Wrath of the Void Strider (18 page)

“What does that mean?”  Collins crossed his arms.  “Not exactly an expert on the byriani way.”

“It means if her circuits can’t self-repair or be repaired, she’ll be catatonic for the rest of her life.”

Collins stared off a moment and at last raised his brow, returning his gaze to Cajun.  “Guess you better get back in there.  Should be many years of service under the mighty Captain Ibarra left in that young lady.  Would be a tearful shame if she had to retire so soon.”

“Yeah,” Cajun said with a sad smile, and they returned to the medical bay.

Zerki approached from the corridor, with Gavin and Valerie close behind.  Taryn embraced Gavin tightly, remaining in his arms for a moment before parting.  She cast him a sad smirk, and he squeezed her hand.  Zerki said, “Collins, I need you on the bridge.”

“Aye, Captain.”  He excused himself and disappeared through the bulkhead.

“How is she?”

Cajun winced.  “She’s critical, Captain, but she’s stable.”

Her expression remorseful, Zerki knelt at Filan’s side and gently took the byriani’s hand into both of her own.  “You and Gavin saved our lives.”  She exhaled heavily.  “I shouldn’t have been so greedy.  You pull through, okay?  That’s an order.”

In time, Zerki stood and regarded her companions.  “Fogg, I’d like you to assist Cajun until Filan recovers.  The rest of you, take as much time as you need.”  Sadly, she looked to Gavin, Taryn and Takeo.  “She’s in good hands.  Tomorrow after lunch, Val, D’Arro, and I will meet you in the briefing room.  I’ve got a lead on a buyer for the salvage, and I want you down there with me.” 

“Sure thing,” said Takeo.  He casually saluted.

Gavin nodded.  “Aye, Captain.”

“We’ll be there,” promised Taryn.

With a subtle nod, Zerki straightened her vest and approached the corridor.

“I’ll go with you,” said Valerie and she followed Zerki from the medical bay.

Gavin, Taryn and Takeo remained at Filan’s side awhile, discussing with Cajun and Fogg.

In time, Takeo leaned over and tenderly kissed her forehead.  “Get better,” he whispered and straightened as he pressed the tears from his eyes.  With a gracious bow toward Cajun, he exited the medical bay.

“Thanks, guys,” said Taryn, and she stepped out into the corridor.

Gavin squeezed Filan’s hand, nodded toward Cajun and took his leave.  Joining his friends in the corridor, they talked quietly before making their way to their respective quarters for a night of much needed sleep.

·· • ··

Towards the end of the following day, Gavin, Taryn and Takeo regrouped at the medical bay.  After spending some time at Filan’s side, they made their way to the briefing room to meet with Zerki, Valerie and D’Arro.

“Hey, D’Arro,” Taryn said as she stepped inside.

He nodded.  “Taryn.”

Zerki asked, “Any change?”

“No,” said Takeo.  “Cajun is confident she’ll make it, but Fogg is really worried, and that has me worried.”

“She’ll pull through.”  Straightening somewhat, Zerki said, “She lived as an ellogon slave her whole life and still had enough wits to seize the first chance she had to escape.  Like you said, Val—she’s got a fierce will.”  Drawing a steady breath, she affirmed, “She’ll pull through.”

D’Arro raised his brow.  “Are you trying to convince us, or yourself?”

With a thin smile, she said, “Thanks for coming.  I know the timing could be better.  I’ve got a contact planet-side who assures me he can get us a buyer for all the salvage we pulled off of Ixion Prime.  The thing is, he’s something of an opportunist, and I don’t entirely trust him.”

“Sounds like a wonderful human being,” said Takeo.

“He’s a ghalloom,” Zerki countered, “and he’s mentally incapable of seeing the long-term benefit in anything.  He’s probably got a buyer, but he’s also probably got an ambush for us to walk into.”

“Then why’d you pick Huya?” asked Gavin.  “There’s a lot of places that’ll buy scrap, no questions asked.”

Zerki answered, “Because Huya needs it.”

“For what, exactly?”

D’Arro leaned forward and said, “Huya’s LFW.”

Gavin regarded him blankly.

“League of Free Worlds?”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” said Taryn.

“It’s not a real faction,” Zerki explained.  “LFW is a zoning prefix that the Union uses to denote secession systems.  It stands for ‘Liberated Frontier World,’ but what it really means is you’re cut off.  Union lawyers put all sorts of concessions and guarantees on paper when a system renounces its membership, but in practice, they hang those systems out to dry.  Within a couple generations, living standards on most ‘League’ worlds reach poverty levels.  Huya is no exception.”

