The Tourney

by Juliet Sem

  "He did say his father was favored to win the position of Autocrat," Keestu said. "So we are nearly guaranteed a trade treaty if he does. On the off chance he's not, I can't imagine the rest of the Autocracy being that much against trade, at least with us humanoids, even if they did seem a little exophobic regarding the senator from Chtawlikt. I didn't see him react negatively to the senator from Shatopa, did you?"

  "No," Vahin admitted. "But he'd recovered his poise by then."

  "At any rate," Keestu said, "Like Rue, I plan on enjoying our time at the Hub! You know it's been so long since I've been there, I don't know if I'm remembering it correctly myself."

  Chapter seven

  Several hours later, Keestu was called back to the bridge. She and Rue left the small cargo hold they were exploring and went to strap in.

  "We're about to re-enter normal space," Captain Nebo tersely informed them. "Secure all personnel."

  They returned to their seats and tightened safety straps, suffering the inspection of the security officer before he returned to his seat and secured his own straps before Paxi confirmed all personnel were ready for emergence.

  "Activating forward screen," Paxi announced. The screen lit up, showing the nauseating whirling maelstrom of hyperspace beyond.

  "Approaching event horizon," Nebo said, "on my mark...Mark!"

  They broke back out into real space some distance from the Hub's host star, and Keestu had to search the starry black to identify it. Since the Hub lay below the main galactic arm, in her "up" direction, she saw more stars than were visible when looking "down". Several habitable yellow stars were visible above them from their point of view, stars that could, and did, harbor Union life. Keestu couldn't remember which one should be Sandar, as at this distance they all looked the same.

  She heard a rapid beeping and looked at the crew in concern, but they were nonplussed.

  "What is that?" She received no answer, as the crew was busy.

  "Firing braking thrusters on mark, five second burn," Paxi announced. "Sit tight everyone. Mark."

  The beeping slowed somewhat.

  "What is that?" She asked again.

  "Lane speed buoys, Your Highness," Captain Nebo responded, still busy at his board. "The buoys mark where we should be scrubbing off speed, and the length of the audio tones after firing braking thrusters tells us that we are exactly where we should be. The Hub's sun doesn't support any habitable planets, but the outer region is peppered with asteroid fields and dwarf planetoid bodies, while the inner contains several dead planets and the Hub. We've arrived in the system between the outer and inner portions of the system, and now that we are braking, we will soon be turning towards the Hub's star."

  "Firing braking thrusters again, ten second burn, then going inertial," Paxi announced. "Mark!"

  The beeping subsided to an occasional sound.

  "Initiating reorientation onto the Hub," Captain Nebo announced, laying the course in. The stars slowly began drifting on the display as they made a wide sweeping turn. The Hub's bright orange star finally appeared to the right of their screen, larger than the yellow Union stars above them, and getting visibly larger as several minutes passed.

  In the distance, Keestu spied a blue orb. Dredging up what she knew of the Hub from her memory with difficulty, she asked, "Is that the fifth planet?"

  "Yes," Vahin replied, "It's a gas giant. We don't want to get caught up in its gravitational field, and so we keep our distance."

  Another beep began sounding; different in tone to the ones they had left behind. Paxi checked her board. "There's the fifth planet com relay buoy. We are in long-distance com range now," she commented. "Initiate contact with Hub, Com."

  "Come in Hub Control," the com officer announced. "This is Sandar's Jewel. We have entered the system and have gone inertial on schedule, just now passing the fifth planet communications relay buoy. Request lane assignment."

  "Welcome back, Sandar's Jewel," Hub Control responded after several minutes of time lag. "Hold your present course until your lane assignment arrives."

  Another urgent-sounding beep sounded, which Paxi immediately checked. "Outbound ship passing through the edge of our scanning range and holding their assigned course. Keeping to our present course negates any chance of collision." She was calm, giving her report in a bland tone, so Keestu knew there was nothing to worry about.

