Wrath of the Void Strider (6 page)

“It was not staged.”  Zerki exhaled heavily.  “I promise you.”

Gavin stepped close.  “Zerki, was it?”

“That’s right.”

“Thanks for saving our lives, sincerely, but this really is a bad time.  You can see what happened to my truck, and I have no idea how I’m supposed to explain this to the insurance company.  Sorry, but we have to say no.  Nothing personal, but it’s a really bad time.”

“You take this job, and I’ll buy you a new truck,” Zerki countered.  “Free and clear.  Just hear me out.  That’s all I’m asking.”

Gavin coughed.  “A new truck?”

Zerki nodded.

“Free and clear?”

Again, Zerki nodded.

Gavin rested his hand on Takeo’s shoulder.  “Let’s hear her out.”

Taryn snickered.  “I’m okay with that.”

Takeo rolled his eyes.  “Fine.  But I need to be back home by tomorrow night.”

Zerki smiled.  “That won’t be a problem.”

Using her data tablet, she summoned a pair of automated taxis.  Zerki joined Gavin, Taryn, Takeo and Valerie in one cab, and the rest of her crew boarded the other.  Chris watched them go.

In the distance, the wail of sirens pierced the air as police sky cruisers drew close.

The group made their way quickly along the streets to a municipal starport, where they promptly disembarked.  Parked near the arrival center, Zerki’s sizable shuttle awaited them.  Its engines quietly hummed, and its landing lights shone brightly.

In the form of a haze, unseen by the captain or her crew, Fogg glided swiftly past them.  He slipped through the door at the end of the boarding ramp and scanned the vessel.  A moment later, he settled in amongst the tools.  He condensed, taking the form of an atom wrench.

After everyone was aboard, Zerki struck a large, red, dome-shaped button mounted to the wall just inside the cargo area.  Warning lights spun, and a loud beeping sound filled the air as the ramp pulled up and locked into place.  Smoothly, the shuttle lifted off.

“D’Arro, please show Taryn and Takeo to their quarters,” said Zerki, and the ospyrean giant led his charges away.  They vanished through a side bulkhead at the far end.  Zerki, Krane, Valerie and two of D’Arro’s teammates remained with Gavin.

Pointing across the cargo hold, Zerki urged, “Right this way.”   Gavin followed as she crossed the bay to the opposite bulkhead.

She gestured for Gavin to enter and guided him along the corridor.  A door slid aside at her approach.  She nodded, and he stepped through.  “Make yourself comfortable.  I have to check in with my crew real quick, and I’ll be back after that.”

“How far away is your ship?”

“Not far.”  She smiled, trying to contain her growing sense of urgency.  “The toilet’s stuck open, but it works.  Take a nap if you want to.”

“Thanks, I’ll try.  Nice to meet you.”

Zerki shook his hand.  “You too.  Thanks for coming.”  The door slid closed. 

Gavin took stock of his surroundings.  “This isn’t so bad,” he muttered.  Across from him, a double bunk bed had been bolted to the wall.  A hideaway latrine was jammed open, and a florescent tube hung at a defeated angle over a boxy wash basin positioned a few paces away.  “Actually, that’s kind of depressing.”

Exhaling audibly, he plopped down on the lower bunk and let his thoughts wander.

·· • ··

Valerie followed her captain to the shuttle’s cockpit.  The door slid away as they drew close, and they were greeted with a vista of stars.  Krane hunched forward over the pilot’s console and silently raised his hand in acknowledgment of their arrival.

Reaching past him to the communications interface, Zerki leaned over and held down the comm button.  “Hey, Collins.”

“Captain,” he replied from the bridge of the
Sanguine Shadow
.

“You can cancel with Johanna.  We’ve got our guy.”  She looked appreciatively toward her first mate.  “Val called it, right down to the flying truck.”

After a moment, Collins reported, “Meeting’s cancelled.  You guys okay?  Things got a bit more exciting than I prefer, being so far away from it.”

“We’re fine.  Nice save with the truck, by the way.  How did you stop it?”

“Wasn’t me,” he said.  “We were watching from up here, but…  Can’t figure how that happened.  Already pinged Cajun to see if he’s got any ideas.”

Zerki furrowed her brow.  “Yeah, keep me posted.”  She released the comm button and sank against the cold steel wall at her back.  Her mind raced.  “Krane, did you kill the auto-scans after we landed?”

“
Scheiße
!”  He snapped his fingers and shrank into himself.  “Sorry, Captain.  It completely slipped my mind.  I know the battery’s on its last.  I’ll remember next time.”

“No, it’s okay.  Can you pack the last two hours on a cube for me?”

