Slow Burn Dark

by A. B. Keuser

  Drea smiled and moved away from the equipment and her workers. “Is this the part where I pay for last night?”

  “No, if you don’t want to help, or can’t, I would never force you. But something is going on in your mines… and the Great Mother wants me to see it.”

  Scowling toward the vertical shaft, Drea grabbed a hardhat and a vest from the unlocked supply bins, handing them over. “I tasked your brother with finding me answers. He hasn’t delivered yet. Maybe I should have asked you in the first place.”

  Drea showed her the way, and left her when a man yelled out from the far end of the main tunnels, but not before pressing a badge into her hand. “You’ll be able to get wherever you want with that.”

  Kathrynn hesitated before she took the key. “Thank you.”

  “If you can’t come back to me before the Great Mother leads you elsewhere, you can leave it on my desk or slip that through the slot on my door on your way back out.”

  If she could find the opportunity to rejoin her, she would.

  But they both had work to do, and they turned from each other, heading into the darkness in different directions.

  In the darkness beneath the planet’s surface, crews worked in loud clumps, and Kathrynn observed them with an open awareness, but nothing struck her as… wrong. Not until she paused to watch a group of sisters delivering prayers and hydration sticks, their hoods pulled up, shadowing their faces.

  It wasn’t a service she’d been aware of.

  She almost ignored them, but a tug from the Great Mother kept her stationary.

  And then, they moved.

  She would stake her life on the fact that the one lagging a short way behind was definitely a man.

  Kathrynn followed them down the winding screw tunnel, drawing looks the robed figures in front of her did not.

  That, no doubt, was the reason they’d chosen their disguise.

  But keeping her distance gave them too much of a lead when they rounded a bend, and by the time she’d turned as well… they were gone.

  Searching the dim access, she waited for something to move, to give them away, but it was as though they had vanished into heavy air.

  The Great Mother’s purpose never revealed itself easily.

  Twenty-Nine - Flynn

  Alone in the junkyard, Flynn stared at the pocked target he’d set up two hours earlier.

  Along with driving, it seemed that Seamus had a particular skill set with a gun as well. The bullseye he’d painted was nearly gone. And the kid hadn’t even had an auto-aim.

  If the kid hadn’t been so excited, he might have thought he was being played.

  He was trying to remember how long he’d been on the planet and how little thanks he’d gotten in that time, when his sister appeared. He’d asked how she did it, but she’d promised to never tell.

  “You’re still here?”

  She gave him a knowing smile and sat on the hollowed out thruster turbine across from him.

  “I’d have thought the Great Mother would have had plans for you elsewhere.”

  “She does.” Kathrynn looked up to the greendark sky. “But they’ll come after the few things she has left for me to do here.”

  Flynn knew that smile. “So… who is she?”

  Her eyes on the ground between them, she chuckled. “You know I never tell you who they are.”

  “No, but I’ve managed to get the information out of Chad a time or two.”

  “He doesn’t know I’m here either, so it won’t work this time.” She kicked one ankle over the opposite knee. “What I will tell you is that you’re looking in the right place. There’s something wrong in Anderson Lodge, but I don’t know what it is.”

  “Is this the point where I should tell you to stop trying to elbow in on my job again?”

  She rolled her eyes and turned her face back to the moons.

  “And,” she said, her face starkly serious. “Putty needs to find Phee.”

  “You know about that?”

  “He hasn’t exactly been quiet about it Our brother was—”

  Kathrynn froze, eyes wide.

  She turned toward the distant rocks and then her gaze narrowed and she pointed toward Spire Vista. “Go, Seamus needs you, and I can’t be there.”

  He’d heard that tone in her voice before. That was why he didn’t ask, didn’t hesitate.

  He ran.

  Mischief was barking loud enough that he didn’t need to guess where Seamus was.

  He jumped over the last of the junk and flung himself out the scrap yard’s back gate, letting it swing wide.

  But by the time he got to the wash, he could barely make out the shape of the retreating man. His brother stood, in front of Seamus, holding onto the kid to keep them back.

  Putty turned with righteous fire in his eyes, and Flynn knew exactly why Kathrynn hadn’t been able to help.

  One look at Kat, and Putty would have snapped.

  “Let me go!” Seamus struggled against Putty’s hold. “That bastard was going to kill her.”

  Flynn looked to where the dog was tied. The ropes and tape were a mess, and he took Seamus’ wrist and shook it. Forced the kid to look at him.

  “Hey, go take care of Missy, Putty and I’ll figure out what to do about that asshole.”

  Flynn waited until he was certain the kid was going, and then looked at Putty.

  “What the hell happened?”

  “I don’t know. The kid was playing fetch or something and the dog got too close to him… maybe? I didn’t see what happened. I just looked up when the shouting started and the asshole had a rope around Missy’s neck and Seamus was running at him like they were going to murder him.

  He looked back to where Seamus and Mischief were huddled together. The latter licking tears from the former’s face.

  Squeezing Putty’s shoulder, he turned him around and gently shoved him toward town. “Back off and cool down. We’ll deal with that guy later. I don’t need you killing him—or worse.”

