Starship For Rent, page 23
“From your lips to their ears,” Ben replied. “Let’s hope that’s true. Stay ready to launch just in case. With or without us.”
I didn’t respond this time. In the back of my mind, there was no without us. Ally and Tee were here because of me. I would rather die than leave them, not to mention Ben and Matt, behind.
Head Case vibrated a second time as Ben opened the main hangar door. My eyes alternated between the ramp extending to the ground and the alien reps. They didn’t change position or posture, including when Ben and company began their descent down the ramp.
Even though my heart beat like a kettle drum, my hands rested solid as a rock on the stick and gravity controls. I remained ready to bounce off the surface at a moment’s notice. Ben and the others approached the three alien reps. They came to a stop less than ten feet away from them. I half-expected Ben and Matt to unfurl a WE COME IN PEACE banner despite their claims they didn’t have one.
Instead, the two sides stared at one another in silence, each waiting for the other to speak first. It didn’t take long for Ben to break the stalemate. “Greetings,” he said, his voice clear, his annunciation crisp. As if that would facilitate communication. “My name is Benjamin Murdock. I’m a traveler from a far away star. My friends and I came here by accident. This galaxy is called Warexia, and this planet is named Goldhaven. That’s all we know of this place. I really hope you can help us.”
None of the aliens reacted. It was no surprise they didn’t understand English. I was curious to see how Ben would manage the language barrier.
He tapped his chest with his hand. “Ben,” he said. “Ben.” He pointed to Head Case. “Starship.” Using hand gestures, he started trying to signal how we had wound up in Warexia by mimicking a crash.
“Enough,” the lead alien said. I nearly fell out of my seat when I realized I could understand what sounded, by his voice, like a male. How the hell was that even possible? “You are servants of the Warden,” he said.
“The Warden,” Ben said, growing excited. “Yes. He attacked our ship. He—“
“If you are servants of the Warden,” the alien interrupted, “then you are enemies of the Oron, and you must die.”
CHAPTER 33
The spear-carrying Orons advanced, the others stepping aside to make way for them. The leader backed up a step, and with lightning quick reflexes, he reached behind his back, producing a nasty looking knife. The obsidian blade glinted in the sun as he brandished it at Ben.
My hands shifted to the pilot station controls, activating the cannons and aiming them at the gathered aliens. Unless the sunsuits contained hidden shields, one barrage from the guns would end the conflict lickety-split. Even so, I had no intention of squeezing the trigger. Ben had made it clear we never, ever fired the first shot. Self defense was one thing. Murder, something entirely different. Something I was certain I didn’t want any part of.
“Wait!” Ben cried, throwing up his hands. “We come in peace! Please!”
I had no doubt he could hear the turrets swiveling into position behind him, and I saw that Matt already had his rifle shouldered, while Tyler and Ally were in the process. Shaq, maintaining the element of surprise, had yet to emerge from his hiding place in Ben’s sleeve. Ixy had remained in the hangar, but had already made it halfway down the ramp when she froze in response to Ben’s plea.
The cry succeeded in halting the Oron as well. They remained in place, some with their javelin-like spears lowered to charge our away team, others with their weapons raised to throw. Their leader clutched his dagger, his body tensed like a spring waiting to uncoil.
“We aren’t servants of the Warden,” Ben continued. “We’re victims. He attacked us. He attacked our ship. He sent his Pralls on board. We fought them, but we lost. He made us swallow some pills. I don’t know what they’re for. We came to Goldhaven to try to get as far away from him as we could. We’re newcomers to Warexia. We know nothing about it, or about the Warden, except that he seems to be evil. Please, we need your help.”
The lead Oron continued glaring at Ben. I figured their reluctance to attack had to be a good sign.
“Everyone, drop your weapons,” Ben said to Matt and the others.
“Ben, I—“ Matt started to argue.
“Do it.”
Matt tossed his rifle down. Tyler and Ally did the same. Ben again locked eyes with the Oron leader, still pleading with him to stand down.
