But when I picked up the two ships emerging from hyperspace behind me, all hope I had for Kapoc eventually coming around died a sudden death.
“Anjol,” I said, speaking to my ship's artificially intelligent operating system. “Identify the two craft behind us.”
“They are of Trogaran design,” the computer replied. “Heavily armed and armored. Each contains one pilot.”
“Trogaran assassins,” I said. “I guess I should be flattered.”
“Being assassinated hardly seems like something to be flattered about,” the computer replied dryly.
“His chosen assassins are an upgrade over the last one,” I said.
Trogaran's were known for their killing prowess. When you wanted someone dead quickly, you called a Trogaran, which told me that my brother was serious about getting rid of me. Very serious.
“Trogaran ships closing quickly,” the computer said. “They will overtake us in approximately twenty seconds.”
“Anjol, prepare to take evasive measures,” I said. “Head straight into that asteroid field.”
“Acknowledged,” the computer said.
The Trogaran's would follow me into the field, of course. When they were determined, Trogaran's could be the most persistent and stubborn creatures in the entire galaxy. They would follow me anywhere to ensure that the job got done and I was dead. Which meant that I needed any advantage I could get. The asteroid field wasn't much, but it was all I had.
“Trogaran ships have entered the asteroid field behind us.”
Their ships were small, maneuverable, and fast, much like the Trogaran's themselves. I wasn't hoping to lose them in the field; I was merely trying to slow them down.
“Anjol,” I said. “Fire bomb packs into the asteroids. Trigger them when the Trogaran vessels are within range.”
“Acknowledged.”
I didn't think my bomb packs would destroy them outright, but I was hoping to damage their crafts. At the very least, I wanted to slow them down just enough so that I could get away. There were two jolts to my ship as the bomb packs were fired off to anchor in the asteroids we'd just passed.
It didn't take long for the first explosion to go off. I saw the bright flash of light – brighter than I'd expected.
“First Torgaran ship destroyed,” Anjol informed me. “The second is still inbound.”
Though I was upset with the fact that I'd had to take another life, I could not deny the rush of excitement I felt in the heat of a fight. It was something primal within me, and something I was not necessarily proud of. I wanted to think that I was a little more enlightened than someone like Kapoc, but stripped down to my core – put in a situation where it was me or them – I had to reluctantly admit that there was an animalistic side that relished the chance to make sure it was not me.
I saw the flash of the other ship's cannons as its blasters fired at me. I moved evasively, trying to get out of the line of fire while also trying to avoid crashing into an asteroid at the same time – not the easiest of tasks.
“Anjol, how long until I am clear of this asteroid field?”
“At present velocity, you will clear the asteroid field in five seconds.”
Five seconds. A lifetime. The flash of cannon fire lit up the sky to the side of me. One of the errant shots hit a small asteroid, sending shards of jagged rock bouncing off the canopy of my ship. I had to get out of that field and into clear space if I was going to survive this encounter.
I increased my speed and before I knew it, I was in the clear. The Trogaran ship would be clearing the field in a heartbeat, so I knew I needed to do something drastic.
“Anjol, execute a one hundred and eighty-degree spin,” I called out. “Now!”
The ship reacted immediately, rotating quickly and getting into position just as the assassin's ship cleared the asteroid field. A small grin tugged at the corner of my mouth when I opened fire. I watched as my cannon blasts raked the hull of the Trogaran's ship, punching fiery holes into it. He was done for. A moment later, the ship exploded in a bright bloom of fire and shrapnel.
But my survival celebration was cut short a moment later when I saw the missile emerge from the fiery cloud of debris.
“Missile inbound,” Anjol said.
“You don't say,” I snapped.
The ship lurched as I hit the button to fire the engines. I gritted my teeth and pulled back on the maneuvering stick, trying to get myself out of range of the missile.
“Impact is inevitable,” Anjol said.
“Not if I can help it,” I said through gritted teeth.
The ship accelerated upward, but as I watched the streak of fire heading toward me, I knew I wasn't going to make it. There simply wasn't enough time or distance between us. Impact was indeed inevitable.
Yanking the maneuvering stick, I tried to minimize the coming impact. And it worked – to a degree. My body was thrown to the side, and I had the wind knocked out of me as the missile slammed into the my ship, blowing a hole in my rear thruster. I could see the glow of the fiery explosion in the reflection off the ship's canopy.
“Anjol, clear that fire,” I snapped. “Now.”
“Fire suppression activities engaged,” the computer's voice said. A moment later, it followed up by saying. “Fire suppression activities successful.”
I let out a sigh of relief. At least I wasn't going to explode into a fiery ball on the outer edge of an asteroid belt.
“Status report, Anjol.”
“Thruster one offline,” the computer said. “Thruster two damaged but operable. Efficiency is less than forty percent, however.”
“Do long range sensors detect anything else coming out of hyperspace?”
“I detect nothing,” Anjol said. “Your path appears clear for now.”
“Find me a habitable planet, Anjol,” I said. “I must land and repair the ship.”
“Scanning.”