  Another body could be dealt with easily enough. A man left around to tell the tale….

  “Fine, but don’t let the kid out of your sight until someone else can keep an eye on them.

  Putty headed away in the opposite direction and Flynn watched him, long enough to be sure he was headed back to town, not taking a circuitous route to go after the man. Then, he walked the short distance to where Seamus sat in the dirt, Mischief beside them, head on the kid’s lap.

  “Are you two okay?”

  Seamus shook their head, too hard. “Missy was just playing and that asshole tried to kill him.”

  “You sure he didn’t think Missy was trying to attack him?”

  “That guy’s bad news. I saw him going through Captain Steven’s papers. He folded one up and took it with him.”

  “Were you following him?”

  Seamus winced.

  “You shouldn’t have gone after him on your own.”

  “There wasn’t anyone else around to do it. You weren’t there, I haven’t seen your sister since this morning… and I don’t trust anyone else right now.”

  That told him where—and with whom—Kat had been the night before. He glanced over his shoulder as if he expected her to be there. But Kat was a ghost. Wherever she was now, he doubted he’d see her again before she was gone.

  He’d gotten used to her propensity for showing up when she liked, and disappearing just as quickly. A symptom of the changes from Serbal’s ritual… and the subsequent consequences of those red eyes she hid so well.

  There were more important things than tracking her down.

  He pet Mischief’s head and the dog shook himself, getting to his feet, tail wagging… a little slower than usual.

  “Let’s get the two of you checked out.” He helped the kid to their feet.

  “I don’t need to be poked or prodded. I’m fine.”

  “Then let’s get Missy checked out.”

  “Chadrick’s not a vet.”


  “No but he can do it, and besides, watching Chad roll his eyes at me is a great pastime.”

  That got a laugh from the kid, and that was the first step.

  Thirty - Sophia

  She was certain the Great Mother was testing her. That was the only explanation for the battle cruiser waiting for them at the fold point.

  At the folding console in front of her, their borrowed folder cursed and shut down her conduits as quickly as possible. “What idiot parks in a designated exit point?”

  From his place on the other side of the cockpit, Banks cursed. “Your other Senior Colari suitor is jealous.”

  More curses, her pilot may not have known enough to confirm Banks’ words, but Harris’ folder did.

  “But how did they know we’d be here?” Their folder had transferred the controls to the pilot and—her job done—was glaring at the enormous ship that filled their screens.

  “Someone at the Capo transit office must have tipped them off. Even with your boss on our side, we had to file a flight plan.” Sophia shifted in her chair, forcing herself to lean back, to breathe evenly. “Proceed as you would with anyone else. Send out the warning, the violation, and put us a safe distance out from the fold point, no matter what sort of orders they give.”

  “Someone wants to talk.” Banks said as the pilot did as she asked.

  “Then by all means, let’s have a chat.”

  Banks tapped out a string of commands, and a familiar face came over the comm.

  “What are you doing all the way out here, Ms. Refuti?”

  “I have business on Sukiyaki, and no reason to be detained. Our last conversation cost me in both time and money. So if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a schedule to keep.”

  “Oh, but we do have reason to detain you.” His smile was almost smug enough to worry her.

  “I don’t think you do, but as this is a formal proceeding, please start the recorder, Banks.”

  When he nodded, she affected her most imperious tone. “Junior Colari Bruun, aide to Senior Colari Kerin, you are attempting to detain me and my crew for as yet unstated reasons. Please tell us what we are being stopped for so that we can sort out the confusion and get on our respective ways.”

  He shifted, uneasily, and she knew he was searching through the possible reasons she could know his name. Saw him realize that he’d have to disclose more information than he might wish, publically.

  “No, of course, you’re right. There’s no reason to log a formal detention.”

  Still, he didn’t let them go.

  “If you interfere with us, you will have to explain why you’ve detained one of Senior Colari Harris’ folders, when we are doing him the favor of transporting her.” She glared at him, wondering when technology would exist that would allow her to punch him from this distance. “And you should be aware, we have already filed a complaint about your disregard for fold point parameters. I imagine Harris will have something to say about your choice to endanger her life as well.”

  His eyes widened only for a second before his focus shifted to the woman sitting beside her.

  Wenda, Mother bless her, waved.

  Head snapping back to her, Bruun glared across the screen at her. “You may not know it yet, but you’ve made the wrong choice.”

  The screen went dark, and she stared at the void and stars a half heartbeat before saying,

  “Maybe, but you definitely weren’t the right one.”

  Thirty-One - Flynn

  Slipping away at his first opportunity, Flynn headed back to his ship… flinching at every sound.

  It was why he approached the ship from a different route. Why he paused when something didn’t feel quite right.

  But there was no one waiting for him with a wire, or something that would provide a cleaner kill.

  It was a gift… or rather, a warning.

  Nika’s security measures weren’t as good as he thought.

  Someone had gotten through.

  He wiped away the block letters written on his hatch, turning “I know who you are” into a dark smudge.

  The door was still locked, his own security not tripped, so he locked himself in, allowed himself to breath normally.

