Star Minds Interregnum

by Barbara G. Tarn

  "I didn't want her to touch me," Yash whispered, eyes low. "She said now that she was pregnant, we'd get married. I didn't want to spend my life with her. But I didn't want to kill her either!" He stared at the cop, pleading now. "I shoved her away, but I didn't want her to die! I only wanted to get away from my family who was forcing me!"

  "I understand, Yash, calm down." Commander Suhail put both hands on Yash's shoulders with a soothing tone. "I told you, I totally understand you. You will have to come with me. I'll find you a good lawyer before handing you to the Ypsilantian courts, I promise."

  "We don't need no lawyer!" Ryo punched the policeman in the face and grabbed Yash's wrist. "Run, Yash!"

  Startled, Yash sprinted after Ryo without turning back. They ran to the spaceport – again with only the uniform of security on them. Ryo would have to stop using his account or they should split, but Yash was terrified at the thought of being alone with the Galaxy Police coming after him.

  "What now? What now?" he asked, slightly panting, his eyes darting around.

  "There's the rental starships!" Ryo pointed at a batch of Futureo-class Foxes that looked much like Birgit's.

  They didn't have time to properly rent one. Seeing a businessman heading for one of the ships, Ryo put the company gun on "stun" and shot him. He took the access card from the man's limp fingers and checked which ship it opened.

  Breathless, Yash followed him inside where they sat at the dashboard.

  "I can't drive a starship!" Yash protested as Ryo fumbled with buttons and the navigation computer. "Can you?"

  "I've watched Birgit," Ryo replied as the engines started. "If everybody else can do it, so can we. We're not stupid, are we?" He grinned at Yash who stared at him wide-eyed. "Let's go."

  As they took off they saw Commander Suhail reach the spaceport with a bruise already showing on his face.

  "Who-hoo!" Ryo shouted as the starship left Alahairo's orbit.

  "Ryo, what have we done?" Yash wondered, biting his nails.

  "Saved your ass, babe." Ryo winked. "I guess we'll have to stay on Friport from now on. At least the Galaxy Police has no power in there..."

  "But how? How will we get there?" Yash asked, anguished.

  "Check that goddamn computer. We need to set a course anyway."

  Yash frowned, but obeyed.

  "Someone is following us," he announced as a screen showed a blipping light entering their radar range.

  "I bet it's that damn half-blood cop," Ryo muttered. He seemed to enjoy the pilot seat very much. "Did you locate Friport or not?"

  "Not yet," Yash snapped. "The computer is searching. It's probably on the other side of the galaxy, we'll never make it!"

  "Please, enough negative thoughts!" Ryo snorted. "I could take you to Xi-kong, it's safe for you."

  "But not for you!"

  Ryo shrugged. "I can take care of myself."

  Yash glared at him. Ryo was implying he couldn't take care of himself. And Ryo was damn right. Yash wanted to scream.

  The comm lit up with a communication request.

  "Don't take it," Ryo warned, but Yash pursed his lips, then took it.

  The face of Commander Suhail filled the little comm screen. "Yash, don't make things worse. You have nowhere to hide."

  "We're going back to Friport! We should have stayed there!" Ryo said defiantly. Even if he was off camera, he knew the cop could hear him.

  "You're going the wrong way," the policeman said patiently. "You're headed out of the galaxy."

  Puzzled, Yash looked at Ryo who shrugged. "I just learned to pilot, I'm going straight ahead until you tell me where I'm supposed to go. You're sitting at the navigator computer, Yash, don't look at me like that!"

  Yash sighed and glanced at the computer still searching for Friport's location. He hadn't really paid attention to how Birgit worked the starship's dashboard and had no idea of what to do.

  "Turn around before it's too late," Commander Suhail said quietly. "I told you, I'll do my best to let you have an excellent lawyer to deal with Ypsilantian law. And a doctor to check your PTSD – I'm sure you have that too."

  "Yikes." Ryo shivered. "I've had those medical examinations – for my homosexuality – you don't want that, Yash. My people think mine is a sickness than can be cured. Your people think you should do your manly duty and shut up – they don't give a shit if you've been raped. Don't go back. There's nothing to go back to."

