Savros woke to Shin's voice in his quarters, "Savros, we have arrived at The Center. The Galactic Service may have an update into their investigation. Polly has asked if you are up to going or if you would like her to get the information on your behalf?"
He wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but, to his surprise, moving didn't hurt as bad as he'd expected. He sat on the edge of his bed, testing his arms and legs. Sore muscles, but nothing like before. He stood slowly. As he straightened his body, a wave of vertigo ran through him, but he remained upright, even if off balance.
"Thanks, Shin. I think I'll try to go myself. I need to move around a little, anyway." His voice was almost back to normal as he moved slowly toward the door.
For only being exposed for a few seconds, the toll it took was surprising. He stopped on the way to the door and looked in the small mirror on his desk. Two bloodshot eyes peered back at him wearily. He actually looking forward to the long, hopefully quiet, trip through Dead Space. Plenty of time to sleep.
"The others are on the bridge, working on the repairs. How do you feel?" Shin asked.
"Like I got hit by a terrapod. But considering, I guess pretty good."
"Your vitals and life signs are all strong. Looks like it's just a matter of recovering."
"Yeah, hope that doesn't take too long. Thanks Shin." He walked to the door, moving slowly but not limping or falling.
Savros left his quarters, turning right toward the bridge. Polly and Jaen, as usual, were busy at the screens. They both turned to greet him as he entered the bridge.
"You're lucky to be alive after that stunt at the Throne. But then again, I guess we all are. And we wouldn't be here if you hadn't acted when you did. Still, though, it was incredibly reckless." Jaen had come to stand right in front of Savros as she spoke. She didn't look happy as she reached out, putting a hand on either side of his shoulders. Her expression changed from a frown to a smile as she pulled him close and hugged him tightly. Sending pain shooting through his body.
"I'm glad you're okay." Jaen gave him another squeeze before letting him go.
"Yeah, you didn't look very good. Shin said your vitals were stable, but you looked like you were dead." Polly punched his arm. He cried out in pain, and she winced. "Oh shit, sorry, Savarino. I'll go with you to check on the investigation. Le'Ander should be able to update us."
"Thanks, you guys. I'm feeling better and I'm glad we're all safe. I really thought we were done for." He looked back and forth between their two faces, grateful they were all still there.
"I think we all did. It feels like we prolly shoulda died. But we didn't, thanks to the wild stunt you pulled." Polly smiled as she gave him a hug before turning back to Jaen.
"You got this?"
"Yeah, I'll be finished up by the time you get back."
Polly smiled and winked at Jaen, then turned back to Savros, "Come on, let's go see what the Service turned up." They popped off the KaiStar and into the hangar bay. Savros was managing fairly well on his own, but Polly stayed close to his side in case he teetered on the way to Le'Ander's desk. They made the short walk to the bay doors. Exiting, they made a left and headed to Le'Ander's desk at the end of the corridor.
As they approached, Le'Ander greeted them in his usual, professional manner before bowing and asking, "How may I be of service to the valiant crew of the KaiStar?"
Savros leaned slightly on the edge of Le'Ander's desk, steadying himself, while he caught his breath. "We had heard the Galactic Service may have found something when investigate my parents' murders. Have you heard anything or can you show us?" He asked.
Le'Ander's eyes lit up in recognition, "Yes, yes!", He deftly maneuvered around Savros as he rolled around his desk. Flipping the screen to face them, he said, "So they've managed to determine that the suspects acted to prevent an ancient prophecy from coming to be. They believed that by ki—, "Le'Ander stopped himself, appearing to search for the right words.
"It's okay, we know that already. Did they find my uncle? Do they know where he is? If he's okay?" In his heart, he was desperately hoping his uncle was here at the Center.
"I'm afraid not, no sign of him. I'm sorry, I wish it were better news." Le'Ander looked truly disappointed. "Oh, but there is this footage just uploaded by Captain Iskatel. I believe it is a video of the leader of the group that was responsible:"
"Tawkwa." The three of them all said at once.
