The Red Rover, page 6
part #6 of The Rover Series Universe Series
He picked up the two shackles again and began clicking them together in lockstep with the rhythm of his heartbeat. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. An image of Ammaik smiling at him warmed his spirit. Thinking of her would have to soothe him during these emotional times.
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Orion sat in the passenger seat of the HoverSol. He was sketching a replica of his family photograph, which he preferred to keep in his locker, but now sat on the dashboard, propped up in front of him. There were differences between this replica and the original as Orion used his current self as a guide. Judging by what Marius had told him and the other cadets, he guesstimated that they had to be anywhere from eighteen to twenty-two years of age, though it wouldn’t have surprised him if he was even older than that.
Although for Orion, the concept of time was becoming something that he kind of didn’t understand anymore. He had come of age, knowing only space, where he could see Galicia at any point of the day if he was so inclined. And now, he had experienced alien worlds on multiple occasions where the concept of night and day still weren’t exactly like what he had been taught.
The Earth standard for time was a useless metric to guide them the further they traveled away from it and yet that was the only metric his space community used, even through multiple generations. All of this free time had given his mind ample space to roam.
Writing in his journal had proven therapeutic as Marius had told him it would, but recounting the events of the past was not something he relished doing on a regular basis. Sketching became a much-needed respite from the norm.
In his current sketch, he imagined his mother wearing a coiffed look and a teenage Pharaoh being almost as tall as him and their father. Drawing Delly, on the other hand, proved a much more difficult task. She had lost the auburn highlights, going back to her natural brown hair right before she left the Rover Base. If her experience was anything like his, she could have also put on a few pounds, be it fat or muscle. Maybe even a battle scar or two. The possibilities were endless.
Orion also did his best to steer clear of any conversations his fellow cadets had about which Rover was on the other end of that beacon. Constant thoughts about his sister and the Yellow Rover would have been terrible for his psyche. While Delly was no fragile flower to be sure, Orion had experienced firsthand the kind of evil that lurked within this star system. Marius’ understanding of the cosmos couldn’t have been more prescient—even looking back on it in hindsight.
The universe was filled with great wonders they couldn’t even begin to imagine, but it was also filled with dangers, that could be found anywhere and could exist in any form. And—no matter how hard they tried to learn and understand, they would never know all there was to know. The vastness of the great unknown was truly something beyond their capabilities.
Orion shaded his mother’s hair darker.
“Oh, that smell.”
He lowered his journal and turned around. It was Gordie. He was covering his nose and mouth, while looking around. Orion turned his attention back to his sketch. Seconds later, the driver’s side door lifted as Gordie poked his head inside.
“Bro, I can’t believe these bastards haven’t decomposed yet. It reeks in here.”
“You get used to it.”
“No the hell you don’t.”
“Well, you could always wear your helmet Gordie.”
“This is true, but it feels kind of weird wearing it when you’re not suited up, don’t you think?”
He ignored Gordie’s question. This had all the makings of becoming a random diatribe that he was not in the mood for. He would be better served to remain silent than engage.
“Anyway, I’m just gonna dick around in the StarForger for a little bit. You mind?”
Gordie sounded a bit goofy. Orion looked up from his journal to see him holding his nose like he was trying to stop it from bleeding. He guffawed, doing everything in his power to hold back laughter and returned to his sketch.
“Knock yourself out.”
“All right, cool.” Gordie began closing the driver’s door, but stopped it about halfway. “Hey!”
Orion sighed as he looked up from his journal. Gordie was trying his patience.
“Is there any reason why you spend so much time in here? I mean considering I’ve never seen you in either of the StarForgers?”
Orion sat motionless for a few moments, contemplating his question. The Red Rover was only getting smaller, the longer they were all together. With Dee-Dee and Ozone no longer around to look after them, their sleeping patterns as a whole also began to suffer.
To avoid another ambush, they had agreed to have two cadets, at a minimum, on guard duty at all times until they had safely rendezvoused with the anonymous Rover. This was on top of needing two more just to pilot the ship. Their flight rotations were long and erratic. They were blessed that Jovan relished being a pilot as much as he did. His ability to bear the brunt of such a critical job—in trying times like these—made their lives that much better and easier.
“Well—there’s not a lot of places on this ship where you can get some privacy. I mean, as much as I love you guys, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t value my alone time.”
“Rio included?”
Orion chuckled. He should have seen that coming. Them being in a relationship was the biggest open secret on the Red Rover. While they did everything in their power to be discreet, the fact remained that the ship was way too small for legitimate privacy. That they were also having sex only made it worse, if for no other reason than Orion didn’t think anyone else was having sex at all. He wouldn’t dare ask Gordie or anyone else if they had a problem with it. Some things were just better left unsaid.
“Yeah—sometimes, I guess. That being said, I reserve the right to change my mind.” Orion said.
“You mean when we get into trouble again.”
“Don’t you mean if?”
“No. I said it right the first time.”