  The rest of the flight was routine, consisting of minor course corrections until they were exactly in their lane, just like any atmospheric flitter on Sandar, but Keestu listened to it all as they made their final approach to the Hub, passing through the orbit of the frozen fourth planet, which was currently out of their line of sight behind the sun, and moving on to intercept the Hub, which was located between three inner gas giant planets and the outer two.

  Keestu wished they could take a tour of the inner solar system and see the hot gas giants glowing in the heat of the star, but Sandar's Jewel didn't have the shield rating to get that close to a star. She smiled as the Hub loomed up suddenly out of the darkness. It was as Keestu remembered it on the outside, a large square structure of indeterminate size floating in space that began filling the view screen as they raced towards it. It was canted at an angle to their approach, so that the star illuminated parts of it, while others were lit from within. Captain Nebo made another course adjustment, and they ended up facing the dark outer face of the Hub's large cube straight on. Keestu remembered then that all exiting ships left the Hub sunside.

  Keestu leaned over to Rue. "We should land in the middle, at what's called the equator. All the landing bays are there in two levels, with passenger ships landing on the upper level, and trade ships offloading or onloading cargo on the level below."

  Vahin chimed in. "Just above the travelers' landing bay is the trade floor, where all the public purchase kiosks are located. The floor above that is where you'll find restaurants and other entertainment. The level above that holds the Hub's hotels. Above that are maintenance and the top level of private residences respectively. You do remember the private residence area includes daycare or full scale schooling for any children of people working on the Hub, and that there are also several resident only recreation areas located there as well? Going down from the trade ship landing bay just below the equator are the offices for the entire Hub and more hotels for travelers and traders, though traders can choose to stay on their ships and not spend additional money on Hub accommodations, and below that are three floors of storage holds for trade goods, and then lower maintenance which also houses the Hub's hydroponics gardens, and the bottom level is private residences just like the top level. It's also not unusual for a ship to redock at a storage level for direct onloading or offloading of merchandise." He pointed out the few storage level docking bays, which burned with constant light just like the main landing levels did, but there weren't as many open bays visible.

  "How large are the levels again, Vahin?" Keestu couldn't recall, strain though she might.

  "Each level is half a kilometer tall, including maintenance and recycling corridor allowances that are present just under the main floor of every level, so the whole station is five and a half kilometers tall. It's also five and a half kilometers wide and the same deep. That extra volume is necessary on the landing level to provide enough room for ships and cargo to maneuver, and on the other levels, it provides enough atmosphere for recycling and also helps eliminate claustrophobia for the permanent residents, as it gives the illusion of a sky above them.

  "Since you may not remember, Princess, there are lifts located every quarter kilometer throughout all levels, except for those that pass through the Equator, in which case they are located every half kilometer. Courtesy motorized walkways are provided in case you tire and need assistance getting back to a particular landing bay."

  The Hub now fully filled the view screen, and Keestu saw bright lights shining from many of the external ports on each of its nine levels not dedicated to landing craft. They were tiny co
mpared to the rectangles of light where ships entered and exited the Hub's landing levels through its massive airlocks.

  The bridge crew was still hard at work, keeping the Jewel in her lane while keeping an eye on the other traffic around them.

  Their speed slowed again as they entered the Hub so that they seemed to only inch forward.

  They moved into their assigned airlock and came to a full stop, hovering, while the massive outer door was sealed. Once this happened, the inner door opened, and atmosphere flooded into the bay, causing Sandar's Jewel to bobble noticeably in place. Keestu saw Vahin frown at Captain Nebo, who shrugged. Apparently this was normal and nothing to worry about. Keestu looked around the Hub, seeing several sleek liners drifting into and out of docking spaces.

  Rue was tense beside Keestu, and Keestu patted her arm in reassurance. "Almost there," she said, smiling hugely at her best friend, enjoying her excitement.

