by J. N. Chaney
How had I ended up in this place, here with this woman? I’d always been alone, always tired and sick of people. I never wanted a crew or to be involved with someone else’s problems.
Yet here I was, sitting in a cave, holding a nun and telling her everything was going to be okay.
Abigail nestled herself in my chest. It felt right, like this horrible place was exactly where I was meant to be.
I stared down at her, and she fidgeted in my arms.
She turned, looking up at me, saying both nothing and everything, all at the same time.
Fuck it.
I kissed her, pressing my lips into hers…and to my surprise, she kissed me back, wrapping her hand around my neck and running her fingers through my hair. All my thoughts and worries drained out of my mind, like nothing else mattered.
Only the moment. Only the girl.
Finally, we embraced one another, losing ourselves in the dark of that ancient, forgotten place.
Twelve
“I’ll never know what’s out there if I don’t go,” I said, standing on a loading dock in my maintenance uniform, one of only three sets of clothes to my name. The other two were in my duffel bag.
Teddy stood in front of me, wearing the exact same uniform, only he had a gold stripe on his collar with a pin to signify his time-in-service. We were still the same rank, because you couldn’t get any higher in maintenance than the rank you started with. There was no upward momentum on this station. Not unless the Chief died or retired, but good luck waiting around for that to happen. “You sure you wanna do this, Jace?” he asked in his grizzled voice, placing a hand on his hard, fat belly. I’d seen pictures of Ted when he was my age and knew he hadn’t always looked this way, but a few decades of drinking a belly full of booze will stack the weight on if you aren’t careful. Not that he cared. Teddy was never one for appearances.
“I can’t stay here forever,” I told him. “No offense.”
He chuckled. “None taken, but it’s a hard life out there, and we got long-term security here. I’m up for a pension in another ten years. Not bad for an ex-con, ya know?”
Teddy had a point. If I stayed on Talos, the work would be steady and I’d have the routine, which was more than most could say, but fifty years of labor for a shitty pension just didn’t seem as appealing to me. Both Teddy and I had come from Epsy. We’d been sent to Talos through the jobs program, each for different reasons. Teddy had stolen some money thirty-eight years ago, spent five years in prison, and couldn’t get a job doing anything but cleaning up after other people. He managed to get in with a good company through a family friend, which eventually got him sent up here. That was about the best he could’ve hoped for. Not too many people were willing to help out an ex-con.
I was a different case. I’d pulled my share of jobs, but that was when I was still a teen. All it did was get me sent to juvie for six years. When I became an adult and they kicked me out, I was offered a series of low-level assignments. Each of them paid about the same, but only one stuck out. Only one took me off-world.
Even if it meant cleaning toilets and fixing pipes, moving to Talos was a step in the right direction.
“You know I can’t stick around. I came here for a reason, and now that I’ve gotten enough money to—”
“Yeah, I know it, kid,” said Teddy. “You ain’t gotta tell me. Your daddy was the same way.”
I nodded, but said nothing. Teddy had known my old man, it turned out, and even worked beside him on several occasions. My dad had come to Talos Station the same way I had—on a shuttle with a job waiting for him. The difference was that he didn’t keep his priorities in check. He lost sight of the dream…then went and did something stupid.
But that was my old man. Dead from a bar fight, here on this station, gods rest his soul. He never even made it out of the system.
I wasn’t going to make that mistake. I’d saved a thousand creds over the last six years—enough for a new life. I might not be a Renegade tomorrow, but with enough money and time, I’d get what I wanted eventually.
All I had to do was work for it.
“Don’t get yourself killed or anything,” he said, scratching his ear. “And don’t be a stranger, either! Don’t leave me wondering where you went off to, ya hear?”
“I’ll call you on the holo tomorrow,” I assured him.
He scoffed, fanning both his hands at me. “You just remember what I told you. When you land, use some of those creds to get yourself a pistol. Can’t be running around without protection. It’s just a shame you can’t take one on the ship.” He shook his head at the transport.
“I’ll get one, first thing, along with some Bordo noodles,” I said, only half-joking. The food on Bordo was supposed to be great, but Teddy and I had always preferred the simple stuff. No fancy exotic shit for us. One night, over some eight-credit steaks, he’d made me promise to eat a simple meal when I got to where I was going. We ended up agreeing on noodles.
“You better!” he exclaimed, chuckling and holding his belly. “Call me and tell me how they are.”
We smacked each other on the shoulder, a stupid gesture we’d picked up from our time with the maintenance crew. “Take care of yourself, Teddy,” I told him.
He nodded. “You too, kid. Don’t go and fuck your life up.”
“I’ll try,” I answered, tossing my duffel over my shoulder and heading up the ramp. He moved to the far side of the bay, near the hall door, safe enough from the loading platform to watch the ship disembark. He was more sentimental than he gave himself credit for.
I went to the passenger section and stowed my bag. I made certain to get a window seat, all so I could see my first slip tunnel. I’d only seen holo vids before now, but I heard there was no substitute for the real thing.
