Siege of Praetar (Tales of a Dying Star Book 1) (8 page)

She couldn’t slip inside while their attention was on the doorway, so she hugged the wall and waited.

She watched the sand dunes to the south. She imagined she could see one shrink while another grew, the sand shifted by the constant wind. If she squinted she even thought she could see people along the top, tiny black specks from that distance. The longer she watched the more she realized how tired she was. Her eyes were playing tricks on her.

The dying sun drifted through the hazy sky but the boys stayed outside her building. There was a window next to Mira that she considered entering before dismissing the idea. The only people who dared live on the ground floor were those who could defend themselves, and they would likely kill her before asking her intentions. It would be safer trying to climb the wall with bloody feet.

Finally it grew quiet. She peered around the corner. The boys were still there in the street, but they had moved away from the door. They were gathered in a circle, poking and prodding something on the ground. A bug, or an animal. Something distracting. She wondered if it was enough, but her time was growing short.

She mustered what courage she could and rounded the corner. It felt like a death march, walking the twenty feet from the corner to the door. She looked straight ahead, as if that might help. The boys kept their backs turned to her. She watched them at the edge of her vision with a lump in her throat. The prostitutes looked up at her approach, but to Mira’s relief didn’t care enough to acknowledge her.

She was on the steps, just a few short strides from safety, when one of the boys yelled, “There she is!”

She bolted through the doorway and up the winding stairs. She moaned as she counted, floor two, floor three, until she reached the fourth. She was hobbling down her hallway then, the gashes on her feet even worse than before. There were sounds behind her, urging her faster. She felt like they were just behind, almost within reach of her.

She burst into her room. Her daughters yelled but she didn’t care. She slammed the door and fell to the ground, leaning her back against the rotten wood. It had no lock, and her weight would hardly hold the door against their strength, so she put a finger to her lips to silence the girls.

She twisted her head, listening for anything in the hallway, but the only sound was of her own ragged breathing.

Only when she was certain they were safe did she stand and go to the window. The boys were still there in the street, ringing the entranceway, metal clubs held with malicious intent. Standing in front of the door were the three prostitutes, knives at-hand.

“Come now, little boy,” one of them called, “Old Sasha will give you a sweet kiss.”

The boys threw curses back at the women, but made no move forward. Finally the largest woman said, “Bugger off now, or we’ll tell Bruno you’ve been making trouble down here for days. You think he’d like to hear that?”

That threat succeeded where the others failed, and the boys lowered their weapons. One by one they slinked away. They didn’t go far though, stopping just a block away in the direction of the Station. They sat down there, in the middle of the street. One of them looked up to where Mira was. She pulled her head back inside.

“What’s wrong, mama?” Kaela finally asked.

Mira gathered the few things that belonged to them and wrapped them in one of the blankets. “We’re leaving. We’re going to Oasis, just like I promised.”

Kaela was unconvinced. “That’s just a story you told us, to make us feel safe.”

“Everything I’ve told you about Oasis is true,” Mira said. “We’re leaving tonight, on a ship that will leave this planet and sail to the stars.”

“Don’t forget my medicine!” Ami chirped.

For once Mira’s smile was not forced. “You won’t need it anymore, sweet girl.”

She led them out of the room and down the hallway, where a window opened to the alley below. Climbing down was easier than up, but the sight of the ground so far below gave her pause. “We’re going to need to climb now,” she said. “I’m going to go first with Ami on my back. Then you’ll follow after me. Okay Kaela? It will be like a game. You have to copy every step I make.”

Kaela was too old to be fooled by such tricks, but she nodded anyways.

Mira stepped over the window and onto the ledge. She waited for Ami to crawl up and put her arms around her neck. Kaela handed her their blanket of belongings, which dangled in front of Mira’s chest. With a deep breath she stepped down from the ledge. The building was haphazardly built with clay bricks, and Mira felt around with her foot before finding one that stuck out enough. She lowered herself to it, changing hand-holds along the way. She repeated the process again and again, making her way down the wall. The blood on her feet slowed the descent, but her purchase at every step was secure.

Ami dropped from her neck when they reached the bottom. Kaela was right behind them and landed softly. Ami laughed as if it was a game.

They followed more side streets and alleys to avoid the gang before returning to the main boulevard. They hurried on to the Station, Mira carrying Ami when she had the strength while Kaela ran alongside. The girls still didn’t fully grasp what was happening, but they saw their mother smiling and mirrored her hope.

The Station looked lifeless in the daytime, with none of the noise and color it held at night. Two of the guards were sleeping, and the others didn’t bother to watch them enter. Through the front door of the main building they went, stepping over sleeping people in the hallway. Ami pointed as they passed the doctor’s office, but Mira had eyes only for the large door at the end of the hall. It was a massive square of metal, cold to her touch. In the center was a monster painted in red. It was a long, slithering thing that wrapped around itself, ending in a head that bore two sharp fangs. The girls stared at it with a mixture of curiosity and wonder.

Mira banged on the door. A few bodies in the hallway stirred, but went back to sleep as the echo faded away. A small eye-hole opened from the painted monster’s mouth but closed again before she could look up. The door shook as massive bolts unlocked. Finally it swung inward on thick hinges.

Though the rest of the Station slumbered, the core chamber was very much alive. The room was cavernous, taking up most of the building’s space. The ceiling let sunlight through so far overhead that Mira couldn’t tell if it was made of glass or simply a gaping hole. A bay door occupied the entire wall to the right. It looked like a door made for receiving shipments, and felt out of place in the room.

In one corner people stood around tables, throwing metal dice and yelling at the result. Their demeanor seemed violent; they pushed and shoved one-another after every dice throw, but then laughed and drank yellow liquid from cups.

