Soul of Defiance

by R. E. Vega

  Now it was Brax who looked like he was going to cry. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  Dayna’s expression didn’t change. “I’m saying that I had to hide from them in the past. About four hundred years in the past.”

  ULAN

  Ulan hadn’t thought things could get even more complicated, but he was wrong.

  He frowned as he stared out the viewport. The enemy ship was still there—though apparently incapacitated—but there was no sign of Defiance or the other escape pod. His first thought upon regaining his bearings was that his escape pod must have been knocked quite far by the blast…but the instruments in front of him indicated that he should still be close enough to see Defiance and the other pod. So where did they go? Especially considering they seemed to have taken care of the enemy ship? There was no longer a threat, which meant there was no reason for them to speed away—not that they would, not without him.

  So what was going on?

  The girl was quiet next to him. She was simply standing and staring out the viewport, but even when she wasn’t saying anything at all, he found her presence irritating. At least she wasn’t jabbering or screaming or running away from him—that was something, he supposed.

  After a few minutes of brainstorming solutions and coming up with nothing, he said, “I’m going to fly us by the other ship. Maybe the wreckage is messing with our radar. Keep your eyes out for the Defiance or the other escape pod.”

  Yuki didn’t say anything.

  Great, now she goes mute on me. Sometimes humans were far more trouble than they were worth.

  He steered the pod toward the incapacitated ship. The girl just continued to stand there, staring out the window.

  Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore.

  “What? Are you too afraid to speak now?” he said.

  “No. I’m just thinking.”

  He spared her a glance. In his limited acquaintance with the girl, the ability to think hadn’t seemed like one of her main qualities.

  “I’d prefer if you’d devote your attention to looking for the Defiance,” he said. “We need to—”

  “Shhhhh.”

  He blinked. “Did you just shush me?”

  She didn’t answer. But she squinted slightly as she continued to stare out the viewport.

  “Over there,” she said finally, pointing.

  I can’t believe this girl thinks she’s in charge here, he thought. But he followed the line of her finger.

  “I don’t see the ship or the other pod,” he said.

  “No, look at the stars.”

  He did, and when he finally recognized what he was seeing, uneasiness filled him. There was a star there that shouldn’t be. What the dreck was going on?

  “We’re in the past,” she said.

  In spite of himself, he laughed. “I don’t know what sort of ale you’ve been drinking, but that’s not possible.”

  “It is possible. And they know how to do it,” she said, indicating the enemy ship. “That’s why we can’t see Defiance or the other pod. We must have gotten caught up in it.”

  Ulan rubbed his forehead. This was beginning to get absurd—and why was he listening to this human anyway? It was obvious she was cracked in the head.

  “I still think we should look for Defiance,” he said. “If we—”

  “You won’t find them. Not unless your crew has the same sort of technology.”

  “What sort of technology? How do you know about this?”

  She didn’t respond, and he felt himself growing irritated again.

  “And while we’re on the subject, what exactly are we supposed to do about it?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I had nothing to do with this sort of thing.”

  This was getting curiouser and curiouser. “And what do you mean by that? You were with those purple-eyed people?”

  “Not willingly. I was a prisoner. They…”

  “They what?”

  “It doesn’t matter now. I’m not going back. I’d kill myself before I’d ever let them take me again.”

  Ulan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Humans and their dramatics…

  “So we’re just stuck here?” he said. “Until the next batch of them arrives or some other random ship shows up?” The thought of being trapped here for eternity with this annoying human was absolutely horrifying. It didn’t help that his head was still throbbing and little shivers of pain still moved through his body—whatever had happened to them, he still seemed to be suffering the effects of their last misadventure. This is what he got for throwing his lot in with a bunch of crazy humans.

  All things considered, though, he felt a certain loyalty—even a kinship—to his crewmates on Defiance. When he’d initially been hired to serve as an A’lyph ambassador for the ship—hardly an unusual position on a merchant vessel that traveled so extensively—he’d seen it as a paycheck and a chance to see a little more of the universe. He’d had a small amount of interaction with humans at that point, and he found them odd and fascinating.

  Over time, his continued regular exposure to humans taught him many things about their kind, but mostly that they were not nearly as smart, brave, or gifted as most of them seemed to believe they were. But for every annoyance he witnessed among their kind, he still found them fascinating. And he’d formed a bond with those aboard the Defiance. And apparently many of his crewmates felt the same way. When Trousso became president of the IU and barred A’lyph from entering, Captain Arleth and the others told him he was welcome to stay part of the crew for as long as he desired. And despite the risk, he’d found himself wanting to stay.

  Now, though, he wondered if he’d made the right decision. He’d found himself in plenty of scrapes since joining Captain Arleth’s crew, but this was worse than usual.

  What were their options? To float around in space until someone came to find them?

  He looked at the incapacitated ship. It was in pretty bad shape—bad enough that he doubted any crew had survived—but parts of it might be salvageable. And if it had had the technology to bring them here, some of that technology might still be accessible.

  “How much did you say you knew about whatever they did to send us here?” he asked the girl.

