Avren: An Auxem Novel

by Lisa Lace

  “Klowix!”

  Not trusting that he’d heard her, she took off running. “Klowix!”

  He came out of the engine room on a dead run, a spanner still in his hand.

  Bethany gasped. “Red lights.”

  Klowix didn’t ask any questions, but dropped the spanner and went for the control room at full speed.

  Alarms began going off as his fingers flew over the controls. Bethany recognized the shield controls as he put shields on full strength.

  “Strap yourself in!”

  She was already ahead of him, buckling the last of the straps in the passenger seat.

  “How did they find us?”

  Klowix shook his head but didn’t say anything, his entire focus on evading the enemy ships. He’d told Bethany that it would be weeks before they were truly safe, but after five days of nothing, she’d begun to get hopeful. The ship lurched violently as Klowix dodged a blast.

  “Klowix? What’s happening?”

  “They’ve managed to override the primary system.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that they have control of the ship. They’re bringing us in.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Your ship is disabled. Prepare to surrender.”

  Bethany glanced at Klowix in terror. “What are they going to do with us?”

  He still had a fierce expression that clearly showed he hadn’t given up. “If I have anything to say about it, nothing.”

  “Tolo, Commander Klowix coming in. We’re unarmed and prepared to receive you.”

  The ship jolted slightly, and through the glass screen in front, Bethany could see what looked like a short metal tube joining their ship to a significantly larger one.

  Men rushed in, faster than Bethany’s eye could track, training weapons on the two of them.

  Klowix snapped at them. “Put your gun down, soldier.”

  The man in the lead hesitated, clearly not comfortable going against Klowix’s orders, despite his treachery against the king.

  “Now!”

  Slowly, the guns lowered.

  Tolo spoke hesitantly. “You… you have to come with us, Commander. The king demands it.”

  “Understood. Come, Bethany.”

  Under the pretense of helping her unstrap herself from the chair, Klowix leaned down close to her and whispered in her ear. “Break the warp drive.”

  She felt him pushing something cold and hard into her hands. Quickly hiding it inside her jacket, Bethany glanced down to see that it was the T-screen he’d been using to communicate with Culip. Her mind spun, trying to work out what he wanted her to do. Break the warp drive. That would mean they’d take just as long getting back as they had getting here.

  By the way he was handling the soldiers, she expected he was going to try to convince them to let them go. She didn’t know if that would work, but it certainly wouldn’t if she didn’t buy them some time.

  She followed Klowix quietly through the metal tube. As they reached the other ship, she quickened her breathing and began to bring a slight tremor into her hands. Tolo glanced at her, but didn’t say anything. They were led to what Bethany assumed would be the control room. With a final loud gasp, she let her legs collapse.

  “Bethany!”

  To the soldiers, Klowix would sound shocked and worried. She knew him better than that, though; she could detect the hint of pride in his voice.

  Klowix spoke quickly. “She’s fragile, easily upset. She needs to rest, to lie down somewhere.”

  “Yentri, take her to one of the bunks. Post a guard outside. I’m sorry, Commander, but we’ll have to search you.”

  Bethany cracked her eyes open enough to see Klowix spreading his arms, submitting to the search. They didn’t think to search her, a fragile human who couldn’t even handle walking from one ship to the next. She was lifted by one of the soldiers – Yentri, she assumed – and forced herself to remain limp.

  She hated to separate from Klowix, but she knew that the scrutiny on him would be too tight to do anything. She felt herself being laid down on a narrow bed and heard a door closing.

  Bethany opened her eyes to find herself in a room with ten bunks, though she was thankfully alone for the moment. Creeping to the door, she pressed her ear to it. She couldn’t hear anything, but she knew the guard must be close by.

  Trying to remain as quiet as possible, she wriggled under the blankets and turned away from the door. If anyone saw her, hopefully they’d assume she was still asleep.

  Easing the T-screen out, Bethany carefully hid it under the blankets and turned off the volume. She sent a text message.

  Culip, I need your help. Are you there?

  The answer came immediately. I’m here.

  It’s Bethany here. Klowix and I have been captured. I pretended to faint; they took me to a bunk room. I’m alone, but there’s a guard outside the door. Klowix says I need to break the warp engine. Can you help me?

  Yes. Culip’s next message was a few minutes in coming.

  First, you need to find the engine room. That’ll be at the bottom of the ship. Keep going down stairs until you can’t go any farther, then follow the loudest noise you can hear. If you don’t want them to fix it, you can’t just pull out some wires in the drive – they could replace those. You need to break the interior core regulator. They won’t have another of those on the ship; they’ll have to fly back to Telion at normal speeds to get a replacement.

  Without the interior core regulator, the warp drive can’t regulate its heat; because of the danger involved, it won’t even start. There will be panels somewhere in the engine room. The blue ones are the warp drive panels. You need to open them up and get the core regulator out. It’ll be labelled with a barcode including the numbers 23075. You may need to push some wires aside to find it.

  It’ll be hot – you can’t take it out with your bare hands. You’ll need to smash it. It’s pretty tough, so you’ll need something heavy to smash it with. One of the panels should work.

