She threw her blanket off and brushed her hair out of her face. The monitor was all that lit the room. She’d shut off the space feed a few days in and swapped it with a steady image of rain pattering against a window. To her it almost looked like a real window. Kendal could tell the difference, but not her. The dull pattering sounds had no pops of hisses that normally came from speakers, and even with her eyes closed she could still see the droplets against the glass and the faint glow of moonlight behind that. The sound of rain helped her sleep. Usually.
Just as she turned on the lights, she heard the hiss of a speaker, then Dess’s voice coming from the monitor. “We’re coming up on Jenny,” he said. “A few till we’re planet side. Meet-up in the entry once we’ve caught grav.”
Mira picked up her clothes from the floor. Her whole body was stiff. She’d done little exercise on the ship and her muscles were starting to hate her for it.
Mira threw on her shirt and pants, tucking them together under her belt, then put her jacket over top which hid her EG-pack from sight. Her hair was flat now and got in her eyes. Back on Nau Cedik, the humid air kept it fuzzy and up, but space was dry. The water reclaimed took most the humidity out.
The ground shuddered and she felt light all of a sudden. Weight disappearing and hair lifting up and sticking in midair.
I hate zero-gravity, she thought as she kicked off her doorway, propelling herself out and into the common room. We must be in freefall.
She learned real fast that nothing stopped in zero gravity. It wasn’t like swimming where you could maneuver and swivel. You pushed in a direction and you kept to that direction until you hit something. She liked the feeling of floating, but not being out of control.
The common room made her sick. Up and down wasn’t as clear without gravity and she felt like she was floating above a thirty-foot drop. She caught herself on the bookshelf and used it to push her way to the entryway. She was in the middle of the room when she felt a tug towards the ground. Light at first, but quickly felt like she was falling.
Mira landed on her feet, stumbling and catching herself on her hands. The ship shuttered, like it had stuck something.
She felt gravity once again, but not artificial. She couldn’t hear the humming of the panels anymore. They had landed on Jennifer and she was feeling the natural gravity of the planet.
Dess was already in the entryway, on his knees, going through the closet by the door and throwing coats and scarfs and hats onto the floor. He seemed out of breath from the landing.
“Where’s the lieutenant?” Dess asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Mira looked back at the hall, not seeing him through the darkness.
“Kendal?” Mira said, voice bouncing down the hallway.
“Just a second!” Kendal said, rushing to meet up with them. He was in full Union garb, making Mira roll her eyes.
“Nice of you to join us,” Dess said.
“Sorry for assuming it wasn’t safe to walk around during a landing,” Kendal said.
Dess stood up, knees cracking. “We’ve landed a quarter mile from Alice,” Dess said. “A close-by town. We’ll need to find work pretty soon or we’ll burn up all our fuel just tryin’ to keep warm.”
“How do we get work?” Kendal asked. “I doubt there’s a bulletin board up somewhere looking for crooks.”
“No wonder the Union’s a mess with folk like yourself in charge,” Dess said, getting an eye roll from Kendal. “We go into town and see what people want. And what most people want involves a vessel like this here.”
“I don’t know,” Mira said. “I can think of a few things people want that don’t involve a ship.”
“Enough,” Dess said and tossed Mira a thick fur coat which she caught in her arms. He threw over a scarf and boots as well, landing in front of her feet.
“It that cold?” she said, slipping on the coat and feeling how heavy and soft it was.
“Without a coat and somethin’ to cover your ears you’d die awful fast,” Dess said and put on his own coat, buttoning it up at the front. He put on a black hat that covered the ears and tucked a scarf into the neck.
Mira watched how he put on his scarf and did the same, making sure her chin was covered. She didn’t have a hat, but her coat had a hood she put up and tightened with a string.
“So,” Kendal said, “do I just freeze?”
“You ain’t going,” Dess said.
“Is there a reason, or do you just hate me?”
