by Juno Wells
When Kearney approaches the podium, one of the creatures drops to the ground beside her. The creature yanks out its tablet from its backpack and flops the tablet onto the ground beside her too. The ground trembles when the tablet hits the ground, causing junk to shift in a nearby pile.
My hand moves to my weapon when the creature leans over and runs one gigantic eye up and down our queen. Its eye is actually larger than the slight human queen. Though Denarians have a long history of nonviolence in this sector, I don’t like him eyeing her that way. Suddenly, he pulls back and begins pounding on his tablet with one thick tentacle. Our queen responds to his greeting using the smaller device they’ve provided for us.
My wings tremble and I allow them to quietly unfurl in case there is a need to whisk her away. She glances back at me with anxiety in her eyes. Every protective instinct surges to the forefront of my consciousness, and I step closer. They negotiate back and forth. He wants something from her that she does not want to give, but I can’t make out what it is. I can’t read their conversation and keep an eye out for danger.
She pounds angrily upon the keys of the ancient communication device, cursing softly under her breath. The younger queen speaks, “Just say yes. It’s no big deal.”
In that moment I realize she’s been standing on the other side of Queen Kearney this whole time and I didn’t know it. “I don’t like it.”
“It’s just hair. They’re offering you a thirty-eight percent discount on every single thing you purchase. That’s a fantastic deal for hair. It’ll grow back.”
“I guess you’re right.”
She spends several more minutes keying in information. Then a green holographic disk forms in the air above the tablet. It’s her biometric seal. The creature has one too. We all do, because without a biometric seal, one cannot conduct business transactions in this sector of space. Their seals rise and begin drifting towards one another, his growing smaller to match hers in size. They merge into a transaction stamp, and I record it for verification of the deal they struck.
Windows open up in the Denarian’s office building and drones come flying out. They are worker bots, but I can’t imagine what they will do.
Queen Kearney steps back and puts her arms down to her side. “Take mine first and remember to leave exactly the amount we agreed upon.”
The bots descend upon her and begin clipping sections of her hair and flying away with them. Within moments her long hair is no more. The bots have left just enough to cover her shoulders. Turning to her younger sister, she reassures her, “It doesn’t hurt. It actually kind of tickles. Sorry about this.”
Shrugging, the younger queen steps back with her arms down and takes the same exact pose her sister did. “Less hair to deal with, I guess.” The bots come back, snipping her hair away as well. Now they look more like twins than ever, yet I am somehow sick to my stomach. It feels like something of value has been stripped from them. I quell my anger, for it is as Queen Kendra has said, it will grow back. Many queens wear their hair shorter, therefore all is well.
The creature retreats back into its cavernous hole and the queens both lean on each other, laughing and talking about how weird that was. They are not bothered, so why am I?
Where most queens are aloof and give off an aura of superiority, these queens appear to be excited and engaged. I remember that they’ve spent their lives on Earth before knowing only the inside of ships. My heart softens towards them and I see them in a different light. They are clearly enchanted by all the new sights and sounds.
4 TROUBLE WITH INSECTS
KEARNEY
EXCITEMENT STRUMS THROUGH MY CHEST. I can hardly believe we’re actually here. Why that Denarian was so focused on having our hair is a mystery, but giving it up will save us a gigantic chunk off our final purchase. It feels kind of nice to be rid of it. I feel lighter and cleaner. Okay, that cleaner doesn’t make any sense, but whatever.
All our hard work these past months in the gemstone mine really paid off. With any luck, we’ll find a ship and have enough credits and mechanics in our midst to get it running fairly soon. After trading our gemstone for universal spending credits, I’m carefully managing our credit account to ensure we can complete this mission. Hopefully I’ve accounted for every expense.
The warriors who’ve signed onto our crew were used to working for free before being liberated, so waiting to get paid is no big deal for them. We laid in food stocks and other provisions to last for three lunars. I’m praying that will be enough time to get a ship up and running. Everything is riding on this mission.
“Kendra, don’t touch that!” Seeing her reaching out to touch the sharp points on a nearby cactus-like bush worries me. She pulls her hand back just as the bush moves towards her. One of the warriors pulls her back out of its reach.
She shoots me a wide-eyed look, mouthing sorry. She’s seventeen now, but still so inquisitive about alien worlds. I point to the ground at my side and she shuffles over to walk beside me, clearly embarrassed by her latest brush with death. Okay, that might be a little dramatic, but one never quite knows how dangerous the prick of an alien plant might be to a human. We only have the most rudimentary medical instruments with us, so we can’t afford to take any chances.
Tabor stands aside and we stare straight up at the most amazing ship I’ve ever seen. It’s a dull gunmetal grey but huge. It must have been here for a while because it’s buried in the sand up to the manifolds. Shielding my eyes with one hand, I give it the once-over.
“What’s the story on this one, Tabor?”
Reading from his data pad, he explains, “The Bellanthrop was engineered by the Denarians approximately seven hundred Earth years ago, to fight in the civil war that ended up killing over forty percent of their people. It was modified by a group of Strovian traders. Since they are humanoid, their renovations should have involved modification of the internal life supports to be more in line with our needs. None of the weapons systems were upgraded, so we can simply clear out munitions sections and retrofit them to accommodate our weapons.”