  Bethany read through the message a few times, trying to memorize it.

  What happens if we’re already in hyperspace when I disable the regulator?

  The ship will explode.

  Bethany swallowed. She quickly thanked Culip and got out of bed. Clearly, she had no time to waste. Rummaging around the room, she managed to lay her hands on a large piece of metal equipment. She had no idea what it was, but it was heavy. Before she could lose her nerve, Bethany opened the door.

  The guard outside turned to her politely, about to ask a question – probably if she was recovered. Bethany didn’t give him a chance. She hit him on the head as hard as she could. Not expecting an attack from her, he crumpled without a word.

  Mentally thanking Klowix for everything he’d taught her, Bethany crept out. At the end of the corridor was a flight of stairs. She took it down, then took the next one, and the one after that.

  She supposed everyone was up at the control center guarding Klowix, thinking she was harmlessly asleep. Finally, it seemed she was as low on the ship as she would be able to go. She cast around, listening. There seemed to be noise coming from all over. Hoping she was going in the right direction, Bethany set off.

  The noise grew louder and louder until it was uncomfortable in her ears. The engine room was hot. Glancing around, Bethany saw no one. It didn’t take long to realize that she had a problem. There were a number of panels and at least three of them were glowing different shades of blue.

  She pulled up the T-screen and called Culip, hoping the noise all around her would be enough to mask the sound of their conversation.

  Culip answered at once, her face pinched with worry. “Bethany?”

  “Which one is it?” Bethany turned the screen to face the panels.

  She could only just make out Culip’s voice over the sound of the engines. “The one on the left. Be careful…”

  Bethany propped the T-screen up against a wall and tried to dislodge the pan
el. It didn’t want to come off, and she resorted to using what she assumed was valuable equipment as a prybar. The panel came off with a clang. Bethany froze, waiting for people to come running, but the noise was absorbed by the roaring of the engines. The blue of the panel started to glow brighter.

  “Bethany! Hurry – they’re about to fire up the warp engine.”

  In a panic, Bethany pulled at the wires, trying to see the numbers etched on the various parts. Finally, she saw it – 4569230752.

  “Bethany, now!”

  She had planned to find gloves or something to protect her hands, but the urgency in Culip’s voice spurred her on. Bethany thrust her hands into the panel and grabbed the regulator. She screamed as the hot metal seared her flesh, but she hung on. She yanked it out and let it drop to the floor.

  Not sparing the time to comfort her aching hands, she grabbed the panel and started smashing. She couldn’t hear if Culip was saying anything over the noise of her destruction. All she could think about was the burning agony in her palms, agony that twisted with every movement.

  Bethany stopped only when someone grabbed her middle and pulled her roughly away.

  “Don’t you touch her!”

  The hands let go of her and she felt herself enfolded in Klowix’s arms. “What have you done?” He turned her hands gently so that he could see them.

  “Bought us time.”

  Klowix yelled to one of the guards. “We need the medical kit here!” And when Klowix yelled, people ran; this was certainly no exception. Klowix lowered her to the floor and held her wrists, keeping her palms from touching anything else in the grimy engine room.

  Bethany recognized the device that had been used to heal her before and eagerly held her hands out. There was a flash of heat, and the pain dissipated. When Klowix released her wrists, she saw that the skin was smooth and unharmed.

  “Commander, what is the meaning of this!” Tolo looked like he couldn’t decide whether to be furious or impressed.

  “Come. Let’s get Bethany lying down, and I will explain.”

  Even though these soldiers were their captors, a lifetime of habits was hard to break, and they followed Klowix’s orders. Getting them to disobey a direct order from the king, though, that would be a little more difficult.

  Bethany lay down on the bunk, even though she was still too full of adrenaline to be tired. Klowix pulled up a chair and gestured for the other soldiers to sit down. She expected a whole moving speech that would in the end convince them to let her and Klowix go. There was no speech. He gave them only four simple words.

  “Bethany is my secrena.”

  The silence was so complete that Bethany thought she could have heard a pin drop.

  “But… but does the king know this?” Tolo stammered.

  “I suspect he does. Even if he doesn’t, I doubt telling him would change anything.”

  “It would have to. You can’t separate a citizen from his secrena; it’s one of our highest laws. Even the king wouldn’t dare.”

  Klowix snapped at him now and seemed to become bigger as the men around him diminished. “Tolo, use your head. Is the king acting rationally right now? Look at his actions and evaluate them. Come to a conclusion, like I have taught you.”

  Tolo looked uncomfortable. “Commander, I have done as you taught me and arrived at the same conclusions you have, but disobeying the king…”

  “You are afraid of throwing our planet into civil war. You should be; civil war is never an acceptable consequence. Look at the facts, though. The king has thrown us into civil war himself. What you do here won’t change that. There are already portions of the army working against him, for the people. You must know this.”

  Tolo didn’t say anything, and didn’t meet Klowix’s gaze. Klowix didn’t press his case. He simply observed Tolo like he was observing a pupil trying to learn a difficult lesson.

  “What would you have us do?”

