Francescan War Chronicles 1: Space Knight Denxeiter

by C. K. Pershing

  He tore the shard of glass out of his face. Blood immediately started spilling out and he quickly pressed some gauze to soak it up. He blessed the pain meds again since without them, this would have no doubt been unbearable. His body would have been able to repair a smaller cut on its own, and maybe even this one if he’d gotten to it sooner. But with no idea of how long it had been, he had to stitch it closed himself.

  He got to work, the stitches sewing his skin closed in an unskillful way, but it would do the job. Aaltskog’s not gonna be happy with how this scar turns out, he thought, but at least it should mostly disappear in a couple years.

  After taping a bandage over his handiwork, he went over to the cabin’s bed and collapsed onto it. Where was Aaltskog now? Looking for him, most likely. He hoped she was okay. It was one of life’s cruel ironies that just as he’d decided to give himself over to her and love her for the rest of his life, he’d find himself in this situation. But Aaltskog could be very tenacious and if she was safe, she wouldn’t rest until he was too.

  He rummaged through the small bedside container until he found a picture of himself and Aaltskog back when they were both teenagers. In the picture they were holding onto each other and looked for all the world like a young couple in love. Which, he had to admit, they were.

  Feln was an only child and there weren’t many kids his age in the rural area of the backwater planet he came from. So when he received the Blessing at the age of twelve from out of the blue, he was happy to know that he would have a Companion to spend time with and be his partner--and possibly more--in his duties as a Space Knight .

  A psych evaluation determined that he would work best with a female Companion and a few weeks later, a representative of the Imperial Space Knight Academy arrived with a skittish purple-haired little girl who barely spoke two words and didn’t make eye contact with anyone longer than a couple seconds.

  She had just received her latest body to reflect her actual age of twelve and still seemed a little unsure of her new physical size and abilities. She had an odd name that the representative said came from a mythological queen of the north who was known for being an amazing songstress. Her name was Aaltskog.

  Feln’s parents were doubtful that this strange creature could possibly be a useful Companion to their son in everyday life, much less combat, but the representative assured them that this Companion was actually someone quite special and was the seventh and latest Companion created by Dr. Salvador Maass. Maass still made other artificial beings, but Companions took much longer and required a significantly larger amount of money and research, mainly because most Companions had to go through a life cycle that mimicked natural beings as much as possible going from childhood to adulthood.

  The representative strongly believed Aaltskog had the potential to help Feln become one of the greatest Space Knights who ever lived. Feln himself had tested very well and so it was no small honor to be presented a Maass creation. Either through his conviction or pure showmanship on the representative’s part, Feln’s parents were eventually persuaded and assented to Aaltskog staying.

  And as for Feln’s feelings on the matter, he was absolutely smitten with the strange girl. He felt his heart skip a beat the instant their eyes met and he would have gladly done anything she asked. Those eyes were such a fascinating shade of purple with little white stars. Her response to his instant love at first sight, was to immediately hide behind the representative. But Feln didn’t care. It amazed him to no end that she was actually supposed to help him and not the other way around. Of course, he hadn’t realized yet that a true Space Knight/ Companion relationship was one in which they help each other.

  As soon as the representative left, Feln immediately took Aaltskog by the hand and led her up to his bedroom to show her his toys, drawings, books…anything that might interest her and make her feel more at ease. But eventually he figured out that maybe more than anything else, she needed to know that she was safe with him had no reason to worry. He sat down on his bed next to her and hugged her close and although tense at first, she eventually relaxed and laid her head on his shoulder.

  Things got easier after that and she came out of her shell more with each passing day. Soon, her jovial laughter echoed through the house and any sort of crazy idea Feln could think of, she dutifully accompanied him. Even when she had her premonition about dying if she changed bodies, he was able to soothe her terror and get her to smile. And when he promised he would never force her into another body, he became more to her than her Space Knight— he was a trusted friend. And so she was his willing partner on adventures great and small. She even obliged his clumsy attempts to seduce her later when they were sixteen, and he was overjoyed that he lost his virginity to her and she seemed to feel the same way.

  They had left home to go to the Space Knight Academy at the age of fourteen, the two years prior being spent to give the would-be Space Knight and his Companion time to get to know each other and start on the path to becoming trusting partners. While sad to leave his parents, potentially to never see them again, Feln was glad that Aaltskog was with him.

  Their first night at the Academy, Aaltskog received the news that her creator, Dr. Maass had killed himself while on a space walk. Although Aaltskog regarded Maass as her father and had good memories of him being kind to her, Feln was relieved to see that she took the news of his suicide well.

  When asked how she could handle such news with such relative ease, she answered that there had always been an aspect of Maass that made her feel that his time in the world of the living was some kind of temporary holiday and that his suicide was him simply going back to where he belonged. On further thought, she actually felt relieved that he was able to choose the time and place for his “return” home. With Maass’ final act, Aaltskog’s status as his latest creation both Standard and Companion, was changed to his last creation of all.

