by Clara Woods
To the Craff, she enforced that image with a feeling of smugness and triumph.
To the humans, she added defeat and the hope that they’d be able to make their deal in one of the other trading bays. One of the humans whirled around, looking straight at them through the window, and Lenah wavered, struggling to hold her image. Next to her, Cassius and Persia lifted their weapons, and Lenah had to force herself not to drop her influence and do the same. She concentrated on the man, pushing harder. A few moments later, he turned around, his shoulders slumped in disappointment.
Lenah nodded to Cassius and Persia. At the same time, she pushed the memory of agreeing to the immediate delivery of the goods into the room. Cassius moved first, protecting Persia behind his body.
None of the Craff or humans acted surprised when Cassius and Persia entered into plain sight. Lenah breathed out in relief, but it was not time to relax yet.
Cassius picked up a crate of the silver and red balls and turned with it. Persia followed suit, lifting her own crate and turning to come back. Lenah saw one of the Craff wrinkle her forehead in doubt, then clench her fist with the painted claws. She concentrated on that one and sent her a feeling of triumph. She’d made a great deal today. At first, the Craff didn’t seem susceptible to this idea. She took a step toward Cassius, who was returning for a second box. Cassius froze but didn’t reach for his weapon, which Lenah appreciated. If the Craff saw Cassius act in open hostility, Lenah’s suggestions would have to be even stronger, and she was already maxing out her ability.
Lenah poured more of the suggestion in the Craff’s direction. The merchant stepped back, looking relaxed. Cassius inched forward and grabbed the second box, then quickly transported it out of the room and into the corridor.
“That’s all we need,” he told Lenah in a low voice.
She gave one nod but otherwise didn’t acknowledge. Cassius stacked his two crates and gathered them into his arms, and Lenah assumed Persia was doing the same, but she didn’t turn around to look. Instead, Lenah stayed where she was and focused on keeping both the Craff and the humans happy.
She heard Cassius’s and Persia’s footsteps walking away behind her. Triumph threatened to interrupt her grasp of the minds she was controlling, but she was able to snap back into it. Somehow, and to her surprise, she found it easier with these minds that were unknown to her. Maybe, because she had fewer moral regrets about controlling them? Or were they just easy minds compared to her crew?
Lenah gave Cassius and Persia about a minute head start before starting to move after them. She crept away backward while trying to keep connected to the images for as long as possible until she felt them slipping away. She stopped and changed the image.
The Craff got a memory of the humans stealing the boxes of explosives right in front of their eyes. The humans, on the other hand, received the image of paying and being denied their merchandise.
Instantly, Lenah heard yells inside the room. Someone—a Craff—roared. Then, what sounded like a body crashing into the metal wall of the bay. That was her sign.
Mission accomplished, Lenah turned around and broke out into a full run. Hopefully, she’d given her group enough time to make it back to the ship. As she ran, sounds of clanking reverberated in the corridor, behind the first door they’d passed. She jerked up her tranquilizer gun but hardly slowed as the hatch automatically opened in front of her.
20 The Drones
As Lenah stepped through the open hatch, a fight came into view. But it wasn’t the station guards as she’d been anticipating. Instead, several transport drones were shooting at Persia and Cassius, and Lenah had to dodge to the side to avoid being hit by a streaking laser.
Stars, hadn’t Cassius said laser weapons were forbidden because of the danger of hull breaches? But maybe that didn’t apply to the drones. Judging by the crates of ivory lying about, Cassius’s father had made a deal. Lenah puffed out a breath that came out as an icy cloud in front of her. By the stars, this was making a lot of noise. She really hoped that Cassius’s father had already left the trading bay.
Assessing the situation, she tucked away her tranquilizer gun. It would be of no use against drones. Nor would her mind powers. She got out her knife and crept closer to the fight. There was a total of four drones, each a towering two-meter figure, roughly imitating the shape of a humanoid body.
