by Alex Guerra
Suddenly, the image of Seya on that operating table cut through my selfishness with a burning guilt. I hadn’t forgotten about her, not by a long shot. Caught up in the moment, I lost myself momentarily at the site of the power cores. There was a war going on. People were dying all around and the Darkkon Empire captured my partner. I shook my head, trying to shake the guilt and refocusing on the task at hand. I could not fail—I would not allow it.
"Let's do this," I said with determination.
We're coming, Seya, I thought.
EIGHTEEN
We secured the power core aboard Dagger. Vallus's hidden conglomerate base was now on low power and we had a three-hour window to complete our task. Kayton brought along a squad comprised of the two armored suit pilots, the medic, and three other troopers; bringing our rescue team to eight. The two armored suits locked themselves to the deck in the center of the hold, while the rest of the troopers took up seats around them. A freshly painted arm adorned one of the suits, replacing the previously damaged one.
We were bringing back The Pillar from the adjacent system via the starlane. We would rendezvous with the larger ship on the outskirts of the Vallus system, making our upgrades and preparations inside the asteroid field of a gas giant. Dotty explained to me that while we were doing the upgrades, we had to drop the cloak of The Pillar during the reset. We wouldn't want to just pop into existence in orbit while a bunch of imperial ships were waiting about.
Dotty explained that this was not something the Yau normally had to do. The reason for the reset was because The Pillar was in security mode, locking out certain areas and higher functions. Once an additional power core was available for installation, the reset would bring the ship out of its security mode.
Dagger took to the skies, making its slow, calculated approach, placing us near the rendezvous point with The Pillar. Dotty was doing all the piloting, allowing me time to get to know the new team. Once we broke through the atmosphere, I unbuckled myself from the seat and walked back to the hold. Some of the team were chatting amongst themselves, while others were taking this opportunity to sleep. Most of these troopers were moving into position since the night before in preparation for this morning’s attack.
I too, was rather tired and very sore. The last place I slept was in a hidden compartment with all the comfort of sleeping in a car’s trunk.
The squad stopped speaking and turned towards me once they saw me enter the hold.
"Uh—hi, everyone. I just wanted to thank you all for choosing to come along on this mission," I said, and an uncomfortable silence followed with no one responding.
Dotty, is the translator working?
It's working just fine, Arthur.
"Okay…my name is Arthur Holland, you may call me Art though, if it's easier. I came to this system with Seya Aranis and have been working with her for some time now—from the battle of Gwei-yon and before when I found her stranded on Harkloon, albeit by accident. She's a good friend of mine, so thank you all again," I said.
"Arthur, we would do anything to rescue Seya. She is the very symbol of the conglomerate. None of us can idly standby when she is in the hands of the Darkkon Empire," said one of the troopers.
"We should be thanking you, that you have a ship with the right technology to even attempt such a mission. If you were not around, we would most likely never succeed in a rescue attempt," said Ellar, the medic.
I wondered if Seya would be captured right now if I had never traveled here. No, she would still be stuck on Harkloon, digging for scraps and fighting the local gangs. If I wasn’t here, the empire would be taking over more territory with each passing year. I've only sped up the inevitable, I reassured myself.
"Our destinies are intertwined with his. Everything is as it should be," said Kayton, from behind me.
I didn’t notice that she had followed me from the cockpit.
"Let me introduce you," Kayton said, squeezing past me. "These are our armor pilots, Nadu and Habi, although you already saw their skills out in the field earlier today—they are among the best the conglomerate has to offer."
Nadu was tall for a Codari, his body thinner because of it, giving him a lanky appearance. He also looked to be significantly older than his counterpart, Habi. The Codari next to him was a young female—juvenile even. While the team was briefly prepping the ship and boarding it, I hadn't really gotten a clean look at everyone. This Codari was practically a child.
Kayton cleared her throat and spoke up. "Habi is young. One of the youngest troopers and by far the youngest pilot in the Vallus region. Don't let her looks fool you, she is highly skilled," she said, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"You took down that aircraft and that bike with your damaged armor?" I asked.
"That was actually me," said Nadu, his low gruff voice taking me by surprise. "It's a little embarrassing taking a hit like that with all my years of experience, but yes, she's actually the best pilot...although I'm right behind her at number two," he said, sheepishly.
"Damn—good work," I said.
Habi seemed shy and could barely look me in the eye. She gave a curt nod and an even briefer smile before looking back down at her boots.
Kayton pointed to the next one. "That's Ellar, who you already met earlier."
He gave a nod and continued sorting his pack for the umpteenth time.
"Which finally brings us around to the misfits of the group," she said, with only a tiny hint of sarcasm.
"Bon, marksman. Del, explosives," she listed. "And this big, handsome guy, is Garvo, heavy ordinance."
The three gave me relaxed salutes and a wave of the hand. The entire team were Codari troopers, minus Garvo and myself. Garvo was an Okkar, a species of hulking people with rock-like, almost crystalline skin and a pebble toothed smile, which he flashed at me now. He also had a thick brow, a wide jaw, and a sickly scar carved across his face. Because of his great size, he stood in the center aisle of the hold—the only spot where he could stand upright, as whenever he went to the sides, he was stooping over with the inner curve of the hull.