For a moment, I felt certain the Oron would relent. His tension eased slightly. His posture loosened. Movement near the back drew my attention, and I noticed one of the armed Orons at the back of the gathering had finished cocking his arm back, ready to let his weapon take flight.
My finger rested on the trigger. The slightest twitch, and I could have ended the alien’s life before he released the weapon. It was one option. The easiest, and safer choice. But it meant killing not just the fighter, but the others around him as well. Instead, I shouted to Ben through the comms. “Captain, watch out!”
The last word was barely out of my mouth as the spear launched in a low, powerful arc toward Ben, its velocity leaving him only a couple of seconds to react. His eyes narrowed when he caught sight of the spear, but he didn’t move. I could almost feel him reaching for chaos energy, dragging it through the clogged hose and pushing it out through his body. He didn’t glow this time. Maybe he hadn’t siphoned enough to become ethereal, but he had enough to yank the spear from the sky, sinking it into the ground between himself and the Oron leader.
Matt was already reaching for his discarded rifle, so Tyler and Ally did the same. They again came to a sudden stop as the Oron unexpectedly fell to their knees, bending forward and planting their faces against the rock in sudden supplication. Their leader didn’t go quite that far. He settled for an upright position on his knees, his expression toward Ben one of awe.
“You weave Chaos,” he said. “That is…impossible.”
“Difficult,” Ben answered, wiping a line of sweat from his brow. “But not impossible. Believe me, we’re no friends of the Warden. Please, help us. And please, stand up.”
The Oron leader regarded Ben for a few more seconds before returning to his feet. He turned to face the other Oron. “On your feet. This is not the Ora Kai. Stand up.” They did as he said, returning to their feet. The fighters pointed their spears to the sky, no longer threatening violence.
“Ora Kai?” Ben asked.
The leader pivoted back to Ben. “An ancient prophecy of our people. The coming of one who heralds the new dawn. They will burn the galaxy with Chaos, and Order will follow. It is a foolish superstition.”
“How do you know he’s not the Ora Kai?” Tyler asked, drawing a sharp glare from Ben.
“The Ora Kai is of Warexia. You have said yourself that you are not.”
“I’m glad that settles it,” Ben said. “How is it you speak our language?”
The leader shook his head. “I do not.”
“I can understand you. And you can obviously understand me.”
“As a servant of the Warden, you have been granted the gift of tongues. Any language the Warden speaks, you are able to speak and understand.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m speaking English right now,” Tyler again commented, drawing the same reaction from Ben. “Sorry. Bad habit.”
“It is such in your mind, but not on your lips,” the Oron answered.
“You said that as servants of the Warden, we need to die,” Ben said. “Why?”
“You are Ben,” the leader replied, tapping his chest. “I am Ocha, First of the Oron.”
“These are my friends, Matt, Tyler, and Alyssa,” Ben said, pointing to each in turn. Tyler mimicked Ocha’s chest slap, which bothered Ben but seemed to impress the Oron.
“While you are not Ora Kai, I believe your ability to weave Chaos is a sign, perhaps of his imminent coming. You will visit our community. I will answer your questions. Then you will leave, and you will never return.”
“Thank you,” Ben replied. “We’re grateful for your hospitality.”
“As you should be. Come.”
“Before we go, I have one more person on my ship I’d like to attend,” Ben said.
“We will begin walking,” Ocha replied. “Your person will catch up.” He made a loud gurgling sound, and the other Oron turned away from Head Case, shuffling back toward their hovels.
“Noah, let’s go,” Ben said. “Tell Leo he has the stick and the flight deck.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, barely able to contain my excitement. I was proud to be in charge of Head Case, but I really wanted to be out there with my friends.
“I’m responsible for you being dragged across the universe. You should at least get to experience everything firsthand, once the danger has passed. Leo can handle the ship, and I have the RFD as a fallback.”
“On my way,” I replied, reaching for the seat’s restraint release.
“Don’t forget to stand down the guns,” Ben added.