  The Jewel slowly drifted through the landing bay, passing orderly rows of docked ships until turning into its assigned berth, coming to rest next to a bulkhead that provided services: refueling, water replenishment, and waste removal.

  Vahin was checking his chrono against information now coming in from the Hub. "You'll have about an hour before midday meal time, and as I'll be busy with Prince Dinus and Princess Shina showing him around the Hub, you'll be on your own," Vahin informed her. "Your father orders that you two are to be allowed free rein on the Hub. Tenget and Gontu, you are off duty while they are off ship. You are to meet back here for escort to a formal dinner with Prince Dinus, though, Princess," Vahin finished.

  He reached into a case he had secured under his chair and pulled out a drawstring purse and handed it to Rue. It was gray satin and had a Crown Princess's rank stripes on it, light blue over dark blue over medium green, and it had a large silver tassel at the bottom. He handed a brown drawstring purse to Keestu, which was made of velvet, decorated with the light blue stripe of a Sandarian Lady, and had a matching blue tassel hanging from the bottom.

  "You'll find enough Registered Units in there to keep you both amused while here. You both have open credit here on the Hub--just charge it to Sandar's Jewel--but you'd have to show identification to access it, hence the actual Units. Security is heavy enough here that you could carry purses full of Neutral Units and not worry about being accosted. I would not recommend openly carrying a purse full of Units, even if they are Registered, anywhere else off Sandar, but here you should be safe enough."

  Tenget spoke up. "Should the unthinkable happen, just shout out 'Security!' as loud as you can. Union guards are never very far away, despite not much in the way of intrigue happening at the Hub. Be sure to yell for help before you try to contact us via your personal coms, which are in your purses."

  Gontu spoke up. "You are to avoid visiting the private residences on the top and bottom levels unless accompanied."

  Keestu nodded, taking the instructions in. She could hardly wait to go shopping alone with Rue; it was something she'd never done before.

  "Oh," Vahin, said as they moved toward the outer hatch, "Remember we are at berth Passenger two hundred ninety-four if you get lost and need escort back, and our closest operating lift shaft is three hundred--shaft two ninety is being serviced. Shina's residence is officially known as 'Top fourteen thirty-eight'. There is also a 'Bottom fourteen thirty-eight', so be certain you ask for escort to 'Top fourteen thirty-eight' if needed. Her staff is aware that you might drop in unannounced. Stick to the marked walking corridors that pass between the berths, which are marked by force and sound dampening fields until you get to the closest lift. Just avoid the red lines marking the fields' borders and remain where you are when you are blocked by a red lights."

  The com officer informed Vahin that an urgent message was coming through for him, and he sighed and returned to the bridge to take it as Keestu and Rue left Sandar's Jewel.

  Keestu grabbed Rue's hand, tugging urgently, and they set off instead of watching the crew connect the Jewel to the Hub's services. The vast landing bay wasn't nearly as noisy as she'd anticipated, since the maneuvering ships were surrounded by force fields. She saw the bulkheads alternated what side they were on in the berths, the walkway was centered between the berths, and there were lanes at regular intervals that had no bulkheads so that the ships could maneuver into their berths without having to pass over any parked ships or walkways.

  She and Rue entered the walkway, found which way they had to go, and began heading towards lift number three hundred.

  They had only walked to berth two ninety-five when they were halted by the activation of a force field.

  Looking up, Rue excitedly pointing at stacks of shipping crates that were drifting silently past, hanging from a conveyor system. However, she blanched and both the girls watched in horror as there was a power surge, allowing the bottom claws to release a single massive crate, which crashed to the floor of bay. Keestu felt the shuddering of the deck as the crate impacted, but heard nothing due to the force fields that separated them from the accident. She watched in fascination as one of the crate's corners split open, allowing an interior container to tumble out. It impacted the deck and its top popped off, allowing dozens of small things to roll out of it. She and Rue stepped forward, trying to identify the cargo. Keestu took an involuntary step back when one of the things got up and started moving around. They were awkward, ugly little things, having four short legs, fat bodies, and two short arms. More of them had gotten up, and Keestu realized they had been stored in a stasis locker, and because of the accident, these creatures had been freed of the stasis field and were now loose on the Hub.

