Starbearer

by Rock Forsberg

  ‘What was that?’

  ‘This is not good,’ Oberen said.

  ‘So, there’s a Vernaga with them, too,’ Jilius said, ‘but it’s only natural, and it serves to confirm my suspicion.’

  ‘Agreed. We should get her out of here.’

  ‘Miss, please come with us this way.’

  ‘What’s happening? What are these things?’

  The men shook their heads. Jilius said, ‘Explain later, we better get out now.’

  I shrugged, and followed them through the dark alley, the shadowy corners of which looked like they were teeming with the creatures, Veerings. I was likely in shock from what I had seen.

  We paced through the alley, which ahead of us merged into a well-lit street with people.

  Then a number of black creatures descended from above and blocked our path. I glanced back; a horde of them was approaching from behind.

  ‘Cover our back,’ Jilius said.

  Oberen grunted and turned. Attached to his backpack, he pulled out a device that looked like an extinguisher nozzle and a hose and pointed it at the monsters. Jilius pulled out a similar one, and they engaged them in a flash of blue light.

  Cowering between the men, I closed my eyes, but heard the shrieks echo between the buildings. I opened my eyes.

  The black Veerings had scattered on the ground and on the walls, like a bunch of exploded spiders.

  The men holstered their weapons. Then from somewhere high above landed a big black creature. It had a tall human form—two legs and arms—with a horned head, slithering tongue, burning red eyes, and black leather wings.

  ’Vernaga,’ said Jilius.

  As if from nowhere, five more of the creatures dropped in front of us.

  The men readied their weapons.

  ‘What do you want from us?’ Oberen called to the creatures in a loud voice.

  ‘You,’ the biggest one hissed as its thin forked tongue slipped in and out of its mouth. ‘The maszter wantsz you gone.’

  ‘Who is your master?’ Jilius asked.

  ’He knows our maszter,’ the creature said, pointing at Oberen.

  Jilius and Oberen had a quick exchange, whispering so I couldn’t hear what they were saying.

  One of the creatures hit a spear on the ground, and like a ripple, a purple ray extended over everyone. If it was a weapon, I felt nothing.

  ‘Your puny devices are useless,’ the creature hissed, revealing jagged teeth like shards of glass.

  Oberen and Julius both checked the devices in their hands and glanced at each other with worried expressions.

  The creature hissed a chuckle. ‘We have learned your waysz, and the balance will szhift.’

  The creatures stomped towards us from all sides, and the only thing I remember was that I screamed as one of them reached out for me.

  Just before it could grab me, all the creatures stopped, as a green light appeared above us. It wasn’t really a light, but a glowing form of a human woman hovering. She wore a green dress over her brown skin and had a calm expression on her face. As her feet touched the ground, the monsters retreated.

  She looked at the Vernaga who had spoken. ‘Tell your master that these people are under my protection.’

  The creature hissed. ‘We are not afraid of you.’

  ‘I don’t want to hurt you,’ she said with a perfect calm.

  ‘But I want to hurt you,’ the creature laughed. ‘And I will.’

  She sighed. ’You give me no options.’

  Just as she said it, a gleam, perhaps of light reflecting from a shiny piece of metal, flickered behind the creatures, and in what must not have been more than a second, every creature behind the one who spoke fell down, slashed to bits.

  The leader seemed appalled by this. The monsters behind us stepped back, retreating. Something swooshed over us, and a glimmer of metal appeared behind the retreating creatures. They let out shrieks just before falling before a shadowy figure.

  The creature in front of them stood alone now, shivering.

  ‘As I was saying,’ the woman in green said, ‘tell your master that these people are under my protection.’

  The creature growled, and eyed us, one-at-a-time. I still remember the burning in those eyes when they met mine. The creature raised its head, and jumped four metres upwards and, with its wings flapping, disappeared into the dark sky.

  I was left staring at the woman in green before me. She seemed older than the others, even though her form in the dress made her appear younger.

  ‘This is Efia,’ Jilius said, having caught me staring.

