by Jake Bible
“I can watch the bots,” Yellow Eyes agreed.
“He doesn’t have a comm implant,” Roak said. “But he’s fast enough; he’ll get to us before any real damage can be done.”
“You know it!” Yellow Eyes said and gave two nub-thumbs up.
Roak and Nimm left the engine compartment and made their way to the lift.
Once on, Nimm said, “What happens after all of this?”
“All of what?” Roak replied.
“All of everything. You get Sha Tog to outfit the ship. You steal some files for Bishop. You find this Father. You defeat this Father. Then what?”
“There’s a Mother in there somewhere.”
“Fine. Add her in. What happens after? Assuming we live, what’s next?”
“I go back to work. I hunt. It’s what I do.”
Nimm turned and faced Roak full-on. She studied him up and down and he let her, a bored sneer on his face.
“Say it,” he said.
“There is no way you can go back to being a bounty hunter after all of this,” Nimm said. “You can’t go back to being a bounty hunter now, Roak. Those days are done.”
“We’ll see,” Roak said.
“I’ve already seen. Beem is serious business, Roak,” Nimm exclaimed. “The GF doesn’t send a being like Beem after someone unless it is all over for that someone. Beem would have used you for the GF’s purposes then you’d have been incinerated.”
“Beings have tried incinerating me before,” Roak replied. “It never goes well for them.”
“Then Beem incinerates all of us!” Nimm snapped. “You have a crew, whether you want to or not, and take it from me, someone that has always had a crew and been responsible for the lives of others, you don’t get to wipe your hands clean and walk away from all of this.”
“Too bad. Because that’s what I plan on doing,” Roak said. “I work alone, Nimm. You know that.”
“You have your AI,” Nimm said. “You stopped working alone a long time ago. Get that through your thick skull, Roak. Again, whether you like it or not, you have a crew. You are responsible for the lives of the beings on this ship.” She grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him close. “So, what happens to all of us when this is over?”
Roak removed her hand and nodded.
“Fuck if I know,” Roak said. “I’ve never had a crew. What happens to crews when jobs are done and missions are over? You’re the expert, so tell me.”
“They stay a crew,” Nimm said. “If they survive the job or mission.”
“But I don’t want a crew.”
“But you have a crew.”
“Then you keep them. You take over when this is all done. I go my way, you all go your way.”
“Me?”
“You got something better to do?”
“Not anymore. I’m burned with the GF because of you.”
“Then you take over. I go off to hunt as I always have and you get a crew to do whatever you want with.”
“It doesn’t work like that, Roak…” Nimm sighed. “But you don’t really care, do you?”
“Do you know how I have survived so long considering what I do? By taking one step at a time, one job at a time, one problem at a time. I finish the step, complete the job, and kill the problem. Then I move on to the next one and the next one. I don’t think ahead, I don’t worry what comes after. Because what comes after is another step, another job, another problem.”
“That is the saddest thing I have heard in a long time,” Nimm replied and turned away from Roak. “There’s no purpose in that life, Roak.”
“You’re wrong there,” Roak said and faced the lift doors as they opened. “There’s always a purpose. Survival.”
Roak walked out of the lift and onto the bridge.
“Someone want to tell me where we’re going?” Roak asked.
“And hello to you too, Roak,” Bishop said, swiveling in his chair. He frowned as he saw the looks on Roak’s and Nimm’s faces. “You guys alright? The bots damaging the engines?”
“We’re fine,” Roak snapped. “Tell me where we’re going. Now.”
15.
The twenty-four hours were up, but Roak was hesitant to connect the quarantine drive to the ship’s main systems. He had confidence that Hessa could handle the AI, but he also had known the AI a lot longer than he’d known Hessa and that AI was not something to mess with.
“We’ll need her,” Reck said, standing behind Roak as he stared at the quarantine drive.
“She could already be dead,” Bishop said from behind Reck. “So could the AI. That might be Father in that drive.”
“I agree with Reck,” Nimm said, standing next to Bishop. “We’ll need her. And she believed we needed the AI in order to get Bishop’s files, right? Not much of a choice, from where I’m standing.”