"So, you all have been doing this a long time then?" I asked.
"Arthur, if anything, you're the rookie on the team," she gave me a playful slap.
"Not if what Dotty says is true, not for long anyway," I said, feeling a bit apprehensive. I was definitely not looking forward to getting my eyes cooked once more.
Dagger moved behind the large gas giant where The Pillar was waiting for us. Of course, it wasn’t visible, but Dotty informed us that the large ship laid nestled among the asteroids. The hangar bay opened, its three-dimensional space appearing as if a tiny portal opened before the asteroids and starfields of space around it.
The dropship slid inside the hangar bay, its featureless black appearance nearly blended with space, the area given shape only by the interior lights. Black on black on black. My home away from home was bleak and uninviting, at least at first glance. The team thought so too, entering the archaic vessel in a careful manner.
I entered the belly of the ship with power core in tow, like a kid on Christmas morning and couldn't wait to get down to the core room and install my upgrade. Heaving the cumbersome core by its golden filigree, I seated the device carefully into the next cradle available. It clicked into place, and I gave it a good clockwise twist to secure it. I let the silver glow radiate over me. The core was cool to the touch, as there wasn't any actual heat coming off the device itself, but at that moment, I could feel the warmth of its power sliding over me. I closed my eyes and took it all in with a deep breath.
So much work; so much uncertainty. Finally, progress, I thought.
Everything I did up until this point had been in exchange for looking for a power core like this one—and there was still much more to do. I needed to get a move on and reset the ship now.
"Arthur."
The voice brought me out of my daze. It was Kayton, who followed me into the core room.
"How long were you standing
there?" I asked.
"I just walked in—Dotty told us where to relax in the meantime. Everything okay?" She asked, pressing against the entry.
"Yeah, sorry. I just wanted to get this going as soon as possible. I've never done this before, so I don't know how long the process is going to take." I was a shitty host, I didn’t even welcome the team in. Luckily, Dotty stepped up when I had so clearly fallen short.
"No problem, that is the priority at the moment. Anything I can do to help?"
"No, but I will be going up to the bridge now to begin the reset, if you want to come with me," I offered.
"Sure thing," she said.
I made my way over to her, looking back at the three power cores in my possession now for one last time. Two, nine, and eighty-six, I recounted before leaving the room.
We walked passed the common room, the team mostly standing around awkwardly.
"Sorry everyone, please make yourselves at home. Feel free to rest or use the galley as you wish. I'll be right back," I said to the team, hardly stopping on my way to the bridge.
They seemed to ease up a little bit, once given permission. Kayton was on my heels as we entered the bridge.
"Art, this ship is amazing. You've been running this thing all by yourself?" she asked.
"Nah, it's almost entirely Dotty. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for having it, even if it's just a place to stay and get me from one system to the next. This thing is a cage I call home, but it's been relatively good to me so far," I said, beginning to key in some commands at the helm.
I had not outwardly admitted this to Seya when she first came aboard. I am sure Dotty could understand how I felt about it, hell, it probably knew before I did—integrating with my mind and all. Then again, could an A.I. really understand how I felt, or just say it did?
Kayton sat across one of the chairs, easily making herself comfortable. I liked that about her, she was confident. I wondered if she was like that around everyone.
"Shit, I'm surprised you didn't bother sitting in the Captain's chair," I joked, continuing following the instructions for the reset.
"May I?" she asked, looking over at the chair behind me.
"Sure, why not, just don't think you're the boss of me. This is my ship, regardless if it's also my prison or not," I said.
She got up and sat in the larger seat. "Yeah, it feels like a lot of responsibility. I was in command of a platoon of over a hundred troopers for the last couple of years though, so this is nothing," she gloated, looking around the bridge, her eyes resting on me. "Still—should the ship be fully manned, in a combat situation no less..." She ran a hand over her scalp.
"Well luckily, I've only had to worry about myself and Seya a while now. I'm no Captain, though," I said, tapping away at the console.
Kayton got up from the seat and walked over to me. She watched as I worked.
"This is the last thing," I said, the inherent knowledge guiding me through the final commands. "Dotty, give me comms to the entire ship."
"Go ahead, Arthur," said Dotty.
"Everyone standby. Restarting the ship now," I said.
I initiated the restart as the ship slowly powered down. The bridge went completely dark. The ambient noise of the ship idling was no longer apparent, only silence. I strode over to one of the viewports, pale light peering into the bridge in faint columns. I rested my forehead against the glass and looked out at the outer bodies of the Vallus system. We were on the fringe of the system, hiding along the dark side of a gas giant, within its asteroid rings. There was no doubt in my mind that we were safe where we were. The empire would have to be extremely lucky to find us here during the restart.
I let my mind drift away from all worry for a moment. I was tired and just wanted to rest. Actually, I wanted to go home and throw myself in my own bed but knew it wouldn’t be.
