“Perfectly,” Nix said, darkness creeping into his voice.
Ju-Long made a groan and brought up a holographic image of the moons surrounding Taleris. Two long figures appeared briefly, their courses matching their own. Ju-Long stated, “We’ve got company.”
“As expected,” Liam remarked.
Liam moved the throttle forward with his left hand, pushing the ship toward its top rate of acceleration. He could hear the engines groan below them as though they were shaking off a century of rust and grime. The cockpit began to shake and the holographic image of Taleris flickered and started to show new images of empty space. Taleris had passed the edge of their scanner range.
Ju-Long commented, “The Nightstalkers are pursuing, but they either can’t match our velocity or they’re not trying to.”
Liam continued to push the accelerator forward and replied, “They’ll try to see if we can keep it up. If we can’t we’ll be dead in space and they’ll have their golden opportunity.”
“Isn’t that risky?” Astrid asked.
Liam turned and saw an anxious Astrid out of the corner of his eye. Her hands were clenched together and her toe tapping rapidly on the ground. She was frightened. Finally something her and Nix had in common, though Liam doubted they’d see the humor in it.
“This ship can take it,” Liam told her. “If I were the Kraven, I would keep my distance until I knew exactly what I was dealing with. We already took out one of their ships. They’re likely to be wary of another encounter but can’t risk letting us go.”
“And here I thought the Kraven valued a fair fight,” Ju-Long mused.
Liam shook his head. The Kraven Nix had heard about in his stories didn’t match up to the ones he’d met. Honor appeared to be a show for them, a game of sorts. If they started to lose that game, they’d flip the board or do what it took to win. These Nightstalkers, however, were notorious for shirking whatever code of honor the Kraven claimed to live by. He told Ju-Long, “These ones are different. Their new leader, the blue-faced Kraven, his tactics are cruel. He only cares about honor when others are watching.”
“Which makes the Nightstalkers a perfect tool for unsavory jobs,” Nix said.
Liam nodded. The blue-faced Kraven was quick to kill Crius for a dishonorable fight, but in turn he quite literally stabbed him in the back. The irony was not lost on Liam. The new Kraven leader had bided his time until an opportunity arose to seize power. He knew the blue-faced warrior’s rise was partly Liam’s own doing, but did that make him responsible for every person the Nightstalkers murdered? Before his fight with Crius, the Nightstalkers were only a legend, a remnant from another time, spoken of only in whispers.
He tried to remember what Astrid had told him. The Nightstalkers were only one of their problems. Still, they wouldn’t be able to search for the Azure Key or even think about undermining Vesta Corporation until this imminent threat was resolved. They couldn’t go traipsing around the Ansara System with these Kraven hounds on their tail. It had to end now.
Liam locked in a course for Narra and released the control handle, removing his arm from the copper circle. The throttle was pushed to full but it would take more time for the engines to reach peak acceleration. He examined the holographic projection of the surrounding space. It continued to update and showed the two Nightstalkers matching their course and rate of acceleration, hanging back more than a million kilometers.
“At present speed, we’ll get there in about two days,” Ju-Long said, amazed. “Why weren’t we traveling this fast the whole time?”
“Because we’re not meant to,” Nix replied. “The ship is powerful but the engines can’t sustain this rate of acceleration. We’ll be lucky to make it to Narra in one piece.”
The cockpit’s shaking had begun to subside as The Garuda became more accustomed to the engine’s power output. The engines beneath them whirred and hummed up through the gridded metal floor. It became a low drone that was ever-present in the background but became less noticeable with time.
Nix unstrapped himself and stood. He said to Ju-Long, “I’m going to keep an eye on the engines to make sure we don’t become space dust. Care to join me?”
Ju-Long got up from the co-pilot’s seat and rested a hand against the cracked leather headrest. He leaned down to Astrid and said, “If you need anything, you know where to find me. Maybe a tour of the ship? I hear my quarters is quite nice.”
