator and another farther north, or south depending on how we were coming at the planet. We shot over the equator continent and headed toward the one near the pole. A gigantic dark bay lay at the edge of steely gray mountains. We soared over a storm system higher than the mountains themselves.

  Shudders wracked the ship as it entered the atmosphere.

  I clutched the edge of my seat and glanced at Klate. He showed no fear. Hopefully, this was normal.

  From what I could tell, the mountains were made of some sort of natural metal or steel that shone in the light.

  Amellia twisted the old ship through mountain valleys.“Hold on!” she shouted.

  Ahead of us, a landing strip ran along the side of the mountain. Judging by its placement, someone had to cut the side of the mountain to make a flat spot for landing.

  The Deathhorn fell like a wingless bird, slammed into the runway, and bounced.

  Amellia flipped a few switches. The ship slid to a stop, throwing me against my seat belt.

  Amellia drove the ship off the runway and into a shallow cave.

  Klate unbuckled himself and stood. “Good landing.”

  I tried to relax. If that was a good landing, I didn’t want to see a bad one.

  Amellia began powering down the ship. “Sorry, it was a bit rough. That landing strip’s not long enough.”

  I unbuckled myself and stood. My real leg trembled a little.

  Klate strode past the captain’s quarters and through the mess hall. I stepped through the hatch and went after him, careful to stay far enough back it didn’t look like I was following him.

  Soon, the entire crew fell in behind him. Klate made it to the hold and opened the hatch, which dropped down to make a ramp.

  Klate turned to us. “Remember, most of these people don’t speak Spacer, and they’re not used to foreigners. Common Humans can get by easier than the rest of us. Also, stay close to the ship. If you hear sirens, get inside. The storms here are bad.”

  The rest of the crew yawned or sniffed the fresh air. They’d had this briefing before, so it was probably more for my benefit.

  Klate stepped on the ramp and walked into the cavern. The crew streamed out after him. Most of them carried their pistols. Only Klate carried his rifle. He led us out of the cave and into the sunlight.

  My feet touched the soft grass. I took in a deep breath of non-filtered air.

  A metallic scent combined with swamp smell entered my cybernetic nose. Had Doc messed up when he changed my nose? This wasn’t a normal planet smell, especially since we were far from swamps.

  I bent down and plucked a handful of grass and black dirt from the ground. I sniffed it. It smelled of grass, but the swamp scent still clung to it. So it wasn’t my nose, but the planet.

  Huge metal mountains towered over us. The only green places were the ledges, some of which appeared natural, while others, like the one we’d landed on, were too big and flat to be natural. Along the edge of the mountain, windows and doors were carved into the cliff wall. A few Humans stepped through the doors and came toward us while others peered through the thick windows.

  About a dozen Humans, most with dark hair and tanned skin, watched us. The women had no facial hair. A few men had beards. Were these Earth Humans? Their dark complexion and delicate features meant they weren’t common Humans, and the lack of hair showed they were far from hirsut.

  Melsha stepped next to me. Did she plan to guard me for my time here, or had the pirates decided I wasn’t going to escape?

  Hirami bolted up a tree with purple leaves. The tree, though large, bent under his weight.

  A man with black hair and dark eyes stepped from the others. “Greetings, Klate.” He spoke with a thick accent.

  Klate bowed his head slightly. “Greetings, Fer.”

  Fer looked past Klate. “What do you have to trade?”

  “We’ve got a good haul of nigotum,” Klate said. “We’ll trade it for some perital, leaf bales, milk, and turkeys.”

  Klate and Fer began haggling over the trade value of their supplies. Turkeys came up multiple times.

  I gazed at the ledge of the mountain, looking for anything that could be turkeys or produce milk.

  A gray, four-legged creature with horns grazed on a higher ledge above us. It looked like something that could be milked, possibly a smaller relative to the targans of Chibbink. A flock of gray birds leaped off an even higher cliff and flapped over us, their bodies almost too big to stay aloft. They turned and landed on another ledge. A gray and white animal with a fluffy tail ran after the birds and barked at them. From the shape of its body, I guessed it was a predator, likely some relation to a kark but not as big or dangerous.

  “Turkeys are the birds,” Melsha said. “The hoofed ones are goats and the thing chasing the turkeys is a dog.”

  A boy climbed down the cliff and toward the big ledge where the Deathhorn sat. The turkeys ran out of sight with the dog hot on their tails.

  I walked away from Melsha and to the edge of the ledge we’d landed on. A valley opened below. Multiple ledges with trees and grass huddled against the side of the mountain. A few trails were carved between the ledges where goats grazed. A Human rode a gigantic bird behind a large herd of goats.

