Beyond Galaxy's Edge

by Anna Hackett

  Goddess, she couldn’t stop grinning this morning. “Stop what?” She sucked her index finger into her mouth.

  He stepped close, gripping the nape of her neck. “How can I have had you so many times last night and come inside you only thirty minutes ago and still want you?”

  She leaned into him. “I want you, too.”

  Their kiss was slow and deep but she felt the fire under it, simmering.

  “You must be Justyn and Nissa.”

  Nissa swallowed a squeak. Justyn turned them so she was tucked under his arm and they faced the newcomer.

  He was…really old. Nissa was used to people not showing their age. In charted space, it was easy enough—if you had enough e-creds—to have your wrinkles smoothed and your hair stimulated to always produce color.

  This Hydraen man wore every single line on his long face like a badge of pride. He had a soft smile and deep-blue eyes many shades darker than his skin. His eyes twinkled with a spirit that was anything but old. He wore simple linen pants and a tunic with gold embroidery at the edges.

  “I’m Tonald, Memory Keeper of Meni.”

  “Justyn Phoenix and this is Captain Nissa Sander.”

  Nissa nodded, trying not to be embarrassed that this man had caught them going at each other like old Earth rabbits. “A pleasure to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to see us.”

  Tonald waved them inside. “I was intrigued by your story.”

  The cottage had a serene feel. Plants hung from pots dangling from the domed ceiling. The furniture was all smooth lines of golden wood, clearly carved here on Hydrae, and piled with cushions of a pale natural fiber. Nissa slid a hand over the back of the couch, the wood glossy and smooth under her fingers.

  “An artisan here in the village carves the furniture. He’d prefer to work on his sculptures all day, but he insists he also has to pay the bills.” Tonald gestured at the couch. “Take a seat. I’ll brings some refreshments.”

  Nissa and Justyn sank on the couch. He scooted close enough for their thighs to touch, but his gaze was studying the room, catching on the painting of desert sand dunes lit by the first blush of morning light.

  “I expected to see a library with a console or plas-sheets or even books,” she murmured.

  “Physical records are not the only one way to preserve the memoires of a culture.” Tonald set a wooden tray on the low table in front of them. Three long glasses filled with green liquid sat beside a curved glass jug of the same fluid.

  Nissa accepted her drink from the Memory Keeper. “How do you record your history, then?”

  “We do have some electronic records, although our computer technology is far behind everything I’ve heard about within the galaxy. We also paint and carve. One of our favored methods is our oral storytelling traditions.”

  “That’s not your primary method, though.” Justyn leaned forward, dangling his drink casually between his knees.

  “You are a perceptive man, Mr. Phoenix.”

  Justyn shrugged. “I’ve visited here many times, taken note of things. Besides, your big head is a giveaway.”

  Tonald smiled. “Yes, my race has some mental abilities.”

  “Telepathy?” Nissa frowned. At the bonfire feast she hadn’t noticed the telltale giveaways telepaths usually had—the long pauses, the tilted heads. That said, she had been rather distracted.

  “No, not telepathy, although some Hydraens do have some mild telepathic capabilities. Mostly we have exceptional memories.”

  She took a sip of her drink. It tasted far better than she’d anticipated—citrusy and sweet. “So, you just…remember all your history?”

  “Simply put, yes.” Tonald took a sip of his own drink. “As our children are schooled, those with the most exceptional memory abilities are singled out for the role of Memory Keeper. We are trained to hone our skill. I can remember every single historical event passed onto me in exact detail, in color, and I can access those memories at will.”

  Incredible. Nissa wondered if she would like an ability like that or if it would drive her crazy. “How far do the memories go back?”

  “Millennia.”

  Her skin tingled. She edged forward on her seat, setting her drink down. “Do you remember a ship called the Nero stopping here?”

  “No.”

  She blinked. “Maybe it didn’t stop at Meni. Somewhere else on the planet—”

  “I don’t just have the memories of Meni, I keep memories for the entire planet.”