Savros leaned forward to look at the man's face for the first time. He saw nothing special. A small man in that familiar and sickening cloak of black and green flailed his arms as he went on a tirade that they couldn't hear. It looked as though he would beat the other, thinner guy to death just by waving his arms around wildly. After a few seconds, the audio cut in, and immediate recognition flooded Savros and Polly.
That screeching, whining voice. It was him, all right. Savros stared at the screen as the man went on and on, unable to make out any of the individual words. Except "Sel'pen," whatever that was, the rest was just screeching.
"We should have killed that bastard when he had the chance." Polly said.
"I was just thinking the same thing." Savros looked at her, "Oh well, let the Galactic Service deal with him now. We've got more important things to worry about." Turning back to Le'Ander, he said, "It's nice to know the Center is doing something. Thanks, Le'Ander."
He gave a wave and a nod before he started limping back to the hangar door, Polly at his side.
As they crossed the hangar floor, Polly suddenly slapped Savros on the chest, nearly sending him flying backward.
"Shit, sorry." She said, grabbing him and hauling him back upright before he hit the floor. "I almost forgot. I gotta run by and see an old friend of mine. Be back in a few. You okay from here?"
Savros just smiled and winked at her as he hit the teleporter button. With a pop, he was back aboard KaiStar as Polly ran off to meet up with an old friend.
Grabbing a rat-pac from the galley, Savros made his way back to his seat on the bridge and plopped into. His body was hurting way less now, and breathing had become less of a chore as well.
"Hey Shin, how's everything going?" He asked, leaning back in his seat and devouring the strip of meat and the weird stick of something.
"We're about ready to depart. We're charge and refueled. Shielding and generators have been repaired. Jaen is on the maintenance deck performing a visual inspection with the Galactic Service. They should clear us to depart when she returns."
"Damn." Savros laughed at himself, realizing Polly's word choices were rubbing off on him. "How long have we been here?"
"It's approaching three hours." Shin said. "You needed the rest. You need more rest, so just take it easy for now. It'll be a long trip through Dead Space. I'll prepare a meal this evening as soon as we depart."
"That would be awesome, I'm starvin' and this," he waved the rat-pac in the air, "isn't cutting it." He set it down on the console.
"Hey Shin, how do you keep yourself entertained, just being here all the time?"
"Between Jaen, Polly and yourself, I am plenty entertained." Shin chuckled, amused. "And managing KaiStar's functions and operations keeps me preoccupied a lot of the time. Plus, that's my job aboard the ship and I take great pride in my work."
"Well, you definitely saved our butts a few times already, but don't you ever wanna get out of the KaiStar? Take a walk, or be able to mingle with new people?" Savros was trying but couldn't understand how Shin didn't go crazy cooped up in the ship all the time.
"I suppose that sounds engaging. However, I believe my situation evokes sympathy from you because of your frame of reference. Let me ask you this, do you wish you could protect all of us from harm? Gather us together safe and hold a shield around us? Do you wish you could grab your friends and just fly them across the galaxies?" Shin was quiet for a second, hoping his point was sinking in.
"I do! But I can't, I have to do the best I can with what I have, which right now, is you guys." Savros found himself regretting that he couldn't do more.
"The abilities this vessel, KaiStar, lends me are extreme and rare, well worth the price. I've never considered not being in KaiStar. But someday, when everything's calm and peaceful, after KaiStar is retired, I may just take that walk."
"Couldn't you just—"
Polly popped onto the bridge carrying the small containers, just in time to hear Shin's last sentence, "Oh, Great! You're looking better by the minute. I'm starved," Polly said, eying Savros' rat-pac hungrily.
"There's another meat stick and another," he paused, looking into the package, "not-meat stick, in here." He handed it to her. She dropped the packages she was carrying into her seat and took the rat-pac from him.
