Stone in the Sky

by Cecil Castellucci

  “I didn’t know how to find them,” I admitted.

  Tell the truth as much as you can, Heckleck always said.

  “You’ve been here for a few years, yes?”

  I nodded.

  “How did you survive?” she asked.

  “Barter,” I said.

  “The Imperium frowns on black market activities,” she said. “That will have to be another charge to your crimes.”

  She made another note in her datapad.

  “Why did you start the riot?” she asked. “Do you resent the aliens that you live with?”

  “No! And I didn’t start the riot,” I said.

  “That’s not what the eyewitnesses said.”

  “You were an eyewitness,” I said. “What did you see?”

  “I’m here as a neutral party,” she said haltingly. “I can’t be called upon as a witness.”

  “Who is called then?”

  She flashed her datapad to me, and I could see some of the names.

  They were aliens that I knew who were down on their luck. Who hadn’t had much of a break in the rush. Or lived in the underguts. I couldn’t blame them for saying they saw something. They were trying to survive. They had likely weighed the worth of staying loyal to me. And if there was one thing I knew was that a favor owed to the dead was not worth anything at all.

  I needed to change this conversation quickly before I drowned.

  “How’s Earth?”

  I saw her wince at the mention of home. She looked up from her datapad.

  “Earth and her colonies are thriving under the Imperium,” she said. “Earth is stable. All rebels destroyed.”

  “What colonies have you visited?” I asked. “What do they look like? I’ve always wondered since I never made it to mine.”

  Killick. Kuhn. Marxuach. Andra. Beta Granade.

  Her eyes snapped to me.

  “I’m the one asking the questions,” she said.

  “Which one have you seen?” I asked.

  “I have not yet had the pleasure,” she said. “I was to accompany Brother Blue to Kuhn last season, but I came down with a stomach virus the night before and could not leave. But they are thriving.”

  I was about to open my mouth and tell her what I knew. I was going to tell her to check my data plug for the information. At least if I was going to die, I wanted someone of my kind to know that I knew about Brother Blue. If it was the last thing I did, I would plant a seed of doubt in her mind. It would be a slow poison from within. If the Imperium found out, then she would be in jeopardy. Her ruin was a small comfort. But at least it would be something.

  Really I was just taking swings in the dark.

  Before I could speak, the door slid open and Tournour stepped into the room with barely a glance at me.

  I wished we could be alone. I wished he would tell me that he’d killed Brother Blue and that he was now going to kill this Human girl. But to kill them with all the Imperium Guards around only meant death. And while I had not cared about that, Tournour had tried to show me that patience, which I did not have, and strategy, which I was slow on, was the only way to get what you wanted, and to live.

  He took a seat in one of the large chairs and looked bored, as though he didn’t care for me. Not even his antennae were paying attention to me.

  As close to Tournour as I was, in this moment I knew that I had to pretend he was no friend of mine now. I had to face him as an enemy.

  I steeled myself.

  One thing that I knew about Tournour is that he would fight to keep the Yertina Feray safe, and right now I was in the way of that. That was one difference between the Loor and the Human. The Loor always had the greater task in mind. If it meant taking me down, he would do it. I was just one Human, even if I was his.

  But Humans would fight for each other.

  I laughed. Neither way was better or worse.

  I was being interrogated about every aspect of my business. I was glad that I had always insisted on being paid in currency chits. It made it easier for me to still seem legitimate and harder for the Imperium to find too much fault with me. They cited me for how I acquired the waters I sold; for not having proper ways to store and serve the different kinds of fresh foods; for the friendly gambling that my customers did when they played their simple games; for undeclared income from the bartering I did. The list went on.

  Myfanwy was relentless at digging in every dark corner that I had. As she entered notes into her datapad, Tournour sat stone-faced. I was exhausted and wanted to make it stop. I wanted to be in the arboretum with Tournour, with our feet in the dirt. I wanted to be questioned about simple things, things that would make us both smile. Or bring us closer together.

  To make things worse, Tournour would occasionally interrupt Myfanwy and make a point that dug my hole even deeper.

  “We are satisfied,” said Myfanwy.

  “When is my trial?” I asked.

  “The trial for execution will be set for tomorrow.”

  Now I understood why I couldn’t catch a break with Myfanwy. In her eyes I was already dead. Tournour wouldn’t try to help me because the best thing I could do for him now was to have all of my errant ways be revealed so that they would not have any reason to turn on him, too. I was securing his position as essential to the station.

  But what about me? I thought. I want to live, too.

  Tournour threw me into the brig himself. He had done this to me before to keep me safe. But it didn’t feel that way this time. My absolute fear was rising fast.

  He was the last one to leave the room and he turned to face me as the cell door slid shut. And only I saw his lips move.

  “Trust me,” he mouthed.

  I lay down on the hard bench with my face to the wall. I didn’t want to be seen as I wept.

  11

  It was hours later when I thought that all hope was lost that Reza burst into the room where I was being held.