“Right.” I tapped the controls to disengage the cannons before jumping out of the seat. “Leo, you have the stick. And the flight deck,” I called out as I ran to the exit.
A quick trip in the elevator brought me out to the hangar. I nearly fell down the steps to the lower deck in my rush to go outside. I expected the air to be hot, based on the ambient temperature when we touched down, but the atmosphere slipping into the ship didn’t have the punch I imagined. Other than that one trip to Japan, I’d never been outside of Iowa. The dry heat brought Arizona to mind.
The Oron were far ahead by the time I hit the ramp, their black drysuits rendering them as retreating ghastly silhouettes in the dusty haze. Thankfully, Matt had lingered halfway between them and Head Case, waiting for me to catch up. I waved to him, hitting the bottom of the ramp and stepping out onto the parched ground. The heat became more noticeable, but the waning light had killed the sun’s intensity, and without humidity, the air would cool in a hurry. I paused once my feet hit the dirt, kneeling to touch the ground as my heart thudded with excitement, a million thoughts racing through my head. I was touching alien soil. Another planet. I’d experienced interstellar travel in a robot head spaceship and made contact with an alien race.
Amazing.
“Katzuo, let’s go!” Matt shouted, stealing away my brief moment of awe. I straightened and ran toward him. He didn’t wait for me, instead keeping distance between both me and the Oron until he had reached the edge of their settlement. I was sweating by the time I caught up to him, only to see he looked unbothered.
“EV underwear?” I asked.
He laughed, tugging the collar of his light green fatigues to reveal a thin, rubbery material beneath, not altogether different from the Oron coverings. “Spiral tech. It’ll keep your internal temperature steady as long as the environment isn’t too extreme. One-ten is hot, but it’s not hell. The material’s also bullet, plasma, and energy resistant.”
“Like body armor?”
“It is body armor. A second layer that goes under the heavier suits in the armory.”
“Why didn’t we grab those against the Prall?”
“It would have been useless against the sledgehammers they carried. Come on. Ocha already took Ben and the others inside.”
CHAPTER 34
I followed Matt into the settlement, if it even deserved to be called that. The Oron dwellings appeared to be nothing more than holes in the surrounding rubble. The debris came from what I imagined were once grand skyscrapers had been gathered and arranged to disguise the entries while maintaining their natural look of desolation. As when we had landed, there was no sign of the Oron now that they’d returned to hiding. Even the hairless coyotes had vanished.
“They really don’t want anyone to know they’re here,” I said.
“It seems that way,” Matt replied. ”But then, why the lights?” He pointed to the higher piles of rubble and semi-intact frames of the pulverized architecture. Large spheres of contained illumination perched at regular intervals, beaming out into the darkening sky. “It’s totally giving them away.”
With everything else going on, I had missed that key detail. It directed my mind to another overlooked fact. “This city didn’t fall into drought. It was destroyed.”
“Yeah,” Matt replied. “I know what the Oron appear to be. But I don’t trust it.”
I nodded in agreement. “I think that’s a wise course. What about Ben?”
“He sees the good in everything and everyone until proven otherwise. In some circumstances, it’s a superpower. In others, it’s kryptonite.”
“I prefer trust but verify.”
He tapped the side of his rifle. “Then that puts you right in the middle because I don’t trust anything.”
“You must balance Ben out really well, then.”
Matt laughed. “I would, if he ever listened to me.”
“Ben told me he has a brain tumor.”
It felt like a strange time to mention his affliction, especially when it hadn’t come up during our hyperspace journey. I hadn’t promised Ben to keep the secret, but I chose discretion over blabbing about it to Tyler and Ally. Still, Matt and I were having a moment as we traversed the deserted Oron camp. I didn’t want to waste it.
“He uses chaos energy to keep it under control,” Matt replied. “With how hard it is to access here…” He trailed off. “I’ve thought about it before. I’m sure he’s concerned too. But so far, I don’t see any sign the tumor is growing again. I’m sure he’s testing himself in sick bay every day. He would tell me if there was a problem.”