  Feln did some checking and found out that most of the normal androids Maass created were handling his death in worse ways— though for the most part, more natural ways— with crying, depression, and an overall level of grief. And while they seemed to mourn his passing longer than other androids did as they inevitably outlived their creators, they all mostly adjusted well.

  But Dr. Maass also made Companions, which were so much more than a standard android, and to Feln’s horror, he’d heard that the other six Maass Companions that came before Aaltskog had all killed themselves in particularly gruesome ways. Aaltskog was the only one of Maass’ creations, Companion or otherwise, Feln had heard of who coped with the suicide in such an affirmative way. While her attitude was disconcerting in some capacity, he was relieved that she was doing as well as she was. He never asked her what she thought of her brother and sister Companions killing themselves as she seemed to be coping well enough. He didn’t want her to dwell on more sorrow.

  While spending four years at the Space Knight Academy, they grew closer to each other, and at the same time farther apart. There was no doubt that their synchronization as Space Knight and Companion was amazing. Aaltskog was able to tune the training Machines to such perfection in reading Feln’s responses and controls, that the two of them had broken a couple records in reaction times. Working as his Operator during battle, they were an unbeatable team in simulations and live-fire exercises. Feln had always maintained that their win of the Academy Competition Cup in his third year was overwhelmingly Aaltskog’s doing and that his only contribution was as a monkey pushing and pulling on control sticks.

  But they also started to drift apart as Feln began to meet other girls. While his love for Aaltskog was deep and pure, the lure of something new and exciting was always there. And while the differences in their bodies weren’t that noticeable at first, those differences became much more stark as they got older and he started to have the body and thoughts of a young man. Aaltskog’s thoughts also became more adult, but she remained trapped in the body of a child.

  Depending on the age in which their Blessings
were received, upperclassmen could be anywhere from sixteen to twenty years old, and Feln had to admit that even though his brain knew that he and Aaltskog were the same age, his hormones were much more in tune with some of the stunning upperclassmen girls at the Academy. They were, after all, the peak of genetic development, and likely appealed to a more base urge in his brain to procreate. For their part, those girls reciprocated his advances and Feln found himself attending a lot of freewheeling parties where physical hook ups with no long-term relationship promises were the norm.

  It was around this time that Aaltskog started dressing in clothes that were not only more in tune with her actual age, but went more and more over the top with each new girlfriend Feln dated. And it was also around this time that she began to cover her eyes. As it became readily apparent that there was no other Mechanism Creator that was able to produce a fully artificial being to the level of nuance, ability and detail that Dr. Maass could, his legend grew by leaps and bounds among the techno literati. With the growth of his legend, so too did the thirst for any sort of memorabilia attached to his name.

  A simple screwdriver he might have used went for hundreds of thousands of credits; something with actual photographic evidence to back its legitimacy of ownership went for the tens of millions. And so his actual creations were priceless. Of course, to talk of actual thinking beings in such a way—artificial or not— was already terrifying, but what some people would actually do to try to get one of those apex “collectibles” was even worse. Soon, stories abounded of some of Dr. Maass’ creations getting kidnapped. Others were murdered so that parts of their bodies could be removed as prized collectibles. Still others were left alive, but with their eyes ripped out thanks to the purple irises and white stars that all Maass creations had in their eyes.

  In his time, Dr. Maass had created approximately 50 artificial beings, of which seven were Companions. With Aaltskog being the last of both normal creations and Companions, it was only a matter of time before bounties began to surface in the most secret of black markets for any tiny piece of her. Feln was terrified to find that the Imperial Police had tried to arrest the head of one particularly far reaching criminal organization who had offered an entire planet ready for colonization for her safe delivery to his harem. Barring that, he offered a fleet of massive yachts to anyone who could bring him her eyes. With no solid leads on the man’s whereabouts, he was still at large.

  Aaltskog herself didn’t seem to worry about this as much as Feln. As she said, “Where could I go that would be more safe from kidnappers than a secure Navy ship in the middle of a fleet? Besides, I keep my eyes covered.” While the first part of her statement made sense, the second was so ludicrous that Feln wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be even more scared for her.

  Aaltskog had to have known that simply covering her eyes would in no way fool anyone who was looking for her. And wearing such suggestive clothing on such an apparently young body made her stand out even more to would-be kidnappers who knew what to look for.

  So why did she do it? Feln had asked her time and again and she always replied her eyes were only for him to see. But she had no problem with people seeing them in the past. So why did she start hiding them now that he was dating other girls? All while giving the ridiculous reason that it was to keep fortune hunters from recognizing her? Her response never deviated: her eyes were only for him to see.

  Feln had to admit that her insistence on hiding her eyes was actually convenient for him. If he came back from a date with a Space Knight girl, clothes disheveled from a night of wild sex, he didn’t have to look into the eyes of the girl who he loved so dearly while stammering apologies.

  Laying on the small bed now, Feln shook his head and cursed himself for being such an idiot. She was making things easier for you, you moron. She knew that you loved her but couldn’t resist your screaming hormones, so she did what she could to let you off the hook. She knew you’d come to your senses someday, but until then, she’d wait. This whole thing is all your fault anyway! You fell in love with her and pretty much made her fall in love with you. Then you went on your way and “sampled life”, knowing full well that as your Companion, she had to wait for you and couldn’t date anyone else. You’ve forced her into a very particular slavery and you’re a monster for doing it.