  "There's even less ahead," the policeman warned through the comm. "Outside of the galaxy there's the great unknown. What happens when you finish your fuel or your air or if you're hit by a meteorite or your shields go down? There are no repair stations where you're headed, guys."

  "At least we'll die free," Ryo whispered, staring intensely at Yash. "Do you really want to go through a murder trial and come out as rape victim? They'd never believe you. Everybody thinks men can't be raped anyway."

  Yash was so tired of being afraid, of his anxiety attacks, of his unspoken fears... He closed his eyes, then looked at the comm screen again.

  "Let us go, commander," he begged.

  "I can't. Come back with me. We'll prove it was an accident, self-defense. That's what it was, wasn't it? Come on, Yash. There's nothing out there."

  A ribbon of stars and then emptiness. Yash stared at the main screen. It looked very dark. But he didn't mind getting lost in that darkness. It looked like a peaceful place. Where nobody would scold him or humiliate him or abuse him in any way.

  "Want me to stop?" Ryo asked, worried.

  "Keep going," he whispered.

  "There's no way back, Yash," Commander Suhail warned one more time, his voice a little less calm than before.

  "There was never any going back," Yash replied. "I knew when I left Ypsilanti that I'd never see it again – even though I thought Jamika was still alive then." He turned to look at Ryo. "You don't have to come with me, though," he said. "It's me they're after."

  "Are you kidding? And miss your delightful company for whatever is left of our lives?" Ryo smiled. "You won't get rid of me, pal. Wherever you go, I follow."

  "Thanks, pal." Yash squeezed Ryo's hand and stared back at the comm screen. "I'm sorry, commander. I appreciate your words, but really – I have nowhere to go back to. So I'll keep going onward, wherever that takes me."

  Commander Suhail shook his head and sighed. "Don't do it, Yash. It's yours and Ryo's certain death."

  "Murderers get the death penalty on Ypsilanti, commander," Yash replied sourly. "And no lawyer can beat two combined families against a poor young man. Doesn't matter if he's the victim, he killed a woman and will be killed in return."

  "Will you cut that comm?" Ryo asked. "Haven't you had enough of him?"

  Yash smiled against his will and signed off. Both stared at the stars in front of them in silence for a moment.

  "It seems so peaceful out here..." Yash sighed and finally relaxed. "I won't mind some quiet at last."

  "Don't tell me, you're an introvert." Ryo grinned. "As if I hadn't noticed before!" He squeezed Yash's wrist. "Hey, go check if we have some kind of food dispenser and what else is provided in our new moving home!"

  Yash got off his seat and went to explore the small starship. Not much for two, and it wouldn't last them years, but well... he really didn't care. Maybe he could manage to kill himself before it was really too late for Ryo to go back to civilization. But it was comforting not to be alone on his last trip.

  Psychometrist

  Yuki closed her eyes and relaxed, closing her ears to outside sounds and concentrating on the sweatpants in her hands. Her fingers lightly brushed the fabric, coaxing it into revealing the owner of that garment's secrets.

  At twenty-nine, Yuki was still petite and even if she was trained to fight, she had never really been in the assault teams or star-cruiser crews – except once, when the Galaxy Police had sent a star-cruiser on a rescue mission on Duumme along with the Sylvanian fleet.

  She had joined the Galaxy Police whe
n the Emperor was still alive, if only to get away from her home planet, Xi-kong. She had attended the Gifted Children School under the supervision of the Sire Governor, and got out just in time since now the "school" had become an experimental lab that killed most of its gifted students.

  Yuki's specialty was psychometry and retrocognition. She'd followed in her cousin's footsteps by joining the Galaxy Police Academy as soon as she completed her secondary education. Two years later – the year the last Sire Emperor had been killed – she had started as Kiril's assistant, since her cousin was ten years older than her.

  Working in the investigative section was more interesting than being in assault teams, and she was the youngest member, thanks to her psychic powers. Kiril had requested her specifically for her innate talent and she had helped him uncover a few killers and find some missing persons.

  Now – five years later – he was waiting for her in the orbit of Sylvania while she talked to Birgit Gisela who was supposed to have helped a murderer to get away from Ypsilanti – unknowingly. The Sylvanian was a mercenary who had admitted to taking Yashvardan Samara from his home planet, but insisted that he didn't look like a murderer to her.