I leaned back in the seat and rubbed my eyes. Looking around at the stars, I drank it all in. The universe around me was a wonder to behold. With so much going on, I hadn't had time to properly soak it in and appreciate the beauty around me.
There were thousands – millions – of stars all around me. I was approaching a very large, strange looking planet with a giant red spot that almost looked like an eye. It was so strange and so wonderful. I'd never seen anything like it. I'd flown fighters before. It had been part of my education. But that had been training, and I'd never had the opportunity to really appreciate the galaxy around me. My father had always made sure my trainers kept me on task and learning. That, and to keep an eye on me in case I'd had the idea to fly off.
I felt like a child as I stared in wonder of the world around us for the first time. Staring at the galaxy all around me, I recalled having my father take me below the surface of the ocean for the first time. It had been so strange, so exotic, and so beautiful, just as the darkness of the space around me currently was.
“Habitable planet has been located,” Anjol's voice interrupted my reverie. “Charting course. Would you like to manually pilot?”
“No,” I said. “You pilot us there. I don't want to miss anything.”
“Piloting engaged.”
I leaned back in my seat and looked at the monitor to see where Anjol was taking me. It was a planet filled with blues and greens. It looked lush and beautiful. I had no idea what planet it was, but I was anxious to find out.
Until we arrived though, I was a passenger and wanted to do nothing but sit back and admire the beautiful view that surrounded me. This is what I'd wanted – a trip into the unknown with alien vistas ahead of me.
Of course, I could have been happier had I not had to battle assassins in order to enjoy the view.
Chapter Six: Paige
The last of the customers had filtered out, and I locked the door behind them. The Mahogany Tavern was closed for the night. Good thing, too, for I was beat. It had been a wild but enjoyable night. One of my favorite musicians, Milo
Golding, had graced our stage unexpectedly. I'd been set and ready to do a set of my own, but when I saw him walk through the door, I knew there was no way I was not going to put him on stage.
He'd protested at first, insisting that he'd come only as a patron. He'd said he wanted nothing more than a few beers and to enjoy the local music scene. But I'd convinced him to do a couple of songs – and that had turned into a four-hour set. Milo was an older guy, but he still held the audience in the palm of his hand.
Between songs, he'd regale us with stories about his life – one of the most fascinating lives I'd ever heard of, to be honest. He was a brilliant musician and an even better person. I'd had the pleasure of seeing him in concert a number of times and he never, ever failed to satisfy.
“Did Milo take the money?” I asked when Josie came out of the office.
“Of course he didn't,” she said with a grin. “Stubborn old coot.”
I laughed. “It's probably a good thing,” I said. “We normally wouldn't be able to afford an artist of his caliber. The guy is a legend.”
“And he's still pretty spry for a seventy-year old man,” Josie said. “I had to tell him three times that I was a married woman and to keep his hands off my ass.”
“What, you couldn't take one for the team?” I grinned. “Knowing he walked out happy would have made me feel better about not paying him.”
Josie smirked. “Please. If I'd given him a roll in the hay, he wouldn't have walked out of here,” she said. “You would have needed to call an ambulance.”
I laughed and poured myself a beer. “Somebody's feeling pretty good about herself tonight.”
“Honey, I feel this good about myself every night.”
I raised my glass and nodded. Josie was a confident woman. She was my best friend and my manager at the Tavern. She was also one of the most confident women I'd ever met. Of course, the fact that she was a knockout might have had something to do with that. She never really had to feel all that insecure about her looks. Not like the rest of us.
“Heading up for a smoke,” she said. “Join me?”
I nodded and carried my beer over to the staircase next to our office door. I unhooked the chain and let it fall, giving us access to the stairway up to the roof of the building. I unlocked the door at the top of the stairs and stepped out into the cool night air, relishing the feel of the breeze upon my skin. Josie stepped out and walked over to her normal spot near the edge of the building and lit her cigarette.
This was our informal office. It was not only the place where we could discuss business without being overheard, but it was also our unofficial clubhouse as well. We were the only two with keys to the door, which meant that we were the only two who had access to the roof. We'd sometimes come up here for a smoke, a drink, or just to get away. We'd talked, laughed, and cried more times than I could count on that rooftop.
Josie handed me her cigarette and lit herself another. I took a sip of my beer and followed that up with a long drag of the cigarette. I looked up into the night sky as I exhaled a thick, white plume of smoke and watched it drift upward.
“How are you doing, hon?” Josie asked me.
“I'm good,” I said.
She looked at me closely, obviously trying to discern whether or not I was being honest. Josie was always concerned about my mental and emotional well-being. And even more disturbingly, she was also overly concerned with my sexual well-being. She was almost like some perverted house mother.
“You sure, hon?”
I smiled and nodded. “Yes, mother,” I said. “I'm doing just fine.”
She took a drag of her cigarette and blew out a cloud of smoke. “I've just been worried,” she said. “You know, after the other night and that thing with your dad.”
I shrugged. “It is what it is,” I said. “I just have to find some way to be okay with the fact that they're never going to give me their approval for the Tavern. They'll never understand it or really support it. They're just a different breed of people, I suppose. So, it's up to me to find a way to be okay with that.”