Cassius was lifting one and actually managed to throw it at another drone nearby. They landed inert on top of each other in a heap of wheels and load-bearing arms. At the very least, they were programmed to not damage each other. It definitely looked like they were programmed to shoot at intruders.
Cassius used the short respite to jump after them and violently pull the square head off one machine. Another drone that was standing in the corridor rolled after him.
Lenah caught a look at Persia trying to crawl over to the final drone as it turned to shoot at her. Making a quick decision, Lenah sprinted after Persia, swinging her knife. It connected to the metal hull of the drone, and the impact reverberated through her whole arm, but apart from that, Lenah hadn’t done any damage. The drone stopped shooting at Persia and instead turned toward Lenah. She danced around, trying to evade its laser mounted from an attachment on the block-like head.
A loud alarm started beeping in the corridor, and an equanimous computer voice announced, “A hull breach has been detected”.
Lenah ducked and flanked the drone, which was slow to turn around on its four wheels.
Cassius showed up in her periphery, employing the same strategy as he had before. He crashed into the drone from behind and started violently pulling at its head. Lenah could see his muscles straining and thought his enhanced arm might have even squeaked. Though she had probably imagined that. Or maybe the squeaking had come from the drone as, with a sudden release, its head came free, cables flying all over.
Silence fell in the corridor around them.
Cassius turned, breathing heavily—and froze, focused on the corridor behind Lenah. Slowly, she spun.
Cassius’s father stood there, together with his guard. The brother was nowhere in sight.
“And this is how one encounters a freed guard dog. I thought I’d heard a commotion.” His father sneered. “Didn’t you want to turn over new leaf with your granddaddy? So high and mighty. Now look at you. Stealing from smugglers.” A wide, showy grin splattered all over his hateful face.
Next to her, Cassius had gone utterly still.
“Shut up, you have no power over him,” Lenah hissed.
Cassius’s father seemed to see her for the first time. “Found yourself a woman, heh? And a rich one at that,” he said, taking Lenah in, from head to toe. “Girl, you better run as far away as you can. My son ain’t no good.”
“I should have killed you,” Cassius growled more than spoke. He paused after every word as if having difficulty keeping his calm.
“You couldn’t have,” his father answered. “You’re too good for that. But you should have helped your grandfather.”
“You heard news?” Cassius asked.
His father rubbed his chin. “Nothing at all, actually.” Then he gave a quick nod to his guard who had moved to inspect their crates. “I’ll want to be paid for the damage done to my fine ivory. And the surgeries. Then you may consider yourself free.”
“Let’s go,” Cassius said between clenched teeth and thinned lips. With his cyborg speed, he pulled up his gun, shooting a tranquilizer dart into his father. Before the guard could get up from where he was inspecting the explosives, Cassius had shot him as well. Both went to the ground, unconscious.
Without a further word, Cassius walked to pick up the crates. Persia, who had been staring open-mouthed at the exchange, caught herself and lifted the other one, leaving Lenah to carry their shopping bag.
They trotted as fast as possible, Persia sweating under her load, and Lenah looking around everywhere with her gun at the ready.
The corridor had gotten even colder and also
drafty. Lenah assumed they were losing air through the hull breach they’d left behind. Luckily, gravity control was still working.
The alarm kept ringing, making it impossible to hear if someone was coming closer. They passed first the hatch to the market and then another one. According to Cassius, the next hatch should lead them right back into the parking ship.
Energy bolts fired as they passed through. Cassius dropped his crates and sprang forward, connecting his enhanced shoulder into a single drone that was carrying something packed in pink boxes. It toppled, releasing its load, and several boxes fell onto the floor, spilling plastic dolls.
Even toys were smuggled here? Right next to weapons? Lenah suppressed her surprise as she watched Cassius tumble to the floor with the drone, a single laser beam still shooting out.
“A hull breach has been detected,” the same computer voice as before announced over the noise of alarms now blaring also in this section of the ship.
“Wonderful,” Lenah muttered as Cassius got up from having dismantled the drone. “So much for leaving undetected.”