"Thanks, Savy!" She smiled and plopped into Jaen's seat and put her boots on her own chair next to the parcels she had been carrying.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
"What're those?" he asked.
"Mmm! Check this out!" she said, through both of the sticks in her mouth. Swallowing her food, she picked one up and turned it over. It barely fit into the largest pocket on her belt, but she got it in there. Pressing the button on it, a blanket of light on a dark, red hue appeared, surrounding her from head to toe.
Stunned, Savros watched, but he didn't understand what he was seeing.
"Whoa! Is it a force field?" he asked her.
She giggled a little, "Kinda. It's a holo-suit, a holographic space suit. It maintains an atmosphere around your body. Gas balancing, including oxygen generation, as well as the suit itself are all in here." She picked one up and handed it to him.
"A friend of mine from childhood developed it. It doesn't protect your body from objects or impacts, but it does keep a pocket of air around you and shields a lot of radiation."
He turned it over in his hands. It was heavier than it looked. A grill and a button on one end of an otherwise unremarkable container. He had always been in awe of the fact that thing's that were powerful or important were usually small.
He looked at the Kalibal in its temporary resting place in the console. It looked right at home among the open panels, tucked in with the various parts and pieces of tek. Probably the most powerful thing in the universe, harmlessly sitting there.
Turning his attention back to the holo-suit, he found a pocket on his left hip and accidentally pressed the button, trying to push it into the pocket. Polly laughed as he jumped when a red haze suddenly appeared right in front of him. He pushed it all the way into his pocket and looked around the bridge. The red hue tinted his entire field of vision. He laughed before changing his voice to a robotic tone.
"I need your gear, your goggles, and your terrapod." He took a jerky, mechanical step forward.
Polly laughed too, "Right!" She bent her elbows to right angles and made robotic sound effects as she moved her arms, hands, and head.
"Are you two okay?" Jaen asked with mock skepticism, standing in the doorway to the bridge.
Polly looked over at her, "Perfectly KO, Derf," she said in a thin electronic voice before giggling. She and Savros deactivated their holo-suits.
"How we looking?" Polly asked her, tossing her a holo-suit.
Jaen caught it, and instead of shoving it in a pocket, clipped it to her belt. "Everything looks good. Shin, any issues on your end?"
"I rerouted the secondary drives back through their primary circuits. I am good-to-go."
"Okay, everyone else 'good-to-go'?" She asked, looking back at them.
"Aye!" Savros and Polly said at the same time.
"At your leisure, my dear Shin." Jaen spun in her chair to face the others. "What do you say? After this, we head back over to Idyll Quies, take them up on that three-night offer."
"Oh, hells yeah! It's not my scene, but after everything we've been through, it's sounding a lot better." Polly had taken her seat.
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind relaxing for a while, either. Lying around in the sun." He could almost feel the ocean air on his face as he wiggled his toes in the sand.
"Taking us out." KaiStar lifted off the deck of the hangar bay as Shin glided the ship out into open space. "Since our destination is far beyond charted space, we'll jump to the edge of living space. Once there, I'll fine tune the coordinates. We will have to make multiple jumps. I've worked out the best route I could find heading in that direction. To be safe, we should only jump in sets of three. I believe after the first jump, I will be able to pick up the source of the wave on the scanners. If not, we'll have to jump again in the general direction until we can pinpoint a location. Even though we refer to it as 'Dead Space', it doesn't mean that nothing is alive out there. Or that there is no danger."
Savros sat forward, his daydream broken. It had suddenly dawned on him they were about to go farther than anyone had ever gone before. He was going to see something no one in all of Living Space had ever seen. He wondered if people had lived way out there. The Ol'Gud, maybe? Was their destination the original Ol'Gud world? A world densely packed with magic and beings- so in tune with it, they harnessed it by speaking. Even after all the eons, there must be something left of the magnificence of who and what they were.