  “Maybe I should just die here,” he said aloud.

  No, because then she wouldn’t be able to do a proper Leaving. It’s not like she can move on when you’re gone. She’s bound to you. And what happened to all your promises of being there with her till the end so you can both Leave together? Was that just more of your lies? No, you’re surviving this and you’re going to spend every day with her cherishing her for the treasure she is. Because you know that even if she wasn’t bound to you as your Companion, she’d still be loyal to you through it all, and that’s what gets to you the most.

  He looked at the picture of the two of them and gently set it down. The air seemed to be even colder than before. While his tolerance for extreme temperatures was higher than normal humans, it was nevertheless getting pretty bad. He decided that he’d better put the spacesuit on to keep warm and put on the helmet at the very limit of the air running out in the cockpit to maximize what he had left.

  The pain meds were starting to wear off and struggling into the spacesuit became an exercise in torture. He had hoped to be rescued by now, but had no idea what was going on outside. For all he knew, the fleet may have been wiped out in another alien attack and his time with Aaltskog before this mission may have been his last. No, you’d know if she was gone. You’re not psychic or anything, but you’d know.

  He crashed back on to the bed again, suddenly exhausted, and fell asleep.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Feln woke up again, feeling sluggish and finding it harder to concentrate than before. He realized the air in the cockpit was almost gone and he had to put the helmet to his spacesuit on. He fumbled with it like he was in a dream and finally managed to get it on. After locking the collar seals in place, he tapped the controls on the suit’s wrist to turn it on. Air flowed into the helmet and he breathed deep. The slight smell of rubber and plastic was oddly delicious as he became fully aware again.

  I need to go outside and see where I am. Just waiting here is gonna kill me from boredom. He punched in the code for the suit to administer another pain med and pulled the emergency flare gun from one of the cabinets before putting the photo of him and Aaltskog in one of the spacesuit’s pockets. As the pain killer took effect, he went over to the hatch and opened it, only to be greeted with a wall of metal on the other side.

  Right, unlocking the cockpit sphere to move within the outer sphere has made the inner and outer hatches unaligned. With no power to bring the two hatches back into alignment, he would have to turn two cranks next to the hatch to rotate the inner sphere along two radii until it lined up with the outer sphere again. I should have just left the inner sphere locked down because turning two cranks repeatedly is going to use up my air supply faster.

  He briefly considered just staying put but decided he’d sooner die looking out at space than at the inside of a metal ball. The cranks were located behind a panel next to the hatch and as he started cranking, he wished this planet could have been smaller. Even at half g, it was still hard going as the gravity inside the cockpit seemed to rotate 90 degrees to his perspective. Eventually, the outer hatch’s edge came into view and after a little while longer, was lined up with the inner hatch.

  He opened the outer hatch and started to climb the rungs leading up and out, the lights on his helmet illuminating the way. At last he got to the final hatch that led to Denxeiter’s chest, and then outside. He released the locks on the hatch and pulled the lever next to him. That started a mechanical timer of ten seconds before emergency explosives would blow the hatch off. He descended a few rungs and held his head down to shield the glass in his helmet.

  With a muffled whumf the hatch blew free and landed a few feet away on
Denxeiter’s chest. Feln climbed up and out of the access tunnel, clambering out near the recently exploded hatch. He looked overhead and was greeted with…not space, but the inside of a cavern.

  Dammit, that’s probably why they haven’t found me. I must have crashed through the roof of a cavern and Denxeiter’s emergency beacon is getting jammed by something in the rock. That’s on top of the usual interference in this system. He sat down and looked around. There didn’t seem to be any passages attached to the cavern. The only way in our out, was the hole Denxeiter made when it crashed inside on arrival. He scanned the ceiling for the hole and after a while located it far above.

  There’s no way I’m climbing up there. He looked down at the flare gun. Five flares. The chances of him getting a flare through that hole so far in the distance were minuscule. Flares weren’t designed for accuracy, only to cast a bright light and smoke over a wide area. I don’t have any other choice though.

  He took aim and squeezed the trigger. A flare launched from the gun and gently arced before smashing into the cavern wall, nowhere near the ceiling. Feln adjusted his aim and fired another flare. This one hit the ceiling at least, but was too far to the right. He adjusted and fired again. He almost threw the flare gun down in disgust when the flare bounced off the inner edge of the hole and careened back inside of the cave. Two left. He aimed carefully and after slowly exhaling, squeezed the trigger. The flare shot out and cleared the hole, bursting in the outside beyond.

  “Yes! Yes!” he screamed happily and actually found himself doing a little dance. “Now that is why this particular Space Knight is ranked AA7, ladies and gentlemen.” He bowed to a nonexistent audience before sitting back down again. No more dancing. I gotta save what little air I’ve got left, he thought, noting that the gauge on his suit read 30%. At least the worst of it’s over. Now I can just sit here and wait.