“Both,” Dess said. “We can’t have someone walkin’ around in full Union clothes ‘round us. That might make them just the tiniest bit suspicious.”
“Once I put on a coat,” Kendal said, “and a scarf, and a hat, they’re not going to be able to see my uniform.”
“Fine,” Dess said and pointed at the closet. “Get yourself a coat.”
Mira felt a bit bad when Kendal looked in the closet and saw nothing but a few light jackets and boots. She still laughed, but felt bad about it. Kendal couldn’t have come with even if Dess wanted him to.
“You’re a bastard, you know that?” Kendal said. Mira hadn’t seen him this flustered before and she had to suppress a giggle.
Dess took one of this kinetic pistols from his holster and put it in Kendal’s hand. “Besides, it ain’t a good idea to leave the ship unguarded. People come, you shoot.”
Kendal put the kinetic on his belt. Mira noticed that there wasn’t a pouch or a latch for it, it clung to the side without anything holding onto it. She guessed magnetics, but she’d have to examine it to be sure.
Dess put his hand on the scanner and the door shot open. Mira hadn’t expected to feel cold right away, but the air licked her face like sandpaper. The cold Jennifer air flooded the room, turning into a blinding mist as it clashed with the warmth of the ship.
Mira stepped back from the doorway, and Kendal practically ran back into the hall, hugging his arms and shivering.
“Don’t be getting scared on me,” Dess said and walked out onto the ledge.
Mira followed, feeling cold air rushing up her pant legs and down her neck in the places where the scarf hadn’t been tucked properly. “I think this is a bad idea,” Mira said.
“If you wanna stay behind with the lieutenant, that’s fine by me,” Dess said and started down the ladder.
Mira glanced back into the ship, then followed Dess down.
The planet was a desert of rolling hills. Blue and white, with frozen ground and frost clinging to the few plants scattered around. The sky a dull gray, and the air windy and sharp. Endless plains of frozen rock and frost with bushes and leafless plants to break the monotony. It reminded her of home. Emptiness with patches of something every now and then.
“I hope you don’t expect me to make small talk or nothing on the way there,” Mira said, tucking her hands into her pockets to keep them warm.
“By the time we get there all I’ll be hearing is the sound of wind and teeth chatterin’.”
Mira pulled her scarf up to keep her mouth protected from the wind. She had to lean forward against it while walking to keep from being pushed back.
Dess insisted the walk had only been ten minute, but it felt like hours to her. By the time she saw building peek over the hill her fingers had already gone numb and her eyelashes frozen together.
Alice felt strangely familiar. It looked like home under a different filter. Bigger than Benith Town by about three times, yet far shorter buildings and more space between them. The town was structured like a plus sign. Four roads that met in the middle where a barrel sat spitting out smoke and an orange flame where the town burned their papers. Two men stood near the barrel, but there were few outside in such cold weather.
Mira tried to wander to the barrel of heat, but Dess stopped her and pointed at one of the buildings that had ‘store’ painted on a sign in front. The building only stuck out a few feet above the ground with the entryway dug into the dirt. She hadn’t seen a building that went underground lik
e that before.
There were rocks stuck in the ground for steps and a slight overhand that dripped with icicles. The sign on the door said ‘Close Door Quick’, and had a small latch near the top.
Dess opened the door and let Mira go in first. It was less of a store and more of a restaurant. Tables with chairs, a bar at the front, and a few rooms off to the sides with gambling machines and games. The floor was tiled stone and everything else built from wood and metal. Bright orange lights, and the sounds of voices and wind tapping at the short windows up near the ceiling. The bar was alive with buzzing of voices. People having drinks and playing games at their tables. Livelier than Benith Town ever was.
Mira pulled down her hood and stuffed her scarf it in her pocket. She took a deep breath and let her lungs fill with warmth. The air had a smoky taste to it, and it was too dry for her liking, but it felt blissful after walking so long in the cold.
“Back on Nau Cedik,” Mira said, “I used to get in fights a lot in places like this.”