Krane looked puzzled.  “Of course.”  He took a moment to save and compress the scanner readings she requested.  “Here you go.”  Lobbing a lustrous metal cube her way, he smiled slightly as she caught it and raised a brow.

“Thanks.”  Zerki gripped the cube firmly.  Turning toward Valerie, she said, “Can you plug this in and start crunching the data?”

“Sure.”  Valerie took it and casually saluted.  “What am I looking for?”

Zerki pondered.  “I’m not entirely sure, but focus on the window of time surrounding the flying truck.”

“On it, Captain.”  She sat down at the shuttle’s scanning station, seated at the back of the bridge.  Carefully, she set the storage device down into a faintly glowing recess, and the console flickered brightly alive.

Blowing into her hands, Zerki eased down into a chair near Krane and stared absently at the starry abyss.  She pulled up her hair as if to tie it into a ponytail, but ultimately let it drop back to her shoulders.  It would be some time before they reached her starship.

·· • ··

Taryn and Takeo waited within the confines of a small cabin.  Similar to Gavin’s, a double bunk bed took up most of one wall, and a softly lit washbasin stood near a recessed latrine.  Upon its surface, a biohazard placard had been emblazoned, decorated with a wealth of scribbled graffiti.

“Hey, Takeo,” Taryn began, and he turned to her.  “What do you think stopped Gavin’s truck?”  She crossed her arms, leaning heavily against the door.

Solemnly, Takeo shook his head.  “I’m not sure.”

“You think maybe it was Gavin, somehow?”

“It wasn’t Gavin.  It was someone on the shuttle, or someone on their starship, I’m sure.  Shields, or a tractor beam.”  He nodded insistently toward her.  “That gun the captain is carrying is advanced tech.  Military grade.  Who knows what else they have access to.”

Taryn smirked disapprovingly.  “Shields would’ve burned our faces off, and there’s no such thing as tractor beams.”

“It wasn’t Gavin.”

·· • ··

Valerie stood up from her console, grinning.  “It was him!  Captain, Gavin stopped the truck!”  She could scarcely contain her excitement.  “You have to look at this.  He’s no ordinary Navigator!”

Zerki opened her eyes and came quickly to her feet.  “What am I looking at?”  Side by side, they poured over the data.  After a moment of silent study, Zerki whispered, “Are you sure this is right?”

Valerie nodded.  “Triple checked for data integrity.  It’s as authentic as it gets.”

“He made a gravity bridge.”

Valerie beamed.  “And he did it with his mind!”

Zerki closed her eyes and exhaled through steepled fingertips.  “That’s impossible.”

With a giddy laugh, Valerie countered, “Apparently not!  Oh, wait.  I have an idea.”

“What are you doing?”

“Remotely scanning his gene key and running his profile.”  She executed several commands from her console.  A quiet moment passed.  Sitting up straight, she proclaimed, “Ha!  If this isn’t proof, I don’t know what is.  His full name is Gavin Christopher Santiago.”  Pointing at the display, she added, “And he’s a black file.”

Zerki exhaled into her hands.  “What have I gotten us into?”

Chapter 05

A knock rang through Gavin’s quarters, and he rose to his feet as the door slid away.  In the narrow corridor beyond, Zerki stood wearing an uncertain smile.  She regarded Gavin.  “Got a moment?”

He shrugged and sat down on the lower bunk.  “Sure.”

She stepped through and closed the door.  “How are you feeling, by the way?  I know this is probably taking longer than you thought it would.”

He answered, “No, it’s fine.  I’m okay.  I don’t mind.”

“Good,” she said and turned a kind smile his way.  Overhead light touched her golden hair in such a way that it seemed to glow.  It cast soft illumination upon her eyes and high-set cheeks.  Her fair skin was flawless, and her chin was proud.  “I sincerely appreciate your patience.”

Gavin’s mouth fell slightly open.  “No problem.  You’re beautiful!”

She lowered her eyes.  “Thanks, but we should try to stay focused.”

“Right.”  His heart raced.  “So, what’s up?  What did you want to talk about?”

“What you did on the surface,” she replied, but Gavin looked confused.  “Your truck.”  Zerki leaned closer, scrutinizing him.  “You really don’t know?”

“There’s a lot I don’t know.  Ask any of my professors.”

“I mean what you did.  What you can do.”

Gavin stared at her questioningly.  “Details would help.”

Her shoulders sagged.  “You’re serious.”  She puffed her cheeks and brought her hands to her mouth, clapping them quietly together.  “Gavin, you made a gravity bridge.”

He blinked and shrugged.  “Is that bad?”