  “I only know what they can do. I don’t know how. They didn’t tell me stuff like that. They had other…uses for me.”

  He didn’t press her for more details. He told himself he didn’t care.

  “I’m handy enough with technology,” he said. “Maybe I can figure it out.”

  Slowly, watching for any sign of life from the vessel, he steered the pod toward it. He might be driving them to their deaths, but he didn’t see any other options.

  He was just pulling up along the side of the vessel when a strange, piercing sound echoed through him. It was so loud and sharp it sent new shards of pain through him, and he sucked in a breath. Beside him, Yuki clapped her hands over her ears, nearly doubling over.

  Almost as suddenly as it began, the noise stopped. His ears rang, but at least the pain was lessened.

  “What was that?” he said, more to himself than to her.

  But the girl answered. “I don’t know. But I do remember them saying that terrible things happen to those trapped on the wrong side for too long.”

  “The wrong side of what? And what sort of terrible things?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, and there was terror in her eyes. “But sometimes they sent people to the wrong side on purpose. To punish them.”

  He still wasn’t entirely sure what was going on—were they in the past or on the wrong side, whatever that meant?—but he was getting frustrated again.

  “This would have been helpful information five minutes ago,” he told her.

  Before she could respond, the horrible, high-pitched screech seemed to tear through his mind again. It sounded almost animal. Yuki groaned and nearly fell to her knees next to him.

  This time it wasn’t jus
t a sound, though—he could feel it. Sense it. There was something here with them. He had no idea where they were or even how they’d come to be here, but he knew one thing—they weren’t alone.

  DAYNA

  Brax glared at Dayna for a few moments, almost growling when he finally spoke. “I say we put her in the brig, Captain.”

  Dayna returned the glare. “That would be idiotic. I’m the only one who can get Ulan back.” She turned to the captain. “Besides, I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve served faithfully on board Defiance, same as everyone else here.” Dayna turned back to Brax. “And we all have a past, don’t we, Locke?”

  His gaze narrowed. “But some of our pasts are actually our futures, apparently. Unless you’re lying about that, too.”

  “I’ve never lied to anyone.” Dayna turned her attention to Captain Arleth. “Permission to search for our crewmate?”

  “Permission granted.” Dayna wasn’t able to read the expression on her captain’s face—it was something between shock and amazement, but there was no time to try to determine what it was she was feeling. She could leave that to Brax and his fancy aura reading abilities.

  Thad almost tripped over himself trying to get out of her way as Dayna made her way back to the navigation console. He looked back at the captain, the terror on his face all too evident. “I…I think I’ll go check on the engines.”

  “The engines are fine, Hamilton.” Captain Arleth motioned for the man to take the seat next to Dayna again. “Jackson may need assistance—”

  “I’ll be fine.” Dayna didn’t have time for dumbass men who were afraid of her. She’d already put up with enough of that from Brax. She glanced over at Thad again. “You probably should be sure the hyperdrive is running smoothly. We may need to make a quick jump.”

  The captain merely nodded at the man, and he clambered out of his seat and stumbled off the bridge.

  “Looks like Thad couldn’t get out of here fast enough. Maybe he could hear something in her thoughts, Captain?” Brax seemed very sure of himself. “Maybe something like…oh, I don’t know. Maybe he could hear that she’s in with those purple-eyed assholes who tried to kill me today?”

  “Enough, Locke.” Captain Arleth took her seat on the bridge again. “How long do you think your modifications will take, Jackson?”

  Dayna continued typing on her console as quickly as she could with the constant interruptions. “I’m not sure. No more than a few minutes at the rate I’m going now, hopefully.” She didn’t turn back to make eye contact with either of them this time.

  “I don’t get it, Captain. If she’s from the future, why didn’t she go buy a lottery ticket? And why the hell would she want to be on ship like this?”

  Dayna didn’t turn to see, but she could almost feel the captain’s angry response to his question.

  Brax’s mouth continued to overload itself. “You know what I mean, Captain. I didn’t mean…oh, never mind. But why didn’t she just go buy one of those lottery tickets? I mean, if she’s from the future—”

  “You know, Locke, men don’t get any smarter in the future. They’re all still as dumb as you.” Dayna typed a bit more on her keypad before risking a glance back at the man. “But you…you really are one for the history books. I mean, your photo might be in the entry for idiot in the intergalactic dictionary in four hundred years. If I ever go back, I’ll be sure to check.” She turned back to her console to continue her modifications.

  “But why this ship? Why us?” Brax didn’t seem to understand why his questions were so ridiculous. “When you could have chosen any ship in the galaxy…why this one? I mean—”

  Dayna interrupted with a quick spin in her chair. “I didn’t choose you, idiot. I didn’t have time to actually choose something intentional like that. You’ve seen them. You’ve seen enough to know that they aren’t exactly…nice. And you don’t understand—and I’m not about to spend the rest of this evening explaining it to you. Not when we have more important things to worry about.”

