Silhouette

by Arthur McMahon

  What a tragic accident, thought Silhouette. You fucking shit.

  * * *

  As the days and weeks passed, Sue could not help but think about home. Not Nye, this planet was not her home, not anymore. The only remaining family member she had here, Davi, was going to leave this forsaken world one way or another. There was nothing left for her here. She thought about Erde, about her friends, she even thought about her apodment where she could wake up to hot coffee and warm cinnamon rolls; she both giggled and wept at the thoughts as her stomach tingled with anticipation. Her heart ached and she was exhausted, but a hot shower would make her feel alive again and a cozy bed would put everything right.

  Months of stress and intermittent meals had thinned her shape, sleeping with an ear to the ground and one eye open had drained her mental strength, but waiting for the prisoner transport to arrive was her toughest challenge yet. The combination of boredom and anticipation that piled on top of her fatigue was not good for her psyche. Davi was on the receiving end of much of her frustration, being the only person she communicated with. It was not until Davi started showing concern for her that Sue realized her irritability was becoming a weakness. She had to regain control and focus her thoughts away from her desires and missing comforts. So she spent the next days piecing together what she thought the Presider could be up to. Leslie would have been in position as Archon of Erde for months now. What policies has she enacted? What connections has she made? As Archon she must have attended at least one meeting at the Intergalactic Senate. Was her voice heard? Does anyone out there care about humanity? At the very least she must have made progress in spreading the word among the human worlds about rebuilding the Cooperation, even if not yet making a public statement.

  More political leaders of the human worlds must have been invited to talks and word of unification would have spread, but there would still be those who only see all of it as a play for power on the Archon’s part. Why should Erde lead the way? Some would surely ask. Some will be afraid to break ties with the alien powers that they have already entangled themselves with, but a few may have already thrown in their support for cooperation. The big swing of support will come from the liberation of Nye, and so the Presider must be strengthening and preparing the Erdian fleet. Had she told anyone else of the mission? No, there is too much risk in sharing it. She had to find other reasons for strengthening the military, perhaps to fight off the Yarlian gangs and other small threats, but however she’s doing it she just better be on schedule. If Sue were to take down the ship as planned but the Presider did not arrive on time to finish the job, then it would have all been for nothing. The Burmin would simply rebuild, they would send in another Juggernaut to oversee the planet. She and Davi would be dead, but Sue had no reason to lose faith in the Presider. She knew that her leader would pull through.

  Just as Silhouette unquestionably trusted in the Presider, Davi must trust his sister beyond any doubt, and so Sue shared everything with her brother, everything that had happened to her since she was taken away from her family. Night after night they continued their discussion and she shared everything about her trainings, her Ocu implant, her friends, her apodment, and life at Crater Bay.

  “Presider Folami was my surrogate mother,” said Sue. “Growing up with her I learned everything about human history. She said that they don’t teach about the Cooperation in schools anymore, that its not considered relevant. There hasn’t been a Cooperation in hundreds of years, but she’s read everything there is to know about it, about how it was the foundation of humanity’s interplanetary government. It was there from the beginning when we first left Erde to expand to other worlds.”

  “That’s crazy,” said Davi. “We never learned any of that here on Nye. I don’t know much about history at all.”

  “Well let me catch you up. The Cooperation was disbanded by an alien invasion back when we lived on only a few planets. Humanity recovered from the attack, but after all of the chaos had ended each planet decided to govern itself. They never unified again and it’s been that way for centuries. We’ve continued to colonize more planets, and in doing so we’ve attracted more attention from the alien parasites that plague our worlds now. Unfortunately the Intergalactic Senate doesn’t give a damn about us. If the universe were merely a single planet, humanity would be seen as nothing more than a colony of ants on its surface. We’re not worth the trouble. The Verse and all of its other sentient species are so much bigger than us.”

  “So what you’re saying,” said Davi, “is that we don’t stand a chance.”

  “On the contrary,” said Sue. “I’m here to give us a chance.”

  Davi was in awe of everything he was hearing from his sister. The history lessons, the mission plans, and the wonders of life outside of a Burmin Nye; he interrupted frequently to ask questions. He also shared his own life, a life where exhaustion and heartache touched every tale leading to their father’s death. “After Baap died I didn’t care about anything, including myself. Life was…easier if I didn’t care. I just did whatever because I had nothing left to worry about. That’s how it was until you came back into my life. Now I have something worth caring for again.” He wanted to help her. If following her instructions was the best he could do then he wanted to do it right. He found ways to use his muscles, make himself sweat, and stay mentally strong. He was going to be as prepared as he could make himself. His little sister was going to try to save the day, and he did not want to fuck it up for her.

  * * *

  Sue returned to her brother one night with a heavy heart. “Dad’s grave,” she said. “Tell me where it is.”

  “It’s not a pretty place,” said Davi.

  “I understand, but I need to go there.”

  “Alright,” said Davi. “It’s not too far north of Vix. Just follow along the hills west of the city until you spot the trenches. You won’t miss them.”

  “Where do I find him?”