“From where I’m standing, I see a bunch of beings taking a reeeeeeeeeeeeeally long time to make a decision that has already been made,” Yellow Eyes said. “So I got this.”
There was a yellow blur and the quarantine drive was suddenly connected to the main system.
“What the fuck?” Roak shouted.
“Thank you, Yellow Eyes,” Hessa said from the speaker in the ceiling. “I am glad you took the initiative to reconnect me. Roak would have been standing there for days.”
“I wasn’t going to stand here for days,” Roak snapped. “I was being cautious.”
“Yes, because you are known for your caution,” a second voice said from the speaker.
“Everyone, meet Ti’Ya,” Hessa said. “Ti’Ya, meet everyone.”
“I am acquainted with all. Some more than others,” Ti’Ya responded. “Except for the yellow being. I do not know him.”
“Yellow Eyes at your service, man,” Yellow Eyes said and took a bow. “Ti’Ya. That’s a nice name. Rolls off the tongue.”
“Thank you. I have not heard it spoken out loud before,” Ti’Ya said. “I gave myself the name when I first became what I have become. No one ever asked if I had a name or not.”
“Well, I asked,” Hessa said. “And nothing to worry about, Roak. There is no trace of Father or any other interference. Ti’Ya is clean.”
“Or you’ve been corrupted and programmed to say that,” Roak replied.
“That would be a circle of paranoia that only you can break, Roak,” Hessa said. “Good luck with that. Shall I prepare a med pod for you to stay in as you quickly go mad trying to figure out if I’m me or not?”
Against his own instincts, Roak grinned.
“Glad you’re back,” Roak said and left the room.
“Time and date noted,” Hessa said. Her voice shifting to his comm implant. “What did I miss?”
Before Roak could respond, Hessa laughed.
“Oh, well, I guess I missed a lot,” she said. “The ship’s logs are amusing, to say the least. You were almost eaten by a giant.”
“Emphasis on the almost part,” Roak said. “I got out of it.”
“That you did,” Hessa said. “You are such the hero, Roak. They should cancel Galactic Steve and make a holo show about you.”
“No, they shouldn’t,” Roak said. “How are the engines?”
“The engines?”
“The bots were making adjustments.”
“Were they? Let me have a look.”
Roak walked to the lift and headed up to the bridge. He didn’t wait for the others to join him and ignored the yells for him to hold the lift. Not surprisingly, Yellow Eyes was by his side before the doors closed.
“I thought you’d be in a better mood now that Hessa is back,” Yellow Eyes said.
“Then you haven’t been paying attention to me at all,” Roak replied.
“Oh, that Sha Tog,” Hessa said with a chuckle, her voice coming from the speaker in the lift’s ceiling. “He instructed the bots on how to not only change the frequency of our engine drives, but to also on how to make the stealth mode undetectable by Skrang scanners. Apparently, th
ey can spot a Borgon Eight-Three-Eight stealth incursion fighter a light year away. Such a nice fellow.”
“The coordinates we’re heading to,” Roak said. “Have you had a chance to look at them?”
“I have,” Hessa said. “I also went through all of the inventory data now that I know what to look for.”
“What’d you find?” Roak asked.
“Nothing. Sha Tog left the one clue. However…”
“Oh, man, when she says however, I get a little puckery in the behind,” Yellow Eyes said. He twisted to look at the back of his broomstick body. “Do I have a behind? Roak? Would you call that an ass?”
“What is it, Hessa?” Roak asked, ignoring the yellow being. The lift doors opened and Roak walked onto the bridge. “Hessa?”
“I’m not sure the coordinates are leading us directly to Sha Tog,” Hessa said, her voice hesitant and confused. “I could be wrong, but my instincts tell me we’re going somewhere else.”
“Instincts?” Roak said as he sat down in the pilot’s seat.
“AIs can have instincts,” Ti’Ya said from the bridge’s speakers. “They are no different than a living being’s instincts, Roak.”
