The Smuggler's Ascension

by Christopher Ingersoll

  The Wraith was unrecognizable now. The pursuing fighters had destroyed the upper two of the ship’s four engines, and the remaining two engines had been sheared clean off on the deck of the station’s landing platform when one of the tractor beams missed them and the ship landed violently. The violent landing had also broken the ship’s spine, and the wreckage looked more like a crushed can now than it did a spaceship.

  It was almost an hour later after Sabine had been freed before the rescue crews found Kristof trapped in the remains of what had been his cabin. Sabine would never be able to figure how he had ended up there after disappearing from her sight in the communal area. When they pulled him free of the wreckage he had been unconscious and barely alive. His shoulder had been impaled with a shattered piece of conduit that had gone clean through, and he was bleeding profusely from that wound as well as several others. The medics rushed him off to the station’s med bay, and the last thing Sabine heard as they rushed out of sight was an urgent call for blood and a crash cart.

  Sabine’s grandfather, Admiral Geoff Arctura, had found her in the observation theater over the operating room, watching as the surgeons struggled to save Kristof’s life. They watched as Kristof’s vital signs crashed three times on the operating table until she’d fallen into the old man’s arms weeping uncontrollably, at which point he had summoned a nurse to sedate her and find her a bed. Hours passed before she awoke, her grandfather at her side still.

  “He’s alive,” Geoff told her simply before Sabine could get herself worked up again.

  “Show me, Papa, I need to see him,” Sabine had replied simply as tears began to threaten, and her grandfather had led her to the room where Kristof had been taken. The sight of all of the machines and tubes of liquids attached to him had been too much, and she’d fled the room after only a few moments.

  “It looks much like when your father died, I know,” Sabine’s grandfather said softly as he embraced her. “This man will live, though, the doctors tell me.” Geoff looked down into his granddaughter’s eyes and brushed away her tears as best he could. “You don’t have to say goodbye this time.”

  Sabine had cried then, a dam of tears held back for more than half a lifetime suddenly bursting forth. Her grandfather had been right, that seeing Kristof in a bed attached to a multitude of machines had reminded her of her father’s death. So she cried as she hadn’t cried in years, and Sabine felt empty afterwards, yet strangely clean. The long festering pain from her father’s death was gone from her now, released by her relief that Kristof would live.

  In the days that followed, Sabine had met with the Royal Council, minus the representative from the House of Duranis of course. The Council confirmed her as the rightful Queen, and the Council then insisted that her coronation should take place immediately in order to pacify the remaining population that still remained on the edge of open civil war. It was felt a visible sign of the return to normalcy was needed for the people. Sabine had tried to play for time, wanting to wait until Kristof had recovered enough to attend, but her grandfather had also insisted citing the need to secure the loyalty of the remaining military for the very same reason. In the end she had given in and been crowned as Queen Sabine Arctura the IV of Purannis before a vast gathering of her cheering people.

  The coronation was followed by what seemed endless planning sessions for war as the Clovani Empire’s fleet, now bolstered by the ships of the Duranis family which had fled following her coronation, continued to sit at the edge of Puranni space. There were endless debates about why the Clovani continued to sit and wait day after day rather than press their obvious advantage. Because of the endless war councils, she had found no time to visit the hospital where Kristof had been moved to planetside after he was deemed stable to be moved. Her aides kept her updated, though there was little to update as Kristof continued to remain unresponsive in a coma.

  Finally, Sabine had ordered a break from the war planning, which had been going nowhere, and made her way to the hospital. The staff bowed as she passed, an act that made her cringe inwardly though she was getting used to it now. She hated being in the public eye, and now she would never again escape it again. The simpler, quieter days of the Sanctuary were a thing of the past now.

  Kristof’s room was starkly white and sterile as Sabine entered, at least until she noticed Max standing in the corner. The android’s damage had been mostly repaired, but his black and red coloring had not yet been restored. His new legs and arm bore the grey and white colors common to his model and series, and his torso still showed some scars from the crash.