“If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”
“Thanks, Noah. I appreciate that. I’m sure Ben does, too. I’m sorry we got you into this mess.”
“Are you kidding? Outside of being shot at, this is all so amazing. You know, I wonder what Child Protective Services or the hospital thought when they came looking for me and I was gone. I can only imagine the looks on their faces. Do you think they’re trying to find me?”
“With six months to your birthday and plenty of other cases to deal with? No offense, but probably not.”
“Good.”
We passed through the other side of the settlement without spotting any of the Oron. If not for Matt, I would have been totally lost, with no idea where Ben and the others had gone. He had either seen where they went or had some way to track them, because he led with confidence until we stood just outside the remains of a large structure near the cliff edge. Despite missing walls and a sagging roof, it was high-end by local standards. Ocha sat cross-legged on the floor—Ben, Tee, and Ally arranged around him—with space for Matt and me to join the group. A second Oron stood behind Ocha, clutching an upright spear. I didn’t get the impression the Oron leader lived here. Rather, this seemed to be their official meeting place.
“You will sit,” Ocha said to Matt and I. His tone suggested his annoyance at our delay.
I popped a squat next to Tyler, with Matt between me and Ben. Ally was on Ben’s left side. Shaq had also emerged from his hiding place and was currently curled around Ben’s neck like a scarf. “My apologies,” I said to Ocha, more to try out the weird translation than anything. My mind thought in English. My ears heard English. How could we be speaking another language?
“I need no apology. Instead, let us make haste. Because I too once needed help and help was granted to me, so I have agreed to help you. But I do not want you here, both for your sake and for the sake of the Oron.”
“I understand,” Ben said. “And again, we thank you for your willingness to render aid. The Warden—“
“The Warden,” Ocha repeated before Ben could finish the question. “Once, the Oron were strong. An entire world, we called our own. Many starships, we possessed. But from the dawn of our age until its darkest night, the Warden was, and is, and always will be.”
“You’re saying the Warden is immortal?” Ben asked.
“And more. Before the Oron was the Warden. Before Warexia was the Warden. There is no Warexia without the Warden.”
“You’re saying the Warden is a god,” Tyler said.
“And more,” Ocha again said. “Yet the Warden asks for no sacrifices. The Warden requires no followers. The Warden makes no rules. Yet the Warden’s eyes are everywhere. The Warden’s hands are on everything. The Warden shapes us. The Warden guides us. The Warden torments us. The Warden destroys us.” Ocha trailed off, eyes downcast. “None desire to become servants of the Warden. It is a fate worse than destruction.”
“Because things weren’t bad enough already, right?” Alyssa said. “We’re not even supposed to be here.”
“What happened to you?” Ben asked, ignoring Ally’s complaint. Right now, we needed data. There would be time to process it all later. “What happened to the Oron?”
“All begins and ends with the Warden,” Ocha replied. “The Oron, nearly extinct from the Warden. A civil war. Oron against Oron. Violence. Famine. Death. The Warden commands it. The servants obey. Until the servants do not obey. Until the servants weep. Hidden, until they are forgotten by the Warden. Few are we. Escape. Beg for help. A new home. Goldhaven, already destroyed by the Warden. Goldhaven, where little remains. Goldhaven, forgotten by the Warden.”
I swallowed hard in response to his tale, fear pricking my skin like knives as I remembered to exhale. “How long have you been here?” I asked breathlessly.
“No more are the servants. The free Oron only remain. The Warden forgets, but the Warden does not forgive. Difficult is our life in the baking star and the dwindling water. Forever, we cannot remain here. But also, we cannot leave. Only the Ora Kai may set us free. He who makes Order from Chaos. We shall not live to see it.”
Ocha lowered his head, his posture heavy with sadness.
“So there’s no way to get the Warden off our asses?” Tyler said. “Just freaking great. What about a way to get back to Earth? Do you know anything about that?”