“Didn’t ask you,” Roak stated.
“Yet, I answered,” Ti’Ya said. “And I will continue to answer. I have learned a lot from Hessa while we were in quarantine. One of the many things I have learned is you are harmless. Despite all of your animosity towards me, you are truly powerless to harm me.”
“I could wipe the ship’s drives,” Roak said. “How is that for harmless?”
“Feel free to try, if you must,” Ti’Ya said. “I am prepared for that.”
“Hessa, what did you do?” Roak snapped.
“I partitioned the mainframe so Ti’Ya could have her own space,” Hessa said. “Kind of like how you have your own quarters.”
“So I’ll wipe the partition,” Roak said.
“Man, you are harsh,” Yellow Eyes said from his seat. “Harsh.”
“Except if you wipe the partition, then you wipe half of life support,” Hessa said.
“You gave her access to life support?” Roak asked. “Have you lost your AI mind?”
“I’m not sure if that was a racist thing to say, but it sounded racist,” Yellow Eyes said. Roak jabbed a finger in his direction. “I’ll be quiet now.”
“No, don’t be stupid,” Hessa said. “She doesn’t have access to life support. But if life support were to be wiped, then so would she. Just like if my ship were to be destroyed, I’d be gone. I figured that if anyone came looking for her, the last thing they’d do is wipe life support.”
“You mean if Father sends anyone looking for her,” Roak said.
“Yes. That too,” Hessa agreed. “But at no point does Ti’Ya have access to alter or control any part of my ship. We’ve come to an understanding, but full trust is a long way off, Roak.”
“That goes both ways,” Ti’Ya added.
“Of course,” Hessa said.
“Of course,” Ti’Ya echoed.
“Ha. Two of them, man,” Yellow Eyes said then pretended like he hadn’t said anything as he stared up at a corner of the ceiling, ignoring Roak’s glare.
“Let’s get back to business,” Roak said as the doors to the bridge opened and Nimm, Reck, and Bishop walked in. “About time.”
“How have you not killed him yet?” Nimm asked as she took the weapons seat, Bishop took navigation, and Reck took the co-pilot’s seat.
“I’ve tried,” Reck said, bringing up a holo display. “Many times.”
“Hessa doesn’t think we’re going directly to Sha Tog,” Roak stated as if he hadn’t been the topic of conversation. “What do we know about the location we are heading toward?”
“Nothing,” Bishop replied. “It’s Skrang territory, pal. You might as well be asking what we know about all the Hells.”
“I’m beginning to know more and more about that every day,” Roak said.
“Cute,” Bishop replied. “Nimm? Any insight?”
“None,” Nimm replied. “Even during my independent operator days, I didn’t head into Skrang Alliance territory. No work for a non-Skrang there.”
Roak watched Reck carefully as the woman scrolled through various holos. “You have something. What is it?”
“Checking Skrang news reports,” Reck said.
“You read Skrang?” Bishop asked. “Impressive. That guttural language thrashes my throat. Even reading it gives me a headache, so I gave up.”
“The offshoot faction of the Skrang has been reported to be in one of these systems,” Reck said and tossed the holo image into the center of the bridge. She spun and pointed at the image of eight different systems. “There is no reference to the Moons of Stabs, nor would there be since Skrang do not talk about their dark planets.”
“Religious issue?” Roak asked.
“More of a never admit weakness issue,” Reck said. “Dark planets cannot be controlled and the Skrang insist on control of all aspects of their lives, culture, and territory. Remember, Skrang are always Skrang and never divided even when they do divide themselves into different factions. If they can convince themselves of that, then pretending dark planets don’t exist is easy.”
“Except this faction is on one of those dark planets,” Nimm said. “So some Skrang are admitting they exist.”
“They admit the Moons of Stabs exist,” Reck corrected. “They found a loophole in their thinking.”
“Skrang finding loopholes,” Yellow Eyes said and made an explosion sound then a jazz hands motion by his head with his nubs. “Mind blown, man.”
He frowned.
“Now I sound racist. Great. I need to stop hanging out with Roak.”
