by Kylie Gold
“So what kind of price range are we talkin’ here,” Hamish asked, clearly aggravated by the crash and wanted to get a move on.
"Well let's see," Lyle said before pulling out a tablet. With waving hand gestures, he maneuvered through the catalog. He seemed to move about at a leisurely pace, making a clicking noise with his tongue as he panned through the screens. "Ah, here we go. Cargo ship parts," he said, scrolling some more. "So for one replacement drive, we are looking at a cost of 200,000 rerums,” Lyle announced, clasping his hands together and looking at us both with such a cheerful expression.
My eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. 200,000 rerums!? For one drive for an engine? No one would pay that price! My eyes immediately fell on Captain Hamish, who looked to be battling conflicting emotions.
“Why the hell…. Why… Why is a drive so expensive here? I could buy two dozen drives on any other planet for that price…” Hamish let out in bursts of broken huffs. Ah, poor fellow. For once in his life, Hamish was caught between being an asshole, and needing help from this stranger—which meant being nice.
“Well as you probably know, Shaviro is a bit infamous for the native problem we have had since arriving here six years ago. So, it is difficult as well as expensive to find delivery services willing to do business here. I’m sure you can understand that,” Lyle told them as smoothly as possible, that condescending smile still on his face. What the hell was his deal?
"Well, I don't have that sort of money… I'm a captain of an ice hauler, not a luxury cruiser,” Captain Hamish huffed, throwing his hands up in protest and frustration. “There has got to be another way. We need to get our delivery made and back home before our generators give out and melt that ice.”
Lyle gave an uneasy sigh, clearly being theatrical. This guy was really not putting off good vibes. “Unfortunately, my hands are tied then. 200,000 barely covers the cost of the drive and the labor to repair it. Let alone the cost to house your entire crew for however long the repair may take… Unless,” Lyle’s eyes raised from the desk to Hamish with a smirk on his face. Leaning back in the luxurious chair, he tapped his fingers together, “Unless you and your crew are willing to give payment in another form.”
“What in the bloody hell does that mean?” Hamish questioned, raising one of his wispy white brows at Lyle.
“In order to earn the payment for the repairs, a team of your crew could assist in a raiding one of the central tribes of the hideous natives,” Lyle proposed. “In our years here, there has been so much bloodshed and no understanding between us and those beasts. We want to know what they have, and what materials they use. That way we know what to look for. Raid the village and bring back as many samples from their tribe as possible, and our colony will pay for your drive as well as do the repair for free.”
“You’ll pay 200,000 rerums just for us to raid some primitive village?” Hamish asked in disbelief.
Lyle gave a slow nod, "Understanding our enemy as well as what potential this planet has in terms of materials and goods is very, very important to us. We would go to extreme lengths just to get the little extra help. Even 200,000 rerums.”
“Well, alright then. Sure, as long as my ship is prepared in time for our delivery,” Hamish nodded.
My face drained of color. Was he really willing to feed his men to the wolves like that? "Sir, with all due respect, we aren't trained in any form of combat. We're ice miners, we don't fight. Sending a team of those guys out there would be sending them to the slaughterhouse," I tried to reason with Hamish. Sure, not all the men on the Union Jack were exactly delicate flowers, but hardly any of them had been in any sort of combat.
"Well, I guess you'll be learnin’ on your feet, won’t you?” Hamish spat at her with a glare.
You'll? Is he really going to send ME? Oh, there was no way, I was certain I would die against the horrendous beasts. "But sir—"
“Suck it up, officer!” Hamish snapped at me, using my title as a way of ‘putting me in my place’. Hamish returned his gaze to Lyle. “They’ll do it.”
“Excellent,” Lyle grinned.
Well, it looked like I was going to die on Shaviro after all.
4
Dracon
The quiet of my hut was one of the only things that could calm my weary soul these days. Walking through the door, it was like a wave of relief crashed over me. The stress on my shoulders was still there, but at least I could breathe. Away from the voices and woes of my people, away from the reminders of what this war was doing to us…
Hanging up my ax, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in a mirror that I had over the mantle so that I could watch the door from my bed. The deep red blood of a human was splattered across my right cheek. With a heavy sigh, I dragged myself to the sink and turned on the spout. Cool water gathered in my cupped hands, my reflection bouncing off the clear water. Lowering my head, I splashed my face over the sink and took a deep breath. Gathering another handful of water, I once again splashed the area where the blood had been, rubbing the splatters away.
The war was so heavy on my mind that day, and the faces and screams of those men were scorched into my memory. There was no satisfaction in killing another being. There was no reward. I suppose I should have just been relishing in the fact that I was keeping my people safe from the humans, but why did my heart feel so heavy? I dried my hands and face on a soft linen before plopping myself down at my table. I didn’t live much better than the rest of the tribe, my hut was just larger to hold meetings if necessary. But at times like that, with such gruesome thoughts hanging over my head, the large space was another reminder of crushing loneliness that had plagued me for quite some time. The war efforts took all of my time, so finding a suitable mate had been pushed back by quite some time. Honestly, though, I didn’t even know if I wanted a mate. Who would want something so cherished to be taken away so easily in these desperate times? The last thing I needed was a heartache on my chest as well. That was even to say if he had a suitable mate. With their depleting population, it made mates much harder to come by. The Navani women were so hesitant to get pregnant in recent years with the war, which I could understand. If I had a mate, I wouldn’t be so sure I would want a child right then. No children should be in the middle of bloodshed. But then again, if we didn’t have children then our species would die out anyways.