Who knows, he thought, maybe so close to the source of energy they've been able to survive out there alone on their world. Maybe they were all worried about nothing, and maybe the Ol'Gud were still out there and had already sealed Gah'Tak back in his cell… he stopped himself. He knew it was wishful thinking, but flying into the unknown had him feeling like anything was possible.
"Jumping in three, two, one."
And just like that, they were off, heading to the very edge of Living Space. There was no visible boundary, no physical barrier. It was just an imaginary circle drawn around the Galactic Center of Knowledge. He'd always heard that it was double the distance of the farthest inhabited world from the Center, but that had always felt too arbitrary to Savros.
"What's at the edge of Living Space?" he asked.
"The distinction between Living Space and Dead Space serves two purposes. First, it marks the boundary of what the Galactic Center of Knowledge deems inhabitable space. It is approximately twice the distance from the Center as Dellyoid Fyoid; the farthest in a habited system from the Center. However, that is coincidental. Because, second, the actual boundary is determined by math and science."
"The further out we get from the Center, the less densely populated space is. At a certain point the solar systems, star clusters, gasses and debris and particles are so far spread out the direct lines of entanglement are severed. Objects stop participating in the affairs of their neighbors and simply exist."
"Rogue planets drifting aimlessly. Particle, dust and debris, spread too far and too thin to interact with even itself. In theory, one could travel far enough away that even the stars would fade from perception."
He knew Shin was trying to explain it as simply as he could, but he just couldn't picture it. Rather than continue the lesson with Shin, he decided to wait and see it for himself.
"So, if we jumped way too far out, we wouldn't be able to find our way back?"
"Yes, and no. I could use the diagnostics and telemetry to chart a course back the way we came. I believe I could get us back to Living Space from nearly anywhere. Fuel would be our downfall. One jump too far and we could be stranded out there, out of reach."
"Right, so still dangerous, and if we aren't careful we'll die in Dead Space." He was leaning forward to stand.
"Yes, but as long as we are all careful and watch each other's backs, we'll be fine. We'll do what we need to do and get out of there as fast as we can." Jaen looked at Polly, who nodded, and then at Savros, and added, "and no hopping off the KaiStar into open vacuum this time."
He smiled at her through the slight pain as he stood up, "No worries!" he patted the holo-suit in his pocket, "This time, we're ready for anything."
Savros stretched in different positions, testing the muscles and the amount of pain he was feeling. It really wasn't bad anymore. He felt like after another nap, he'd probably be back to normal.
"So, without those assholes ambushing us at every turn, it kinda takes the thrill out of it." Polly was gazing at the screens as she spoke. When the only response she heard was silence, she looked over to see Jaen and Savros staring at her in disbelief.
"You want someone to attack us?" Savros asked.
"Oh, no!" Polly laughed. "I just meant for the last few trips. We've been on edge, looking over our shoulders, waiting for it. And now, the threat is basically gone, but I'm still in 'ready mode', amped up and ready for battle." She said, punching the air in front of her.
"It does feel like we should be at the pods, getting the twins ready. But with Tawkwa detained, there's no one left to come after us, right? And at this point, why would they? We're already taking the Kalibal back to the first world." Savros felt it too. It was hard to relax after being on edge for so long.
"We've all been on edge too long. I think after we eat and get some rest, we'll all be feeling a lot better. Food and sleep fixes everything." Jaen said, looking back at the screens. She asked, "Is dinner ready?"
"It needs a few more minutes. I timed it to be ready at the start of our first jump into Dead Space. We'll be arriving shortly, with just enough time to calculate our jump before mealtime."
They were all a mix of excited and nervous. The energy filled the bridge as they waited the last few moments before landing their first jump.
"Arriving in three, two, one." Shin was only quiet for a second, "Engaging drive. Plotting course to point at edge of scanner's range. Course accepted." Shin was quiet for a few more seconds.
"I'm picking up a distress signal. It's coming from the edge of a nearby asteroid field. It could be a Galactic Scout or miner in trouble. It's very nearby. Should we investigate further or leave them to their fate?"
