Pan crawled through Brynn and bounded out of the sleeping area. She ran to the cockpit and found the tug’s tow controls. She turned a wheel and aimed the rear tow cable down. Pan pressed the button, and the tow cable shot for the ground. By the sensor’s accounts, the cable hit solid rock and stuck fast. The tug stopped moving skyward.
Pan repeated the action with the foreward cable. It hit solid rock as well.
Pan whirled around and found Irini, Aria, and Brynn waiting in the cockpit. Irini looked terrified. Her tight curls stuck in all directions. Aria’s loser curls looked mussed. Her face held a whole lot of resignation. Brynn floated in shadow.
“Aria.” Pan waved her forward. “Do you feel comfortable using the ship.”
Aria snapped fully awake. “I can’t fly this ship, Pan. I have no idea how to fly, and I can’t see out the windshield.” Aria gestured to the tug’s forward view.
Pan shook her head. “You don’t have to fly. Just work the com controls. Can you do that?”
Aria looked at the controls. Her eyes found the com. “I can see them. They have a very thin aura. I guess you don’t do a lot of talking.” Aria put her hand on the controls. “What did you have in mind?”
“Call Alban. Talk to him.”
“And, tell him what?” Aria’s hand hovered over the com.
Pan held up a hand. “Just wait a moment.”
She turned to Irini and telekinetically scooped up a copy of the paper schematic. She sent it into Irini’s arms. The schematic showed the tug’s engine. Pan had set one out for Brynn to study, but she didn’t know if the thing had rolled away in the commotion. The first copy could be anywhere in the bowels of the tug’s engine.
“That’s the schematic. Take it,” Pan ordered. “And take Brynn downstairs. I want you two to fix the ship.”
“What?” Irini looked side to side.
Aria grabbed Pan’s arm. “Irini can’t see Brynn. She can’t communicate with her. Pan, have you lost your mind? We should surrender.”
Pan held up a finger. “No, no surrender.” She ran to the cupboard and found a small glass. “Irini can play spirit board with Brynn.” Pan handed the glass to Irini.
Irini hugged the schematic to her chest and took the glass. She looked pleadingly at Aria.
Aria shot her a sympathetic look. “It’s a creative idea, but Pan, we should just let Alban catch us.”
Pan squared off against Aria. “You say one thing. I’m going to do another.”
Aria sighed. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to fight back.” Pan looked at Brynn. “Go with Irini, and if you do anything to scare or harm her, I’m going to be the worst thing in your afterlife – once I get to mine that is.”
Brynn smiled. “I have no doubt you’ll be a better ghost than I.” Brynn held up a hand as if to swear. “I won’t harm her. We’ll get the ship up and running, if that’s even possible with a makeshift spirit board.”
Pan looked at Irini. “She’s going to play nice. Start by using your power to relocate the right places for the parts. Then use the schematic and Brynn’s guidance to figure out how to install it. You can do it. You’re arcane.”
Irini nodded and began the climb.
“Nice pep talk,” Aria congratulated. “Now, what can I say to change your mind?”
“Nothing.”
As Irini climbed down the ladder, she clung to the rungs. The manual shivered in her arms, and the glass sat precariously in a pocket. To Irini’s surprise, she made it all the way down, with everything intact. The lights activated, and Irini jumped. She realized Pan had just turned them on.
She could hear faint voices above: Pan and Aria. The ship creaked as it held itself fast, straining against the warship’s tractor.
I guess I better get to work.
“Okay,” Irini said into the pipe filled space. “I’m going to conjure a golden thread, so I can find the place for…” Irini looked at the cart. She chose the spherical part, with pipes protruding in all directions. She tapped it with her toe. “This part.”
Irini closed her eyes and thought of the part. She struggled not to think of the ghost, but she was alone in the ship’s engine with her.
She doesn’t give a damn about me. That’s what Pan says.
Irini took a deep breath and focused on the part. She imagined a damaged version of the same piece. Then, she told her thread to find her the perfect place for the part she had beside her. When she opened her eyes, she saw the string of glittering gold. It wound around a single finger and headed among the pipes, glinting in the darkness.
In their earlier efforts to repair the tug, they’d never located the sphere. Three women, two alive and one dead, could barely read the schematic and find their way through the tug’s engine. Before they gave up, Irini had found one broken part with her thread, but they’d all been at a loss as to what to do with it. Maybe, Brynn knew now.