  Nissa ran a hand over her head. “The Nero had to have passed through here. All our research—”

  Tonald’s expression was apologetic. “No ship called the Nero stopped here. At least, not that was recorded.”

  A dead end. She saw Justyn thrust a hand through his hair.

  She straightened. Maybe they were going about this the wrong way. “What about a man named Horatio Griffin? He was a captain.”

  Tonald went quiet for a second, his gaze moving inward. “Yes. He was here. Almost a thousand years ago. He and some of his surviving crew were rescued and brought here by an Arnissian freighter.”

  Nissa grabbed Justyn’s arm. Her nails were digging into him but he didn’t seem to mind. “Did they have anything with them? Belongings?”

  “No, it seems they were lucky to escape with their lives. They lost most of their crew. And they were very, very upset to have lost their cargo.” He tilted his head. “Although they never mentioned what it was.”

  So, it sounded like the Constitution never made it off the Nero.

  “What happened to the ship?” she asked.

  Tonald shook his head. “I don’t know. It isn’t in the memory. I only know it was a catastrophe.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut.

  “They spent a lot of time here. A few survivors even stayed, joined with locals, and made a life here. Captain Griffin, however, always planned to leave. It seems he spent much time with Nelen, she was Meni’s Simulator at the time.”

  Justyn frowned. “Simulator?”

  “An artist who specializes in exact reproductions. Mostly pictures of families, children, homes. Some of her work still exists, she was exceptionally good.”

  Nissa and Justyn exchanged a look. Someone capable of creating a convincing replica of the Constitution?

  “One night, Griffin and his remaining crew disappeared without a word. As did a starship that had recently arrived to partake of the caravanserai’s hospitality.”

  They’d stolen a ship and left. “There’s no record of where the Arnissian freighter rescued them from?”

  Tonald’s brow creased. Then he shook his head. “No. I’m sorry.”

  Nissa huffed out a quiet breath. Nothing that could send them in the right direction. She glanced at Justyn.

  He shrugged. He had no ideas either.

  They chatted with Tonald a little longer and thanked him for his help.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful to your quest.”

  “You’ve been wonderful,” Nissa said. “Thank you.”

  “Would you like to see some paintings that were created by a descendant of one of Griffin’s crew? It was a woman who stayed on here in Meni and eventually married a local artist. Her name was Claudia Volkov.”

  Claudia! Nissa nodded. “She was the ship’s comms specialist.” And Anderson Chan’s secret love.

  “Yes.” Tonald led them through an arched doorway to an adjoining room. “All her descendants have been artists. These are some of my favorite works by an artist named Anderson Elson.”

  Nissa stilled. “Anderson?”

  “Yes. Claudia’s first son was named Anderson and the name’s passed down through the family. There’s always at least one Anderson in every generation.”

  Nissa bit her lip. Goddess, either Claudia had been carrying Anderson Chan’s child or she’d at least honored him by calling her first child after him. Nissa would never know the truth but a part of
her was happy the man would always be remembered.

  A set of three paintings, each one not large but not small, graced the wall. The skill was amazing, the green color of the paintings almost luminous. It looked like green clouds in a sky of black.

  As Nissa stared at the paintings, she thought the green looked like some sort of fog. Simple, but beautiful. Then she realized that shapes were hidden amongst the color.

  The first showed the vague outline of huge, dragon-like creature, jaws agape.

  The second showed the ghostly outline of a listing starship.

  Goddess, it matched Anderson’s references.

  In the third, she couldn’t see anything, no matter how hard she stared. But the green mist had a circular edge on one side and stars lay beyond it. And…she stared…yes, there was what looked like a small, rocky moon.

  Her heart stopped. A planet. The green mist was part of a planet.

  “They’re beautiful.” Nissa managed to push the words out. She grabbed Justyn’s hand, squeezing hard.

  He shot her a quizzical look before glancing at Tonald. “They are. Thank you for showing us, and thanks again for your time.”