“Let’s get out of here. I hear footsteps,” Cassius said, lifting his crates.
They picked up speed again when Cassius abruptly turned. “What’s that beeping?”
“What beeping?” both Lenah and Persia asked at the same time. Over the ringing of the alarm, Lenah couldn’t hear anything. Cassius, however, seemed alarmed enough to put down his boxes again. He cocked his head, listening hard. “Persia, drop your box. Right now!” he yelled, jumping toward a startled Persia who, after a momentary hesitation, let go of her box.
Lenah realized that a red light was blinking inside the crate and watched as Cassius fetched the small sphere and hurled it back down the corridor. Then, she went blind from an explosion of bright, white light. A wave of heat and power slammed into Lenah a moment later, and she was lifted through the air. She crashed onto the floor, landing hard on her back. Something sharp cut her skin painfully close to the spine. Pain shot through Lenah, disorienting her even more. She tried to move, but blackness threatened to engulf her sight, and the room spun. She only saw a pinprick of a tunnel in front. Someone groaned nearby. Belatedly, she realized that it had come from her.
Footsteps sounded from where her head was resting on the ground, and she could see Cassius’s combat boots entering her limited field of vision.
“Lenah, how hurt are you?” He sounded genuinely alarmed, and combined with the shocked look in his eyes, she almost giggled thinking how terrible she must look. Certainly, not date material for a lake-side rendezvous with a few beers. She suppressed the giggle. Even her muddy brain realized this was not the time for such thoughts and that she might be in shock.
“I’m fine,” she croaked, trying to sit up. Cassius helped by pulling her gently at the shoulders, and, this time, Lenah found that she could sit up without feeling dizzy.
“Persia?” she asked, looking around.
“Over there, I’ll check on her.” Cassius left and ran over to where Persia was trying to get up from the floor. She was bleeding from a wound at her temple and grimacing down to one of her legs.
Lenah winced, putting all her energy into getting up and trying to ignore the nauseating smell of acrid fumes.
A hatch opened a few dozen meters down the corridor.
“Over there,” someone yelled in a nasal voice, and she realized it was Cassius’s brother who was waving more people forward.
The sight of the newcomers—station personnel—gave Lenah the adrenaline needed to get up. Cassius was half pulling, half lifting Persia to her feet, and she took a few wobbly steps.
“Lenah, can you carry a box?” Cassius yelled, scooping up his boxes again. She nodded, bending down to where Persia had dropped hers.
“No more ticking time bombs?” she asked Cassius as she tried to lift it. It was heavy, and her back protested violently at the exercise. Something had cut her there deeply and she could feel it wedge its way further inside.
“No. Just run.” Cassius heaved, making his way to a hatch a few meters away. If he had seen his brother, he chose to ignore it.
Behind them, footsteps thundered closer. Cassius led them through the hatch, and Lenah saw that they had reached the parking lot. The explosion had happened in the small space between two ships.
She ran behind Cassius, rounding other ships and trusting him to find his way. All she could do was carry her box and concentrate on running as fast as possible.
The Star Rambler came into view. It gave Lenah the strength to break into one last sprint. Just as they were reaching the cargo hatch, her stomach was lurched out of balance, and she went flying. Sounds of crashing accompanied the movement, and the station alarm beeped more frantically.
“Loss of atmosphere detected. Ship will detach in one minute,” the computer voice announced. Shouts sounded from behind, but Lenah didn’t think it was about them.
She could make out yelling voices of “Get to the ships!” or “Get the ships out!” Had she understood that right, they were going to detach the parking ship from the rest of the station? These people were worried about getting their ships out in time. She looked around, seeing everything lopsided. The gravity and spin control systems were giving out. All of a sudden, Lenah was facing up a steep incline to reach the Rambler.
Cassius appeared in front of her, taking the box she was still cradling and the bag she had slung over her shoulder. “Take my arm,” he yelled over the noise around them.
