Rei dragged herself back to her feet, then gathered up the wreckage of the punching bag in a cloud of Essence. It balled up tight so it could float into the trash bin. “Great, now Kuv’s going to be pissed at me too about losing another punching bag, but at least he’s pacified with credits.”
With a sniffle she hurried toward her quarters, grateful for the late hour. Once inside, she secured the door and grabbed her blankets and a pillow from the bed with such force that it sent the pillow he had used the night before to the ground. She dumped her bundle on the couch and fetched a glass for some water before tucking into the night. Settled beneath the blanket, she sat and waited for sleep to come.
~*~
The Drunken Inventor was unusually quiet for a day in the middle of space with little else for the crew to do. Not that Rei minded the silence; it saved her from facing awkward questions that would sour the flavor of the fish and rich vegetables in her Oij stew. Rei always requested it as often as she could and especially if she was feeling low about something. Despite the alien ingredients, it reminded her of the food she grew up with. Her spoon hovered above the bowl as someone approached. She gave them a casual glance out of the corner of her eye. Yeke had been right about one thing during their argument. There were only a few people who would be willing to call her out these days, and one of them was currently avoiding her.
“Afternoon, Grandma. How are you today?”
She stopped just in front of Rei’s table, “You... Yeke... not well?”
Rei let her spoon drop in the bowl. “What makes you think that?”
“You’re never together as of late. If one comes, other runs away. Otherwise, both are silent. Others are picking up on it, too.”
“I haven’t noticed.”
“Of course not, you are focal point of disturbance.” Her hand gripped Rei’s arms tight. “Tell what happened?”
Rei shook her head in dismay. “It was something stupid—what argument isn’t? I’m trying to protect everyone and he doesn’t see it that way. He has a point, but we have to do it my way for now.”
“Then why do you not tell him? Why not make him see?”
“Because I’m still not sure that I’m right, even after fighting with him about it. Maybe I should have told at least him what was going on. He is supposed to be my second in command and yet I don’t bring him in on information like this.” She offered Grandma a bitter smile. “Maybe it’s time to shake things up. What was good in the beginning isn’t good now.”
“But we want you.”
Rei chuckled, picked up her spoon, and let the broth fall back in the bowl. “That’s not exactly what I meant. I don’t pretend that isn’t some around here who would love to see me shoved off and left somewhere. The only reason they don’t speak out now is I have support and, as much as I hate to say it, power.”
“Why keep them around and worry about them?”
“Because you don’t cast people out just because they don’t agree with you. As long as I keep myself within their levels of tolerance, they’ll be content with what they get from me. Still, I can’t worry because this ship is my only home... But we’re getting distracted. What I meant was that maybe it’s time to separate myself from the whole situation. It had its uses in the beginning, but now no matter what I do I’m putting everyone in danger.”
Grandma’s eyes glowed. “And how do you plan on removing yourself from the situation?”
Rei shrugged. “There’s a couple of options that I’m considering.”
“You cannot leave us. You are the key to all their plans.”
“You keep telling me that, but isn’t that more of a reason to isolate myself? I know it doesn’t seem like the galaxy hasn’t been big enough for me to hide in, but I’ve also haven’t exactly laid low.”
“If you go alone, the key becomes theirs.”
Rei straightened. “What?”
“They seek to isolate. Then they can swoop in and take back what they see was stolen from them. If that happens...”
“If it happens?” Rei repeated.
Grandma’s body shook as though stricken with fear. “Death... death.”
Rei rose and held onto Grandma’s shoulders. “Stop!”
A final shudder went through the other woman’s body, then she sagged against Rei. “Must finish.”
“No, you don’t! I’ve heard enough!” Her grip tightened. “It’s not worth your health.”
“Is. You are precious.”
Tears threatened to fall. “Grandma...”
“I finish the vision now.”
“No. I’m serious about that. We know enough about what they’ll do if they get their hands on me.”
“Then what to do?”
“Then I might just have to suck it up, be brave, and go to fix what I can on the ship.”
“Good, you should go to him. Ship too tense.”
Rei’s brow furrowed. She had a suspicion their argument was affecting other people but didn’t think it was that bad. “We’re two people on a ship of hundreds. Most of them probably didn’t even notice.”
“Two important people,” Grandma insisted, she pulled away and rapped her hand against the table. The white glow returned to her eyes. “Ship is many pieces intertwined together. Harmony must be restored, or everything will come apart.”
“Is the Kathya going to fall apart at the seams over a silly argument? I swear, some days you’re just a doomsday prophet, Grandma.”
The glow faded from Grandma’s eyes. “Some days that’s all there is to see.” Her clouded gaze locked back onto Rei and the older woman took her hand. “You must be brave one.” She started to pat the hand she held firmly in her grasp. “You must be it.” The patting grew more vigorous before she walked away and left Rei alone with her cooling meal.