Astrid held her hand over her mouth and suppressed a giggle. Ju-Long smiled and continued to the back of the cockpit, following Nix toward the engine room. It hadn’t taken long, but Astrid had gone from repulsion to laughing at Ju-Long’s advances. It wouldn’t be long before she found his words endearing. He had that effect on people.
Liam didn’t care. He couldn’t care. Then why did he feel a tug at his heart? It was something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Astrid watched Ju-Long go and then turned her gaze to Liam, smiling softly in the low light of the cockpit. She asked him, “Do those lines ever work for him?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Liam responded casually. “He was pretty popular with the Dinari girls on Garuda.”
“Is that so?” Astrid asked with a flat voice.
What was he doing? Ju-Long was his friend. He needed to say something to make it right.
“Then again, it was probably because he beat the hell out of a Dinari fighter in the ring.”
“He fought in the tournament?” Astrid beamed. “I used to watch the fights on Taleris as a girl. Garuda is one of the last planets that still allows them. How did a human gain entrance?”
Liam shrugged and said, “We know a guy.”
The smile on Astrid’s face was deeply ingrained. Her slightly pointed teeth came together perfectly so there was hardly a gap between them. Liam looked back to his control console, pretending to fiddle with some minor adjustments. One day, Ju-Long better thank him for that. The pain in Liam’s chest began to subside. Perhaps knowing that he’d helped a friend alleviated some of the nagging feelings inside him. Liam looked out at the slowly moving stars. He hoped that’s what it was.
27
Liam moved his face as close as he dared to the glowing turbine, the heat from the engine cascading over his skin and caused his long blond hair to become wet with steam. He backed up and examined the purple light pouring out of the vents, its monosyllabic hum droning deeply and reverberating through his chest. It had been more than a day since they left the debris field and there were still no major problems with the ship.
“How’s she holding up?” he asked Ju-Long.
“Considering what she’s been through, about as well as one could hope.”
The dual engines’ many copper gears churned silently under the noise of the turbines within its metal casing. The room was hot and sticky with the increased strain on the engine. It was beginning to seep out into the other chambers of the ship and the crew was miserable. Their sole shower was working overtime, using sound waves to reverberate the grime off their bodies at regular intervals. Ju-Long seemed to be the only one not having a problem with the humidity. He’d already grown quite accustomed to the steam put off by the engines.
“Keep an eye on it but take shifts with Nix. I can’t afford either of you to be out of commission. I shouldn’t have to remind you to eat and drink, should I?”
“Not as long as someone keeps the Leguma coming.”
Liam clapped him on the shoulder and nodded before taking his leave. He climbed the steep staircase to the cargo bay, taking note of the rushing purple energy overhead, and closed the hatch behind him. The metal latch was hot to the touch as he clicked it shut. They were halfway there, only one more day of hell to endure.
Liam hadn’t slept the night before. Perhaps it was a combination of Astrid inhabiting his quarters and Saturn’s attitude, but he didn’t feel much like sleeping. Instead, he wandered the ship fixing what he could. A loose coupling here or a blown fuse there. Some of the ship’s components were similar to technology
on Earth, a fact that was surprising to Liam until he considered that some advances in technology must be similar regardless of where you are in the galaxy. Eventually, intelligent humanoids were going to invent heavier-than-air flight, even if the result looked far different.
Liam turned the corner to the cockpit’s corridor and bumped into Saturn. She wore a loose fitting cloth top whose white fibers clung to her soaked body. Her hair was frazzled with long strands breaking free of her ponytail and sticking to her cheeks. Liam couldn’t help himself and he tried to suppress a laugh. She avoided eye contact and skirted around him, taking off toward the living quarters. It seemed the humidity didn’t agree with her either.
It wasn’t just Saturn who was acting distant. Nix had spent most of his time in the kitchen splayed out in a chair, trying to keep cool. He didn’t have sweat glands but his scaled skin still looked wet and drool dripped from his mouth like a dog. When Liam asked him how he was sweating he said he’d poured a pitcher of water over himself.
Astrid was another story. She’d been in the engine room with Ju-Long for hours before she finally couldn’t take the heat and retreated to Liam’s living quarters. Liam didn’t want to know what they were doing down there so he steered clear.