As for the cabin, it was largely empty. Not too many people left Talos this time of year, so the passenger section was mostly empty, with the exception of a handful of people.
I leaned back in my chair, going over what I would do when I reached Bordo, the place where my new job waited. I’d heard there was opportunity there, but that was about it. I figured it was better than Talos, and the galnet said it had the best jobs for guys like me—people who just wanted to get paid and didn’t care about how.
The faster I could get a ship and start freelancing, the better. That was the only way to become a full-fledged Renegade.
For now, I’d have to contend with finally leaving this star system—something I’d worked my ass off for. I felt tingles in my fingers as the station released its clamps and allowed us to detach from the airlock.
The engines came alive, roaring like thunder in the middle of a quiet night, and we began to move. I watched the station grow smaller in the window while the ship pushed toward the entrance to the slip tunnel, which was on the other side of the system.
After several minutes, I saw the tunnel open, letting in another vessel. It closed within seconds, once the ship was inside. When we neared, I felt another vibration as the slip engine kicked in, telling me it was nearly time.
The process of traveling through slipspace was something that had always fascinated me. I’d read up on it, through the galnet, so I’d seen videos, but commentators said those were no substitute for the real thing. I believed them. Nothing compared to seeing something with your own two eyes. I always believed that, ever since I was a kid.
That’s why I wanted to see it all.
The tunnel opened and we eased our way closer to the rift. I could already see the flashing green of the inner walls. I leaned closer to the window, unable to blink or look away.
Our ship entered, leaving the system behind in the blackness of space as we were suddenly consumed by the tunnel. We shot forward, the slip tunnel walls sparkling with white lightning. It looked like magic, like the best drug trip imaginable.
I’d never seen anything so beautiful.
“Pretty spectacular, isn’t it?” asked a female voice.
I didn
’t look away from the window. Whoever it was couldn’t be speaking to me. I’d come here alone.
“Hey, you in the jumpsuit. Didn’t you hear me?” she asked.
I slowly turned toward her. She was sitting across the aisle, dressed in a fine suit, hair draped across her shoulders, a drink in her hand. “Huh?” I asked, stupidly.
“You’ve never seen one of those, have you?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“I remember my first time,” she responded, taking a sip of the drink, which I guessed was some kind of martini.
“I didn’t know you could have alcohol during take-off,” I said.
She smiled. “Tell me, what’s with the outfit?”
“It’s my uniform,” I said. “Well, it used to be. I’m relocating.”
“To where? Bordo?” she asked.
I nodded.
“What sort of work are you looking for that you’d pack up and leave your home system?” she asked.
“I used to work on Talos’ maintenance team, but that wasn’t a good fit,” I said.
She smiled, then put the glass down on her tray. “What would a good fit be for a man like you?”
“I want to be a Renegade,” I said, not ashamed of my ambition. “That means I need money so I can get my own ship.”
“Interesting,” she said, letting my word settle in the air before she spoke again. “Are you a criminal? Do you have a record?”
“What?” I asked, surprised by the woman’s blunt question.
“It’s difficult to find a job if you have a record,” she explained.
“I did, back when I was a kid, but it’s clean now. They wipe it when you turn eighteen.”
“You have a clean record, but you want to be a Renegade? Why is that, exactly?” she asked.
“That’s my business,” I said.
“Fair enough.” She scanned me with her eyes, being quiet for a long moment. It didn’t feel sexual, although she was certainly beautiful. It was more like I was being judged or assessed. “So, a boy your age, leaving your home for the first time, barely a credit to your name, and looking for a job. All so you can become a Renegade.”
“I have money,” I said.
“No, you don’t,” she answered.
I scoffed. “How would you know?”
She motioned at me. “You’re wearing a uniform from a job you already quit. If you had any money, you’ve done a fine job of hiding it.”
She was right. The thousand credits I’d saved had been used mostly to pay for this trip. I had enough money for a few months’ rent, but I couldn’t survive without a job for long.
When I didn’t answer, she continued. “No money, no job, yet you still have the courage to take a transport to another planet, all with the hope of finding an…opportunity. That speaks to a man’s character, don’t you think?”
I hesitated, but finally nodded. “Sure.”
“On that matter, since opportunity is what you’re after, how about I save you a bit of time.” She took a long sip from her drink and set it back down. “I just so happen to be a recruiter for a particular organization in the market for people like yourself.”
“What does that mean? People like me?” I asked.
“Young, single, and hungry for money,” she said. “I didn’t meet my quota on Epsy, truth be told, and you seem like the right type.”
“Is this a joke? We just met ninety seconds ago and you’re offering me a job?”
“I have a good eye for talent,” she said. “Now, are you interested? There’ll be no questions asked, of course, and you can’t have any moral objections.”
“What kind of job is this?” I asked. “What do you mean by moral objections?”
She raised her brow. “I thought you told me you were willing to do anything for a paycheck. Did you misspeak?”