"Of course, there is." Polly said, looking at Jaen.
"Dammit.' She groaned, "Well, let's fly by. If it looks sketchy, we'll just jump and be gone."
"Setting fly-by course. Coming within depth-scanner range. It appears to be a scout ship. Approaching asteroid field."
"Incoming!" The KaiStar shook as a strong force collided with the hull.
"Was that an asteroid? What happened?" Polly scanned the screens.
"Enemy ship!" She and Shin said at the same time.
She bolted toward the hatch outside the bridge door. Savros was right behind her, only slightly slowed by his condition.
"Shin!" He could hear Jaen as he dropped down the hatch.
"Direct impact to drives. We're immobilized until I can reset the systems." Savros could barely hear the bridge from the gunner-pod until Shin patched everything through the intercom.
"We're being hailed, putting them through."
Savros' eyes remained on his gunner screen as he drew his gun just behind Polly's. He could see asteroids of varying sizes, and there was the ship that was sending out the signal, but so far, he hadn't seen an active ship anywhere. He saw a slight glitch in the corner of the screen for a split second. Turning his seat to face that direction, he saw it again. A ship hiding behind an asteroid.
The asteroids must be very dense to block out all signs of the ship, but now, at least, he knew where it was. He stayed focused on that asteroid.
"We've taken out your engines." The first words they had heard from the other ship told them all two things. First, whoever it is, they aren't alone, and second, they believe they have disabled KaiStar.
The speaker continued, "We have you surrounded and are prepared to open fire. Stand down and prepare to be boarded or we will open fire."
"Who the hell are you?" was the response from all three of them.
"I am Captain Reganini Gaoword of the pirate ship R1-9c. Follow my orders exactly."
"WHAT! No, wait, wait, wait. You're pirates?"
"Yes."
"What the fuck kind of bullshit is this?" Polly's voice had a hard edge to it.
"We will—."
Polly cut him off, "Fake ass pirates, hiding behind rocks, doesn't have a pirate name, doesn't even name his ship," though everyone could hear her, she had pretty much been talking to herself, "And what kind of pirate talks like that? Don't you know anything at all? And what are you hiding from? If you're gonna threaten someone, at least have the balls to do it face to face."
"I have the drives back online, course set, ready to go." Shin told the crew without broadcasting to the hidden pirate ship.
Polly winked at Savros as she said, "Okay, let me finish up." Then back to the pirate ship, "Well, Captain, uh, Coward, was it? Sounds about right. You're lucky I don't have time to teach you how to be a real pirate before I blast you out of space. Don't ever let me catch you around here again."
Shin engaged the jump-drive, just as Polly finished her threat, and just as six vessels appeared from behind various asteroids before stretching and disappearing as KaiStar jumped.
"Can you believe that guy!" Polly was already standing in the corridor, "We are way better pirates than that guy. Can you believe he uses the model number of his ship for his ship's name!" Polly laughed out loud.
"Come on, let's go eat!" She helped him up, even though he was barely feeling any pain anymore.
"Didn't you see the other ships?" he asked her as they headed for the hatch.
She paused and looked at him. "No, I am amped up. I just popped up out of the seat as we left. You saw more ships? How many?"
"Six. I think." He thought he'd seen three in front and three behind them hiding among the asteroids.
"There were six pirate ships and their bait ship. We could only see them because of the distortion caused when we jump." Shin explained.
"Did you have to insult him like that?" Jaen asked Polly as they entered the bridge.
"What? They attacked us Jae! Then they hid. And come on, you heard how he was talking. That's not how pirates are supposed to talk. Worst pirate ever!"
Jaen rolled her eyes, "Not everything is like it is in the stories, Poll."
"Gar, what ye say be true. Still, it be the canons, on next we meet." Polly's pirate personality was intent on having it out with the pirate impostor.
"Very well." Jaen laughed with Polly and Savros as they entered the galley.