Ugh, there was just too much weighing on my chest. Luckily, evening was upon them soon and most of the tribe would return to their homes and hopefully a peaceful evening would be set in place. So, with that in mind, I rose to get a bottle of liquor from the pantry. Grabbing a stone cup as well, I sat back down and looked at the bottle of liquor. Navanian liquor was primarily made from a jungle fruit that was already bitter in nature—and fermenting it definitely didn’t add any sweetness. It was bitter and strong, and just what I needed. Pouring the potent liquid into my cup, I sat the bottle of liquor down and raised the cup to my lips; at least I would sleep well that night, even if it was a blacked out stupor. As the stone touched my lips, there was a sudden sharp knock on the door. My eyes lifted to the door and contemplated for a moment. The childish part of me whined to ignore the knock and enjoy that entire bottle of liquor—but even that part of me knew I wouldn’t just sit idly by.
With yet another sigh, I sat down my cup and stood before slowly waltzing to the door. He opened the wooden door to find Shan waiting just on the other side. I didn’t say a word, jut stepping to the side to let him enter before shutting the door. I knew Shan would only come for good reason at that time of day, not with a mate and two small children waiting for him. Something was on his mind.
Shan looked stressed, his blood orange eyes scanning the floor as he paced about a bit nervously. He would eventually get his words out. I walked back over to my seat and sat down, swirling my cup as I waited for him to finish. “One of us could have been killed on that hunt, Dracon,” he finally managed to get out.
“I’m aware,” I spoke calmly, watching him with
careful eyes.
“We are lucky no one got hurt. There was only three of us. Imagine if it would have been a whole militia of humans. We could have maybe, maybe crawled away with our lives,” Shan expressed to me, his hands making big gestures as he spoke—something the man had always done when he was riled up about something. “These humans are just unpredictable, and I don’t like the fact that I don’t feel as though I can leave my hut without having to worry about being ambushed by them. Not to mention my mate and children.”
“I know and I tire of the unforeseen harm as well. Have a seat,” I kicked the leg of one of the chairs out so that the chair pushed out for Shan to sit down.
Shan looked at the chair before reluctantly sitting. He stared me in the eyes, “I don’t want to make my mate a widow, Dracon.” His face was worn from the recent years of stress, despite being rather youthful. War had aged him, just as it had everyone.
“I don’t want her to be a widow either, Shan,” I sighed, running a hand over my face before I stared down into my cup. “I wish to make peace with the humans. To make a treaty so that we don’t have to lose any more lives. So that our tribe can prosper again." It was like a reflex had been triggered and, before I knew it, I was indulging him in the thoughts that had been so heavy on my mind. "We were once a great people with so much promise. These humans have forced us into seclusion, only venturing out for means of food. Countless lives have been lost, and damage to our planet that I fear can never be fixed. But… these humans clearly aren't going anywhere at all. They have us beaten by population as well as battalion. We've barely been able to hold our head above water, and I do not know how much longer we can sustain under these war conditions." I gave a pause before finally raising the cup to my lips and taking a swig of the stomach churning bitterness. "We need to make peace with the humans if we want to live. It's the only option we have."
Shan gazed at me with wide, surprised eyes. I had no idea what he thought my response would be, but clearly, I had completely shocked him. "Those are dangerous thoughts…” he warned. He didn’t have to explain it. I knew why it was dangerous. It was dangerous because making peace with the humans meant seeking humans out in hopes they would meet with them, rather than ambush. And because both sides already hated one another so much, there was bound to be resistance on both sides if peace was made—which was what we were trying to avoid.
But I was no coward. There was going to be bloodshed no matter what, and I would take the lives needed to eventually make peace. I wasn’t afraid of killing the humans, I was just tired of it and feared for my people. “Well, sometimes dangerous thoughts are the only kind that provoke change,” I mumbled to Shan before taking another swig on the liquor. Shan stood and walked to the cabinet, reaching his arm through the blue material that parted with his touch and grabbed a cup himself. The blue armor doors were made from a particular combination of some of the minerals found on Shaviro. You had to have a ring infused with another particular mineral to reach into the liquid-yet-solid armor. After some of the huts on the outskirts of their tribe had been broken into by humans, many Navanians had begun to implement the armor to protect their goods. The material protected my dishes, weapons, currency, and important documents throughout the house. While most of our living was simple and with nature, some measures had to be made to counter the humans.
Shan sat back down and poured himself a splash of the liquor. He then held the cup extended towards mine. We clinked our cups together and sat together in silence, reflecting on our thoughts on the war. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small metal disk and put it on the table. Pressing a button on the top, the device gave a beep before folding itself out and a hologram display appeared in front of us. It was a map of Shaviro I had plucked off one of the humans a couple weeks back. I studied it all the time, hoping to understand where their forces were—if the map was even still accurate. Any move we made to make peace with the humans had to be smart.
