The Cartographer

by Craig Gaydas

  He crumpled to the floor. Lianne used the distraction to take action. I saw a flash of light as the overhead fluorescent lighting reflected off the blade of her weapon. With a crisp, whistling sound, the blade removed the badger's head from his shoulders as easily as if she were cutting the end off a cucumber. It rolled into the hall, passed a startled second soldier—the Orgellian. He leapt out of the way and looked at the head like it was a grenade, ready to explode at a moment's notice.

  Lianne wasted no time in completing her offensive. The Orgellian was so focused on the head he offered no resistance. She jumped at his large frame, making a slashing motion with her weapon. He fell like a tree, making a feeble attempt to hold in his guts as he crashed to the floor.

  Everything around me seemed to move in slow motion. I scanned my surroundings and saw Kedge lying motionless on the floor while the Orgellian's body took forever to hit the floor in the background. Every muscle in Lianne's sword arm rippled while she swung the sword through the air—like some sort of cosmic swashbuckler. I followed on her heels out into the hallway where we were confronted by the remainder of Kedge's contingent. The Tyrrian clipped her shoulder with the butt of his rifle and she responded by slicing his throat open. The Madoc look-alike stepped from one of the cells and I noticed he was unarmed. This wasn't going to end well for him. The bloodlust in Lianne's eyes was too difficult to ignore.

  “Get down, Nathan!” she screamed.

  Lianne pushed me back into Kedge's cell, but it was too late. The stalk on top of the alien's head flashed brightly and everything went black. Panicked I tripped and smacked my forehead hard on the wall. I crumpled to the floor but saw nothing because I was now blind. What my eyes failed to see, my ears heard perfectly, though. A familiar whistling sound as came from the hallway followed by a wet smacking sound. I assumed that the poor soldier's head had lost its body.

  “Nathan, are you alright?” It was Lianne's voice.

  “I can't see anything,” I cried. Everything in the world went from an empty black to a dull gray, which I hoped was a sign of improvement.

  “You have been temporarily blinded,” she replied. “It should go away after a few moments.”

  “What the hell happened?”

  “Exorgs have the ability to emit a bright flash of light from the appendage on their head, causing temporary blindness,” she explained. “You will be OK, just take my hand.”

  She yanked me to my feet. By the time we reached the guard station, my vision went from dull gray to a watery haze filled with blurry shapes. I missed a large shape on the floor and tripped over it when Lianne yanked me forward. My hand drifted across the barrel of a rifle, its shape seemed similar to the weapon that Marle carried. Lianne lifted me to my feet and we started to move forward but stopped abruptly.

  “What's wrong?” I asked breathlessly.

  “You!” Lianne gasped.

  My vision started to clear and everything became brighter and hazy, replacing the gloomy gray. It was like trying to look through glasses that haven't been cleaned in some time. I saw a person, flanked by two soldiers positioned in front of Lianne. Lumagom soldiers, judging by their attire. I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to clear the remaining cobwebs of blurriness from them. As my vision cleared, the questions were answered. We had found out traitor.

  Calypso.

  New Enemies, Old Friends

  “NO!” I cried and fell to my knees.

  Lianne's sword hand fell limply to her side. I expected her to lash out and slice him in half, but she seemed frozen in disbelief and continued to glare silently at the traitor. It was like she was in shock. Next to me sat Marle's corpse, marred by a singed hole in his midsection. His rifle lay next to him and his position next to the chair told me he had been blindsided by the attack. Calypso's betrayal tore at my heart and tears of anger clouded my recently cleared vision.

  When Calypso shifted his gaze toward me, his eyes were emotionless and cold. “The Consortium forced me to do this, Nathan. This was the only way to get their attention.”

  “Only way?” Lianne questioned. “What do you hope to gain from this?”

  Calypso looked at the soldier to his left. The soldier nodded and smashed Lianne in the face with the butt of his rifle, causing her to slump to the floor. Blood the color of cyan trickled from the corner of her mouth. It resembled a waterfall as it cascaded down her face.