  I remembered Efia from the lore of the Shades, and without thinking, said, ‘Like the Shade?’

  ’She is Efia the Mediator.’

  ‘The Shade?’ I asked, turning to her.

  She nodded.

  ‘I thought—’

  ‘That I was but a legend? I’m here now, for this little encounter could have consequences rippling far into the future.’

  I tried to ask what it was, but she had to go. She turned into a green flicker that rose over the roofs where it met another flicker, this one red, and together they disappeared into the night sky.

  Berossus took a deep breath. Her mother had met the Shade the same time she had met his father, under weird circumstances. This changed everything he thought he knew about him. ‘Father wasn’t an engineer, was he?’

  ‘No, he wasn’t. Your father was a monster hunter.’

  Berossus gasped.

  ‘I’m sorry I never told you the truth about him, and I understand if you hate me for that, but I had a reason. I wanted to protect you.’

  ‘I don’t hate you,’ Berossus said, and leaned forward to touch her arm.

  She smiled.

  ‘Was that what killed him?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said, the lines on her face growing darker. ‘Someone wise once said that he who fights with monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.’

  ‘Do you know what happened to him?’

  ’I only knew he did it for us. For me and for you. He had to go.’

  Berossus frowned. ‘I thought he died.’

  ‘I never wanted you to mix with the darkness, but…’ Inanna took a deep breath and sighed. ‘The world is what it is, and unless the good and powerful take a stand, the evil will become too strong. You are powerful, and I know you’re good.’

  ‘What are you trying to say?’

  ‘I fear that the dark forces are gathering; if he is still alive, he might be able to help us.’

  Berossus gulped. ‘Father is alive?’

  ‘One can hope,’ Inanna said, and sighed as if she was suddenly very tired.

  His heart thumped, as he tried to understand everything he had just learned. Not only was his father a monster hunter, but there was also a chance he was alive. Efia said she had to contact someone who could help Berossus—was she talking about Oberen?

  He took a quick breath in. ‘Does Efia know about him?’

  ‘She doesn’t tell me, but I think she does.’

  His heart skipped a beat. If Efia had a way to cure him, and see his father, he had no option but to go with her. But his wedding day was looming closer and Mianea needed him to be there; she was already nervous about the planning. He cracked his knuckles, thinking about what he would say to her. He had never been good at it. Whatever he said, he’d just make things worse. He sighed with resignation.

  Before he had a chance to say anything, she said, ‘You should go with Efia. I’ll talk with Mianea; she will understand.’

  Chapter Nine

  Evie flew across the sands of Fearanor in Runcor on a bulky shuttle painted red, complete with a massive logo of Remonova, the waste removal company. She sat at the back with Daler and Shosana while Naido piloted the shuttle. Daler had organised everyone fake identities, and they all wore red overalls, with Remonova logos on the chest and back. Both the
ship and the overalls emitted a slight but distinguishable smell that to Evie was like a mix of faeces and solvent.

  ‘Are we there yet?’ she asked.

  ‘You wouldn’t have liked the other option either,’ Naido said.

  ‘Was there another option?’ Shosana asked.

  ‘Yeah,’ Naido said with a grin. ‘Inside the waste container in the back.’

  Daler laughed. ‘It’s still an option for the return journey.’

  ‘Suck my propulsion, you two.’

  Daler had liked Evie’s idea of going undercover and used his connections to get everything they needed. Evie was impressed.

  All the banter aside, she was also excited. Going undercover, sneaking in, was much better for her than a straight-up fight. On the other hand, they couldn’t run simulations on it. They did go through the plans of the compound, but Daler had probably been right when he had said Marc had changed things.

  From the air, the compound looked almost exactly as it had in the simulations. It wasn’t much: most of the site was underground, and the only things visible outside were the hemispherical entrance for ships and the small pyramids packed with defensive systems.

  As they approached, two of the pyramids revealed guns that tracked their movements. Evie gulped.