Valerie smiled warmly at Zerki.  “You’ve always had a soft spot for the discarded types.”

“And I always will,” she vowed.  “After dinner, we’ll be taking the shuttle down to the Kore starport.”  She called up a holographic map of the city.  “We’ll stay the night, and tomorrow morning we’ll rent a swamp buggy.  We’re driving, because outside the starport, anything that flies tends to get shot down by bandits and sold for scrap.”  She regarded the ospyreans.  “D’Arro, Taryn, I need you both to carry a couple blasters, look mean, and be visible.  My contact will only attempt an ambush if he thinks he has the advantage.  Takeo, you’re taking point when we get close, just in case two ospyreans isn’t enough to enforce good business practice.  Gavin, besides me, you’re the only one here who can drive.  Any questions, so far?”

Her companions assured her they had none.

She left the map of Kore on the table and regarded Gavin.  “Let’s settle that debt.”

“What debt?”

“You owe me dinner, remember?”

Gavin laughed.  “Sure, I remember.  Give me an hour in the galley.”

“An hour?”  Zerki crossed her arms.  “What are you planning to make?”

He shrugged.  “I’m not sure yet.”

“In that case, it’s my treat.  I’ll place an order with the kitchen crew.”

With an appreciative smile, he said, “Fair enough.  Thank you.”

They bid their comrades farewell and stepped into the corridor.  As he followed her to the forward lift, he asked, “We’re not going to the mess hall?”

“It’s going to be pretty busy in there very soon.  If we’re hoping to get any meaningful dialogue going, that won’t be the place to do it.”  The doors opened, and she gestured for him to enter.  “After you.”

Gavin snickered and stepped inside.  “A lady’s Chivalry.  I like it.”

“It’s a lost art,” she said.

They soon reached her cabin, seated directly over the bridge.  Interrupted by curved supports, her transparent ceiling was a vibrant, living map of the cosmos.  Black carpeting touched crimson walls with black trim.  Her frosted-glass shower stood at the far end, near a crystal washbasin.  Near her bed, she had a small glass table.

“Nice place,” he whispered.  “I don’t see any storage.  Where do you keep your stuff?”

“It’s recessed,” she said, “behind about a dozen gene-keyed wall panels.”

“Ah, nice!”

“Just a moment.”  She retrieved her tablet and placed an order with her kitchen crew.  “We’ve got a little time.  I asked them to send up whatever they’re already cooking for tonight.”

“What’s on the menu?”

She smiled slightly.  “Garlic cheese casserole and Greek salad.  It should be ready in about 20 minutes.”  Indicating the table, she urged Gavin to sit.  “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” he said, his gaze distant as he sat down.  “I’ve been trying to get my head around the whole gravity bridge thing, but there’s not a lot of useful information out there.”  He reconsidered.  “More accurately, there’s not a lot of useful information unless you already know a ton about physics.”

She approached the table.  “What are you studying?”

“Philosophy.  I’ve got a full ride at TGU Chemwald.”  He cleared his throat.  “Well, had.”

“I’m sorry, Gavin.  I can only imagine how difficult this is for you.”

With a bittersweet smile, he said, “It’s okay.  You never know where life is going to take you.  I’m just glad I get to travel this road with my friends and the most amazing starship crew I could ever imagine.”  He leaned forward.  “Hey, can I ask you something?”

She sat down across from him.  “Ask me anything.”

“As soon as you realized what I could so, why didn’t you leave me behind?”

She chuckled dryly.  “You mean, why risk it all for one man’s freedom?”

He nodded hesitantly.  “Sure.  Something like that.”

Zerki folded her arms on the table as she considered her answer.  “To be perfectly honest, cutting you loose never crossed my mind.  I had already taken you in.  The price of one man’s freedom is the price of every man’s freedom.  Yours will not be sold any less dearly than mine.”

He shook his head.  “What if they find out you’ve been harboring me?”  Breathing out, he lowered his eyes and sank against his chair.  “At best, they’d seize your starship and disband your crew.  At worst—”

“Stop that,” she interjected.  “When Val got her vision of you, our fates intersected.  I won’t cut you off.”  She sat up straight.  “I won’t.  At worst, I’ll take the fall with you.  I can finally hand the
Shadow
off to Val and feel good about it.”

Gavin wore a doubting expression.  “Finally hand the
Shadow
off to Val?  When you say it that way, it sounds like you’re already planning on it.”