  My only line of defense had just been knocked unconscious. Never before had I felt so vulnerable.

  “Why?” I croaked. It was the only word I could muster and hoped it would be enough to elicit a response.

  Behind Calypso the elevator doors opened and Captain Natronix emerged. My heart leaped with the thought of reinforcements, but it quickly turned to disappointment when he put his hand on Calypso's shoulder.

  “The Cirrus is ready,” he said. “We need to go before we are spotted.”

  Natronix tossed me a wicked smile, but Calypso waved him off. “Just a minute, Nathan had a question and I feel obliged to answer it.”

  Natronix grunted and left with one of the soldiers. Leaving one between Calypso and myself. I thought about rushing him, but realized my hand-to-hand combat abilities left much to be desired so all I could do was stand there and listen to what he had to say.

  “Why, you ask?” Calypso echoed. “Let us just say I lost faith in the Explorer's League.” He picked up Marle's rifle and turned it over in his hands. I tensed, believing he would shoot me but he strapped it to his back. “The High Prince maintains the pretext that our missions are peaceful, meant to maintain balance in the universe. We help those in need, like we did when Mars was attacked, when Tyr was threatened, when Vaire had a nasty biologic outbreak, and countless others. We can barely keep up with the countless dangers that threaten inhabited planets, yet here we are, zipping around the universe helping those in need.” He waved his arms in dramatic fashion to emphasize his point.

  “So, what's wrong with that?” I asked.

  Calypso scowled. “My planet, Charr, slowly rots from within as volcanoes chip away at the stability of the planet's crust. My people are threatened while the Explorer's League continues to ignore it.”

  “I don't understand,” I blurted. “That doesn't make any sense.”

  A blast rocked the ship and I was thrown hard to the floor, smacking my face on the floor. I could taste copper and feel the blood trickling from my lip. Calypso was thrown violently into the guard station and tumbled over the table. Instead of waiting for him to collect himself I decided to do a little self-preservation. I grabbed Lianne, dragged her inside the elevator and selected deck one. Satou's security code wasn't working, but the elevator moved anyway. The explosions seemed to have knocked out the security systems.

  “Come on Lianne, wake up,” I said and gently slapped the side of her face. She moaned and started to regain consciousness just as the elevator came to a stop.

  I tumbled out the door and tried to carry her but she was heavier than I thought and I fell to the ground in futility. The bridge was a scene of chaos. Captain Jasper ran from station to station barking orders to the crew. People scrambled to man their stations just as another explosion rocked the ship. Sparks flew from several monitoring stations and Jasper grabbed the periscope in frustration.

  “Scans!” he shouted. “Who the hell is attacking us?”

  “Father!”

  Lianne's cry drowned out the confusion around us. Jasper whipped his head so violently from the periscope that I thought it would snap off and tumble from his shoulders.

  “Lianne!”

  She stumbled to him, half-dragging me behind her. Jasper shifted his eyes to me, but there was no contempt or malice in them, only concern.

  “Calypso.” It was the only word I mustered between the explosions and exasperation.

  “Father, Calypso has betrayed us,” Lianne clarified above the shouts of the crew barking orders at each other.

  “Kedge is dead,” I added weakly.

 
; Jasper's eyes narrowed but before he could respond Satou barged into the room, sporting a prominent gash above his left eye that wept a scarlet river down his cheek. I took little comfort in knowing that the color of his blood matched my own.

  “We have a problem,” Satou said.

  “Tell me something I don't already know!” Jasper bellowed.

  Satou ignored the outburst. “I was in the docking bay making some routine adjustments to the thrusters on the Cirrus when someone attacked me. The gash you see was a result of my head hitting the thrust inverter which caused my assailant to believe I had been knocked unconscious. However, I managed to catch a glimpse of him as he entered the Cirrus. It was Natronix.”

  Satou was interrupted by a crewmember manning the communications station.

  “Sir, we have established communications with our attackers. They are hailing.” The crewmember with an exhausted look held out a communicator.