Irini plopped all her things in a wagon. She didn’t know how she’d get it through the maze of pipes, but she needed some way to carry the part, the schematic, and the glass. Her arms weren’t an option.
I’m gonna need another shower. Irini groaned. She fingered her curls and wondered if she could just skip washing them. Under ideal circumstances, Irini wouldn’t wash her hair once a day, let alone twice. And, she hated the thought of being naked with Brynn the Reaper’s ghost aboard. Irini just couldn’t relax. Even her sleep had been fitful.
The wagon sailed under pipes while Irini stepped over them. She followed the thread and turned and twisted her way through the maze. Suddenly, she felt a tug on her arm. The wagon stopped and bumped a low set pipe.
“Oh, Mother Tree. Now, I’ve gotta pull it over.” Irini bent to pick up the wagon.
The wagon picked itself up and wobbled over the pipe. Irini froze. As the wagon plopped down on the other side, Irini searched the space. She almost switched the location of her thread but managed to keep her focus.
“Thanks,” she said.
Irini hurried to the location. She found the thread twined around the damaged part. It circled the sphere and zigzagged between the pipes. Irini got the urge to cut it off. Sometimes, she forgot that she could just dismiss the thread or ignore it.
“Okay, I’ll take this out first.” Irini reached for the old part and paused. “No, wait. I think, first, I have to open the schematic. I don’t know how to get this part out.”
Irini grabbed the paper and splayed it on the deck, just under a pipe.
Underneath her feet, the ship strained. It held itself against the ground, but the warship urged it upwards. The tug creaked and groaned.
“Better hurry.” She pulled the glass from the wagon and laid it on the picture.
Briefly, she wondered if she needed to touch it at all. The ghost had lifted the wagon with no help. She should be able to move a glass. But, the glass stayed still. Irini placed a single, shaky finger atop the overturned cup.
To Irini’s horror, the glass moved immediately and began to make a circling motion over one of the indicated connections. Irini took a tool from the side of the wagon. It snapped out of place with a hiss of velcro. The ghost wanted her to disconnect that connection first.
Irini took a deep breath.
I can do this. I’m arcane.
As Pan disappeared up a hatch in the tug’s roof, Aria forewent any time to prepare herself and hit the com.
“Reaper Tug to Scaldin navy vessel. This is Aria Adesso of Sched. May I speak to whoever is in command of the ship?” Aria waited.
Pan insisted that Alban would be in command. Aria hoped not. He harbored a real disdain for Aria and Sotir. Aria felt thankful she hadn’t encountered him these past two years.
She jumped as the com returned a voice.
“This is Commander Alban Hohl of Zograf. What are you doing on the so-called Reaper Tug? You better have a good story.”
Inwardly, Aria sighed. It had to be Alban.
She hit the com. “I was training Irini Feld of Molvin. She’s a new arcane, thirteen years old. She sees golden threads. I was helping her discover how to use her power in space. We got to know each other and talked about my old friend, Pan. The thread led us to her. I guess we should have been more careful.” Aria sounded innocent, but she didn’t feel it. She removed her hand from the com, satisfied with her performance.
“And, you just got aboard?” Alban accused.
“Well, no. Pan came aboard our ship first. Then…”
Alban filled in the rest of the story. “She took you prisoner.”
Yes, actually.
“How are you speaking to me now?” Alban asked. “Where is Pan?”
“Pan is a very relaxed prison warden. She lets Irini and I have full access to her ship. Actually, I’m not convinced she’s an evil reaper after all. She hasn’t done anything to harm us.” Aria searched for more words to prove Pan’s innocence. She needed something concrete.
Stressing each word, Alban said, “Where is Pan now?”
“Not here. She went above.”
“Outside her ship?”
“Yes, you have it right. I’m not sure what she’s up to, but we’ve spoken. She’s expressed to me that she doesn’t want to return with you, but she might be willing to return with me.” Again, Aria removed her finger from the com. She wished she could read Alban’s aura, but she’d have to settle for reading his voice.
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“That’s a no. Sorry, but I don’t find you very trustworthy. I don’t think you’re as innocent as you seem, Aura Reader.” Alban sounded angry.
Aria hit the com. “Maybe, I’m not. But, I have a clearer view of the situation than you. I’m an aura reader, and I know a truthful aura when I see one. That’s Pan’s. I take great pride in my job, and you should know that.” Aria snapped the button off.
“I’ll offer you a meeting on neutral ground, but I’m not letting you help the Reaper escape again. We make a deal, or I’m capturing this ship.” Alban sounded more reasonable.