Curiosity is getting the better of me. “Can we have a look inside?”
Our accommodating commander responds immediately. “Certainly, I’ll open the main hatch.”
Before I can respond, he turns, and with a quick jump, his wings unfurl, and he takes flight. I motion for one of the other warriors to follow him. The logical side of my brain is telling me there is likely no danger in him entering an old ship, but something in my gut is squirming again. I don’t want to take any chances on a negative outcome. I need Tabor’s expertise on this mission.
The waiting seems to last longer than I’m expecting. Pacing, I start to worry in earnest.
Kendra speaks up. “Should we send in another warrior?”
I jerk my chin at the one remaining warrior, and he lifts off. Do I feel uncomfortable on an alien planet without a protector? You bet I do. However, I feel even more uncomfortable about our commander taking so long to open the freaking door.
Something creeps up to Kendra, and she absent-mindedly pats it on the head. I don’t know exactly what the creature is, but it looks like a cross between a lizard and a dog. Except for the horns and sharp teeth, it looks harmless. I take a step closer, and it jumps back. The next thing I know, it plops down on its bottom and scratches behind its horn with one of its six paws.
Before I can decide if the creature is male or female, a loud irritating screeching noise sounds off. Excitement strums though my chest when I realize the sound is coming from the ship.
Bolting forward, my sister exclaims loudly, “They did it! The door is opening.”
She ain’t wrong. A huge swath of slightly different-colored metal is slowly swinging down. The door is long, and it reminds me of the huge bay doors on some of the ships we’ve seen. The three men come flying out and touch down on the ground about fifteen feet from us. When we begin walking towards each other, I notice Tabor’s got some kind of slash down the side of his
face. It makes him look even more fierce than usual. My girl parts throb, but I push those thoughts away, intent on keeping it all business.
Feeling a frown crease my brow, I ask worriedly, “What happened in there?”
“Flying insects swarmed me. We’ll need to scan the ship and eliminate them before you can inspect the interior.”
“Let’s head back to camp and make sure their stings aren’t poisonous. We can pick back up with this later.”
He shoots me a confused look. “I’m fine, but we’ve only got an hour or so of daylight left.”
Crossing my arms, I stare him down. “We’re going back. I’m not taking any chances on losing warriors over easily preventable issues.”
He snorts a laugh before he thinks, and then his expression turns mortified. “It will be as you say, my queen.”
I roll my eyes. Maybe I’m being over cautious, but most things that sting have venom. He might feel fine now, but later it could get into his bloodstream and kill him. As we walk the several hundred feet back to the makeshift camp the others have created, I quiz him about the ship.
“Did it seem spacious inside?”
“Absolutely. The Strovian upgrades are more well-preserved than I would have expected. I suppose the arid climate is responsible for our good fortune.”
“Would it be strange if we ended up picking the very first one we inspected?”
“Not really. I chose the best of the lot for you to see first. It’s the only one with a back-up propulsion system. That would be a real advantage if our primary system bot knocked out during a battle. It will be very few….”
His voice gets choppy, and I notice that he’s sweating profusely. I pull my water canister from my waist pouch and grab a white scarf from my belt. Without taking my eyes off the commander, I shout my sister’s name.
“I’m on it.” The sound of her talking into her communicator is drowned out by Tabor continuing to talk about the interior of the ship. “entire bottom of the ship is one gigantic cargo bay. We could…fit…a lot…”
I step to his side just as he starts to go down and lower him safely to the ground. After dumping some water onto my scarf, I begin to wipe away the blood from his starkly masculine face. The horns that are normally standing straight up are now slicked back against his head. Though he’s got no hair, he has some kind of intricate design inked into his flesh. “Tabor, let me wet your lips. You can’t drink until we figure out what’s going on with your injury.” His eyes are glassy, and I’m shocked at how quickly the huge warrior went from making perfect sense to being nonsensical.
I pour some water into the palm of my hand and dump it onto his forehead, running my wet fingers down to moisten his lips. He grabs my hand unexpectedly. “Chose Drag for your next commander.” Seeming to wilt before my very eyes, he rasps, “He’ll keep you safe.”
Oh God, he thinks he’s going to die. Swallowing thickly, I wonder where the medical team is. The two remaining warriors are walking some kind of perimeter around us with their weapons out. It’s clear from the upwards orientation of their weapons that they’re protecting us from the flying insects.
Kendra shouts, “Over here. Quick. The commander is sick.”
Several warriors alight on the ground nearby, and one is carrying a hover board. They move Tabor onto it, and the warrior attending to him seems too young to be a healer. He gently brushes past me, hooking up monitors and throwing up hovering equipment. He runs a metal sensor down the ugly cut on the commander’s face and frowns.
I explain, “He went into one of the ships and got stung by an insect.”
One of the other males speaks up. “They were each the size of my head and very aggressive.”
The young healer responds tersely. “I couldn’t pick up enough venom to engineer a proper antidote.”