“Makes you wonder how you came out of that particular gene pool, doesn't it?” she said and laughed.
“Sometimes,” I laughed with her. “I'm not gonna lie.”
There was a moment of silence between us as I drank from my glass of beer and then took another drag of my cigarette, lost in thought. Josie looked out at the bay our town got its name from – Sapphire Bay. Even at night, it was beautiful. I never tired of watching the way the moonlight glittered brightly off the surface of the water, making it look like it had been crusted with diamonds or silver. It was as breathtaking today as it had been when I was a young girl back in the day.
Most people dream of getting out of small town life and heading for the big city. And although Sapphire Bay might not exactly qualify as ‘small town life,’ given that we had several hundred thousand residents, it was certainly smaller than a place like San Francisco or L.A. But I'd always loved it here. And besides, I'd had my taste of big city life and found it incredibly lacking. Sapphire Bay was quaint, it was charming, and it was home.
“So you know,” Josie said, and I could tell by the tone of her voice what was coming next, “there was a guy in the Tavern tonight. Totally infatuated with you. Couldn't take his eyes off you.”
“Pass,” I said. “But thanks.”
“Oh, come on, Paige,” she protested. “He's a firefighter. You know how hot those guys are.”
I grinned but shook my head. “Not interested. But thanks for thinking of me.”
She opened her mouth to speak again, so I raised an eyebrow at her. It was a conversation we'd had a million times before, and I was not going to make it a million and one. She closed her mouth again and pouted.
“Look at that,” I said, pointing to the sky. “A shooting star.”
Chapter Seven: Baz
Anjol guided me to a safe spot to land under the cover of a thick forest. According to Anjol, I was on a planet called Earth. The secondary thruster that had been damaged had finally given out, forcing us to land in a place called Sapphire Bay. If I had to be forced down by a damaged ship, it seemed to be an ideal spot. It was near an ocean which, according to Anjol, had optimal salinity.
The biggest drawback to being forced down was that it was going to take some time to repair the ship, which meant that I was going to have to spend some time in this city and among its people. I knew nothing about them. ‘Humans,’ is what Anjol had called them. He'd said they were somewhat similar to my people, though obviously far less advanced as a civilization.
I sighed. This wasn't the ideal place for me to stop, although I had a feeling that none of Kapoc's assassins would think to look for me here. At least, I hoped they wouldn't. I just needed a little time.
“Anjol,” I said. “I need everything you can give me on these – humans,” I said. “I must learn to adapt and blend in while I'm grounded here.”
“Processing,” the computer said. “Please link your neuro-bracelet to your biosuit for maximum information retrieval efficiency.”
I put my bracelet around my wrist and secured it. The neuro-bracelet was a wonder even by the standards of my people. It not only linked to our mind and bodies organically, it could also interface with computer systems. Anjol could communicate with me almost telepathically through the bracelet, and I could also use it to manipulate electronics.
I punched the button that opened the ship's canopy and climbed out. Breathing in the night air, I cocked my head, the aroma an oddity to me. I'd never smelled anything remotely like it, but it wasn't unpleasant. It was musky and earthy, and there was a tint of salt from the ocean in the air around me as well. It was an aroma I liked – a lot.
“You are smelling the scent of pine trees,” Anjol informed me.
“Pine trees,” I muttered to myself. “I like it.”
“You're on the west coast of the continent of North America, in the state of California,” Anjol informed me.
North America? California?
Anjol jumped right in with a geography lesson, explaining how continents and countries and even states worked on this place called Earth. It was probably way too much information, but too much was probably better than not enough. Closing my eyes, I saw the map, and Anjol pinpointed exactly where we were at, right off the Pacific Ocean.
“Earth is populated with a number of species, including countless animals, but humans are the dominant lifeform,” Anjol spoke, showing me photos of humans – male, female, children – in my mind's eye.
Humans resembled my own species for the most part. That was something of a relief.
“Tell me, Anjol, how do I fit in with these humans? What do I need to wear?”
“Your physical form is on par with what humans expect, one reason this planet was satisfactory. However, your biosuit is unlike anything they've ever seen before, so a disguise will be necessary. Try this on for size.”
I rolled my eyes. Anjol and his puns. I opened my eyes and looked down as my biosuit transformed into brightly colored pants that were cut off above my knee. My chest was bare and glowed white in the moonlight.
“This is how humans dress?” I asked him, to be sure. “This?”
“Apparently, beings from California dress that way, yes,” Anjol said. “Members of what is called the surfing culture wear what are called board shorts in their season known as summer–”
“How about when they're not – surfing? Or when it's not this season called summer?” I asked. “Because I'm not a member of this culture, I shouldn't be dressed in the required uniform.”
“You may have a point,” Anjol said.
“How about something with some dignity,” I said. “Maybe more fitting of my station?”
Anjol changed my outfit again. This time, it was a completely black material that covered most of my body. A bright blue piece of fabric was tied around my neck. I was appalled by my appearance.
“These humans wear nooses around their neck?”
Anjol responded. “This is what's known as a bow tie. And yes, humans wear these bow ties on formal occasions. Male humans, at least. Females only sometimes.”
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