  “You can look around, but stay close to the ship,” Melsha warned. “The storms here can be bad, and there are only a handful of locals who speak Spacer.”

  I nodded. This wasn’t going to be an easy planet to escape, not with the locals being friendly to Klate and the rough terrain. I prayed the bird the Human rode wasn’t a native to this planet. With the curved beak, it had to be a predator, a predator that could take my head off with one peck.

  I headed back toward the ship, but one of the trees distracted me. I approa
ched it and plucked a purple leaf off a branch. I sniffed it. It smelled like Melsha’s bread. I bit into it. Sure enough, it tasted much like the bread. At least when I ran, I knew one plant I could eat.

  I walked up the ramp and into the Deathhorn. The pirates were moving the nigotum cells off the ship. I walked past them and crawled into the bed that I’d made from leaf bales.

  I couldn’t sleep, not with the pirates awake and my plans pulsing through my head. I listened to their chatter as they hauled out the nigotum and some of the other supplies.

  At last, the pirates retired for the night. Without the rumble of the engines, the silence set me on edge. Sneaking around with nothing to muffle my sounds could be risky.

  I stood and examined the hold. The hatch stood open, probably to get some airflow in the ship now that the fans were off. Were the people here so peaceful the pirates didn’t fear a boarding party?

  I took stock of what I needed. A bag for sure. I’d have to carry quite a few supplies. A weapon would be a good idea too. Most of the locals hadn’t appeared heavily armed, but there could be predators around.

  I crept from the ship. Overhead, a blue star and a silver moon cast their light on the metallic mountains, which sparkled in the darkness.

  If there were indeed predators around, the Humans would have guns, and they’d probably be easier to steal than pirate weapons. I stalked to the nearest door embedded in the mountainside and examined the ball-like handle. Why didn’t these Humans have normal door handles? I tried to turn the strange knob both ways. It wouldn’t move. So these people locked up at night. With pirates on the loose, that was a good idea.

  I moved on to the next door set in the cliff side. The knob turned under my grip. I eased the door open and stepped into the house. My booted foot squeaked on the steel floor. I froze. No sounds came from the house. I crept forward, now more careful about my shoe. My cybernetic foot’s fake skin made no sound on the floor. Doc knew how to make quiet cybernetics, even if it took me a while to learn how to sneak with my new foot.

  My cybernetic eye adjusted to the darkness. I had to turn my head to scan the room since my real eye might as well have been closed. The only light came through the open door and a small window.

  The room I stood in had a coat hanger with various fur coats. Were the winters bad here?

  I reached for a coat. My stomach clenched. I couldn’t steal stuff unless I really needed it.

  A leather pack hung next to the coats. That I needed. I grabbed it and peered inside. A bit of dried blood stuck to one compartment while another had some sort of pellets. I sniffed one of them. Most likely, they were livestock food. The blood encouraged me. If someone hunted, they’d have a weapon.

  I grabbed the bag and tiptoed into the next room, which had a few chairs and a cupboard. Beyond that, blackness engulfed a doorway. A rifle of some sort hung on the wall over the cupboard.

  I lifted it off the hooks holding it and worked to figure out the foreign technology. It seemed like the weapon had a very similar design to the Ordained weapons I was familiar with. Where were the bullets? A slot in the bottom of the rifle gave me the feeling it was unloaded. I hung it back on the wall and began poking through the drawers. I needed ammunition.

  The first drawer had a leather-bound book with small text in a strange language. It could have been a Bible, but without being able to read it, I couldn’t tell.

  I opened the next drawer. A pistol lay within it. Magazines of ammunition lay beside it. I fiddled with the pistol and managed to remove the magazine. I pulled a bullet from the magazine and examined it. Hard metal made up the entire thing. No needle poked from the tip of the bullet.

  My hands shook. This bullet was made with one purpose, to kill.

  I reloaded the pistol before stuffing it and the ammunition into the bag. Dad had taken me hunting a few times. I could kill animals.

  A wave of loneliness engulfed me. Tears clouded my eye as I searched for the ammunition for the rifle. It would serve me better hunting than the pistol.

  My steel leg knocked against the cupboard.

  Something moved beyond the dark doorway.

  I scrambled from the room and through the next one. I made it into the open night air. A few animals chirruped.

  I hurried to the Deathhorn and stuffed the leaves from the bales into my bag. Once I had enough of those, I crept to the kitchen and grabbed some bread, dried meat, and sacked water. I hefted the now-heavy bag over my shoulder and crept off the ship.

  I walked to the edge of our huge ledge. The mountains shimmered in the light of the silver moon.

  I searched for any sign of Human habitation. I needed to make it away from this settlement and to one where pirates weren’t welcomed.

  My cybernetic eye picked a glow reflecting off one of the peaks far up the valley. My real eye couldn’t see it.