Aria pressed the com. “I would gladly take your offer, but Pan won’t agree to a deal. If you try to capture her tug, she’ll get angry and scared and do something drastic. I’m working on earning her trust, and you are not helping.” Aria had never spoken to a vessel’s commander this way. She wondered how it might affect her reputation.
“I…” Alban’s voice cut off.
Aria heard a rock graze the tug’s exterior. She sighed. Somehow, she knew that rock headed up towards Alban’s ship. Pan had found a way to fight back.
Pan threw open the hatch and used her telekinesis to keep from being sucked into the warship’s tractor. Her hair danced in the beam and stood up on her head in lazy curves.
For a moment, Pan imagined herself a grazer in a field, ready to be sucked up into a mysterious alien ship, the event foretold by sinister crop circles.
Even though the tug possessed a rooftop walk, Pan stayed in the shelter of the hatch. She could see her surroundings just fine.
First, she looked up at the beam. Nearly invisible, Pan could just see a lavender tinge in the sky. She also saw dust on an upward journey.
All dust bunnies go to heaven, Pan mused as the sparkling particles drifted up and up.
Pan needed to get rid of that beam first. It held their ship. The simplest fix would be a portal. She could send the beam somewhere else.
She began to draw her portal and searched the area for a new location. She would move the tractor away from the tug, but she also wanted to keep the scow safe. Pan searched for the garbage scow. The garbage scow was gone! Pan growled. Alban already had it.
Pan drew her portal. The warship’s beam relinquished the tug and came out above the abandoned factory. Little bits of debris leapt to meet Alban’s ship, and larger structures began to decay.
The tug lurched, beginning its descent. Pan caught it and held it aloft. With telekinetic care, she lowered the tug to the ground and just managed to set the tug on its wide feet.
Safe on the ground, with the factory sending up bits and pieces, Pan smiled and surveyed the land. She searched for more to do and found it on the edge of the factory.
Pan reached for some lose girders and slowly the girders responded. They groaned, tore from the factory walls, and sped towards Pan.
Suddenly, the tractor cut and reappeared above her ship from a slightly different angle. The beam almost got the tug in the air, but the tug cables had retracted. It was an automatic mechanism that kept the tugship from getting too far from its charges. In this case, the cables kept them close to the ground.
Still, the tractor pulled on the tug, and Pan heard the cables groan.
Again, Pan held herself in place. Her hair answered Alban’s call, but the rest of her stayed put.
Pan smiled and sent her girders up into the beam. She sped their ascent. She couldn’t see where the ship’s beam ended and Alban’s vessel began, but he probably hovered somewhere in a low orbit. Pan kept her girders on a straight trajectory, until they went too far for her to move with telekinetic control.
Just before Pan let them go, the beam stopped.
This time the tug fell back onto its supports. It bounced a bit but stuck the landing. Pan hoped the ship hadn’t gained more damage.
She looked above. She thought she saw an object headed down. Pan’s eyes widened. One of her steel girders had returned. Pan pushed it to the side, late enough that she felt the wind from its descent.
The other girder never returned. She might have taken out one of their tractor projectors. Pan laughed.
Irini got the sphere in place. She tightened the final connection with a feeling of relish. The ship jolted. Irini tumbled into a net of pipes. As the ship bounced back to an upright position, Irini struggled to find her footing. Her hands grasped for pipes. Then, all went still.
Irini stood. “Are we...captured?” she asked.
The glass wobbled.
Irini bent and put her finger on the base. It moved in a zigzag pattern, back and forth.
No, not captured.
A circle would have meant yes. Irini and the ghost worked that out when they started the spooky repair job. Zigzags – No. Circles – Yes.
“Okay, next one.” Irini snatched up the glass and stuffed it in her pocket. She grabbed the schematic, wrinkling it beyond repair. Last, she scooped up the wagon, hefted it at her side, and hightailed her way through the pipes.
The wagon bumped everything, and close to the ladder, a pipe snatched it out of Irini’s hands. Irini paused only a moment. The wagon clattered to the floor, and Irini just left it. She could come back for the cumbersome thing.
She mumbled some of the only swear words she knew and vowed to learn more later. The Reaper could teach her. Pan probably knew lots of swears.
Irini pulled a curved cylinder into her arms and conjured her thread. If she remembered correctly, the cylinder should be near the ladder. She faced the engine room and almost cried for joy. The thread led to a place beside her wagon, not more than a few steps from her current location.