  “Give me a visual,” Jasper growled.

  A screen, dark and forgotten in the corner sprang to life. Space provided the backdrop to our attackers. Four ships were revealed and they surrounded us. Two were similar in design and resembled the zeppelins that had attacked Mars. Their rounded bodies were pockmarked with so many turrets that they resembled floating puffer fish. The rear of the ships were split into five wings, which seemed to give the design stability during space travel. My interest, though, quickly switched to the other two vessels.

  They dwarfed the Lumagom vessels. They were the spitting image of ancient European galleons, right down to the giant sails that flew high above them. From their angle on the screen they appeared to be flapping, as if guided by a wind gust. I knew the airless void of space would make that impossible and any movement on their part had to be some sort of trick or embedded design. The logo on the sails was curious—a red crescent moon with a yellow circular border surrounding it.

  “I see two Lumagom vessels, but I'm not familiar with the other two,” Jasper confessed before grabbing the communicator.

  I looked at Lianne and Satou who, judging by the look on their faces, had no clue who they were either.

  “Is it possible they are stolen technology integrated into the Lumagom?” Satou whispered to Lianne.

  Lianne shrugged. “It's possible.”

  “This is Captain Jasper of the ISS Argus,” Jasper barked into the microphone. “You have attacked a peaceful exploration vessel of the Consortium without provocation. Identify yourselves!”

  The image of the fleet vanished and replaced by an image of a rabbit— a Kamilian, similar to one I had encountered aboard the Cirrus. His ears folded back as he spoke and I couldn't help but think of Bugs Bunny trying to do impressions. His voice squeaked, almost mouse-like and I had to strain myself to understand him.

  “This is Vice Admiral Fithpa of the Lumagom, we are prepared to accept the terms of your surrender.”

  “Sir, the Cirrus has disembarked from Docking Bay Seven and is heading straight toward their fleet.” A crewmember reported behind us.

  “I can't believe it,” Lianne muttered. “Everyone aboard the Cirrus has betrayed us.”

  Jasper clenched the microphone in his hands so tightly his knuckles formed white dots against the black housing. Lianne stared at the screen, scowling, prepared to jump through it at the first opportunity to strangle Bugs on the other side.

  “Not everyone has betrayed you.”

  We turned in unison toward the source of the voice. Wraith leaned up against the far wall with his arms crossed casually, as if he waited for a bus. I grew fond of Wraith during my time aboard the ship and was glad to discover he was alive and on our side. Our list of friends seemed to be growing shorter by the minute and we needed all the help we could get.

  “I need an answer, Captain,” Fithpa screeched. “I would hate for this to escalate further.”

  Jasper turned to the screen slowly and his face twisted into a mask of fury. “To hell with your answer. I will never surrender to your gaggle of cowards. I would rather stab myself in the eye with a blunt blade.”

  It appeared that I had chewed the skin off my bottom lip in nervous apprehension. It seemed my death was on the horizon and my mind raced with thoughts of unfulfilled dreams. I would never experience kissing a girl, graduating college, marriage, having kids and all the stuff a normal person gets to experience during their life. Satou stood next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

  “That is regretful.” Fithpa frowned. “It appears you leave me no choice—”

  “No!” A voice from the background interrupted.

  Fithpa's shocked face turned from the screen. Calypso came into view and a knot formed in my stomach.

  “Damn it, Jasper, don't be a fool. I promise, if you surrender we will offer—” Calypso's eyes widened and he stopped mid-sentence. His gaze drifted past us and everyone on the bridge turned to follow.

  A figure stood in the doorway, outlined by the iridescent lighting pouring in from the hallway. He was pale and held his wounded side while leaning against the door for support. Crimson footprints trailed behind him, tracking blood from his wound into the room.

  Kedge.

  “You took everything from me,” Kedge growled. “My army, my command, my ships. You even tried to take my life.” His face went from pale to an unhealthy shade of scarlet and the veins stood out alongside his neck.

  Lianne reached for her sword. I grabbed her wrist and shook my head.