Gordie closed the HoverSol door, leaving him alone once more. Orion put the journal to his forehead, tapping it several times. Gordie was onto something. He probably would have been better served getting in better shape or practicing with his batons. Being combat ready was just as important to his psyche as having an outlet for his thoughts.
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The canopy of a StarForger opened as its ladder extended to the floor. Gordie approached it from the control panel and climbed into the pilot’s seat. He activated the fighter as its canopy closed over top. The bracket raised the StarForger halfway between the floor and the ceiling before he stopped it. He took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Ah.”
At last, he was free of the rotting Draconoire stench. He wished Marius would let them just open the side airlock and allow space to do what it does best, but Marius must have believed that having these pieces of shit stinking up the place was a positive for their focus or some nonsense like that.
He might have considered it a positive, if Marius let them use the Draconoires for target practice. But alas, they were from a culture that prided itself on being the bigger man. If the Red Rover were more a tactical gunship rather than a human transport, they would have blasted that alien space station to space dust instead of just leaving it in shambles.
There was a chance that a number of those Draconoires were still alive. And if that was the case, none of them were safe, not even a little bit. Whichever Rover they stumbled upon, Gordie hoped that it would provide them with much needed reinforcements.
The possibility that they could have created a colony was exciting. Just the thought of meeting some new women was more than enough to have his groin swelling in anticipation. His hormones were raging and there was nothing he could do about it. Rio was getting it on with Orion with regularity, while Callista and June barely gave him a second look if he smiled in their direction. Even Andrew had an alien girlfriend for a stretch. She was decent looking for a freak show.
Gordie sighed. He closed his eyes and concentrated. The silhouette of his former combat instructor, Shaw, popped into his head. She always trained them in her undergear, which showed off her muscular legs and killer backside. There were days where he would screw up on purpose just so Shaw could give him more individual attention. Puberty was not an easy time for him.
Gordie opened his eyes and leaned forward at the sound of a HoverSol door closing. He listened with keen intent.
“See you later, Gordie.” Orion called out.
The inner loading bay door opened and closed as Gordie smiled. At last, he was alone. He leaned back, unzipping his uniform, down below his waist. This wasn’t an ideal solution to his sexual frustration, but it would have to do.
CHAPTER SIX
KILLING TIME
Delly held the jagged alien blade in her left hand, admiring its design. Even if it was used for scientific purposes, these kinds of blades were not readily available on the Rover Base or the Yellow Rover. It wasn’t until now that she understood why they only used batons.
Soldiers and officers like her father were the only people permitted to carry fusion weapons on the Rover Base. The claustrophobic environment was not an ideal setting for introducing melee weapons to the greater community at-large. That would have had all the makings of an epic disaster.
She observed Kabibi’s wife and two children. They were shivering in terror. Delly exhaled. Terrorizing children was not something she would ever be proud of—bearing in mind that they had nothing to do with their father’s butchery.
“All right, Mama. You can take them upstairs now. Me and your guy here are gonna have a little chat.”
Kabibi’s wife released her hold on their two children, nudging them to move. The little ones raced as fast as they could to and then up the stairs, not looking back as their mother disappeared behind them. Kabibi continued watching them. It was almost like he couldn’t bear to face Delly.
“Eh hem.”
She cleared her throat as Kabibi turned around and locked eyes with her. She twirled the blade in her hand.
“You know, when you walked through that door, I could’ve taken your head clean off, even though this is my bad hand. You’re lucky you have a family.”
Kabibi swallowed. His stiff posture let Delly know that he was hearing her loud and clear.
“So, let’s start from the beginning.” She went on. “Why did you cut off my hand?”
Kabibi wiped tears away from his eyes.
“When Altarhi and I found you in the batstu, you were unconscious. We watched your space vessel crash.”
“So, you kidnapped me, so that you could experiment? Do I have that right?”
“No. That was not my intention. You see, I had never seen a vaka—uh, being—such as yourself before. I tried to remove the glove, but your appendage was badly disfigured.”
Delly exhaled through her nose. The recanting of Kabibi’s activities after finding her were only stirring up nebulous memories of the events that led up to the crash.
“You were losing bodily fluid that is of a consistency unlike any Fonantian. So, I did the only thing I could in that situation. I amputated to save the rest of the arm.”
“And yet, you kept me unconscious. You think I wouldn’t have wanted to be asked first before you mutilated me? How would you feel if I took one of yours?”
“Please.” He begged. “There’s nothing I can say to make what I’ve done to you, undone. Just please leave Citera and my nushies out of this. This was my folly, not theirs.”
Kabibi’s eyes welled with tears as he used the back of his woolly hands to wipe them. Delly tapped the blade against her chest. He seemed remorseful, although that could have been due to his life hanging in the balance.
Still, she was conflicted. While it was true that she may not have survived the crash had Kabibi not come along, it was also true that she did not give consent to being his little science experiment. This was on top of her having no clue where she even was. Since awakening, she had only gone from his lab to the living room. It was still a mystery what was even beyond his front door.