“N-No, I meant what I said. It’s just that—”
“I don’t make a habit out of this sort of thing,” she said, cutting me off. “I just feel like being charitable today, that’s all, and you happen to be at the right place at the right time. You can take my offer now and start earning some real money—not those scraps from whatever bottom feeder job you happen to find on Bordo—or you can turn back toward that window and stare off into the slipstream and forget we ever spoke. What’s it going to be?”
I couldn’t believe the luck of it. Was this woman actually telling me the truth? I stared at her for a moment, those serious eyes staring right back. She couldn’t be more than thirty years old, but there was an experience about her—something I hadn’t seen since I was living on the streets on Epsy. I knew that this was real.
“Well?” she asked, breaking the silence.
I cleared my throat, licking my lips. “How much?” I asked.
She smirked. “Enough.”
“Enough…” I repeated, chewing on the word. “Anything else I should know?”
“Not until you’re signed on,” she said. “It’ll be dangerous, but all the best things are.”
I considered saying no, but only briefly. It sounded sketchy, and maybe it was, but I didn’t leave Talos just to wind up mopping floors in a train station or fixing pipes in a hotel. I left so I could do something else…so I could be someone else. If I didn’t take this offer right now, there might not be another.
I leaned toward her, between the aisle. “If the money’s good, like you say, maybe I’ll do it.”
“Excellent,” said the woman. She reached out to me. “My name is Eliza Jenson.”
“Jace Hughes,” I said, shaking her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Hughes,” she said with a beaming smile. “I very much look forward to working with you.”
Thirteen
Abigail shifted beside me, but didn’t wake. We’d fallen asleep together, my arms around her, and for a while I had forgotten where I was.
I moved away from her, reaching for my pad to check the time. The screen indicated that a few hours had passed since we stopped. I wondered how long we had to stay in this place before moving on. Was it too dangerous to wake the old woman in her present state?
Holding onto the pad, I got to my feet, trying not to make a sound. I’d let Abby sleep for a while longer while I stretched my legs.
A soft blue light glowed where the old woman was sleeping. “Boy,” said Lucia, her voice surprising me. She held the translator device in her hand.
I approached her, sitting beside her to whisper, “Everything’s fine. You can go back to sleep.”
“Resting is for the old and the dead,” she said, giving me a half-smile. “I’m not ready to be either.”
I returned the expression. “I can see that.”
“Good thing for you. If you let me die, my daughter might take your head.” She nodded to Abigail. “Your woman’s, too.”
I paused. “My what?”
“Oh, yes,” said Lucia, smiling. “You aren’t as quiet as you think, boy.”
“She’s not my woman,” I muttered, looking away from her. It was the first time anyone, including myself, had ever referred to Abigail and me in such a way. It took me by surprise.
“You haven’t realized it yet, that’s all,” she said, shaking her head. “You’re slow, I can tell, but you’ll catch on eventually.”
“Shut up, grandma,” I said, standing up. “You’re going senile.”
She closed her eyes, letting out a quick chuckle. “Kids,” she muttered to herself. “Too blind to see the sun.”
* * *
Abigail woke a short time later. “We need to get going,” I said, quickly handing over her outfit. “Are you ready?”
She took the clothes from me and nodded.
I waited for her to get dressed, saying nothing as I watched her slip her clothes on. When she was ready, we went back to the old woman, who was sitting up for the first time. “Is it time to go already?” she asked.
“We figured you might be bored of sitting in the dark,” I told her.
> She chuckled. “Tired of lying down, perhaps.”
Abigail bent beside her. “Do you know how much longer before we’re out of this place?”
“We tend to avoid this place. The way out is ahead, but it isn’t easy to cross,” she explained.
“We’ll find a way,” said Abigail.
The old woman scoffed. “We’ll see what you say when you see it.”
We picked Lucia up by the arms and legs and resumed our trek through the corridors, leaving the room behind. On the other side, we found more vegetation. More vines, covering the walls, with sprouts poking through cracks in the floor, and blades of yellow and blue plants hanging from the ceiling.
My pad’s light seemed to shimmer throughout the hall as it hit the vegetation. I couldn’t help but feel like I was walking into the mouth of an animal. It gave me chills.
“Easy,” I said, stepping over some of the plants. I didn’t want to accidentally get a foot caught and wind up dropping Lucia and breaking her hip.
We carefully walked through the hall and reached the next set of doors. I had to use a knife to pry the overgrown weeds from the touch screen on the wall, giving me access to the controls. The door itself was mostly clean, with only a handful of weeds hanging from its crevices.
The door slid open and we walked through, letting it close behind us.
I stopped, immediately taken aback by what I saw next.
There was a massive hole in the floor, almost like a crater, buried in the center of the large room. Inside the hole, I could see countless moving plants, each waving together, all of them somehow uniquely shaped. Below them, a soft light, coming from inside one of the pit’s walls. On the other side, I spotted a stairwell, leading up. That must be it, I thought.
“What is this?” asked Abigail, balking at the sight before us.
“I told you it wouldn’t be easy,” said the old woman.
On either side of the pit, there was a small space against the wall. Enough room to edge our way across. “We can make it if we’re slow and careful,” I said.
“It’s not that easy,” said Lucia.