  Birgit had dropped him on Friport and bought him new clothes. For some reason she had kept the sweatpants he was wearing when he ran away from his home planet and Yuki asked to touch them.

  And then the garment started telling the story of a scared and abused young man who had only reacted in self-defense. Yuki could almost see him shove away his sneering girlfriend, who had been found dead because she'd hit her head on the floor when she'd fallen.

  Yuki frowned and slowly opened her eyes.

  "Did you really feel something?" Birgit asked her, curious.

  "Yes," she whispered, still holding the fabric. "I saw what happened that night. Are you sure you cannot tell us where Yash is now?"

  "I'm sorry, I was only his means to leave the planet." Birgit shrugged. "Do you want to keep that?"

  Yuki sighed. "I don't need it. I've read everything it had to say." She gave the sweatpants back and thanked the Sylvanian. It was time to join Kiril and inform him of her findings.

  Yuki barely reached the shoulder of her half-blood cousin. Kiril's mother had run away from Xi-kong and married an Ypsilantian man, so Kiril had the height of Ypsilantians and the black hair of Xi-kongians. His eyes were slightly almond-shaped, halfway through his mother's slanted black eyes and his father's blue eyes.

  "He's not a murderer, he's a victim," she told her cousin when he met her on the Galaxy Police star-cruiser that had taken them to Sylvania. They had a small office in the crew's quarters and the star-cruiser would take them back to the orbital station on Alahairo, but in the meantime they could continue their investigation. "I felt so much... pain! And shame. And..."

  "Like Keith and Hiram thirteen years ago?" Kiril asked, serious. "Although they were raped by men... You're saying Yashvardan Samara was abused?"

  Yuki nodded, feeling a lump in her throat. "I can't tell you how upset he was." She had to clear her throat because her voice was shaking. "Birgit said she doesn't know where he is now," she continued, worried. "I couldn't touch her to try and read her as well. I think she's protecting him, but I can't blame her. Are you sure we should keep looking for him?"

  "If we don't, someone else will," Kiril replied. "I can reason with him and try to save him. Another would simply take him back and hand him to the Ypsilantian authorities. Who would kill him without a trial."

  Yuki sighed. "You're right, I guess. Where do we look, though?"

  "Did Birgit confirm the stop on Xi-kong?"

  "Yes. She picked up Ryo Hanashima, the gay son of Takaue Boss, who apparently was also in trouble. She seems to be more a warrior woman looking for young-men-in-distress than a mercenary!"

  Kiril smiled. "She is a lot like you, then," he commented staring fondly at her. Then he turned to his tablet and did some searches. "If we keep following her starship until she went to Sylvania to visit her ailing mother, she made a stop on Alahairo, after Friport. I think we should see if she dropped the two young men there."

  "Will you check from the orbital station first?"

  "Yes, and I don't think you should come," he replied. "Wait for me there. I was born on Alahairo, I can go on my own."

  "But there's two of them!"

  "If they're still together. Do you think Yash would turn to same sex love after being raped by women?"

  "Uh... no. He doesn't seem to be interested in sex at all. It makes him feel dirty."

  Kiril looked admiringly at her. "You can learn so much by just touching things! Or people!"

  "It's not always a good thing," she said, feeling frustrated. She'd sometimes found such dark places in some people's minds that she'd found it hard to come out of them. Yash seemed to be a very decent person, but buried in desperation.

  "I know." Kiril patted her arm. "Let me handle this. You know, I think you should start working on your own cases. Haven't you had enough of being my shadow?"

  "I like being your shadow," she grumbled, looking away. "I don't think they'll let me have much of a career in the Galaxy Police..."

  "Why not? It's not Xi-kong, Yuki. Women can have a career in the GP. You're almost thirty. Don't be scared, I think you'll do great on your own."

  "Catch Yashvardan Samara, put him in a safe place, and then we can talk about it," she said, looking at him, determined.

  ***

  While Kiril went onto the planet's surface to look for the accidental murder, Yuki went to a colleague's office to talk. The impression she'd had from Yash's sweatpants was still strong on her, and she wanted to hear from another man who had suffered sexual abuse.