Kayton came up, slinging an arm around my back and over my shoulder, and joined me in stargazing. She seemed to always know when I was struggling with something. Perhaps I was just easy to read, or maybe she did it because she too was struggling. Although I doubted the notion, considering she was one of the most veteran troops aboard the ship, and her resolve easily dwarfed my own.
The ship powered back on, the bow of The Pillar fading into the stars and asteroids behind it with the activation of the ship's cloak. Lights slowly faded in, bringing the bridge back into view. I stayed in that spot a while longer and enjoyed the little bit of comfort I had left before we departed.
But before that happened, I needed to get my upgrade.
"Alright, Dotty. Point me where I need to go," I said, turning away from the viewport.
The A.I. gave me directions, leading me down a corridor aft of the ship heading towards the core room. Kayton continued to follow me along with the medic, Ellar, who was also curious to see the upgrade process.
Dotty led us to a familiar corridor on the way back to the hangar bay. There, we found the previously inaccessible entrance. I willed the door open and it slid aside, revealing a staircase. Poking my head in, the stairs appeared to lead into another open room at the top.
"Something wrong, Art?" Kayton asked.
"No, I've just never been to this part of the ship before," I said.
"Never?" she asked, raising her brow.
"Nah, there was never enough power to access it," I admitted, and started up the stairs.
Halfway up the stairs, Ellar brought something up I wish he hadn't. "There could be bodies up here for all we know."
"Geeze, Ellar, really?" I asked, turning around and throwing up my hands.
"I mean, yeah. You've been on this ship for a while and never came up here. Just saying, you never know," he said.
"Be quiet. Besides, we would have smelled a body by now," said Kayton, slapping the medic on the chest.
As I crested the stairs, the room opened, revealing several small rooms with observational glass lining their walls—a laboratory of some kind.
"Sorry, Ellar, no bodies in here," I said, walking over to one of the rooms and peering inside. Everything was neatly put away in designated areas. I couldn’t identify anything, not that I expected to, as this wasn't a manmade chemistry set I’d seen in school.
"Best not to touch anything until Dotty says it’s okay," I said, turning around to the others. Kayton looked up at me with guilt, promptly placing a device back on a shelf and gave the medic a look to follow suit.
Seriously? I thought. I guess the Codari are naturally curious. I'd have to make a point to read more into their norms, assuming we got through this next part alive.
"What now, Dotty?" I asked.
"Proceed into the designated room and sit in the seat," the A.I. instructed, lighting up the entrance to one of the three rooms.
I went inside the room, the curious two inching their way behind me as they got an eyeful of their surroundings. Making my way to the center of the room, I cautiously sat down, looking above me for any malicious arms Dotty might use to administrate whatever procedure followed.
"Alright, walk me through what’s going to happen this time," I instructed, preparing for the worst.
"My apologies for last time, Arthur. Communication at that time had been severely limited. I assure you this procedure will be quick," it said.
The seat moved back into a supine position, which allowed me to gaze at the ceiling. Operations never bothered me, nor did needles, but using ancient tech on me in a way no human ever saw before was cause for slight alarm. Focusing on my breathing, I continued to observe the ceiling.
Small metal arms shot out from the table and tightened over me, securing me into position. The sudden action caused all of us to jump.
"Damnit, Dotty! I told you to tell me what was happening," I shouted, as the other two moved forward attempting to get me out of the restraints.
"Please, leave the restraints be. They are as much for Arthur's safety, as well as yours," the A.I. said.
The two Codari looked at each other before
stepping away slowly.
"My safety? If nothing is going to happen, then I shouldn't need these," I reasoned.
"My apologies again, Arthur," said the A.I., not bothering to give any further explanation. "The next part will be a scan of your head and neck, followed by an injection I am preparing. This serum is to be the carrier that will spread the knowledge—among other attributes—to you shortly," said the A.I. calmly.
"Wait, you're going to inject something into my head?" I asked, surprised.
"No, this preliminary scan will only provide me with a comparison, marking the progress of the serum on your neurological functions,” explained Dotty in an extremely sterile manner, making the A.I. seem quite scary in this scenario—especially given our history when it came to procedures.
"Are there significant risks or side-effects I should be worried about?" I asked.
"No, the procedure is very safe," Dotty reassured me.
A shhik from the floor along with small clicks that had me nervously calling out, "Guys, what's happening?"
"Something came out of the floor, Arthur," said Kayton. "It looks like a needle."
"I must warn you though, Arthur, as the serum begins to work, you will feel a discomfort for a short time, thus the need for the restraints," Dotty said.
"Discomfort?" I asked as I felt the prick of the needle in my arm. It felt cold, but I was glad it was leaving my eyes alone this time around.
"Injection complete," informed the A.I., discarding the needle and retracting back into the floor.
"How do you feel?" Ellar asked.
"Actually, I feel—" I tensed up, pulling against the restraints and gnashing my teeth as my entire body tensed up.
It was as if fire ants were swimming through my veins, biting every inch of me along the way. The sensation moved from its origin in my left arm down to my fingertips first, then shot up to my chest and neck shortly after.