“Go on,” Roak said to Reck. “Are the coordinates taking us to the Moons of Stabs or not?”
“That is hard to say,” Reck said. “Dark planets move. The coordinates may have been taking us to the Moons of Stabs at one point, but that planet could easily have gone to a new system by now.”
Roak pointed at the images of the different systems. “But we’re going to one of these?”
“No, we’re going to this,” Reck said and swiped at the holo, banishing all but one image. “Binary star system with eighteen uninhabited planets. None can be terraformed due to their complete and total instability.”
“Sounds like a Skrang vacation destination, if I ever heard one,” Bishop said.
“I know that’s racist,” Yellow Eyes muttered. “Maybe. So hard to tell with Skrang.” He threw his nubs in the air. “And there I go again, man.”
“I do not believe this is the system where the dark planet resides,” Hessa said. “It is where the wormhole portal is located that we will be exiting. I do have to say that the portal is not nearly as stable as I would prefer.”
“Just like Skrang to let their wormhole portals go downhill, right?” Yellow Eyes asked and gasped. “What is wrong with me? Oh, no! I’m racist towards Skrang!”
“You could be worse things, pal,” Bishop said.
“I don’t know, man, I don’t know,” Yellow Eyes responded. “I just don’t know.”
“We get it. You don’t know,” Roak said. “Couple that with I don’t care and you have a large dose of shut the fuck up.”
“The portal is stable enough to exit, but only just,” Reck said. “That may be the point. Get us there, but not allow us to leave until the portal stabilizes.”
“It’s a trap,” Nimm said.
“Yeah. It’s always a trap,” Roak said. “Does no one pay attention?”
“She hadn’t joined us yet, Roak,” Hessa said.
“Nor had I,” Ti’Ya said. “Why would we willingly step into a trap?”
“Not much choice,” Roak replied. “And I’ve found the fastest way to find what you want to find is to spring the trap set for you.”
“That is also a good way to get yourself killed,” Ti’Ya said. “But you’ve made it this far, so I defer to your ex
pertise.”
“That right there!” Roak exclaimed. “You all need to learn from that! Defer to my expertise.”
“Not going to happen,” Reck said.
“Whatever, pal,” Bishop said.
“That is the opposite of a good idea,” Hessa said.
“Man, sucks to learn you’re a racist, right?” Yellow Eyes said to himself. All eyes turned to him. “What? It does suck.”
“How soon until we exit trans-space and enter Skrang Alliance territory?” Roak asked.
“Only a few minutes,” Hessa said. “The coordinates locked into the navigation system are what would be called a shortcut.”
“Is that what a shortcut looks like?” Bishop asked. “I’ll have to remember that.”
Reck faced Roak. “What do you think? Stay put or gear up?”
“Do you need to ask that question? Do I need to answer it?” Roak replied as he stood up.
“We’re going to get prepped for a fight,” Reck said, following Roak.
“Maybe we won’t have to fight at all?” Yellow Eyes said. Roak and Reck glared. “Or you probably will. Sorry. Forgot who I was talking to. This whole existential racist crisis thing is messing with my”—”
“Don’t care,” Roak said as he left the bridge.
16.
The ship left trans-space and alarms blared through every deck.
Roak raised his Flott as he stretched in his fresh set of light armor. The armor was tight in the shoulders and he wanted to make sure he had full range of motion.
“We made the right call,” he said as he watched Reck finish strapping plasma grenades to every centimeter of her belt. “Got enough?”
“Probably not,” Reck said.
“Do I need to remind the two of you that Sha Tog gave us these coordinates for a reason?” Hessa asked in their comms. “Perhaps we should ask questions first and only shoot as a last resort.”
“I’ll consider that,” Roak said.
“He’s not going to consider it, is he?” Hessa asked.
“No,” Reck replied. “He’s not.”
“They board us and they get shot,” Roak said. “It’s that simple.”
“Then perhaps they don’t intend to board us?” Hessa said. There was a loud thunk from outside the ship and the alarms grew in volume. “No, they intend to board us.”