  “Wait.”

  Calypso's look of shock quickly turned to fury. He turned to the crew aboard the Lumagom vessel. “Destroy them.”

  The screen went blank.

  “Sir, their vessels are flanking us and preparing to—” The communications officer stopped abruptly.

  “What's wrong?” asked Jasper.

  “An unknown vessel has entered the quadrant. Wait a minute,” he paused and turned several knobs on his control panel. “It's the Pandora, sir,” he said excitedly. “She is firing on them!”

  Jasper swung his head around and looked at us. Lianne smiled weakly and rubbed the knot on her head.

  “What can I say, I forgot to tell my crew to leave the area.”

  “Open fire!” Jasper shouted. “Concentrate fire and focus on Pandora's targets!”

  The screen sprang to life once again. I saw a fifth vessel that dwarfed the Argus. It was U-shaped with enormous cannons mounted at each end. In the middle was a thicker section which appeared to be the command center. Light flashed from the cannons, striking the closest Lumagom ship, slicing holes into the outer hull. The two furthest ships, those with the moons on their sails retreated along with Calypso's ship leaving the disabled Lumagom ship behind. Blasters, rockets and lasers fired in succession chased them further back into the cosmos.

  “They continue to function as cowards, I see,” growled Satou.

  The Pandora flanked the disabled Lumagom ship, making it appear like the larger ship swallowed the much smaller vessel. Blue light surrounded the smaller vessel as the Pandora seemed to be holding the Lumagom craft via a tractor beam of some kind.

  “ISS Argus, this is Lieutenant Renny of the DFS Pandora. Please respond.”

  “Satou, Wraith, can you do me a favor and run diagnostics?” Jasper asked. “I need a damage report.”

  They nodded and left. Jasper grabbed the communication radio. “This is Captain Jasper responding. We are OK, thanks to you.”

  “Sweep and clear has commenced on the Lumagom vessel. Once complete, we will initiate pursuit of the others.”

  “You won't have to do that,” Kedge said.

  Everyone in the room turned looked at him. Lianne stiffened next to me and she once again reached for her sword.

  Kedge recognized her intentions and waved his hand. “No need for that, my dear. I know where Calypso is going.”

  He limped forward, holding his injured side and Captain Jasper defensively pulled his weapon.

  Ignoring him, Kedge fixed me with a hard look. He stood next t
o me and fixed me with a dangerous glare.

  “It's time you learned everything.”

  Truth

  I took my seat at the table in the observation room and Kedge grabbed one across from me. Lianne refused to leave my side and hovered nearby like a celebrity bodyguard. Satou chose to stand and parked his large frame against the wall behind Kedge. Wraith stood diligently outside the door because he made it clear he had no desire to be near Kedge. He chose to guard the door to avoid any surprises.

  “How long have you been in cahoots with Calypso?” I asked.

  “I'm sorry, what is a `cahoot'?” Kedge questioned.

  “How long have you been allied together?” I clarified.

  Kedge rubbed his temples and laid his elbows on the table. “We ran into Calypso over a year ago drifting through space, near GX-750. We were low on fuel and life support sat at twenty five percent. After the war with Caelum we became disillusioned and resigned ourselves to our fate. We drifted endlessly waiting to die when Calypso discovered us. We were a crew of ten; the last of the mighty Lumagom.” The lens of his monocled eye opened and closed in rapid succession as he studied my face.

  “Wait a minute,” Satou interjected. “I remember that mission. The distress call came in as a stranded science vessel from Crescor.”

  Kedge nodded grimly. “When the initial hails came over we identified ourselves as a stranded science vessel. Calypso soon discovered our true identity when his group boarded our vessel. He manipulated the data logs so the rest of the Consortium believed it to be a simple refuel and repair mission.”

  “Calypso was a Captain back then.” Satou argued. “He wasn't voted to the Council until the following month.”

  “Ah, yes,” Kedge chuckled. “That was after the death of the last Explorer's League leader. An unfortunate accident, correct?”