Irini skipped over. She laid the cylinder on the floor. She splayed the schematic, smoothed the worst crease, and placed the glass atop it. Irini bent to put her hand on the glass and thought she heard the slight hiss of breath. She worried the ghost reaper breathed in her ear, but she had to deal with it. She placed her finger, and the glass leapt to life.
“You’re making a terrible mistake,” Aria said. “Please, you’re both going to turn this into a rage-filled disaster.” Aria’s aura snaked for the com and reached into the speaker as if it could touch Alban from so far away.
“Rage? I’m not angry,” Alban answered.
Aria hadn’t expected him to answer so quickly, or at all. She must have struck a nerve. She wanted to see his aura. She’d bet a lot of vacation time that he glowed red.
“Don’t resist. Don’t help her.” The com went quiet.
“Commander Alban?” Aria asked. She pressed the com and tried again.
He’d gone.
Aria released the com. “So much for stalling him. I’m pretty sure that’s what Pan wanted.”
Now, they couldn’t avoid a fight.
Aria leaned close to the windshield. She tried to peer through and discovered that the tug’s windshield had only a thin aura. She could just see through. Pan must rarely touch it. Aria squinted. Pan rarely cleaned it too. Aria saw dirt, caked and brown around the edges. A thin dust covered the center. Aria’s expression twisted into one of disgust.
“Pan,” she said to no one in particular. “Ewww.”
Aria stared harder and ignored the dirt. She saw objects sail upwards. The factory looked a tad dismantled. Aria sighed. She couldn’t help Pan by watching. If only Sotir were present.
Aria’s eyes widened. But, he is!
Aria hit the com. “Sotir?”
A long moment passed.
“Yes?” Sotir answered.
“Can you stop Alban?”
“I’m afraid not. Aria, go find Pan. Just tackle her. Do something.”
Aria pressed her lips together. “Sotir…you tackle her.”
“I’m not there. I would have grabbed her before but…”
Aria huffed. “Exactly. It’s not easy advice to take. By the way, how long have you known you’d find Pan?”
Sotir’s sigh came through the com. “Certainly not before I left Scaldigir – if that’s what you’re implying.”
“It is…”
“Aria, if you don’t do something, the three of you are going to get hurt.”
Aria froze. “Tackle her?” Aria’s heart beat fast. “I’ll see what I can do.” She released the com.
Aria looked towards the hatch. She didn’t see Pan. She raced from the cockpit and found the ladder.
Pan’s aura trailed up, drooping over the rungs.
Pan puddles.
Aria looked up and saw a blaze of white.
Pan.
Aria began to climb.
Pan searched the horizon for more things to send to Alban’s ship. She’d destroyed the tractor, so she couldn’t follow the beam to the man’s vessel. She couldn’t see his ship in space, and she couldn’t predict his whereabouts. Maybe, sending debris his way wasn’t the best idea.
Time Message, she reminded herself.
Pan resisted. If she sent a time message, she’d have to redo some things. More than some. She’d lose memories. She’d lose time with Aria. She’d lose…a lot.
But this fight...I might not win. How far back do I need to go?
Pan could go back and choose a different rendezvous at which to meet Brynn. They could fly the garbage scow anywhere else. Of course, then Pan would have to find parts, and she only had the one stash. She’d also have to redo all her talks with Aria. She shuddered at the thought. No, she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t even guarantee that Alban wouldn’t find them in another place. He had Sotir after all.
What if we don’t try to fix the tug?
Alban would still find them, and Pan would have to abandon the tug. She’d wait longer to see if that needed to happen.
I could go back and reschedule my mischief. My tug would never get damaged. I could choose a different target...But, the message would have to be long and include Sotir, Aria, Alban, and Tingaran. If I do it right, I might never see Aria again.
Pan had no choice. She needed to win this fight. She needed a new idea.
They couldn’t run – not yet. They couldn’t fight back effectively. That left…
Pan looked to the factory and pulled sloppily. Parts flew off and careened towards the tug on telekinetic trajectories. As the items reached her, Pan slowed and moved them more precisely. Everything spun lazily.
Then, using the debris, Pan began to build. She pulled more and more into the structure as she created a kind of shield around the ship. She wanted to hide.
If she could make Alban think they remained under her debris shield, she could portal the ship away and hide it on the planet. Pan could keep moving the ship around the planet, while Irini, Brynn, and Aria fixed it. It would be like playing a game of chase, with a table between them and the Ischyros – the table being the planet itself.