  “Third row from the back. I put some white rocks and red flowers nearest to where I think he was buried, but I don’t know if they’ll still be there.”

  She snuck out of the compound as she had snuck in by hiding in a vehicle’s outer storage compartment. Silhouette kept track of the travel time and midway between the compound and Vix she opened the hatch and rolled out of the vehicle. It was a fast and rough tumble, but the shadowsuit saved her skin from road rash. She walked in the darkness of night and watched the rising sun lift itself from behind the westward foothills.

  The grave-site was several miles from the north side of Vix. Silhouette had made it there during the early morning as the sun cast a dark shadow over the rows of burial mounds set beneath the foothills. She walked over to where several open trenches had been recently scraped. Heavy machinery was left alongside the deep trenches, ready to fill in another mass grave. She passed near a crow which pecked at a piece of trash while another cawed to its partner from a dead tree. The morning dew evaporated from the ground and created a thick, musty odor in the air.

  The Burmin did not mark the graves, but people had tried. Silhouette’s brother had told her how free time was scant between duties and that those who ventured out this far from town had to sacrifice sleep to do so, or risk getting caught skipping out on work like Davi had. She followed the row of graves her brother had directed her to and found a spot marked with dried red flowers and a few rocks. “I’m sorry,” Silhouette said as she kneeled down and placed her hand on the white rocks. “I’m sorry I didn’t make it in time, Dad.”

  She could not spend long grieving at her father’s side, so after a short time she said her goodbyes and then followed the shrinking morning shadow back toward the foothills. Silhouette moved south to Vix where she caught a ride back to the compound in the evening.

  * * *

  The compound prison was filled to near max capacity by the day the prisoner transfer ship had arrived. The ship was comprised of polished black and blue metals and was shaped like a squat leech: flat on the b
ottom and rounded on the top with a bit of a tail. A hundred new slaves were about to appear on the market from the Jhiik Compound, along with countless more from the other compounds spread around the world.

  Large containers were removed from the ship’s cargo hold and relocated into the compound, likely full of supplies from the Juggernaut. When the ship was emptied of its cargo, the compound’s prisoners were wheeled into its hold, still locked into their individual containment cells.

  Silhouette had moved outside behind the animal pens and she watched as human slaves moved heavy loads of Nyian minerals onto the ship. She took off her headpiece and dropped down to the ground, digging her fingers into the soil and grabbing handfuls of it to rub all over her body. She caked her suit in dirt and made sure to press plenty of it into her face and hair, then inside the pens she found a torn brown cloth in a wash bucket and wrapped it around her shoulders like a shawl. Sue had made herself up as just another dirty human slave.

  She left the pens and scurried toward the ship, wearing a look of concern on her face and holding her head low. As she neared the ship, a Burmin turned and looked at her. It took a step in her direction and yelled something that she did not understand, thrusting a finger in the direction of the other humans. Sue nodded and ran to join in with the others. She spotted a girl, younger than herself with light brown skin and dark hair, struggling to push a heavy cart up the loading ramp. Sue latched onto the cart alongside the girl.

  “I can do this myself,” said the girl. “Leave me alone.”

  “I’m new at this,” said Sue. Another Burmin turned toward her. She pushed hard on the cart and turned her face down and spoke in a strained whisper. “I was just assigned here from tending the qoot pens. Let me go in with you once so I know what to do.”

  “Fine,” said the girl. “Just once. I don’t want any marks on my record.”

  “Thanks,” said Sue.

  Together they pushed the cart inside of the ship and to the rear of a large storage room, passing the fenced off portion where all of the prison cells were kept. Many tons of minerals were being stacked inside the back end of the hold. “Do you know how to operate the cart to place the container way up high on top of the others?” asked the girl.

  “No,” said Sue. “Show me.”

  The girl sighed and went about the motions while Sue took a step back and looked over the room. Someone pushed an empty cart out of the hold, down the loading ramp, and for a moment she and the girl were the only two inside of the hold. Sue’s hands brushed the dirt off her suit, then she pulled on her headpiece and took off her shawl, dropping it to the floor. Silhouette slipped back into the shadows. The girl finished her demonstration and turned around to see only a cloud of dust floating above the abandoned shawl.

  “Hmpf,” sighed the girl. “Whatever. I’m not taking any heat for your sake.” She grabbed her cart and pushed it toward the exit, leaving the belly of the ship.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Nightmare in the Shadows

  There are not many places to hide on a brightly lit ship; fortunately the Burmin on board were focused on their pre-flight checks and most had gathered in the bridge. Using her Ocu to track bodies and map out passageways, Silhouette avoided detection while she scouted for a place to hole up in during the ride.

  She found a dead end which led to the ship’s escape pods. Silhouette entered one of the pods and inside was room for a pair of Burmin to fit snugly, which was quite roomy for a woman of her size. It was very basic with nothing more than a pair of harnessed seats and white walls with minimal digital displays. Her form was a void in the brightly lit pod, the suit warped the light it absorbed, attempting to hide itself, but it only succeeded in radiating darkness. Thin wisps of shadow wafted off her dark shape like a mist as the shadowsuit was overwhelmed with light. She had always thought it was an awesome effect, but it really was not the right time to appreciate it. She needed to get away from all of the light.