  The old Hydraen showed them to the door. “It was lovely to meet you both.” His smile was wide and friendly. “Your visit here will also be remembered. I will be sure to note the purity of your love.”

  Nissa made a choking noise. “Ahh—”

  Justyn tugged her into his side, but she felt the tension in his body. “Thanks again, Tonald.”

  “I’ll also note the strange story one of the caravanserai maids told me this morning, of clothes scattered outside one of the lake cottages.”

  Nissa choked again, but this time laughter was trying to break through.

  Justyn didn’t bother to hide his chuckle. “I hope the memory also notes that the woman in question was smoking hot and hard for a man to resist.”

  “I’m old, son, not blind.”

  Nissa’s mouth dropped open but Justyn was already tugging her back out into the sunshine.

  “What did you see in the paintings?” he asked.

  She turned toward him. “A monster and a ship. You?”

  “The same.”

  Her heart started beating double time. “Just like Anderson Chan said. Justyn, the third picture looked like a planet. A gas giant, maybe. Although I’ve never seen a green one.”

  “A gas giant? If the ship got pulled in, the pressure would have destroyed the ship. There’d be nothing left.”

  That was true. “People escaped. Whatever happened to them, and I’m not ready to believe that the ship was attacked by a mysterious space monster, it happened near the gas giant. Maybe in orbit. Maybe the Nero did end up destroyed, but the final painting showed a moon.”

  “Shit.” His eyes widened. “If the Nero crashed on the moon, the wreckage could still be there!”

  Excitement itched under her skin. “We need to find that gas giant.”

  Suddenly the glow of red lights on her chest caught her eye. She looked down, frowning.

  Justyn lunged and tackled her to the ground.

  “What the—?”

  Laser fire hit the ground around them. Crap.

  “Move!” He pushed her ahead and together they scrambled on hands and knees behind a nearby low stone fence.

  The quiet street was empty. Nissa peered around the fence, trying to pinpoint the shooter. “Can you see anything?”

  “Nothing—”

  More laser fire arced above them, leaving burn marks on the nearby cottage.

  “Damn it.” She hadn’t worn her pistol. Stupid of her. She heard doors opening, frantic voices. “Stay inside!” She yelled as loud as she could. “Contact the Sky Nomad for help!”

  Doors slammed again.

  “Shit. We’re pinned down here.” Justyn’s steel gaze scanned the area behind them. “We need to move.”

  There was only one path leading back to the caravanserai and the ships.

  And behind them was the lake.

  “No transports?” she asked.

  “No. Everyone in Meni walks or rides bicycles.”

  Well, they couldn’t stay here behind the dubious protection of the fence. She scanned around. “Look, there’s a small storage shed over there.” The squat structure would provide better protection.

  “I see it,” he said.

  “Shooter’s firing a T’norian laser rifle.”

  “You can tell?”

  “Yes, Justyn, I can tell. It takes a few seconds to recharge before he or she can take the next shot. At that point, we run for the shed.”

  He nodded.

  More laser fire hit, this time singeing the plants in front of their fence.

  “Run!” she yelled.

  They sprinted, both of them diving in behind the shed. Justyn landed beside her, rolling on top of her as more laser fire exploded close to them.

  “Get off me.” She pushed at him.

  “I’m protecting you!”

  “You’re being a macho idiot. I’m the one trained for combat.”

  The infuriating male kissed her. “And I’m the one sliding his cock into you at night. Gives me the right to be a protective macho idiot.”

  She elbowed him again, just for good measure, and didn’t tell him some dumb little part of her liked it. He didn’t need more encouragement. Then she spotted something behind him. “Justyn, look.”

  He turned his head and spotted the aquabike sitting on the sandy bank beside the oasis lake.

  His grin was pure rogue. “I’m driving.”

  “No! I saw it first.”

  He moved into a crouch. “First one there drives.” He waited for the next round of laser fire to stop, then he took off sprinting.