  “Hideous, aren’t I,” Max sighed ruefully when he noticed her looking.

  “Moderately so,” Sabine giggled in response, “But scars are sexy,” she added with a wink.

  Sabine walked to the bedside and glanced down at Kristof. Most of the tubes and machines had been removed. His shoulder was tightly bound in bandages, but she was glad to know they’d been able to save his arm. There had been some uncertainty for the first few days. His face and arms bore countless cuts and scratches, most of which were almost healed now, and she noticed his leg had been splinted as well.

  “It’s a miracle he survived,” Max said softly from behind her as he stepped closer. “The ship had depressurized right before we reached the station and...”

  Sabine stopped the android by placing her hand lightly on his mouth.

  “He’s alive, that’s all that matters,” Sabine said softly.

  Max nodded and walked back to his place along the wall. Sabine doubted the android had left the room once since he had been repaired. She smiled at the android’s loyalty, which was uncommon for an android. Most androids served their function and no more, while Max seemed more like a regular person than a machine, so long as you ignored his exterior anyway.

  Turning back to Kristof, Sabine reached down to brush his hair away from his eyes. Her emotions were a hurricane inside her mind as she thought of her love for him and what was expected of her by her people. What would happen if she chose love over tradition? She was Queen, after all, how would her people react if she chose to break centuries of tradition for this man? The thought had crossed her mind more than once as a few over eager suitors had already made their interest in her known

  All thoughts of suitors left Sabine suddenly, however, when Kristof stirred slightly beneath her touch. Sabine watch him intently, her hand stroking his cheek as she softly called his name. Along the wall Max watched intently, having sensed his friend’s movement. She called to Kristof again, and slowly his left eye crept open, his right still swollen shut.

  “Sabine…” Kristof whispered softly, his voice cracking from the effort. “My love…”

  Sabine cried with joy as Max rushed to the door and called out for the doctor. She leaned down to Kiss Kristof’s forehead softly as she heard the sounds of running feet and the calls overhead for the doctor. Her tears ran freely as she smiled down upon the man she loved, her heart torn between her joy at him being alive and her uncertainty about whether she could keep him. For the moment, it was enough to see him alive and back among the waking world once more.

  “I love you so much,” Sabine whispered to Kristof as nurses rushed into the room.

  Sabine was forced to take a step back as the nurses checked Kristof’s vital signs and began asking him some general questions to gauge his mental status. From the reports she’d read, Sabine knew there was concern about brain damage because Kristof had been exposed when the ship had depressurized.

  The doctor arrived shortly after and repeated many of the questions to Kristof, and just by his annoyance even through the pain medications Sabine could tell that his mind was fine. Finally satisfied that he was doing well, the doctor and the nurses eventually cleared the room and left Kristof alone with Sabine and Max. She watched as Max went to the bedside and took the hand from Kristof’s uninjured arm.

  “You scared the fuck out of me up there,” Max said lightly. “Do it again and I will kill yo
u.”

  Kristof laughed, then groaned from the pain it caused, and Sabine rushed to his side. Kristof assured Max that he was ok once the pain eased. Sabine was elated to see that he was truly going to be alright. His recover would take time, but she was determined to be there for him through it all.

  ~*~

  ~27~

  Kristof had known pain before in the past, but nothing like the pain of recovering from being impaled. If it hurt this much now, he thought to himself, then he was glad he had most half of the previous four weeks in a coma. He winced and moaned as he moved his arm, then instantly regretted moving it at all. Max had made a habit of mocking Kristof’s moans of pain with exaggerated moans of his own. Kristof knew it was Max’s way of angering him and thereby making him push himself harder to recover, but it didn’t make it any less annoying.