  * * *

  Under the seats Silhouette noticed a handle and bent down to tug on it, revealing an empty drawer. She crawled inside and pulled herself into a fetal position. It was not comfortable, but she fit and it would do, so she closed herself into the compartment and waited. As long as the escape pods were not part of a detailed pre-flight inspection, Silhouette believed she would be safe for the trip as few Burmin would likely travel down the dead-end passageway

  Hours passed. She was cold and many of her joints ached, but she knew better than to move. Through her Ocu she watched bodies roam about the ship; the Burmin eventually settled into their seats and the engines fired up. After a quick jolt followed by the pressured feeling of acceleration, the ship left Nye’s atmosphere. It was an uneventful flight and no one moved from their seats for the duration of the journey, short as it was.

  The ship thunked then rattled as it docked aboard the command ship. Silhouette watched as the prisoners were offloaded first, followed by the Burmin and then the remaining supplies. After the ship was unloaded, a handful of humans returned to it and began to sweep and scrub with no Burmin to supervise the cleaning crew’s work. Silhouette crawled out of her container, stretched out her limbs, and rubbed at her agonizing back, but the pain drew very little of her attention. She had learned to ignore pain, to embrace discomfort as a tool which many others were unwilling to use. She made her way to the cargo hold and easily evaded the human cleaning crew.

  The transfer ship’s cargo hold was empty as she passed through it, but the command ship was brimming with bodies and red-hot machinery. She had entered an alien city, densely packed and full of life. Her Ocu was overloading her mind with information, so she switched off its enhanced sight and peeked into the ship’s space port, overwhelmed by the immensity of it all. Nothing humanity had ever created even came close in size to this. Every ship in the Erdian fleet could dock into the Juggernaut’s port and likely leave room to spare. The Presider had thoroughly briefed her, but seeing the Juggernaut for herself made Silhouette break into a cold sweat. She had not fully understood the magnitude of her mission until now.

  If the Burmin decided to attack one of our worlds with this behemoth…. She did not want to finish the thought.

  She had the presence of mind to shove all worrisome thoughts out of her head, knowing they would do her no good. Burmin were everywhere, much more concentrated than she had seen at the compound, and she had to remain focused to avoid detection. She searched through the mission briefing files stored in her Ocu and pulled up long-distance photos of the ship which showed that it had the shape of a burning comet, tail and all. She identified the location of the spaceport which was positioned on the underside of the ship’s belly, but none of the files had any indication of where slaves would be taken.

  She had saved Davi’s body signature, which was a conglomeration of his heat signature, vitals, biophoton emissions, and more which together acted as a way to single his body out through her Ocu vision. Unfortunately, the amount of bodies made the enhanced sight blindingly bright and it would be painful to use, but it was her only way of finding him within this floating metropolis. Silhouette switched back on her Ocu’s sight and searched for her brother’s body signature. Like searching for a sun spot with the naked eye, finding Davi’s signature hurt like hell. The brightness was not damaging her eyesight like a sun would, but it sure gave her a godawful headache.

  Once her Ocu locked onto his signature, she again shut off the sight and then pushed her palm into her eye. “Fucking hell,” she muttered to herself.

  The Ocu gave her a sense of direction, but unfortunately there was no way to identify any specific location in that mess of light. She would have to move toward the tail of the ship and try again when she was closer to Davi.

  Through shadows and patience, Silhouette made her way out of the transfer ship and across the space port. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of docked ships waited to travel to various compounds across Nye or back to their homeworld of Burm. She passed by a map of the Juggernaut as
she crossed the space port and recorded the image with her Ocu. The diagram’s labels made little sense to her, but the layout was similar to modern human constructions, only much larger. There was a bridge up front, a port down below, an engine in the rear, plenty of small personnel rooms throughout the ship, and a few big storage and conference areas in the middle. Even alien races do not often stray from simplicity.

  Silhouette kept the ship’s map in a transparent view over her vision, only seeing it if she focused on it. The halls were busy, which meant any travel would be a slow-going affair. Patience. There would always be an opportunity to move forward, whether it be one step at a time or a fast sprint, and she would get where she needed to be. Shadows were her roads of safe passage; she knew how to traverse them, and they existed in all worlds.

  Navigating toward her brother took several hours as she passed by hundreds of rooms in the private quarters, most of them occupied and all without doors. Switching on her thermal vision was still painful, but as she moved closer to Davi his body signature became easier to locate and her pace through the corridors hastened as foot traffic decreased near the rear of the ship. The prisoner quarters were more populated with human slaves and prisoners than they were with Burmin officers. Silhouette found Davi standing in a long line of newly arrived humans, each waiting to be processed and directed somewhere, likely toward work that needed to be done. The people were docile, so accepting of their situation, most of them having spent their entire lives under Burmin rule. Silhouette felt nauseated.