~*~
Rei took a deep breath as she stopped in front of the door that led to where Yeke had found her when they were docked on Bruatin, wrapping her coat tightly around her body before she stepped out. Despite the frigid temperatures, she was always amazed at what Chia’s tinkering had done to their shielding—not that she’d ever say that to the engineer. The advances helped preserve atmospheric integrity by holding in what was present when the shield was engaged. The result was a breathable bubble even in the depths of space. Rei watched the starlight and distant planets reappear as the Kathya’s Ci engines, named partly after the inventor, shut down and switched to the standard drives. A faint trail of colorless Essence followed in the ship’s wake.
Yeke seemed to be watching the scene in silence, his coat nowhere to be seen. Rei frowned. He might have a somewhat higher tolerance to extreme temperatures than most, but she knew he had to be freezing. Her hand reached out of its own accord, barely hovering above the surface of his skin which confirmed his thoughts. He shifted his posture, causing Rei to pull her hand back as though she were burned.
“We always find ourselves here, don’t we?” She finally spoke up after a few minutes of silence. “I mean, this is where we spent our first night on the ship. We couldn’t believe that the two of us had just pulled off what we thought was the greatest heist of all time. You had that horrible cheap whiskey you’d swiped from somewhere to toast with. We unwound, and for the first time in forever I had hope for the future.”
She was babbling so she fell silent. They remained that way for the longest time, staring out at the stars as they went past. A large nebula cut through the black, the gasses a bright green and blue. It was so simple and yet so marvelous—a reminder of the small reasons she kept the journey with this ship going. Rei’s gaze fell and she noticed Yeke looking at the nebula just like she had been, but he seemed unaware of their shared interest.
“We really are two sides of the same coin,” she told him. “We’re both equally stubborn about what we want. We also know when to let that stubbornness fall away and begin the process of moving on.” She exhaled loudly. “I was wrong to keep that stuff secret. There was a time when it was necessa
ry, but that’s not the case anymore, especially not for you.”
Yeke shifted slightly, though his gaze remained fixed on the scene around them. Emboldened, Rei continued. “The man I was arguing with when you came into my office the other day is called Gen. He was the one who helped me get out of their clutches.” She let the Essence on her body fall and examined the claws at the tips of her fingers. “He comforted me during the worst of it; when the pain got to be too much and I didn’t think I could take anymore. That kindness was why I allowed him to contact me. But lately... I’ve begun to feel his goodwill has reached its limits and that’s to say nothing of his actual threats.”
“Threats?” he repeated.
Rei swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “If I didn’t keep quiet about where I got this job and why he threatened to bring the whole Federation down on your heads.”
“Wouldn’t you be caught too?”
Rei shrugged. “It was implied, but he was mainly targeting the rest of you.”
“That’s because he knows you couldn’t give a damn about your own safety,” Yeke argued.
“You can at least see why I took it so seriously.”
He sighed. “I can, but I don’t get it. What changed?”
“Based on our... discussion the other day I don’t think anything I do will stop him. He’s going to do whatever he wants, though we can keep him at bay a while longer.”
“How do you think we’re going to do that? Guy sounds pretty connected.”
Rei scuffed her foot absently. “Well, Kuv said it himself. We’re way out here now. I willing to bet little conversations like this aren’t going to be noticed. Less chance of them bugging our systems between Aede’s sweeps too. I’d like to keep this info between the two of us though.”
Yeke nodded. “I can get behind that. Some of the crew might be able to keep somethings quiet, but we’re not exactly champions on subtly.”
“Chia still hasn’t told you what we discovered, has she?” Rei asked.
“No.” Yeke frowned. “And it’s not like I haven’t tried!”
“The papers we found in the safe have what looks like a formula that can grant Essence to Essence-less.”
“Wait. Wait. Wait. That would mean...”
“You caught it too, huh? Gen looked at me like I had another head when I asked him what gave the Federation the idea to experiment on how you could give someone the power to use Essence. According to Chia’s friends, the formula in the safe doesn’t work. It’s more of a weapon in its current stage.”
“Who the hell would turn that into a weapon?” Yeke exclaimed.
“Think about it. You remember how I described it going into my body?” Rei folded her hands across her chest. “It knocks the wind completely out of you and then you can feel it...”
“All right, I get the point. Why didn’t you say anything about it before now?”
Rei clasped her hand behind her back to keep them from fidgeting. “I think I was simply in denial. It was so bad that I think I freaked Chia out. That’s why she was perfectly willing to keep quiet until I was ready to deal with everyone knowing.”
“So, what did this Gen guy say?”
Rei let out a bitter laugh. “Avoided it completely. So now I’m left to wonder if my parents aren’t slaving away in some Federation lab somewhere because I know that this formula played a part in why they vanished.” Her voice broke for just a second. “Not that I could ask him. Isn’t that just typical, Yeke? I call him a coward, but I can’t bring myself to ask him the most important question I have.”
Yeke sighed, then pulled her close. “To be fair, you did just go through a world-shaking realization that they had a bigger role in what was done to you than you ever thought possible.” He gave her a wry smile. “I’m not even on speaking terms with my family anymore and I wouldn’t be able to ask that. So, are we good? It’ll be a pain in the ass to break in a new captain.”
“Why does everyone automatically assume that I’d leave the ship?”