  She started when one of the things saw them, opening its mouth to reveal a set of small but sharp teeth as it rushed at them. It impacted the force field and fell to the deck, stunned.

  Meanwhile, more of the animals had recovered from stasis, and they, too, were getting up and milling around.

  Several more ran at them, impacting the force field, and Keestu laughed.

  However, the actions of the few caught the attention of the many more who were becoming alert, and they, too, turned towards the force field and began attacking it in numbers, while some of the others began investigating the stunned ones and fell on one that had been injured in the accident and began tearing it apart.

  Taken aback at the cannibalism, Keestu began backing away from the force field, feeling uneasy.

  "Rue, I think we should return to the Jewel until this is cleaned up."

  Rue nodded agreement. They turned to find their way back blocked; they were locked inside berth two hundred ninety-five by force fields on three sides and the berth's service bulkhead on the other.

  Rue fumbled with her purse. "Vahin said we've got coms in our purses. I'm going to call the Jewel so they can contact Hub Control and see about getting us out of this berth."

  "I don't think we have that kind of time," Keestu said, pointing. More of the creatures had thrown themselves at the force field, and it crackled, the red lights on the floor dimming as the field weakened.

  "What are we going to do?"

  "Jewel here," Rue's com said.

  Rue whipped the com up to her mouth. "We've got a problem. We are sealed in berth two hundred ninety-five. A crate has fallen, broken open, and released some things that are trying to get through the force field to us! We can't get back to the Jewel, and the field separating us from whatever they are is weakening, so you have to hurry!"

  Keestu shook her head and held out her hand to Rue, who handed the com over.

  "This is Keestu," she said tersely, "And they are going to break through that field before you can contact Hub Control! Put Tenget on."

  Moments later, Tenget's voice came over the com. "What's attacking you?"

  "I've never seen them before," Keestu said. "They are short, ugly looking things. Look like a baby fowl crossed with a lizard."

  The field in front of them stuttered and one of the creatures got halfway through it be
fore the malfunctioning field reactivated, cutting the creature in half. Its head gave a single mortal squawk, while its rear flopped around on the other side, attracting the attention of others of its kind, who fell on the remains.

  "Not ringing a bell with me," Tenget said. "Now try and remain calm. Do you have anything that can be used as a weapon?"

  Keestu looked around the empty berth. "There's nothing in here with us."

  "Okay, try to remain calm, remember your training, and treat these things like you would human fighters. Find a position from which to defend yourself from multiple attackers."

  Keestu looked around, and then pointed. "Rue, we need to get our backs against that bulkhead now."

  As she spoke, the field failed, and a dozen of the creatures began rushing towards them. She and Rue hurriedly put their backs to the bulkhead, but continued standing together, so they each only had one vulnerable side in addition to their fronts. The first creature reached Rue, and she lashed her foot out at it, kicking it. It flew backwards, its skin splitting, causing several of its comrades to fall on it. The second and third dashed at Keestu, and she kicked the first away, but her foot came down on the second as she pulled back to kick again. She ended up crushing it on the deck with her foot. It split apart, splattering thick brown goo onto Rue's shoes.

  "Eww," Keestu groaned, disgusted by the mess.

  More of the creatures were charging at them, and there was no time for squeamishness as Rue followed her lead and they began stomping the creatures as fast as she could. Their shoes and lower legs were swiftly covered with a thick coating of what Keestu thought was the creature's blood. Seeing one of the creatures trying to reach Rue from the side, she instinctively swung her heavy purse and threw it down, smashing the animal before it could try and bite Rue. Rue copied her move before they continued crushing their assailants with their feet.

  They were so intent on their activity that they were startled when Gontu and Tenget joined them, quickly clearing a space in front of them.