Lenah did so, and together they made their way through the open hatch of the Star Rambler. Uz and Doctor Lund loomed there, rifles drawn. But when Uz saw Lenah, she dropped the gun and came to her aid, supporting her on the other arm.
Did she look that terrible?
“Where’s Persia?” Lenah asked.
“Already inside,” Cassius said.
“Lund, get your bandages out,” Uz yelled as the hatch closed, and they were left in the relative silence of their own ship. Everything jerked again, and their path suddenly faced downward.
“What happened? Did you cause this?” Uz asked as she steadied Lenah against the movement of the ship.
“Indirectly. Ran into Cassius’s old colleagues, and they activated one of the explosives,” Lenah said and heaved a deep breath. At least that was what she thought Cassius’s father’s guard had been doing at their crate.
“They’re flying ships out around us,” Lorka’s voice traveled from down the corridor. “The station’s hatch is already open.”
“Good.” Lenah panted. “Help me to the cockpit.”
“You’re injured,” Cassius said, looking down at her.
“I don’t think anyone else can fly the ship. It’ll have to be me. Just until we’re in a warp bubble.”
Cassius hesitated, and Lenah wondered again how bad she looked. She didn’t feel that bad.
“Cockpit.” Cassius finally agreed and nodded. He put down the box he was still carrying and swept Lenah up in his arms. He was careful not to touch the wound on her back, and his embrace was soft as he broke into a jog. Lenah, too stunned to complain and glad for his help at the same time, leaned her head against his shoulder. He did smell nice.
They quickly reached the cockpit, and he gently put her down in her chair. Lenah reached for the controls while trying to find her bearings.
Looking through the front window, she realized that chaos had broken out all around them. Everywhere, ships were trying to get out of the cramped parking ship and into the safety of open space. But the way the parking was organized created bottlenecks all over. One of those bottlenecks was the Star Rambler that was still parked in the last row blocking the exit. She gripped the manual control, hoping that their position would mean they’d be easily let into the queue of departing ships.
To her relief, that turned out to be true. As soon as she turned on her lights, the ship behind realized the convenience and gave her room to navigate. She lifted the Rambler and was momentarily dizzied as the
parking bay around them started to spin.
“They’re out of control,” Cassius commented, his voice tense, and Lenah wondered if he felt bad for leaving such havoc behind. She certainly did, cringing as she thought of the children she’d seen earlier in the market. They might be the kids of smugglers, but they were just kids. Hopefully, the rest of the station was faring better than the parking ship.
Lenah adjusted the Rambler to avoid crashing into any of the other shuttles and carefully made her way out through the open hatch.
No one seemed to have identified their ship as the culprit for the chaos. Or they just weren’t shooting until they were outside. Unlike the transport drones that had clearly been under a command to shoot at people in the corridor—even though shooting was forbidden on the ships for good reason—humans would be able to make a more informed decision. Lenah held her breath as they flew through the hatch and made their way into space behind a bunch of other ships. She tried to trail a bigger shuttle as close as possible in order not to present a viable target. To her relief, more ships started to accelerate out of the hatch right after them, and they were not the last in line any longer.
“You didn’t remember to have the stone ready? Or can Lorka put us in a bubble?” she asked.
“The stone is ready,” came Uz’s voice from the corridor.
Lenah looked on her screens for the fastest path away from all the ships. They couldn’t start a warp bubble flying so close-by. Luckily, in space even dozens of ships would quickly spread out.
She programmed in the coordinates to Astur, relieved as the colorful swirls of the warp bubble swallowed them.
Her back was screaming in pain, and with the help of Cassius, she made it to the common room where Doctor Lund had already freed the table to make into his makeshift infirmary. If they kept going at this rate, they’d have to make a dedicated infirmary room, Lenah thought as Cassius lowered her on the table.
21 Biceps
Lenah was lying in her room, playing the only flight simulator game that her cheap wristpiece had available. The ships weren’t even real models or imitations of such. More like cartoonish illustrations. But at least it was something she could do while in bed.