5
Amelia
I want it on the record I didn’t like what we were doing at all. In fact, I wanted to scream it from the rooftops. It just didn’t feel right at all. While I understood that these native creatures were volatile, it definitely didn’t feel like my place to kill them. I had never killed anything in my life, and yet they handed me a massive gun to raid this tribe with. Arlo, Rewill, Willy, Muely, and I had no training whatsoever. They just expected us to take those guns, protective suits and helmets, and kill the Navani’s and steal their items. Sounded bulletproof, didn’t it?
A band of locals led us through the jungle. The humidity was unbelievable there— it was as though the thick foliage held all of the moisture that entered from above. Arlo and the guys tried to ask the locals what exactly the Navani looked like so that they could know what to be on the lookout for, but they couldn’t give them a straight answer; only vague replies like ‘you’ll know one when you see one’. What in the world was that supposed to mean? All I could imagine were bug-like creatures that were over ten feet tall with giant mouths that harbored elongated razor sharp teeth. From what I had heard about the Navani, they were ravenous and violent. I didn’t know what to expect, really. All I knew was that I was not prepared for the dangers that awaited ahead.
The locals seemed to crouch down, and we followed in position. We came out between two huts. These things had houses? They looked so much like primitive human homes… I really began to feel uneasy. Before I could do anything or ask any questions, the colonists ran full speed into the open and began to open fire, Willy and Rewill quickly following suit. Arlo, Muely, and I all hedged. After another split second, Muely ran out to assist them. Arlo looked back to me with pained eyes, "Let's get a move on…" he said and then ran out too. I still couldn't move, though. It felt like I was in a virtual reality horror movie. The Navani weren’t bug-like creatures at all. They looked like humans. The only difference was they had reddish skin tone and unnatural color of eyes. I was frozen completely still as I watched the Navani women with their children hurry into their huts, and men charge at the armed men.
As I stood in horror, one of the tall red-skinned men took notice of me with the gun and began running full speed at me. All of my muscles were locked, unsure if I was frozen by fear or the inability to kill another being. He neared me with his bright silver eyes locked onto my eyes. He began to leap into the air, pulling a sword from a sheath on his back. And all I could do was stare. Within a blink, Arlo was in front of me and opened fire at the male Navani. Giant pellets pierced him all over his chest, blood projecting out as he fell backward to the ground. Arlo turned to tell me something, but I couldn't hear him. There was a ringing in my ears, perhaps from the sound of the guns, perhaps from the shock of it all. Arlo grabbed my shoulders and began to shake me but couldn't for long.
Two Navani men came from behind and ripped him away. Just three feet away from me, Arlo’s neck was sliced open from what looked like a laser blade. I couldn’t tell you if I screamed, but I was pretty sure I had from how much my throat began to burn. Arlo’s beautiful caramel eyes were locked onto mine as his blood drained from his neck and life began to dim in his eyes. This wasn't happening, this was a horrible dream. I had fallen in the ice back at the mining site and this was a hypothermic coma.
The two men then lunged at me, and it suddenly snapped me from my daze. I dodged and tried to run away but they had grabbed me with something by the ankle. I clutched at the vibrant blue grass as I tried to crawl away, but whatever was around my ankle had a vice grip. I turned to look back to see what it was when another sight caught my attention. A tall red-skinned man was in the middle of it all, and in a blur, massive wings ripped out of his back. Within mere moments, the majority of the locals were dead by his hand with the man relentlessly swinging a laser ax around with such precision that every swing he gave resulted in another human's head being sliced off or chest cavity sliced open. They fell like gnats to the ground.
Then I felt the ground move from beneath me
as I was tossed into the air by the metallic lasso around my ankle. My body flung into the side of a stone hut, the stones ripping my suit upon impact. Well if I hadn't been sore from the crash, I was certainly sore then. My head was spinning from repeated head trauma from the day. I was going to vomit—I just knew it. I was going to vomit and die by the hands of these strange humanoid creatures. One leaned down and picked me up by the throat and slammed me back into the wall. The impact caused the mechanism in the helmet to fail, causing the thing to fold away from my face and back into the neck of the suit. His hold was like a boa constrictor around my neck, slowly gaining pressure. Once more, he slammed me against the wall. At the same time, I felt my head smack against the wall and the world began spinning rapidly, the wind was knocked out of me—and his hand around my throat wasn't exactly making it possible for me to intake a full breath. Spots grew in my vision. Ah, so this was the way I was going to die, choking to death on a foreign planet. Not exactly the way I had expected my life to go, but then again it made sense with my hopping around the last few years.
A voice bellowed somewhere near, in a language I couldn’t even begin to understand. I tried hard to locate the voice, but from bashing my head the umpteenth time that day it wasn’t going to happen. Tension rose in the air around me, I could feel that.
The Navani with his hand wrapped around my throat snapped a response in the complex, foreign language.
The bellowing voice spoke again with a demanding, forceful tone.