  ‘If I know him at all,’ Daler said, ‘he’s paranoid, and it shows. Keep it cool, this is what everyone approaching here will face.’

  Evie took a deep breath as the hemisphere opened in the middle, revealing a dark pit. They flew in, and slowly descended past a collection of red lights inside the gloomy vertical pipe. They were at least a hundred metres inside before the pipe widened to what looked like a normal shuttle dock, except for the unwelcoming automatic turrets pointing at them. They were directed past the heavy ships to the side for maintenance.

  As the ship juddered to a stop on the platform, Evie unbuckled her harness.

  ‘This is it,’ Daler said. ‘Remember who we are and what we’re here to do, and remember the plan, but don’t be afraid to improvise.’

  ‘Never,’ Evie said, and smiled. Shosana seemed not to share her enthusiasm, but flicked a quick smirk in response. Naido grunted as he pulled on one of the portable waste suckers, a massive backpack with a thick tube.

  The plan was simple enough. Remonova was already a supplier of Puissance Corporation, Marc’s organisation, probably because they were the only ones on the planet that could guarantee confidentiality. But Marc didn’t know their true loyalty was to the Tait family. The local recycling plant’s non-recyclable waste path required periodical cleaning to ensure continuous function and avoid a nasty spillage of the most putrid of refuse. Daler and Naido wore full suits and cleaning equipment, while Evie and Shosana would play the inspectors.

  They stepped out of the ship—Evie and Shosana first, and Daler and Naido close behind in their heavy suits and equipment. There was but one human woman greeting them, and with her low-hanging double gun belts she looked more like a bounty hunter than the security grunt they would normally see. The lines on her face showed she’d been around.

  ‘You’re new,’ she said, as they approached. She wiped her eyes with both hands and blinked. ‘Am I seeing double, or are there two of you?’

  ‘We don’t ask questions, you don’t ask questions—that’s the deal,’ Evie said, and handed over a small slab with a screen. ‘Confirm here.’

  ‘Indeed,’ she said, taking the terminal. She confirmed the transaction, and handed it back. ‘All good. You’ll access the recycling plant through there.’ She pointed at the door.

  Naido and Daler shuffled behind in their suits as if they were nervous about getting going. Evie thanked the guard and took the lead across the quiet dock towards the door. She had expected more activity in a dock as big as this, and in the dim quiet, could feel the woman’s eyes on her back.

  The door responded and they went into a small corridor, through which they continued into a hall, which had three possible routes.

  ‘This is where we split up. That one goes straight to the recycling facility,’ Daler said, pointing at the door in the middle. ‘The right one goes to the research facility, and the left one to the administration.’

  ‘I’ll take the right one then,’ Evie said. According to Daler’s intelligence, the research facility was the likeliest spot to find Gus.

  ‘I’ll join you,’ Naido said.

  ‘Good,’ Daler said. ‘Shosana and I will go to the recycling plant first. That should give you some time. But remember, you’ve got ten minutes, max, so if you don’t find him, too bad.’

  ‘No worries, we’ll be quick,’ Naido said. ‘You’ll get your chance to bomb Marc and their admin before we see how fast the flying garbage bin goes.’

  Daler grinned. ‘Just as planned.’

  Just as planned, Evie repeated in her head. Because of their old feud, Daler just wanted to hurt Marc as much as possible. She thought of it as a worthless vendetta, but she went along because it was her chance to find Gus.

  ‘Let’s move then,’ she said. ‘We don’t have much time.’

  Everyone nodded in agreement. Evie and Naido took the door on the right. It opened on her approach and led through yet another corridor, which at its end opened into a tall, dome-like space with glass-enclosed work areas around its walls. In the middle was a large machine, surrounded by a mound that separated it from the platform they were walking on. Evie could only guess the purpose of the contraption.

  ‘Walk like you know where you’re going,’ Naido said.

  Evie nodded and walked. All around them, a number of people seemed to be working on the machine in the middle. With all the heavy cables running into it, at first Evie thought it could’ve been a cloning device for the cyborgs, but it was unlikely. Further away, there was a small bridge to the machine.