I turn to the two warriors who’ve been inside the ship. “Go back in. Take as many warriors as you need and bring back one of the insects as quickly as possible.”
They jump into the air and head back to the large opening with several more warriors at their back.
The young medic seems agitated. He bends his head until he is touching foreheads with the commander, and I hear him whisper. “Don’t worry brother. Everything’s going to be okay.” Something about his behavior is off. Draconian warriors often call themselves brothers, but they don’t touch foreheads. Something tells me the healer is his actual brother or some other close relative. He pulls back, fiddles with his medical instruments. The time seems to drag by. Suddenly, the commander’s body jerks violently. Before I can even blink, the medic lays a long, thin, black strip down the front of his brother’s body and activates a stasis field.
He falls back onto his ass, resting one arm on his knee. He seems shell-shocked and sick to his stomach. “I should have come with him.”
I reach out and touch his hand. “If you had gone into the ship, we wouldn’t have a medic to mix the antivenom.”
“We need to get him back to camp. I have more equipment there.”
I motion to the several warriors still milling about to move him. All but one takes to the air. I guess they’ve decided the insects prefer the dark ships to the sunlight. That’s the decision I’ve come to anyway.
One look at Kendra and I know exactly what she’s thinking.
Flinging out her hands in an exasperated gesture, she shouts, “How did things go so wrong so freaking fast?”
We begin running back to our campsite. “I don’t know, but we need to get back right damn now. Just as we come to a skidding stop into the campsite, the other warriors land with a big fat ugly insect. It’s so large the man carrying it can barely get his fingers closed around its dead neck.
There is only one tent, and we head for it. I recognize that it’s been set up for us but the medic has had his brother in an open-air lean-to along the side of our tent.
I walk up to him and place my hand on his shoulder. His head jerks around and he instinctively apologizes. “Sorry about violating your space…”
“Bring him inside along with your equipment.”
Within moments they are pulling the hover board into our tent. I quickly pull back the blankets on our bed and motion for them to bring him over. “It’s getting cold. I don’t want him fighting the cold while you’re working on him.”
“Thank you my queen. Our clade owes you a debt of gratitude.”
“Don’t mention it. What else can we do to help?”
Before he can answer, other men pitch in and begin pulling medical supplies from the crates and setting up what begins to look like a small infirmary. Looking over my shoulder, I see Kendra sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. She’s staring at the healer as he works. Her face is contorted into a mask of anxiety. Like me, she’s feeling useless. All we can do is stay out of the way, so I cross the space, climb on the bed and drape my arm around her shoulder. Without tearing her eyes away from the commander, she pats my hand. “He’s going to make it, right?”
Since I can’t imagine pulling off this mission without him, I lie my ass off. “Of course he’s going to be okay.”
5 BUGS OUT
TABOR
I WAKE FEELING like absolute garbage. The entire right side of my body feels like insects are crawling on my skin and my fingers are on fire. The last thing I remember is my father’s face growing smaller in my view screen as I lift off from our home world. I try to clear my head by shaking it. A cool cloth smooths over the side of my face, and small soft hands moisten my lips with water.
Queen Kearney’s face finally comes into focus. “Are you really awake this time?”
“I am.” My voice is dry, and I sound like a swallowed a small creature.
Phan’s face comes into view, and I realize that I’m lying down staring up at them.
“How do you feel, my brother?” His worried expression makes me feel valued.
“My right arm tingles.”
He pulls out a medical scanner and begins moving it back a
nd forth. “It is the nanobots repairing your injured blood vessels. The inset’s venom got into your blood stream and began eating through the walls of your blood vessels. Do not worry, it should dissipate soon.” His concerned expression is still in place as he continues to scan my right side.
“My fingers feel like they’re on fire.”
Jerking slightly, his eyes jump to mine. “I can fix that.” His face disappears. The next thing I know, a hypodermic spray touches my neck, and all I see is blackness.
When next I wake, our queen is still tending to my needs. She looks exhausted, and it makes me wonder how long I have been down. I raise my hand to grasp hers, and she stops smoothing the cool wet cloth over my face.
Her eyes are worried. “Phan says all the damage to your system has been healed. You just need to gather your strength again.”
“How about you? Are you well, my queen?”
Swallowing thickly, she glances across the room. When my eyes follow hers, I see my brother on the same sleeping platform as the young queen. Closing my eyes, I tell myself he is not being chosen. He’s exhausted from performing his medical duties, and resting nearby affords him the opportunity to check on me.
“How long have I been out?”
“Two days. How do you feel? Can you sit up and drink some broth?”
Struggling to sit, I manage it by sheer willpower alone. I am ravenous and grateful when she brings a warm cup of vegetable broth to my lips. She gently encourages me to drink my fill before speaking again.
“I put Drag in charge of the other warriors like you asked. He seemed a little unsure of himself at times, so I asked one of the elders to assist him. I believe his name is Elder Scarn. He’s really nice.”
I lean back against the cushions she’s stuffing behind me, cushions I chose with care to ensure the queens rested comfortably. “Did you choose a ship yet?”
Adjusting a cushion roughly behind my shoulder, she sighs.