“Maybe I am.”

“You’re a little young for retirement.”

She leaned closer.  “I’m a lot older than I look, and I’m not just talking gene therapy.”  For a moment, her eyes were haunted.  “Believe me when I say I’ve earned the right to spend the rest of my life being pampered on Varuna.”  A sad chuckle escaped her lips.  “To just… fade away.”

“How… how old are you?”

“Older than you’d believe.”

Realization dawned over Gavin.  “Wait… I
have
heard of you.  I
knew
I’d heard of you!  Zerki Ibarra.  You were all over the news, what… ten years ago?”

Zerki blushed.  “You have a very good memory.”

“You were stuck in cryo-freeze, right?  And the Union ended up paying you a huge settlement!”  He paused at seeing the tears forming in her eyes, her lips trembling.  “I’m sorry.”

“Please go.”  She pushed back her chair and stood up.  Wiping at her eyes, she pointed stiffly at the exit.  “Go!”

Gavin got to his feet, his ears and cheeks bright red.  At a loss for words, he turned and approached the lift.  He didn’t look back as the elevator arrived, and its doors opened.  “I’m really sorry,” he whispered, and he stared fixedly at his feet as he boarded.

With leaden shoulders, he made his way to the mess hall.  Taryn, Takeo and Fogg joined him where he sat and ate, but he had little conversation to offer.  They talked quietly, their mood somber as they tried not to think about Filan.

Within the safety of her cabin, Zerki folded over herself and wept.  “Why won’t it stop
hurting
?” she tearfully seethed.  After some time, she regained herself, dabbing her sleeve along her eyes and nose.  “Get ahold of yourself, Zerki.  Keep it together.”  She made her way to the shower, shed her clothing, and turned on the water.

·· • ··

Ten years earlier…

For a moment, she couldn’t remember who she was.  The light drove needles through her eyes, frozen lances that embedded themselves throughout her skull.  She coughed, violently, expelling viscous fluids.  All around, a morass of blurred conversation seeped through her, swelling and receding like the ocean’s undertow.  She tumbled in its grip as she clawed for lucidity.

She felt herself floating through the air and lost all sense of time.

Unsure of when she had started coughing again, she slowly realized they had turned to dry heaves.  Somehow, she was lying on her side, now.  But for the blanket draped over her, she was naked.  Another moment passed before she realized she was being electrocuted!  Desperately, she stuttered a string of sounds, but her tongue moved like an unseen force pushing against a sea of gelatinous sand.

No, I’m not being shocked
, she thought. 
I’m shivering
. 
I’m so cold
!

One of the voices coalesced, like sludge draining in reverse.  She forced herself to focus, until she began to understand him.

“…can’t say for sure if there’s anything left.  Higher brain function is nearly flat.”  He huffed angrily, unseen by her on the other side of a plastic medical partition.  “I told you we should’ve waited!”

“I stand by my decision.  When you breached the cryo bed, you started the countdown.  She’d have been brain dead by the time an ambulance reached us.”

“She’s practically brain dead, anyway!”  Something metallic clattered against the wall.

“Hey,” she wheezed, but it oozed from her mouth and dripped upon the tiles under her bed.  She tried to moisten her lips until she forgot what she doing.  The world spun, and the sounds of conversation became tinny and faraway.  When she climbed back into her senses, she gazed into the eyes of a rugged, bearded man.

“Isaac, come here!  She’s looking at me!”

From outside her range of vision, she heard another man say, “It’s reflex.  She’s been opening and closing her eyes for a few hours now.”

She willed herself to regard him, and she sat up slightly.  With all her might, she brought her arms up to grip his shoulders.  At last, she muttered, “My crew.  Where’s my crew?”

Instruments clattered as Isaac tripped into view.  “Oh my god,” he whispered.  “She’s alive!”  He looked toward a largely inactive patient monitor.  “How?”

The bearded man placed his hands on either side of her face.  They felt like they were on fire.  “It’s a miracle,” he grinned.  “Where’s the nearest core world?”

“I… I don’t know.  I’ll be right back.”  Isaac disappeared through the bulkhead, hurrying along the corridor beyond.

“I’m Bill Turner,” he said, and he leaned back to offer his hand.

Shivering hard enough to seize intermittently, she gave her hand in response.  “Zerki… Ibarra, first mate aboard the, uh… the
MSTS Godspeed
.  Where’s the rest of my crew?  Where are my colonists?”