  I headed in the direction of the glow. If my geography was right, the glow was to the southeast.

  I found a path wide enough for a small vehicle. I hurried along the path toward the other settlement.

  The night wore on, and my stolen pack’s straps cut into my shoulders. I pressed on, even when my real leg ached with exhaustion.

  The eastern sky lightened as I traveled.

  Wind blew from the west. I stopped and lowered the bag to the ground, then sat on a steel boulder. I grabbed a sack of water and drank. My eyelid sagged. Maybe I could rest here for a little while.

  Distant thunder echoed off the mountains. White clouds tore across the sky. The mountains blocked any hint of what chased the harmless white clouds.

  Hadn’t Klate said the storms were dangerous?

  I finished my water and picked up the bag. With the threat of a storm, I couldn’t rest.

  I took off at a fast walk. My real leg ached. My thigh, where my real flesh met steel, throbbed.

  Wind roared overhead. The mountainside sheltered me from the worst of the storm, but it still set me on edge.

  Rain fell from the now-gray clouds.

  The temperature plummeted. Should have taken the coat. I pushed myself into a slow run. Lightning cracked. The clouds kept darkening and the rain came faster. Hail joined the rain.

  The sky above blackened. Now, it reminded me of a space battle hidden by black smoke. I’d never seen clouds so dark.

  The mountain path spread into a ledge with trees and grass. I ran toward the back of the ledge, my gaze searching frantically for any sort of shelter.

  A huge door took up part of the cliff face that towered above me.

  A gust of wind drove me to the ground. I climbed to my feet and pressed on. I made it to the door and spun the strange knob. The door opened inward. I bolted into the room and shoved the door closed.

  Blackness engulfed the room. My cybernetic eye detected a bit of light shining under the door. It did nothing to cut through the blackness.

  I ran my hand along the wall until I came across some sort of switch. I flipped it.

  A dim light in the ceiling beat back the darkness. The room was large enough for a small hover. Nothing adorned the walls of the room. Because of the high ceiling, I guessed the room was built to contain livestock. A smaller door stood in the back. I walked toward the door. Puddles of water marked my trail.

  I threw it open and flicked the switch upward. Another light illuminated this room. One wall held rows of metal cans. Pictures on the cans hinted at their contents, which appeared to be food and not fuel. A large barrel sat on a cabinet in another corner. A spigot jutted from the bottom of the barrel. Folded blankets lay on a shelf next to a bare cot.

  I opened the cabinet. Clean, dry clothes lay inside. I took off my own dripping outfit and put on the smallest set of dry clothes. They felt scratchy but better than something wet.

  I sat on the cot, which was large enough for at least two Humans. This place appeared to be some kind of storm shelter.

  Outside, the storm’s roar increased. Even the thick metal of the mountain couldn’t block it out
.

  The outer door flew open. For a second, I assumed the storm did it, then Klate strode into the room and shook himself, spraying water everywhere.

  He led a gigantic bird after him.

  I scrambled to the back of the second room and yanked the pistol from my bag.

  Klate moved to duck through the second doorway.

  I aimed the pistol at him. “Get out.”

  Klate’s ears flipped backward, showing tension, but not stiff enough to show anger.

  “I said get out!” I kept the pistol aimed upward at his hairy chest.

  Klate released the bird’s reins. “If I go back into that darkstorm, it will kill me sure as a bullet.”

  “I don’t care.” My finger touched the trigger guard. If I had my own stun pistol, I’d have shot Klate instantly.

  The pistol’s weight fought against my hand, the lethal bullets making the thing feel like it weighed twice what my own pistol did.

  “Are you doing this for justice or revenge?” Klate’s voice came out low and carried no hint of anger.

  The pistol trembled in my grasp. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.

  “You murdered Dad,” I snarled. My finger hovered over the trigger. Killing him would rid the galaxy of a dangerous pirate captain.

  “We both know it was an accident.” Klate’s lips curled back. “When is it justified to kill someone for a mistake?”

  “I’m not letting you sell me.” The words came out high and frightened.

  “Sell you?” Klate’s ears flipped upward. “Where did you get that idea?”

  “I heard you.” Shoot him, part if my mind pleaded. “Tenned wanted to pawn me off.”

  “He thought we’d have to pay someone to take you in.” Klate’s ears drooped a bit, more sad now than angry. “We wouldn’t spend that much on cybernetics if we intended to sell you.”

  I lowered the pistol slightly. “So you’re not going to sell me?” My gut told me he wasn’t lying.

  “No. Think what you will about me, but ask yourself, would I have braved this storm if I only thought of you as something to pawn off?”

  I let the pistol fall to my side. Klate’s actions only made sense if he told the truth.