“You’ve told me,” Dess said. “Just try not to get in any here.”
They took a seat near the wall. There were four chairs, but they sat opposite to each other. There was a strange board game on the table with game half-finished and some of the pieces knocked off a grid.
“Drinks!” Dess said, getting the attention of one of the servers.
The server was the only one in the store not wearing thick layers of fur. He looked older than Dess, but was shaven and had cleaner clothes. “What’ll you have?” he said.
“Water,” Dess said.
“Got anything strong?” Mira asked.
“We make beer from barley here,” he said. “Strong as we got.”
Mira shrugged. “Give me two.”
The man left them be. Mira played with the game’s black and white stones, lining them along the grids and making shapes and patterns. “How we paying for these?”
“You got coppers, right?”
“Few,” Mira said. “They take ‘em here?”
“Ain’t been to a place that don’t,” Dess said. “Once we get ourselves a job, that’s what they’ll be paying us in.”
Mira looked around at the groups of people scattered around the store. She wasn’t sure how Dess was planning on finding work here without standing up and announcing it. Back when Mira made her money fixing broken grounders and weapons she knew enough people in town, and she was the only one who could fix most mechanical equipment, that she could wait until something broke down and they’d approach her. But trying to find work in a town she’s never been in, with people she’s never met, that was new.
Once their drinks arrived, Dess downed his water in seconds. He stood up with a groan and straightened his coat. “It’s been about twenty years since I’ve had to do something like this.”
“Do what?” Mira asked.
“Be friendly with folks in a small-town bar,” he said, giving her most genuine smile she’d ever seen from him. “Find out what’s got to be done and see how much they’ll be offerin’ for it.”
Mira wished him luck and started at her beers. They tasted dry and bitter, like they were made yesterday, but they still felt good.
The air was even dryer than on the ship, if she could believe it. Her nose was coarse and her mouth dry, even with the beer sloshing between her teeth. She sipped at her drinks until she felt thoroughly buzzed.
Dess had been walking around the store, playing games, ordering drinks, and getting into conversations while Mira drank. He looked like a different person. Mira was used to Dess being dry and strict, and seeing him smiling and talking with people rubbed her the wrong way.
Mira had been lost in her own thoughts when Dess came back. He wasn’t alone.
“Mir,” Dess said, standing next to the strange man. “This here’s Sava.”
Sava was short for a man. He had unwashed black hair and stubble that layered the underside of his chin. His teeth were crooked and yellow and his eyes too big for the rest of his face. He looked sharp and lanky, and had a smile that made Mira uneasy.
“Nice to meet you,” Sava said, taking a seat at the table beside Dess. “My new friend here says that you are from Nau Cedik?”
“Yeah,” Mira said, trying to hide the alcohol from her voice. “Lived there most my life.”
“Rumor has it Nau Cedik is no more?”
“Just a rumor,” Mira said. “Lots of damage, but the rock’s still there.”
He held out his hand. “The name is Sava.”
Mira shook his hand despite her reluctance. “I’m Mira.”
Sava was sitting with his hand inches from his kinetic. He looked natural, like he wasn’t trying to keep his weapon ready, but Mira could tell he was playing it far safer than Dess.
“What is your role on the ship?” Sava asked “I’m afraid Dess has not informed me.”
“Mechanic,” she said. “Fixin’ stuff.”
“You must be quite the important mechanic,” Sava said. “In my experience only captains speak to clients, while the mechanics remain on the ship.”
“It ain’t a big crew,” Dess said. “And I don’t kept much of a hierarchy or nothin’. Brought her along cause she’s fine company.”
“You have peculiar taste in company, my dear friend,” Sava said. “How are you on bounties?”
Dess was having trouble holding a smile, and Mira was ready snap.
“Good on that,” Dess said. “We’ve taken a few bounties in our time together, and I did lots back when I was young. All we need’s a good pay.”