  The doctors had forced Kristof out of bed two days after he had regained consciousness, since he had already spent weeks healing through the use of nanobots. His shoulder was a constantly tingling annoyance, on top of Max’s mocking, due to the nanobots still at work repairing the damage, but the doctors assured him he was fine to move around now that his leg was also repaired. In fact, they insisted on him being ambulatory, saying it would speed his recovery. He wasn’t used to this level of medical care and had to admit to himself that he was surprised to even be alive.

  Since regaining awareness Kristof had told no one of his otherworldly encounter with Anasha. He still wasn’t entirely sure that it hadn’t been just a dream. Much of what she’d said seemed like a fantasy, and he struggled to give it any credibility. The memories were also confused with the memory of seeing Sabine when he first awoke. It had seemed like her and yet not her, since she had been done up in a royal gown and her crown. She had looked stunning, but it was not how he had become accustomed to seeing her, and he found he preferred her former casual style. The royal attire seemed more like Sabine was playing dress-up, like a child might do.

  Now Kristof found himself on an exercise mat with Max, going through some low impact exercises designed to return mobility and strength to his newly repaired shoulder and leg. His lungs were slowly readjusting as well, after suffering severe damage from smoke inhalation followed by the ship depressurizing. The depressurization of the Wraith had collapsed one of his lungs, and the nanobots were still buzzing madly within it just as they did in his shoulder.

  Kristof was glad for the return to a little normalcy, even though he couldn’t get used to Max’s patchwork appearance. He’d taken to calling the android ‘Patches’ as a way of getting even for the android’s mocking of his pain. Max, as it turned out, was rather sensitive about his appearance, Kristof learned. The look that would cross the android’s face each time he used the nickname would cause Kristof to chuckle.

  “Enough,” Kristof said after a while, sweat dripping down his forehead from the pain of teaching his arm to work again. He struggled to catch his breath as well as his chest ached.

  “Are you ok?” Max asked with genuine concern.

  “Yes, I just need a break is all,” Kristof replied weakly. “Why don’t you take the opportunity now to go get your paint job fixed, ‘Patches’.”

  “I have been told to remain with you,” Max responded, a sneer on his face at the nickname. “Besides, the last time I left you unattended you ended up here.”

  “There’s no ship in here for me to crash,” Kristof pointed out.

  “I’ll watch over him,” came a familiar voice from behind them.

  Kristof turned to see Subat crossing the gym towards them. The bald man again wore the same style of black and grey combat fatigues he’d worn every time Kristof had ever seen him. Anasha’s father looked at him curiously as he approached, and Kristof suddenly found himself remembering that Anasha’s spirit had said she and her father were Su’Tani Defenders. Kristof gave Subat a traditional Su’Tani greeting as his former father-in-law approached.

  “So, you finally know the truth,” Subat said mysteriously as he looked upon Kristof’s face.

  “Max, leave us for a bit,” Kristof said, “Go get yourself fixed up. I will be ok here.”

  Max, clearly torn about leaving Kristof as he’d requested, shook his head and walked off. Kristof watched his friend go for a moment, touched by his unwavering loyalty.

  “Anasha came to me while I was in a coma,” Kristof said after Max was gone. “She told me that you were both Su’Tani Defenders.” Kristof knelt before Subat, as he’d always had great respect for the Su’Tani.

  “Rise, my son,” Subat said after a few moments and helped Kristof to his feet.

  “Son?” Kristof asked in shock, unsure about Subat’s sudden change in form of address.

  “You were Anasha’s husband, much as I may have hated it at the time,” Subat said with a smile. “That makes you family. I can truly see now what she saw in you, though you did not see it in yourself at the time and I did not wish to at all,” he continued as he looked into Kristof’s eyes. “I know now why she passed her gift to you. When I found you in that gutter so many years ago, I despaired to think that she had passed her gift to you only for it to be squandered in self-pity.”

  “You knew she had passed her gift to me?” Kristof asked, bewildered.

  “Certainly more than you ever did, until now,” Subat replied. “You have found yourself at last.”

  “I had help,” Kristof said quietly, his thoughts troubled.