“Are you going to kill me?”
“I’m still thinking about it.”
She tapped the blade against her chest even harder as he averted his eyes. She smirked and turned to her right wrist again. Her smirk dissolved upon realizing that she was in her undergear. She searched the rest of her body and it was the same all around. She looked back at him.
“What did you do with my spacesuit?”
He continued to avoid eye contact with her.
“Answer me!”
Kabibi raised his eyes to meet hers.
“I think it would be best if I showed you.”
Delly seethed. She gestured with the knife for him to get up. He rose to his feet and led her back downstairs to his lab. He entered the lab first.
“Stop!”
Kabibi froze.
“Turn around.”
He did as she instructed.
“I would advise you not to try anything stupid. Because I can assure you, if you do, I’m gonna slaughter your whole family. Do you understand?”
He nodded. “Yes, I understand.”
“Okay. Show me.”
Kabibi took his time moving to a cabinet, keeping one eye on her the entire time. He opened it and pulled out a blanket covering something. He placed it on the same table where she discovered her amputation. He removed the blanket and turned to her.
“This is it.”
Delly approached in a state of confusion. Her spacesuit looked as if it had been sliced into smaller pieces. She placed the blade to the side and rummaged through it. She rubbed her forehead in frustration.
“What am I supposed to do with this? You’ve destroyed it. And where’s my helmet?”
“We left it behind.”
Delly’s shoulders slumped as she released a drawn-out sighed. She released a slight chuckle, which was pretty much the only thing she could do to keep from crying. The bad news just kept coming in waves and showed no signs of letting up.
“What does M.O.O.R.E. mean?” Kabibi asked.
Delly slowly raised her eyes to meet his.
“I saw it—on the inside of your helmet.”
“That’s my name. Moore. Delly Moore.”
Her eyes began to tear up as she shook her head back and forth. She leaned back against the counter and slid down to the floor. Sam was gone. Roko was gone. She was all alone. And no one would be coming to save her.
“I’m sorry.”
Delly turned to see Kabibi staring at her.
“For what?”
“For everything that I have done to you. I would undo it if I could. But I cannot. All I ask—is if you’re going to kill me.” He swallowed. “Please spare my nushies. They don’t deserve to suffer for my mistakes.”
“I’m not gonna kill your family, Kabibi. Nor you. Because even if I did, I’d still be in the middle of nowhere, away from my ship and now without a hand. Face it, I’m fucked.”
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Kabibi watched Delly from afar. He was surprised that she had left his cutting utensil on the bench. He could have made a break for it and trapped her inside the lab, but doing so, would have only created more problems for him than necessary.
Questions surely would have arisen as to how he was able to sneak her into Fonantis and why he hadn’t reported the crashed space vessel to the finest echelons. Altarhi had been correct in his aversion to them taking Delly. Still, if she was no longer interested in hurting him and his family, the best move for him was to be patient. After all, he still had his research to consider.
He carefully approached Delly and crouched beside her. Although, he was afraid, he also could see that she was genuinely hurting. His paternal instincts activated.
“What if there was a way to get you a new hand?”
She turned to him and sneered. “You think this is funny?”
“No. Of course not.” He stammered. “All I ever wanted to do was learn. Since the moment we found you. You came from the stars. We, Fonantians, have never been.”
“And what does any of that have to do with me getting a new hand?”
“I suppose nothing, but I’m a researcher. Let me see what I can do. Please.”
She respired and glared at him. She clenched her hand and began tapping it against the floor.
“All right, fine. What do I got to lose? On second thought, don’t answer that.”
Kabibi smiled. “Well, now that you’re not going to kill me—”
Her eyes narrowed. She appeared to be unimpressed. This may have not been the right moment for his specific bravura of wit.
“Would you mind if I had something to eat? I’m lacking.” He went on.
“Shit, so am I. What you got?”
Kabibi gulped, thinking for a moment. Since bringing Delly to his lab, he had been sporadically giving her nutrients intravenously to keep her hydrated and healthy. He couldn’t be sure how she would take to their Fonantian cuisine, let alone if she would enjoy it.
One way or another, he was going to find out.
CHAPTER SEVEN
PELLUCIDITY
“Well, that was—interesting.”
Delly picked at her teeth, having just finished the unusual meal Kabibi had prepared for her. He had whisked her plate away and was now standing over the sink. She was seated at his kitchen table, that was covered by a glossy silver cloth. A clear crystal ball held by a mini-dais, rested in the center of the table. It seemed to be decorative.
“Glad you enjoyed it.” Kabibi said.
She raised her eyebrows, while still picking food particles from her teeth. The best thing she could say about this meal was that it satiated her hunger—even if the taste left a lot to be desired. She carefully pushed the crystal ball into her left hand and brought it close to her face. She bared her teeth, hoping to see if she had missed any of the particles. There were still a few morsels that clung to her upper incisors.