  At first I didn’t recognize him. It seemed out of place to see him back on the station, in the brig, holding a knife in one hand. He punched the guard at the console and then wrapped the guard’s arms, legs, and mouth in some of the rags that he wore.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked. I sounded angry, but inside I was feeling light. Hopeful.

  “Getting you out.”

  “I thought you were on Quint.” I said.

  “I’m back.”

  Reza looked at me and smiled, then put his finger up to tell me to wait a minute.

  He hovered over the console, pecking at the terminal buttons, taking an awfully long time at whatever he was doing. I wanted to get out of my cell before someone came in.

  “Hurry!” I said. I worried that we’d both get killed.

  He shook his hand at me to keep quiet.

  “This is suicide,” I said.

  “I’m trying to remember the code,” he said. “I’m good at strategy and force, but I forget codes,” he said. “I need to concentrate here.”

  It was frustrating to not be able to see what he was doing. I imagined that if I could see, I could help. But that wasn’t necessarily true. I had social skills, but I had never learned computer programming. Heckleck had taught me a few basic override commands. How to overide a simple door was one of them. It’s always good to know a few ways in and out of a place.

  But this was a brig. I couldn’t lock pick myself out of this one.

  “Look you need to know something. This whole station is completely under the Imperium’s thumb. They’re coming for the alin. Tournour is with them right now,” I said. “Just leave me here. He won’t be able to help you if you get caught.”

  Reza stepped back from the console and sang himself a little tune. Some mnemonic device and after a moment, he punched the numbers in slowly. The door that jailed me slid open.

  He stuck his hand out for me to take. That electric spark was still there. It was nice to touch a Human.

  “Who do you think called me back up here, came up
with the plan, and gave me the code?” he asked glancing up at me with that look that I loved most about him.

  Tournour. Of course. This was his plan. He told me to trust him. He was always going to get me out of here.

  I laughed.

  “The guard didn’t struggle, as though he knew he was going to be attacked.”

  “It was all theatrics,” Reza said. “This station isn’t completely under the Imperium’s thumb. You’ve got friends. But Brother Blue has all his papers to order an execution after your trial. We have to go. Now.”

  We exited the brig, and standing guard at the door was Trevor.

  “You brought Trevor,” I said. “How did you get it to work?”

  “Tournour activated it,” he said. “He thought you’d need it.”

  I was so happy to see the robot that I threw my arms around its metal body and hugged it even though it could not care less that I was feeling anything.

  “We don’t have time for that,” Reza said, pulling at me. I instructed Trevor to follow us.

  It was the quiet cycle, the time when most aliens were asleep. But even so, there was always something going on. Aliens should be present and walking around. The station functioned around the clock. But the station was especially eerie this time.

  “Where is everyone?”

  “There’s been a power grid glitch. Everyone is to stay inside,” Reza said.

  “Really?” I said.

  “No,” Reza said. “Tournour.”

  “What’s the plan?” I asked. “Where am I to go?”

  “I don’t know,” Reza said. “We didn’t have time to think that far ahead.”

  It was strange to think of Tournour and Reza plotting my fate together. Although if my fate were in anyone’s hands, I was glad that it was both of theirs. They approached problems differently, but together they would likely think of almost every angle.

  Despite the clear path, we weaved through sections that while it seemed to be the long way around, I knew were the safest, sneakiest way to get to the docking bay.

  When Reza diverted from the way I would have gone, I knew that likely it was because he had information that I did not. I had to trust him even though I knew the station better than he did.

  “Tournour and his guards could chase us and never catch up,” I said. Confirming why I thought we were going the long way.

  “That’s the idea,” Reza said.

  But even I could tell that it was taking too long. We were only halfway there when the all-clear sounded.

  “Well, it couldn’t have lasted forever,” Reza said.

  I turned cold as panic flooded me.

  The halls were filling up, making Reza agitated, and Trevor more alert, but everyone who passed us averted their eyes, telling me that they would not say they had seen me. I knew that I had bought this precious extra time with those favors I had accrued over the years.

  How much would I owe when I got back?

  Then it hit me. Would I come back?

  I could see a patrol coming down the main hallway.

  “Twelve o’clock,” I said.

  We weren’t too far from Kistch Rutsok’s, and I could see him standing outside of his place waving people inside, trying to get big business. Kitsch Rutsok’s voice was so loud. We were going to get caught.

  “Tell Trevor to head to the docking bay,” Reza said.

  I gave the command and watched as Trevor rolled away from us.

  Kitsch’s eyes caught mine. I stared at him, thinking that he would be glad to witness my arrest.

  Reza pulled me into a public data nook and pushed me up against the console wall.

  This little nook would not cover us from the officers’ view no matter if they were on Tournour’s side or not. They would not be able to ignore us. Capture was inevitable.

  But I’d seen something change in Kitsch Rutsok’s eyes. Although he hated the fact that I was his direct competition, he did something for me in that moment that I would never forget. Instead of waving everyone inside for business, he started telling everyone inside his place to come outside. His big booming voice changed pitch, and I watched in amazement as his arms pulled at aliens to crowd the hallway.