  “I know,” Subat said, also quietly. “It was when I first met Sabine as a young child that I knew what Anasha had seen in you and why she sacrificed herself for you. Somehow Anasha’s touch was upon Sabine even as I sensed a darkness approaching the Protectorate. It was for Sabine’s sake as much as Anasha’s memory that I pulled you from that gutter on Bonibus and gave you your life back.”

  Kristof gave Subat a long, searching look before responding, not sure how his next words would be received. He respected Subat too much to try and hide what had happened, though.

  “Then you know what has happened,” Kristof said uncertainly, “between Sabine and me, that is.”

  “I suspected it would happen, yes,” Subat answered. “You forget, I am Su’Tani, though you are new to this so I can forgive your doubt. Many of the Su’Tani have the gift of catching glimpses of the future. I saw the potential of your destiny, and hers, when I met you both, and I saw it even more strongly after seeing you both together.”

  “Then you’re not angry?” Kristof asked, fearing the man’s displeasure.

  Subat laughed, which startled Kristof in its suddenness and unexpectedness. He could count on one hand the number of times he’d heard the man laugh in the past. The smile on Subat’s face was equally a surprise to him, but a welcome one, and Kristof returned the smile in kind.

  “You have fulfilled my daughter’s faith in you,” Subat said after a time. “I cannot be angry with you for finding the love that Anasha herself had told me you would one day find.”

  “Anasha came to me,” Kristof said quietly, “when I was in a coma. She brought me back from the edge of death and told me…everything.”

  Subat looked into Kristof’s eyes for a long moment.

  “Yes, I can see traces of her still,” Subat said just as quietly.

  “She told me I was Su’Tani now, and that my task was not yet finished.” Kristof walked a bit apart from Subat before turning back. “She knew about Sabine and me. She said that she had sent Sabine to me. And she also said it would fall to me to stop the House of Duranis and my father, or else Sabine would be lost in the coming darkness.”

  Subat went to a nearby window and looked out as a storm sent rain sheeting down the glass. The storm seemed to match Subat’s troubled expression suddenly, and Kristof was not sure he wanted to hear what the old man had to say next.

  “Anasha loved you greatly, Kristof, but she always knew there would be another,” Subat said sadly. “It did not make her love you any less, mind you. She knew that in this matter the Fates ha
d decreed a different destiny for you both, and that your path led to Sabine. Do not let guilt enter your heart for loving them both as you do, my son, for they both surely love you without reservation.”

  For the first time since entering the Devil’s Eyes with Sabine, Kristof suddenly felt at peace with everything that had happened. Anasha’s words had begun the healing, but it was Subat’s kindness that finally finished it. For the first time since Anasha’s death, Kristof wept, but they were clean tears at last.

  “Come, my son,” Subat said softly. “Let’s go find your Queen and find an end to this conflict so you can both live in peace.”

  “What is this darkness that Anasha and you spoke of, though?” Kristof asked suddenly. “Anasha said that something was working through my father, causing all of this.”

  “Prophecies that have long been cold and silent begin to move once more,” Subat said cryptically. “For now it is enough to know that you are alive. Tomorrow we can look to the future and what will come for you.”

  Together, Kristof and Subat headed off into the palace in search of Sabine. Kristof’s thoughts were troubled, but the prospect of seeing Sabine soon had him smiling once more. The pain in his body was forgotten as they walked through the palace and talked of lighter matters. Kristof was seeing a new side of his father-in-law, one that was actually happy to have Kristof around.

  It seemed miracle were possible after all.

  ~*~

  ~28~

  The war room was in borderline chaos as Sabine looked on. Her admirals and generals argued back and forth about how to address the defection of the House of Duranis and the ships of the fleet under their command. The admirals sought an immediate reprisal, while the generals argued that Purannis and the worlds under the rule of the Protectorate would not be able to fend off the House of Duranis, as well as the Clovani Empire’s fleet that they had joined.