“Because to prevent the crew from having to pick sides, you’d be the one to jump ship first so it doesn’t come down to it.”
“Fine, but I can’t promise I won’t complain when you get ridiculous on me.”
Yeke’s mouth twisted as he thought. “Hey, let me sit in the next time you two have one of your little meetings. And before you even try to argue against it, don’t worry, I’ll be like a bug on your wall. He won’t even know I’m there.”
Rei opened her mouth to automatically shut him down but thought better of it. Did she want to wreck the bridge she just mended? “I’ll try to make that happen. Contact with him can be sporadic at best.”
Yeke beamed at her. “That was better—” The ship rocked beneath their feet. They leaned heavily against one another to stay upright. “What the hell was that?”
Another ship grazed the shields above their head as it fired more pulses at them. Rei planted her feet and reached for her comm. “What’s going on, Kuv?”
“We’re being fired on, Captain.”
Yeke reached for his comm. “We can see that!”
“Where are you?” Aede asked, confusion evident in her voice.
Rei sighed and rolled her eyes at Yeke. “Never mind. Do we know who is attacking us?”
“We haven’t been hailed yet,” she replied. “Hang on—they’re finally trying to communicate with us. I’ll patch you both in so you can hear.”
“Surrender. You Federation flunkies know better than to trespass in our territory,” a gruff voice ordered.
“Your territory?” Rei said. “I didn’t know anyone could claim deep space like this. Who are you, even?”
The ship came around for another pass. Rei could see the Kathya’s shield quiver under the frequent assault, but it stood strong. “Federation heathen... you’re testing our patience,” the voice continued.
“You had patience? You fired on us without warning. We’re not Federation and we don’t even have the signature of one of their ships. So let me repeat myself, who are you?”
She heard weapons, much smaller ordinance than what they had been using, smatter the forward shielding.
“They must be running low on power, those are weak Essence-based munitions,” he said. “It’s like they’re just shooting us with ordinary bullets.”
“Or they’re gearing up for a major assault and want us to drop our guard,” Rei argued. She looked upwards. “And I don’t want to find out which it is.” She opened the comm channel to the attacking vessel again. “I think it’s common manners to give your identity if you’re trying to destroy a ship. You’re firing at the Kathya—an independent transport and living vessel and, last I knew, flying through empty space wasn’t a crime.”
She closed the line again and waited. The ship’s fire just increased in intensity. “I’ve never met someone so damn stubborn about a pointless attack,” Yeke muttered. “Well, that wasn’t Federation that is.” He guided her to the hatch.
Rei forced him to pause for a moment before opening it. “I’m giving you one last chance to answer us,” she told the other ship.
Yeke opened the hatch with a shake of his head and they rushed inside. Just as it was about to shut, Rei’s eyes widened to see another ship approach, their cannons visibly lowered into firing position.
“Crap,” she muttered.
“Shields are probably about seventy percent,” he answered her unspoken question.
“Foniac, move us into a better position to attack and Kuv, get ready to give them hell,” she ordered. Her hand toggled the comm channels. “You leave us no choice. We might be a passenger vessel, but that doesn’t mean we won’t defend ourselves.” She paused for a moment, then swapped over one more time. “Rei to Aede.”
“I’m monitoring all of their comm traffic. So far they’ve only issued basic commands within the ship.”
“Good. Fire at will, Kuv,” she ordered. “We’ll be back up there in just a few.”
Side by side, the pair raced through the dim hallways. The faint impacts against the shields came from all directions. Thankfully the hallways were clear until they met a mass of people scurrying toward areas of the ship closest to the escape crafts and other shuttles midway through the ship. It was organized chaos, with order kept members of Kuv’s security forces and with a few engineers. Their efforts seemed to be working overall, although a few children had tears streaming down their faces. Rei’s heart went out to them as she eased into the swarm to get across. Grandma appeared in the midst of the crowd and their eyes locked, the older woman gesturing at the throng around them.
Rei paused. People were suddenly moving with a degree of calm they hadn’t before Many urged the most vulnerable people through the doorways first before they followed. Rei’s eyes went back to Grandma as she pointed at the pair of them with a small smile before allowing herself to be helped through a door.
The ship lurched to the side, forcing everyone in the corridor to balance awkwardly to stay right. Rei set off in a jog to make up for lost time. Yeke drew ahead of her, stopping just in front of the lift and looking back at her expectantly.
“Stairs,” she gasped. “I refuse to trust that thing during an attack like this.”
A few stragglers seeking refuge emerged as they made their way a few doors down. “What?” he asked and opened the door for her. “Would it be so bad to get stuck with me in the lift for a while?”
Rei glared at him as she pushed past and took the steps two at a time. “Sorry, that fantasy of yours will unfortunately have to wait. We need to know who’s trying to make us the universe’s newest debris field and stop them.”
“Glad to see I’m not the only one running late to the commotion.” Chia’s voice came behind them. Rei glanced over to see the engineer floating herself upward through the opening of the stairwell.
“We’ve already been in touch,” Yeke informed her. “And I see you share Rei’s aversion to lifts during an attack.”
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