  Damn the man. Nissa took off after him.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Nissa gunned the aquabike the last few meters across the lake and nosed it onto the shore.

  Dare stood ahead of them on the sand, with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

  “What the hell is going on?” he demanded.

  Justyn squeezed Nissa’s waist, then swung a leg off the back of the bike. No way in hell he was going to tell her he let her win the race to the bike just so he could sit with her ass nestled against him.

  Besides, watching her handle the bike was sexy as hell.

  Justyn faced his brother. “Someone took shots at us out the Memory Keeper’s residence.”

  Dare’s face darkened. “Someone really wants to stop you finding this artifact.”

  “It has to be the mole on board the Nomad.” Justyn wanted to join Rynan and his security team and find this bastard. “Where’s Ry?”

  “On his way back from the village. The Memory Keeper called us, said you were under fire. Last I heard, Ry caught our mole.”

  Savage satisfaction flooded Justyn. “Good.”

  The three of them were standing in the shadow of the Sky Nomad when Ry pulled up on an anti-grav bike, followed by three of his team.

  Rynan jumped off the bike, then hauled the body draped on the back of it off and dumped it on the ground.

  “You killed him?” Justyn said.

  “Nope. He shot himself.”

  Nissa crouched and turned the body over. She gasped. “One of the monks!”

  “I doubt he was really a monk,” Justyn said.

  “Correct.” Ry’s voice was dark. “I suspect we’ll find he’s a recent convert. He was working for someone else.”

  Who? Justyn didn’t like not knowing who else was out there gunning for them.

  “I have more bad news,” Rynan said.

  Justyn’s gut cramped.

  “I just received a long-range transmission from a friend at Galaxy’s Edge. Word’s out that the US Constitution was a fake. The…criminal element of the galaxy is using it as an excuse to ignore the law. Prisoners are appealing their sentences. The GSS has its hands full que
lling uprisings on about a dozen planets and stations.”

  “Goddess,” Nissa breathed.

  “It gets worse. A small fleet of starships passed through the Edge. They asked questions about us, the convoy’s route, and about Nissa.”

  She cursed. “So we’re going to have company soon?”

  “Yes. Of the unwelcome kind. The convoy is being led by a treasure hunter called Alexei Gunn. I contacted Dathan and apparently this Gunn is a bad guy. Likes to tail other hunters, steal their research, and then kill them.”

  “Nice,” Justyn mumbled.

  “Did you find out anything to help you find the Constitution?” Dare asked.

  “Yes,” Justyn said. “The Memory Keeper showed us some artwork by a Nero crewmember’s descendant and Nissa put it together with info from the diary.”

  She stepped forward. “We think something happened to the Nero near a gas giant.”

  Dare frowned. “A gas giant? But if the Nero had gotten too close, there’d be nothing left.”

  “Not if it crashed on the planet’s moon. A freighter rescued some of the Nero’s crew, so it can’t have been in the gas giant at the time. There’s a chance—a slim one—that the wreckage still exists.”

  Ry’s eyes narrowed. “So we need to find all gas giants within range of here?”

  “It’s a green gas giant, if that helps,” Nissa added.

  Dare and Ry traded a look. Justyn straightened. He knew that look. “You know where it is.”

  Dare nodded. “It’s called Sargasso. It’s thirty-six hours from here.”

  Rynan continued. “We avoid it, as do most convoys. In the past, many ships were destroyed there or barely escaped, usually with massive damage. Old convoy crews talked about strange forces, mysterious lights, and giant creatures that attacked ships.” He shook his head. “Old space tales but there’s usually a seed a truth in there somewhere.”

  Justyn and Nissa stared at each other. “The diary talked about space monsters.”

  Rynan shrugged. “We’ve heard it all before and not once on a convoy have we seen a space monster. More likely some strange anomaly took out the ship.”

  “You said most convoys avoid Sargasso?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “So, if the wreckage of the Nero still exists, there’s a good chance it hasn’t been disturbed.”