Liam continued on to the cockpit. As he passed the kitchen he saw Nix taking a sip of a clear liquid and by the Dinari’s wince, Liam guessed it wasn’t water. He continued on and took the pilot’s seat. He began examining the readings from the Nightstalkers. This was probably the closest anyone had ever been to one while still being able to talk about it. Liam felt like they had an obligation to store as much information in their memory banks as possible.
The Nightstalkers had maintained their distance of one million kilometers. It was impressive that the Kraven ships could keep up with them for so long. It made Liam wonder if their ships were having the same kind of trouble as The Garuda. Liam brought up a hologram of the Kraven ships and The Garuda, the stars passing by in the image. He put his hand up to the image and zoomed in on the two Kraven vessels. They were sleek and shaped like long arrowheads, bearing almost no resemblance to the patchwork ships Liam had seen before. When Liam zoomed in further on one of them, he noticed a deep dent in the shiny hull from where it had been struck by debris. Liam took note. It was a weak spot in an otherwise immaculate ship.
“What are you looking at?” Nix asked.
Liam turned his head and saw the dazed Nix staring at the orange hologram. He looked like he could hardly stay on his feet.
“One of the Nightstalkers took some damage from the moon fragments.”
Nix collapsed into the co-pilot’s seat and slurred, “It won’t matter. Destroying two Nightstalkers is a fool’s errand. It can’t be done.”
Liam frowned. It was clear Nix had been drinking, but he wasn’t entirely wrong either. The only ship to defeat a Nightstalker was The Garuda, but in the same token, that was one ship. They’d barely managed to escape before and now the circumstances wouldn’t be as favorable for them. In an open battle they’d be toast.
“How much have you had to drink?”
“I don’t know what happened,” Nix mumbled. “There I was having one glass of Thecla and then boom. I can’t feel my lips.”
“You don’t have lips.”
“Well I’m glad I can’t feel them, then!”
Liam stood up from the pilot’s seat and helped Nix to his feet. He said, “Come on big guy, let’s get you some water and put you to bed. You’re too dehydrated to be drinking liquor and I need you in pristine condition tomorrow. That means no more booze.”
“No more?”
“None.”
“No more,” Nix said with a sigh before poking Liam’s scar with a clawed finger. “How’d you get this?”
Liam batted the Dinari’s hand away and replied, “It was a long time ago. It’s nothing.”
“Have I told you you’re my best friend?” Nix garbled. “No, more than that. You’re my brother. And brothers, we stick together.”
Liam had seen Nix drunk on several occasions since they first met, but he usually kept to himself, brooding uselessly in a corner. This was a different side of him to say the least. It pained him to admit that Nix the funny drunk wasn’t so bad.
“That’s right, we do,” Liam said, leading Nix into the kitchen and drawing him a glass of water from a small nozzle on the wall.
Liam put the glass up to the Dinari’s mouth and started pouring slowly onto his tongue. Nix took several gulps before being unable to swallow anymore and spitting up down the sides of his mouth. Nix wiped his chin, his expression changing from drunken bliss to depression in an instant. Liam sighed. Just when he thought drunk Nix wouldn’t be so bad.
“Why is she here, Liam? She can’t be here. The Heiress is dangerous.”
Liam regarded his Dinari friend with a look of confusion and asked, “The Heiress? Who are you talking about?”
His golden eyes grew, nearly popping from his head, and he exclaimed, “The Ansaran. The Heiress will inherit the Alliance. She has terrible powers. Frightening. She can’t be allowed to lead them!”
Liam started trying to push Nix out of the kitchen and into the hall, but the Dinari wouldn’t have it. He grabbed Liam with his good hand and regarded him with a look he almost mistook as sober. He was serious. Something about this woman had him spooked. Liam said, “You can’t be talking about Astrid, you’ve seen her. She’s anything but frightening.”
“I saw The Heiress manipulate Ragnar. I saw her kill three Dinari in an instant with nothing more than her charm. The Ansaran will kill us all.”