You want me, Sotir. Work for it.
As she built, small ships screamed through the sky. They headed for the tug.
Pan huffed. She hadn’t really meant that.
With ships so close, they could see if she portaled away. Now, Pan had to add complexity to her game. She pulled more pieces from the factory and built more domes: one ahead, one behind, one left, and one right. On each dome, she left peep holes in the sides. She closed the tops, moments before the small ships arrived. Pan drew a portal beneath the tug and took them to one of the other domes.
“Oh my – Mother Tree, Pan. What are you doing?”
Pan found Aria inside the hatch with her. They stood face to face, but while Pan looked at Aria, Aria gazed at the metal casing around the ship.
“What is this?” Aria gestured above them.
Pan put a finger to her lips. “Shhhhh. We’re playing tug and cups. I have to listen.”
Irini screwed the last connection in place. The cylinder had been more difficult to install because Irini had to connect wires inside the pipes. The colored wires didn’t even match. Instead, Irini had to join unrelated colors, following the logic of a deranged engineer. The ghost guided her, and Irini did it.
“Alrighty, part three.”
Irini stopped, but instead of running for the third part, she listened. Everything was quiet. Irini touched the cup, and it moved to a letter at the schematic’s top. Irini couldn’t understand the word. It wasn’t Scaldin, but Irini knew the alphabet.
As the cup moved, Irini compiled letters.
She read: E-E-P O-R-I-N-G.
Apparently, the schematic didn’t have all the letters needed for the message. Or, they were too small to properly point to. Luckily, Irini had context.
“Keep being boring,” Irini announced. She smiled. She knew it wasn’t right.
The glass zigzagged.
“Keep worrying.”
The glass zigzagged harder.
“I’ll get back to work.” Irini got to her feet and ran for the third part. She wondered if she just gave Brynn a scare.
“Tug and cups?” Aria asked again.
Tackle her.
The shadows played over Pan’s face, making her look a little mad. Maybe, it wasn’t the shadow that gave Aria that impression.
Tackle her? Like hell I will.
Pan put a finger to her lips. “Shhhhh.”
Aria heard the whine of ships, and then, she heard the ships power down. They’d landed. She and Pan both strained to hear through their dome. Voices talked outside.
“This is insane,” Aria whispered.
Pan was ready to play. Lavender and thoughtful blue dominated her aura. “We’ll need to go back to the middle to move to any of the other domes. But that’s not the point.” She gestured to a peep hole on the dome’s side. “When I’m sure they’re not beside this cup, we’ll head that way.”
“How? They’re right there.”
“They’ve landed. They won’t have a good view anymore. We’ll go as far as I can reach.” Pan stared out the hole.
Aria did too. She saw an open field beyond, looking white and non-sentient.
Footsteps sounded from the other side of the cup.
“Here we go.” Pan looked out the hole, and her aura flashed white.
Suddenly, they were in the field. The ship touched gently to the ground.
“And again.” Pan drew another portal, and they lost sight of the ships.
Aria stared. “I can’t believe it.” She looked at Pan. “What do we do now?”
“Go below and check on Irini.”
Aria complied.
Pan stayed above. She needed to find somewhere to hide the ship. Maybe a cave. Pan sighted far off and got ready to move the ship again.
A beam of light shot out of the sky. It hit the ground ahead of the tug. The ship jolted, tottered, and began to fall. Pan fell down the ladder. She just managed to slow her descent, but she reached the deck hard.
Auras still glowed within the ship, but all of the ship’s running lights were off. Aria saw the whole scene through a haze of panic, swirling like a cloud above her head.
“Aria?” Pan whispered. “Aria?”
Aria looked for Pan and felt healing energy pour into her, warm and focused on her head. As Aria’s eyes fluttered, she saw her typical blurry view. Pan’s aura swirled with fear, panic, and sadness. Aria could barely see Pan’s worried features through the cloud.
“What is it, Pan?”
“I’m scared. I don’t want them to catch me.”
Them? Oh, right. Alban’s men. “I think it’s too late. We could have handled that better. Let me do all the talking this time.”
“Okay.” Pan’s aura swirled with reluctance. “I’m trusting you.”
With Aria drifting off to sleep, Pan wondered if she should pause her healing and send that time message.
“But, there would be nothing to change. Nothing I’m willing to lose.” Pan hung her head. She would let this failure stand.