  “But a lottery ticket…you could have just bought yourself an island somewhere—”

  “Why are you so stupid, Brax?” Dayna rolled her eyes. “I didn’t bring the history of the lottery with me. It’s not like kids memorize winning lottery numbers from four hundred years ago so they can travel through time to win money that won’t be worth a damn thing in thirty years.” She clamped her lips together when she realized she’d said too much. She spun back around and began typing on the console again.

  Captain Arleth had been watching the exchange between the two of them with keen interest, but never interrupted. It seemed like a long while before she spoke again. “Dayna…” She cleared her throat. “Was there a reason you chose this ship?”

  “I only chose it because you were kind to me, Captain.” She paused long enough to give the captain a glance before turning back to her work. “I needed to go somewhere…do something. It’s a long story, but I didn’t exactly come here prepared. I suppose if I had, I might have looked up the stupid lottery numbers before I came.” She threw a quick glare over her shoulder at Brax. “But it wasn’t like that.”

  “Oh.” The captain paused for another moment. “So there was nothing…important about this ship? No reason you chose to come here?”

  Dayna’s hands stopped moving and she splayed them on her console, stopping to still her thoughts before answering. She finally spun in her chair to face Captain Arleth. “I know what you’re asking. I know you want to know if what you’re doing with Barner is going to make a difference. And…and…” She risked a glance up at Brax before turning her gaze back to the captain’s. “And I don’t know. I have no idea if my presence here will make any difference one way or another. Or if what you’re doing with Barner is going to succeed.”

  “So, it…doesn’t succeed. Or at least it doesn’t go down in history as a big deal.” The captain frowned. “I’d think…” She cleared her throat again. “I probably shouldn’t be asking, should I?”

  “I can’t tell you what happens to Barner. I have no idea…” She paused, considering if she really wanted to tell them anything else about their situation. “There are laws…” Dayna shook her head, turning in her seat again to finish the changes to the sensors. “Not that my purple-eyed friends care about any of them, but there are laws against going back in time to profit or to change anything. And it’s well-policed. But people usually can only make a jump once before they get stuck. It isn’t like you can just go buy temporal shifting devices at the nearest trading post when you go back in time. If it’s damaged in any way when you jump, you’re stuck in the past forever. And they’re always damaged.”

  “But if you came with winning lottery numbers, you’d be set for life.” Dayna could almost hear Brax rubbing his hands together. “I mean, it’d be worth it. You could retire, have a houseful of women at your feet—”

  “Sadly, men are still assholes where I come from, Brax. You’d think four hundred years of mellowing would change them, but it hasn’t. They all still think with their cocks, just like you. They all…” She stopped, spotting something on her monitor. She risked another glance back at Captain Arleth. “Captain, I think there might be a problem.”

  The captain stood, walking over to her. “I don’t think I can really help with resetting the sensors to read into the future, Jackson.”

  Dayna shook her head, reading her monitor again. “It isn’t that, Captain. It isn’t that at all.” Her heart sank in her chest. For as difficult as it had been for her to make the adjustments to living so long ago in the past, she’d come to not only accept her fate of being stuck here, but to actually enjoy it. She’d grown quite fond of her crewmates—even Brax, if she was being honest with herself.

  And if the purple-eyed people had just left her alone, things would have been fine. This was actually a nice place to be in history—things weren’t going to fall completely apart for another thirty or forty years, and with the way this ship ran, Dayna was pretty sure t
hey’d all be dead long before that. And if her own temporal shifter hadn’t malfunctioned, she might have made it even further back in the past. Not that it mattered in the least now. She’d found a home on Defiance, despite it not being the exact time she’d wanted to get to when she left.

  “I don’t see what you’re seeing, Dayna.” The captain let out something of a sigh. “You’re probably going to have to spell it out for me, especially since I also can’t seem to read your thoughts anymore.”

  “Right. It’s actually not that uncommon a talent where I come from. People…kids like me are taught how to shield their thoughts against it. I just…I stopped using it when I came here. I didn’t need it since no one could do it. Shielding takes a lot of energy, and…”

  “Kids like you?” Brax came to stand behind her as well, peering over her shoulder at the monitor. “So, we’re to believe you’re something special?”

  Dayna had to almost physically force the anger welling inside her back down to a manageable level. “Your precious Harcrow is the one who started that testing on kids. He—”

  “The special talents testing?” The captain interrupted. “You mean—”

  “I mean nothing.” Dayna spun in her seat again, not wanting to face either of them. It was going to be incredibly difficult not to share too much now. Although, the more she thought about it, the less horrible changing the course of history seemed. “I only mean that you should be careful what you wish for.”

  “Meaning Trousso might not be as bad as we thought?” Brax placed a hand on her arm for a moment before pulling it away. “Is that what you’re saying, Dayna?”

  “I’m saying…nothing.” She pointed at a few lines of code on her screen. “What I am saying is that Ulan and Yuki weren’t pulled four hundred years into the future when they made the temporal jump a few minutes ago.”

  The captain edged closer, looking over Dayna’s shoulder at the screen. “You’re going to have to be more specific, Jackson.”