“A good pay is subjective,” Sava said, smiling in a way that made Mira’s skin crawl. “Since you did not bother with any kind of price, I will offer four thousand coppers without expense covered.”
“Four thousand?” Dess said. “That sounds like something we’re interested in.”
“I will give you one thousand up front and rest once my—”
“What’s the bounty?” Mira asked.
Dess glared at Mira for her outburst, yet Sava had an amused grin on his face. “The bounty is a person,” Sava said. “A man who has wronged me, and I wish to set that wrong a right.”
“We can get you that man,” Dess said, giving Mira a look that told her not to speak again. She leaned back in her chair and kept her mouth shut.
“You are certainly going to try,” Sava said. He took his purse from his pocket and set it on the table.
Dess sat in silence while Sava counted coppers from his purse. He put the thousand coppers in a pouch and slid it to Dess, then Sava started writing information on a sheet of paper. A name, a physical description, a set of coordinates, and other small details off the top of his head. His handwriting was surprisingly neat, much cleaner than Mira’s or Dess’s.
“His name is Boe,” Sava said. “He is a Union officer serving on the Bachman. I’ve written most of what you need on this slip, at least I’m certain it should be all that you need. His ship should be no more than an eight days’ journey there and back, if your ship is up to standard, which means I should expect my bounty by the end of a standard month.”
Dess folded the slip of paper and tucked it into his belt beside the pouch of coppers. “Eight days there, eight days back. We’ll get your bounty.”
He stood up from the table and told Mira it was time to go. But before he could leave, Sava grabbed his arm and stopped him.
“Next time you see me,” Sava said, “leave the girl on the ship. I would hate to have to deal with a conversation such as this again.”
Dess’s smile dropped. He did a take at Mira, before nodding his head. “Gotcha.”
Mira didn’t speak to him during their walk back.
Chapter 12
The ship had been off for an hour, and most of the heat had escaped through the hull. He’d retreated to the common room, fumbling in the dark with only the light from his battery pack to show him where to go. He’d wrapped the couch cover around himself and curled up tight in the corner. “
He kept the power off to spite me,” Kendal said. “Bastard.”
His room was locked. Power doors that needed the ship to be running to open.
As he sat against the corner of the couch, covered in pillows and table cloths, he thought back to the thick comforters in his room, and the sheets, and the EG-pack that could be set low enough to use as a heater.
“Bastard!” he screamed, more in frustration than anger. His breath seeped out in a fog from his lips, and his teeth were chattering.
The lights turned back on, and the engine rumbled to life. Kendal shielded his eyes from the light, and kept his face buried under the thin tablecloth until he adjusted to the brightness.
He stood up and could still see his breath in front of his face, but the heat from the engine already pulsating through the walls.
Mira came into the common room first, shivering and having left her fur coat back at the entrance. Her skin was blue, and she rubbed her bare arms and shivered.
“It’s cold,” she said, blowing mist from her lips.
“Maybe if you wore a heavier coat you’d be less cold,” Kendal said.
“Fuck you,” Mira said. Kendal’s heart jumped and his eyes widened. “This jacket’s all I got left from my mom and I ain’t gonna wear nothing different.”
Kendal nodded and kept his distance. “Sorry,” he said.
She walked towards Kendal, making him worried she was planning to hit him. Instead, she sat beside him, sinking into the cushion and leaning back with her shoulder up against his. “Don’t bother being sorry,” Mira said. “Ain’t you I’m mad at. Dess says the ship’ll warm up soon and once we’re back up we’ll be back to walking ‘round half naked and covered in sweat.”
Kendal had to smile at that. By the end of the two weeks he’d been walking around shirtless and had considered cutting the legs off his pants.
“You find anyone desperate enough to hire us?”
“We did,” Mira said. “Guy’s giving us a lot of coppers to steal a Union officer from one of their ships and bring him back here.”
“Steal a Union officer?” Kendal said. “They want us to steal a person? That’s a great idea. That sounds easy and not at all insane.”
Cast of Nova Page 9