  Hiram Rone was forty, married to another Galaxy Police member, and had two children. Thirteen years earlier he'd been victim of abuse at the hand of a crazy man who called himself Master Jacek and had transformed his starship into a BDSM dungeon. The man had invented a de-energizer that had disrupted the Galaxy Police battlesuits, and had raped Hiram and the assault team leader.

  "I have felt another man's pain for being abused," she told him. "But he was forced to have sex with a woman."

  "Rape has many shapes," Hiram replied sourly. "I know you can feel how I feel by simply touching me, and I admire you for keeping your sanity after getting in touch – literally – with such filth everywhere."

  "Well, I haven't been touched myself," she replied. "Although I do feel strongly for you victims of rape. I admire you for surviving, Hiram. And for keeping your marriage together and being such a wonderful father to your children in spite of what you've been through."

  Hiram smiled ruefully. "It's not easy," he admitted, staring at his desk without seeing it.

  "I know your secret, and I won't betray it," she whispered. "I'm glad you're still warmer than Keith. He's become too icy for his own good."

  Hiram's guilty look vanished and he relaxed again. "What about you, Yuki? You were never on the assault teams, how will you find someone to spend your life with?"

  "I might start working alone," she answered with a shrug. "And... secret for secret... I actually have my eyes on someone." She smiled and winked.

  "Really?" Hiram grinned. "I won't tell anyone. Who is it?"

  "Aryan Robena."

  "The infiltrator? He's good-looking. And charming. But... ah, why am I warning you? You only need to touch him to know how he feels, right?"

  "Yes, but I haven't touched him yet. What warning do you have?" she asked, puzzled.

  "He might not be interested in young women, although you're very special, so you never know," Hiram replied.

  She sighed. "Why are the best men always either taken or not interested?" she complained.

  Hiram chuckled. "Have you told him how you feel?"

  "I will next time I see him."

  "Good. I wish you luck. Tell me more about this abused young man. Who is he? And where is he?"

  "Kiril has found him. He's on Alahairo..."

/>   Yuki told him what she knew of Yash's predicament. Hiram looked as worried as she was for the Ypsilantian young man.

  "I'm not familiar with Ypsilantian laws, but it doesn't look good," he admitted. "Let's hope Kiril manages to keep him away from his planet..."

  Except Kiril lost him. When he came back to the police orbital station, he looked really down. Yuki met him in the hangar, anxious to know how it had gone. Not well, since he was alone.

  "Yash and Ryo ran away," he said. "They're headed out of the galaxy. If they do turn around and come back, I hope they're smart enough to stay on Friport and away from any member of the Star Nations. If they turn around."

  "Kiril, that young man is suicidal!" Yuki protested.

  "I know. But so is Ryo, apparently, since he followed him."

  "Where are they?" Birgit's voice startled them. The Sylvanian had parked her starship next to Kiril's and joined them as they reached the door of the hangar to enter the station itself.

  "What are you doing here?" Yuki asked her bluntly.

  "I'm worried for my boys," the mercenary replied with a shrug. "So, did you catch them?"

  "No," Kiril said without looking at her. "They ran away. They were headed out of the galaxy. I don't think they're coming back."

  Birgit cursed under her breath. "You should have left them alone, Commander," she muttered.

  "Another would have arrested them and taken them back," Kiril retorted.

  Birgit stared at him and slowly smiled. "You let them go."

  Kiril nodded, staring at his feet. Yuki wasn't sure it was the best thing. What if the two young men didn't turn around and re-enter the galaxy and the Star Nations? What if they didn't stay hidden somewhere? She felt sorry for both of them now.

  "You can't always catch them, Yuki," Kiril said. "After this failure, do you still wish to work with me?"

  Yuki sighed. Maybe it was time she got her own assignments.

  ***

  They called him Angel Face. Yuki had seen his face through the clothes of his victims and had tried to identify him, but she was still wading in darkness. He lived on Vilas Lok, which had plenty of tourists. And in fact he killed mostly tourists who came to the planet for a week or a month of pleasure. He raped them and killed them one at a time. Men or women, didn't matter. They were obviously seduced by his handsome face and lured to wherever he finished them, abandoning their bodies in ditches outside the main town of Vilas.