A raised platform divided the room itself in half. On the lower half a line of people with a scattering of children waited to enter a door to the left. Some of them held sacks of belongings, but most brought nothing for the journey. They wouldn’t need anything on Oasis, the neutral space station that orbited between Praetar and Melis. Food and clothing would be provided there, they all knew. Nobody was turned away on Oasis, no matter the color of their eyes.

The raised platform held a chair with a high back. On it sat Bruno, the self-titled Lord of the Station. While most Praetari were scrawny he was huge, with a bloated stomach that pressed tightly against his yellow shirt. His hair was brown and tattered, his skin red and blotchy. A man spoke to him but he didn’t seem to listen; he looked around the room with tiny, squinting eyes. Guards with guns surrounded him on the platform, watching the line of dirty people with distrust.

“Yes, yes, you’ll be fine,” Bruno said. “The freighters have weapons, should the Empire enforce the siege. Your family will get through.”

That seemed to placate the man, who returned to his family in line.

Mira approached the platform. She set Ami down and pulled her arms into her shirt, lifting it over her head while taking care not to spill the credits from the hidden pocket. The guards leered at her bare chest, but Mira ignored them. She turned her shirt over and poured the credits onto the platform in a cascade of glass. Every head in the room turned toward the sound. When she put her shirt back on there was still a handful of glass discs inside, but the pile on the platform was more than enough.

“One hundred and fifty credits, at least,” she said, a note of pride in her voice. “Three passengers to Oasis.”

It was done. All of her work, the credit saving, the frugal meals. All of it was over. They were alive. They made it.

Bruno squinted down at her and laughed, a deep, sickening sound. “I did not expect you to earn the fare so quickly,” he said, “especially after that one grew sick.”

There was a hint of question in his voice, but Mira didn’t indulge his curiosity. She’d never met him before, but somehow he knew her.

He smiled, a cruel grin that flashed cracked yellow teeth. “Although we accept your payment, the ship is nearly full. Only two of you may come.”

“No…” Mira said. No, it didn’t make sense. “Look at my girls, they’re tiny. Two can share a crate.”

“You misunderstand,” Bruno said. “There is only
one
crate available, so soon before the launch. You can squeeze into it with the daughter of your choice, but three will not fit.”

She stared, uncomprehending. Her mind felt slow and soft. It occurred to her how tired she was.

“Is there no room anywhere? No corner one of them can squeeze?”

“We could bolt the smaller one to the hull outside,” he said, “but I don’t think she would enjoy the journey.”

The guards roared with laughter, and Mira looked around helplessly. Her daughters stared at her, not understanding, but she couldn’t look at them.

The passengers in line were still watching. She went to them to plead her case. “Can anyone share a crate with my girl? Her name is Ami, she’s so small, you would never even notice her. I just need a small bit of space.”

She spotted a man by himself. She grabbed his sleeve and said, “Can’t you make room for a tiny girl? She’s sick, she needs to
leave
, please. I’ll pay you, I have extra credits.” The man pulled away from her.

Mira looked around. The passengers ignored her; most wouldn’t even look in her direction. They were there for the same reason she was, and wouldn’t risk their own families. She might do the same in their position. Her hand trembled. She couldn’t turn back to her children.

“The next freighter leaves in three days,” Bruno offered.

Three days would be too late. They didn’t even have three
hours
before her theft was discovered. She made herself look at her girls. They stared back with hope. Kaela put her arm around her sister, and they both smiled. They’re brave, so brave.

Mira took one last look around the room: at the ceiling that showed freedom beyond, at the line of people that ignored her, at the guards with their weapons. And at the slumlord who watched it all with a smile.

“Both of my daughters will go. I’ll stay behind.”

The line led outside to where rows of empty metal crates sat in the dirt. The passengers were stuffed inside each one, and when it was her daughters’ turn Mira blinked away her tears.

“You’ll meet us on Oasis?” Kaela’s eyes were wide with excitement, ready for the adventure. It was real to her now, not just a story told before bed.

“Of course. I’ll be on the next freighter.”

“How long will it take?” Ami asked, looking inside the crate.

“Only a few days. The trip will be over before you know it. And then I’ll be there, and we’ll find a place to live together, and it will be wonderful.” She couldn’t hold back tears then, and squeezed them both tightly so they wouldn’t see. “I love you so much,” she murmured into Kaela’s hair. “Take care of your sister until I meet you.”

They were warm in her arms, smiling brightly when she finally let go. They were going somewhere better than this. They were going to be safe.

The girls stepped inside the crate and crouched together against the wall. If they were scared they didn’t show it. Their faces disappeared as one of Bruno’s brutes covered the crate with a piece of metal and bolted it down at the corners.

The freighter was an ugly thing, all flat edges and pointed corners. Its only decoration was a coiled green animal on its side, the same one that marked the entrance to the Station. The doors to its storage bay were open like a jaw, and two men lifted the crates and stacked them neatly inside. So orderly was the storage that when they were complete, and the doors closed, Mira wouldn’t have been able to wedge her hand inside, let alone her entire person.

She didn’t want to leave, but eventually tore her eyes away.

Back inside the Station core Bruno held a wide metal bowl in his hand, spooning its contents into his mouth. Her credits were gone from the platform. “Is there a place here I can stay, until the next freighter?” she asked.

“You can watch this one leave, but after that you must pay to stay.” Bruno didn’t bother to stop eating while he spoke, and soup dribbled down his chin.

“There were enough credits leftover, surely,” she said.

His smile was cruel. “Not so. Your credits were counted, and there were just enough for two passengers. Unless you think Rief miscounted.”