  Then, he climbed to the roof and looked into the distance.

  Dusk faded into the darkness of night as Flynn saw the first trails of sand and exhaust following bouncing lights from two-wheeled sand cruisers.

  In the desert, the riders circled. They shot bursts from electric prods into the air at random, skidding to kick dust and rocks at the nearby storefronts. Flynn knew the tactic. He’d used it a time or two himself. But these men had no one to scare in the outer perimeters of the town. No hostages to gather. They’d easily be written off as up-to-no-good kids.

  As if on cue, one of the bikes came to a stop, a cloud of brown dust filtering over its rider in the muted security lights.

  They were coming, not going, and he had an idea where they were headed.

  Even if they weren’t, he wasn’t going to wait around to see.

  Dropping back through the top hatch, he pulled his rifle from the tangle of conduit and wires in the corner of his quarters, and slipped out to the scaffolding.

  Seamus stood at the railing watching the distance with the curious intensity only kids could muster.

  “Someone’s coming after you, aren’t they?” they asked, adjusting their small red cowboy hat. “Someone bad, I mean.”

  Flynn nodded. “Looks like.”

  Lying to the kid would only make them go searching on their own.

  He looked up at the hazy moons, barely visible in the midday sky. When the ship he’d arrived on had descended to the planet’s surface. Flynn hadn’t spared any of Sukiyaki’s satellites a thought—manmade, or natural.

  The RTF had a base on one of those moons.

  Looking up reminded him of the time he’d found a beehive in a tree… while climbing it.

  “Go home, and tell your mom there’s a problem here… and not to send anybody.”

  Seamus’ eyes narrowed at the rifle, then they shook whatever thought they had away.

  “Actually, I’m here for Putty.”

  “Then you’re in the wrong place.”

  Shaking their head, Seamus looked into the dark hold behind him. “He’s sleeping on your couch.”

  Flynn could believe that—regardless of the thing’s torn up state.

  “I’ll send him along when this is over.”

  He watched the kid round the corner, then dropped to his stomach, to wait them out.

  Set up, and watching them through the scope, he reminded himself to breathe… and said a silent thanks to the Great Mother for the numbing agent in the medicine Chad had slathered—once again—on his throat.

  The only thing they had in common among them—aside from being overzealous with their driving—was the ugly guns in hands and strapped to fuselage.

  Muzzle flash burst and the sound of metal peppered with bullets echoed back to him, but they weren’t firing at him.

  Turning his scope, he tracked their aim… to a dark figure on the edge of the yard.

  The slag was thrown back, its chest a smoldering cavity.

  The only reason it didn’t get back up was that its hips were now only half connected to its torso.

  Nika was going to be pissed.

  But they had to check their work.

  As the circling sand cruisers came into view, Flynn took aim. As soon as they got close enough to see their mistake….

  The leader of the group flew backward off his ride, colliding with the man behind him and they both fell beneath another bike’s wheels.

  Flynn’s gun was cold.

  When he popped back up, he saw the top of a small, red cowboy hat below his perch on the scaffold. Two gut punchers in the kid’s hands fired into the dust.

  Seamus looked up at him with a smile and went right back to filling the cloud with bullets.

  Flynn grabbed the kid by the collar and dra
gged them up and in through the ship’s main hatch. If they got roughed up, so be it. The miscreant would have gotten themselves killed anyway.

  Flynn shot two men as they emerged from the cloud, then ducked back inside and looked at the kid, trying to decide if they were some cosmic joke.

  Flynn shot another of the riders, sending his bike caroming into the front of a long decommissioned silo.

  A burst of orange lit the junk and in the canyon, a plume of fire erupted. The clatter of dirt and debris raining down on the ship echoed, deafeningly as the flickering of firelight crept in through the hatch.

  Silence descended.

  Flynn waited, listening and finally poked his head out to look at the deserted yard.

  “I had a spare focus charge.” Putty shrugged from his place on the roof.

  A low siren echoed in the distance, but no one was coming. Not if Nika knew what was good for him.

  “We’ve got company.”

  Two men of similar height, wearing familiar uniforms, approached from the dust cloud.

  They were unarmed, and Flynn knocked Seamus’ hands down. It didn’t matter if the kid’s shots wouldn’t kill them. He didn’t need any more violence until he figured out what was actually going on.

  “What do they even want?” Seamus wriggled into a position where they could see.

  “When they get here, I’ll be sure to ask them”

  But the men in olive green—and now they were closer, Flynn could clearly see their yellow cuffs—stopped a good seven yards back.

  “I think we know who they’re here for.” He pulled his gun and stepped out onto the dark scaffold and looked down at the two men, waiting.

  “We’re here to extend an invitation, Mr Monroe.” Smiling too widely, the man’s eyes swept back and forth, as though making sure he wasn’t missing any hidden audience. “For a tour of the Refuti Lunar Platform and its remarkable view of the planet.”

  “Just a nice little shuttle flight where no one on this peaceful red rock will be in any danger,” the other said.

  The first’s attention had fixed on something in the sky, and Flynn risked a glance in that direction.