Zerki’s throat was suddenly dry.  “Not usually.  Do you know what a gravity bridge is?”

“I really don’t.”

“But you
are
a Navigator, right?”

With a furrowed brow, Gavin answered, “I don’t even have my pilot’s license.”

She nodded slowly and looked angrily toward the heavens.  “I’ll be back.”  Zerki turned away, tapped the activation plate, and the door retreated.  She glanced down the corridor.  “Just my luck,” she muttered, and the door sealed shut after she passed through.

Gavin sank against the wall.  “What was that about?” he whispered to himself. 
Zerki Ibarra…  Why does that name sound familiar
?

“He’s not a Navigator,” Zerki grumbled as Valerie joined her in the corridor outside the cockpit.  “And he doesn’t even know what a gravity bridge is.”

“That’s bad.”  She shoved her hands in her pockets and puffed her cheeks.  “Is it too late to get Kendra back?”

Zerki nodded solemnly.  “She’s on her way to New Falkirk, by now.  Besides, she’s burned out.  Even if we could somehow intercept her transport, another jump might kill her.”

Valerie looked unconvinced.  “I doubt that.  She was the best Navigator we’ve ever worked with.  She could make a few more jumps before it got dangerous.”

“Her eyes are fully red, Val.  She’s been wearing contacts for the last month to spare anyone having to look at it.”

Her first mate winced.  “Okay, you’re right.”  She stared blankly at the wall across from her.  “What do we do?  The
Shadow
’s built around her jump drive.  Collins cancelled the meeting with Johanna, and it’ll take hours to set up another one.”

“You’re sure you saw him in the jump rig?”

Valerie nodded resolutely.  “I couldn’t be more sure.”

Zerki considered silently awhile.  At last, she raised her brows and said, “He must be latent.”

“No way.  It’s a genetic trait.  They identify Navigators before they’re even born.”

“Like you said, he’s no ordinary Navigator.”

Valerie smirked.  “That’s not exactly how I meant it, but I see what you’re getting at.”

“We have to wake him up, somehow, and get him to make the jump.”

“How do you propose we do that?”

Zerki took a deep breath.  “I’ve got an idea, but I’ll need your help.”

·· • ··

“Have you seen the view?” asked Taryn as she stepped back into her quarters, and the door closed behind her.  “The captain let me take a look from the bridge.  It’s gorgeous!”

Takeo smiled subtly.  “Not from this particular shuttle, but my dad’s taken me out on his starship a few times.  It is gorgeous.”  Leaning forward, he stretched and nodded.  “I believe I’ll have a look.”  He reached for the touch plate, but the door slid open before he made contact.

“Come with me, please,” said D’Arro.  He hardly fit in the corridor, he was so tall.  “Captain wants you both up front.”

“Are we getting close?” asked Takeo.

D’Arro nodded.  “She wants you to see the
Shadow
before we dock.”

“Why?” asked Taryn.

“She’s very pretty,” said D’Arro.  His smile was proud.

Taryn and Takeo stepped out, moving in front of the massive ospyrean.  The door slid shut, and he urged his guests forward.  Soon, they reached the bulkhead leading to the command room.

Gavin twisted to meet their eyes, and he smiled.  “Hey, guys,” he whispered.  Krane manned the flight controls.  Zerki and Valerie stood on the other side of Gavin.

“Hey, Gavin,” said Taryn.  Regarding Zerki, she asked, “D’Arro said you wanted us to see your space ship?”

“You’ll enjoy this,” Zerki responded.  She pointed toward the stars.  “Just watch.”

Tiny at first, little more than a dim glimmer against the sea of stars, the
Sanguine Shadow
appeared as a dot at the center of the shuttle’s broad canopy.  As they closed, details became clearer.  Gavin gasped, and Taryn mouthed, “Oh, wow,” as she gripped his upper arm.  Takeo leaned forward slightly.

“Full stop, Krane, if you would be so kind,” said Zerki.

The glow of directional thrusters was momentarily visible just past the cockpit’s lower horizon, and the shuttle drifted to a stop. 
They took in the
Sanguine Shadow
’s full measure.  With the grace of a leviathan, the lengthy starship drifted, buoyed by the void, coated entirely in a certain sort of black.  Where light touched the outer hull directly, the otherwise inky paint appeared to be the color of blood.

Her forward section swooped down over a pair of hangar doors marked with “01” on their faces, painted in white.  The main airlock, seated near the amidships junction, was barely visible from their angle of approach.  Lights from the command deck glowed brightly, a dotted crescent under the darkened windows of the captain’s cabin.  Mounted along the top, dozens of adjustable laser-tipped flanges lay recessed within the dorsal ridge of the starship.