“Let’s get you to bed,” Liam said. “We’ll talk about this in the morning.”
Liam half dragged Nix back to his quarters, with Nix yelling obscenities about The Heiress the whole way. He couldn’t possibly be talking about Astrid. Killing someone with charm? The notion was ridiculous. Astrid didn’t hold that kind of power over—
Liam stopped outside Nix’s quarters. Astrid had gotten close to Liam and now she was getting close to Ju-Long. If Astrid was anything, she certainly was charming. Liam placed his hand on the square pad and opened Nix’s chambers, plopping him down on the thin mat on the floor. He rolled the Dinari on his side and left him there to sleep it off.
28
Liam stood in the hallway outside Nix’s quarters, running through his prior interactions with Astrid. She’d had plenty of opportunities to kill him if she really did have the kind of power to which Nix was referring. Still, something didn’t sit right with him. Liam started toward the cargo bay, his footsteps resounding off the curved metal walls.
When he arrived, the door to the engine room was still firmly shut. Liam put a hand on the handle and immediately removed it, the sear of more than a hundred degrees Celsius sending white-hot pain through his nerves. It was far too hot. When he’d left before it was a fraction of the temperature.
Liam removed his cloth shirt and began wrapping his hand until it was thick and bulbous. He quickly pressed down on the handle, bracing his forearm with his free hand, until finally the lever gave way. When the door opened, a burst of steam came rushing past him. Liam released his grip and moved to the side to avoid the brunt of it.
He descended the stairs quickly, the heat from the engine room fire against his skin. Liam called Ju-Long’s name through the dense mist. There was no reply. He moved faster now, blocking the steam from his eyes as best as he could but failing to keep his eyeballs from heating far beyond the level of comfort.
Liam tripped over something solid and fell to the floor. Ju-Long’s body lay lifeless on the metal grates, sweat covering his skin which was burned from the hot steam. Liam came up to one knee and lightly slapped his crewmate’s face. He yelled, “Ju-Long, wake up buddy. Don’t do this.”
There was no response. Liam cursed and flipped the muscular man onto his back so he was lying face up. He lifted Ju-Long up by his armpits and began to drag his heavy body toward the staircase. If they made it thro
ugh this, Liam was going to have to get on him about slimming down.
“Ju-Long?” A voice cried from the top of the stairs. “Is anyone down there?”
“Here,” Liam shouted. “I need some help down here.”
Feet clanked down the steep staircase and a disheveled Saturn appeared.
“What the hell happened?” she shrieked.
“Just help me get him upstairs!”
Saturn nodded and picked up Ju-Long’s legs. The steam made keeping a grip on his sweaty body a challenge. After several minutes, they were able to finagle Ju-Long’s dead weight up the stairs and drag him away from the entryway. Liam hovered over his body, pressing two fingers on his neck trying to find a pulse.
“It’s there but it’s weak,” Liam said. “Get some water, we need to get him hydrated.”
“Right,” Saturn said before disappearing down the corridor toward the kitchen.
Liam examined the burns on Ju-Long’s face and chest. They could have been a lot worse. In time they should heal without issue, but that’s not what worried him. Nix was supposed to have traded out with Ju-Long, so there’s no telling how long he was down there. He would have lost a lot more than water, he would need to replace the salts he’d sweated out.
Saturn returned with a large bucket of cool water and handed it to Liam.
“Do we have any Leguma left?”
Saturn said, “I think so, why?”
“Just grab some, even if it’s cold. I need something salty.”
“I’ll see what I can find.”
Saturn moved once again toward the kitchen while Liam turned his attention back to Ju-Long. Liam propped up his head and first poured a little water down his forehead before getting some in his mouth. Ju-Long wasn’t swallowing any so Liam turned his head to the side so it could spill out. He was going to have to go intravenously.
Liam set the bucket down and went to find the medical kit. He opened the top and found a glass bottle with a tube hanging from it. It looked like something he would have found on Earth before plastics were invented, but it would have to do. Liam returned to the bucket and poured a small amount of water into the glass container.
The Corsair Uprising Collection, Books 1-3 Page 30