  “The data nook is over there,” he said. “Make sure to fill your currency chits!”

  The aliens who I didn’t know, or whose faces were unfamiliar, kept going into the bar; but the aliens who had lived on the Yertina Feray for years poured out of the bar and started coming toward the nook that Reza and I were crouched in.

  I saw a little Nurlok that I knew well. Kelmao, who had helped me in the past with the Hocht I had against Caleb, and occasionally helped out at the Tin Star Café, noticed me. Then she turned to the Nurlok nearest her and spit through her whiskers. The other Nurlok spit back, and they started to fight and the crowd formed a ring around them, hiding us as the patrol went by.

  The data console jabbed into my back as Reza pushed closer to me. I twisted my body toward it, a plan forming in my head. If I was going to get off of this space station there was only one place to go, to Togni Station and take the space elevator down to Bessen. From there, I would have the best chance of taking a swipe at Brother Blue’s reputation. He would be here. I could hurt him.

  My determination to avenge all that he took and kept taking away from me was reignited.

  The patrol came up to the crowd. They knew I was missing, but they didn’t seem in a particular hurry to find me, even though I could hear them questioning the crowd. Kitsch Rutsok led the crowd in ignoring the officers and goading at the two Nurloks. It was like an impromptu Hocht. They threw punches and then started to run down the hall.

  “Officers! You waste time looking for a measly Human when you’ve got two Nurloks causing trouble right here! I should issue a complaint and have you fined for not doing your jobs!”

  The other aliens joined in yelling at the officers who finally took off after the Nurloks.

  We were alone in the hall now, except for the few who had lingered behind to still cover us. Everyone that had been on the station since before the boom seemed to be in on ensuring my escape, some had even given me pieces of their clothing to help disguise me.

  I entered in my secret code and retrieved my data about Brother Blue.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Reza hissed.

  I put my finger up to tell him to wait.

  “I can’t count on Trevor being at the docking bay, and I need my proof if I’m going to have a bargaining chip down the line,” I said.

  I punched in the numbers to remotely access my data and ordered a data plug of the file that I kept on Brother Blue. It was encrypted, and only I knew the code, but when I decrypted it I could show the discrepensies that I knew for certain about him. Some of it was what I had accumulated. Some of the data was what Els had tried to bribe Brother Blue with. Silently I thanked her, even though she had caused me so much trouble and had died for it. In a few minutes, the console 3-D printed a data plug for me.

  Now I was armed.

  “Go, go!”

  It was Kistch Rutsok pulling at us to leave the nook.

  I shook the dreadful thoughts out of my head and put one foot in front of the other.

  “Thank you,” I said as we passed Kitsch Rutsok.

  “Live,” he said. Not looking at me.

  I tried to calculate how many favors I would owe for this. My mind spun at the thought of the unpayable debt for life by so many people on the station.

  “What’s at the docking bay?” I asked Reza as we ran down the halls. There was no time to go any other way than the direct way.

  “There is a Per ship willing to take you off the station,” he said. “After that you’re on your own.”

  “I know how to do that,” I said.

  12

  Finally, we were at the docking bay.

  Trevor was there waiting for us. I was so happy that it’d made it.

  Reza and I rushed to the hangar where the Per were waving us
in frantically with all of their arms.

  “The alarm has been sounded,” the Per captain said. “We need to leave now if we are going to leave at all.”

  I was really leaving. After three long years on the Yertina Feray, after all of that wishing, the day was finally here and I didn’t want to go. I sent Trevor onto the ship ahead of me and then turned back to Reza.

  “Come with me,” I said.

  “No,” he said. “I have to stay here. I can make money. A lot of it. If I can get it to the resistance and overthrow Earth Gov and stop this collaboration with the Imperium, then somehow, maybe I can help Earth.”

  I loved that he was still fighting for Earth. Even after it betrayed him, even after it had fallen to the Imperium, he still believed in it. It was as if he knew that though things were seemingly good on the surface, the dependence on the Imperium was a deal with the devil. Reza believed he could be the one to open Earth’s eyes to that.

  How much further along would he be with his dreams right now if I had not mistakenly sent him to the Outer Rim, but back there as I had planned a year ago? Would he have done anything as noble back on Earth? Or had my mistake, assigning travel passes to Caleb and Reza during their cryosleep, somehow saved him so he’d be ready for this moment? Maybe my mistake had really given him his best shot. Maybe he knew it too from the way he was looking at me. Like he still had some fight in him.

  He clenched his fists and brought them to his eyes. “Besides, if I go with you, Brother Blue will know who is on your side. We’ve got to keep him guessing. This is everyone’s best chance.”

  I knew he was right, but I didn’t like it. I caught my breath. I was leaving. And I might never see him or Tournour again.

  “Tournour will have to be your enemy,” I said.

  I didn’t like to think of the two I really cared about being on opposites sides.

  “It’ll be all right,” he said.

  He took my hand in his and squeezed it. All I could think of was that his skin felt so familiar, and I might never feel it again. His thumb ran itself along mine. Time slowed. These few seconds were forever. They were all we had.