  Klowix looked at him. “If you need to ask me, then you are no Commander. You are a good leader, Tolo. In my absence, you will be called upon to lead either the troops of the king, or the free people. You will choose which. You cannot ask me what to do. Tell me what you are going to do.”

  Their gazes met with an intensity that Bethany thought might draw sparks. Finally, Tolo straightened.

  “Stop our course to Telion. Get some men to escort Commander Klowix and his secrena back to their ship. Radio silence and shields at full. We want to intercept any others who come this way.”

  Klowix smiled and clapped Tolo on the back. “I always believed in you, soldier.”

  Tolo’s eyes shone with pride as men around him followed his orders. They seemed just as relieved as Bethany was. She realized that Klowix hadn’t wanted the warp engine disabled to give him more time to convince the men. He’d wanted it so that they were still a good distance from Telion when they were released.

  If Bethany had been seconds later with the regulator, they would be in Telion’s perimeter by now, surrounded by more men than Klowix could hope to turn to his side.

  “I don’t know where you’re going, Commander, but I hope you find peace there. There won’t be peace here for a long time. We’ll watch for any more ships and stop them when we can. You can take our field deviator; we don’t really need it. We can make our own way back to Telion.”

  “Thank you, Tolo. I wish you the best of luck.”

  Bethany could hardly believe that they were being let go. She never should have doubted Klowix. He ushered her ahead of him, apparently eager to get out of the area as soon as possible. She shared the sentiment.

  One of the men rushed up with yet another metal piece of equipment. Bethany couldn’t tell the difference between any of them, but Klowix held it to his chest like it was as precious as diamonds.

  “What’s that?”

  “A field deviator. When the king shuts down travel around Telion, he needs his own ships to be able to enter hyperspace, or suffer the same disadvantage as everyone else. This allows the ship it is connected to deviate from the field and enter warp. We’ll set a course from here to a distant planet, and go from there to our destination.”

  Though Klowix didn’t say so, Bethany got the impression that if they went directly from here to where they were going, it would be possible to track them. These men were clearly loyal to him, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Tolo clearly approved of the decision. “I hope to see you again, Commander.”

  “Oh, you will. You may not see me, but you will see what I bring. I have a price on my head; coming back here would only derail the efforts towards freedom. That’s not to say I will give up, though. It may take some time, but when I can, I will send help. I still have a lot of useful connections. The king may think he can enforce tyranny, but all he will do is bring back the times of war.”

  “If it’s war he wants, I intend to see that he does not live to see the end of it.”

  Tolo saluted to Klowix and nodded to Bethany. “You have a smart secrena; I can see why you love her. You’ve taught her well.”

  Klowix squeezed Bethany’s shoulder. “Good luck, Commander. It’s on you now.”

  All the men saluted before turning sharply and going back through the small metal tube. As soon as everyone was clear, Klowix pulled Bethany into the airlock and detached their ship.

  “Come, it will take some time to install the field deviator. I’ll need your help if we’re to do it as quickly as we can. Once we enter hyperspace, no one can stop us, but if someone else finds us before we can get it working…”

  Bethany finished for him. “We’re in trouble.” She would not like to see the soldiers who sided with Klowix die defending him from their comrades, not when they didn’t have to.

  She quickly followed him, dialing Culip’s number as she went.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Klowix, look – there’s another planet on the sensor. Maybe this is the one.”

  Klowix was noncommittal. “Maybe.”

  B
ethany thought they must have found over twenty planets since they’d left known space and ventured into the unknown. None of them had been even remotely suitable for human life.

  Some were mere gas and had no solid ground. Others had no atmosphere. Others were too close to the sun, or too far from it. Others were filled with toxic gases. It was beginning to feel like they’d never find a planet, as though they’d spend the rest of their lives on the ship, always searching.

  Klowix set the search parameters as usual. He and Bethany both knew the routine by heart at this point. The initial checks began running; the others would have to wait until they were closer, but there wouldn’t be any need to go any closer if the initial checks failed.

  Klowix sounded surprised suddenly. “Initial checks passed. The planet is solid, has an atmosphere, and the correct distance from the sun.”

  Bethany’s hope flared to life. Maybe this would be the one. Of all the planets they’d found, only five had passed the initial checks.

  “How long until we can run the advanced evaluations?”

  “If we go back to hyperspace and come out closer to the planet, probably an hour.”

  “Great, let’s do it!”

  Klowix waited until she was strapped in before prepping the warp drive, but that was more habit than necessity. His promise had been true: they’d been travelling for months, and Bethany was now a pilot. She wasn’t as good as him, but she could command the ship as well as any soldier; he’d said so himself.

  The hour dragged by. Bethany tried not to get her hopes up. It would probably just end the same way it ended every time, with the discovery that they couldn’t possibly survive on the planet and setting off again. Still, it was hard not to become excited.

  When they came out of hyperspace, Bethany could see the planet in the distance. It looked like it had a bluish tint to it. Blue could mean water, but of course, it could mean any number of other things as well.

  She deftly pressed in the correct combinations, and the checks began running.

  Her eyebrows went up with every line of results that came back. “There is sufficient oxygen, no gasses poisonous to us in the air, water – plant life! There’s plant life, Klowix!”