  ‘What do you think that is?’ she asked.

  ’Absolutely,’ he grunted, ‘no idea.’

  They walked with purpose, Evie leading the way and Naido trailing her in the Hazmat suit, backpack and trolley. With their Remonova logos and ID cards, nobody paid much attention to them.

  Then she saw him.

  Gus sat by a desk, doing something with an embedded screen. His posture seemed good, much better than Evie remembered, causing her to doubt her assumption, but when he turned, she was sure. ‘It’s him.’

  Evie stopped at the glass door to the office Gus was sitting in. He raised his eyes, and Evie responded with a smile. But Gus only frowned, then shook his head, and rose. He opened the door.

  ‘Yes, what is it?’ he asked, in an annoyed tone. ‘Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?’

  ‘We’re going to get you out.’

  He squinted at Evie. There was no doubt this was Gus, but a feeling of dread started to creep up Evie’s spine. What if this wasn’t Gus after all, what if they had erased his memory?

  ‘You’re here to get the garbage out, eh?’ He inspected the IDs on their chests. ‘You’re in the wrong place.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Evie said. ‘I mistook you for someone else.’

  In a low voice he said, ‘You don’t need to get me out, but—’ He handed her a small grey chip, and whispered, ‘Take this, it’s the key to protecting the realm. I can’t keep it here, and trust you will take care of it until—’

  Evie glanced over her shoulder.

  ‘They’re coming for you,’ he whispered, and then in a loud voice, said, ‘There’s your garbage!’

  Evie swallowed; she understood. ‘I’m sorry for the disturbance.’

  As they turned to leave, Gus whispered, ‘Exit via the tower,’ and nodded towards the big machine-like structure behind Evie.

  The sound of alarms blared out and Gus’s room pulsed with red. Evie’s heart missed a beat and she sprinted out of the room.

  ‘We have to move,’ she said to Naido, and started running. He was encumbered by the stuff he was carrying, and heaved a sigh, but before she had a chance to go anywhere, a group
of armed men approached her. She turned in the other direction, but there were armed guards, too. The last option was the doorway into the machine in the middle.

  ‘Come on!’ she shouted to Naido, who dropped the garbage collector’s backpack and ran after her. Evie stepped on the small bridge between the corridor and the machine, and almost tripped on her feet with vertigo when she looked down. The chasm extended further down than she could see, fading into blackness below.

  Why do I always get myself into these situations? she muttered to herself.

  Vertigo or no, she had to move. She took a deep breath, fixed her gaze on the door in front of her, and sprinted forth, the metal bridge clanking under her feet.

  Once she reached the other side, she came to a stop. Naido clanked over the bridge on her trail as the armed guards gathered on the other side.

  ‘Do not open that door,’ shouted one of the guards.

  ‘Good luck trying to stop me!’ Evie said, pulling the handle.

  The door was heavy and moved slowly even though she applied all her might. But she managed to get it open. Inside was pitch black. Naido peered in beside her. ‘I’ve got a light in this suit.’

  He flicked the suit’s light on, and the space in front of them became visible. The room was filled with a number of black discs, but there was no way out. Evie glanced back, and then at Naido.

  ‘They’re like the ones in the news, but…’ Naido stepped beside one. He reached out his hand, and when it touched the black, it disappeared.

  Evie gasped.

  Naido pulled his hand away unharmed. ‘This is no disc—it’s a portal.’

  ‘To where?’

  ‘I don’t know, but anything is better than going back.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be so—’

  Naido stepped through and disappeared.

  Evie sighed. The alarms were blaring and the guards would be there any moment.

  Naido’s head popped back through the portal. ‘Come on now, it’s safe!’

  Together they went through.

  Behind the portal was different than the underground compound, like a corridor on a spaceship, and it was obvious they were somewhere else. There was no way a corridor this long would’ve fit inside the machine. Also, it was silent: the sound of the alarm and the shouts of the soldiers had vanished.