Chapter XIII – Starbound Voyager

No sooner was Mu aboard than Ruyin wrapped her in a tight hug. Mu returned the gesture fervently. In that moment all the tension melted away. She didn’t even notice the others coming aboard, nor the closing of the craft’s door. She simply melted into that hug. And she felt a wave of overwhelming emotion, all the pent-up fear, and stress, and anxiety, all bubbling up and spilling over. The tears came liberally and she didn’t try to hold them back.

“My lady…” sniffled Ruyin, “You must stop. You’re making me cry too.”

Mu pulled back, still holding Ruyin in her arms, but looking the other woman in the face. “I’ve missed you so much,” she said. “I… I’ve been so alone… I…”

“It’s alright, my lady,” said Ruyin.

“How… how are you even here?” asked Mu, finally withdrawing her arms from around Ruyin.

“Bright Eyes thought it would be safest,” said Ruyin. “After… after you left, I was questioned so many times. They never hurt me, but the atmosphere at Court…”

Mu felt the guilt return. “I’m sorry…”

“No, my lady, you deserve your freedom. And now I’m free too,” said Ruyin, smiling.

Mu only now took a moment to take in her surroundings. They were on a middle-sized STOC with a stylishly-appointed interior. Tavian, Harry, Kal, Seraphina, and Mingxia were seated around the main cabin, all silent, all seemingly listening to her conversation with Ruyin, though when she herself glanced around the others all made an attempt to look elsewhere. All except Seraphina who continued to stare her way.

“How did this happen… who was that back there?” said Mu.

“Black Dragon,” said Ruyin, then, seemingly sensing Mu’s next question, added, “I don’t know his real name or anything else. I’ve never even seen his face. But he works for Bright Eyes and he is incredible… he was not at all bothered by the idea of going up against those Resonance Bureau agents.”

“Will he be okay?” asked Mu.

“This was Bright Eyes’ plan. He was confident Black Dragon would be okay,” said Ruyin.

How anyone could singlehandedly go up against those monsters, Mu did not know. All she knew is that she was grateful and relieved.

“Did… did you follow the agents here?” asked Mu. “I mean… Bright Eyes knew they were coming…”

“More or less,” said Ruyin.

“How did you know where to find us tonight?” asked Mu.

“Bright Eyes told us you would be at the Yamen.”

Was there anything he didn’t know?

“He knows a friend of yours,” said Ruyin.

“A friend?”

“Um, Apollo?”

Mu remembered Apollo had mentioned Bright Eyes when they’d first met. She’d been meaning to ask the Captain about that, but in the brief time she’d been on board the Amrita, the opportunity had never arisen. Now she was determined to find out more.

Kal apparently could no longer keep up the façade of not listening in. He was still wearing his armour, but the helmet was lowered to show his face. “Have you spoken to the Captain?” he asked.

Ruyin turned his way. “We met with him and Madame Ostara before coming to the surface.”

“Customs agents were going to board them...”

Ruyin smiled. “Oh, that’s all sorted.”

Nova shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t know what to say, they just backed off… maybe the Captain or Ostara knows more.”

Kal looked over at Ostara. They were all gathered once again in the common room aboard the Amrita – this time joined by Mingxia and Ruyin.

Ostara smiled, “Orders from up high.”

“From where?” asked Mu.

“From what I overheard – the Bureau of Celestial Foresight,” said Ostara.

Tavian had heard of the Bureau of Celestial Foresight, but as far as he knew it mainly existed to advise the Emperor and the Grand Council.

“What’ve they got to do with anything?” asked Tavian. “The Princess might be able to correct me here, but they don’t usually do… law and order type stuff, right?”

“Not usually,” said Mu. As Tavian watched her, she looked over at Apollo, seemingly trying to make eye contact. Instead, Apollo just raised a paw and licked it, avoiding her gaze.

The Captain had something to do with it for sure, thought Tavian. She knows it.

“Well,” said Ostara with a shrug and a smile, “It worked out for us. The why of it all is immaterial, really.”

“So, what now?” asked Tavian. “Customs have backed off, but do we know that those agents aren’t going to keep pursuing us?”

“Black Dragon was handling them,” said Mu.

“Black Dragon? I mean, don’t get me wrong, he looked tough… but we saw what they could do, and there was two of them,” said Tavian.

“I doubt even Black Dragon will manage to kill them,” said Ruyin, “But they won’t be able to kill him either. And their encounter with him will give them pause to consider their next moves.”

“Besides, the Bureau of Celestial Foresight works closely with the Grand Council. If they were pulling back Customs, then there’s every chance the agents will be withdrawn too,” said Ostara.

“I hope you’re right,” said Mu, and Tavian could tell other thoughts were playing on her mind.

“Well,” said Harry, “We may not know what this Bureau or that Ministry or whatever is doing, but I wouldn’t mind an explanation about this whole situation,” he said, indicating Mu and Ruyin with two fingers.

“I am Princess Mukushen’s lady-in-waiting,” said Ruyin.

“You were,” Mu corrected. “You can be whoever you want to be now.”

“M’lady is very kind,” said Ruyin.

“You’ve helped me more than enough,” said Mu. “I never would have escaped without your help. Both back on Aixingo and here. I am forever in your debt.”

Ruyin shook her head. “I was only doing my duty. And… Mr Bright Eyes did all the important things. I just followed his instructions.”

“So, I’ve heard that name a few times,” said Tavian. “Who is this Bright Eyes?”

Mu went to speak, but Ruyin spoke first. “He is a friend of the Princess. It is best that as few people as possible know any more than that.”

Mu nodded in agreement. “Exactly.”

“Alright, keep your secrets,” said Tavian. “He gonna send a rescue squad every time we’re in a pickle?”

“What’s this ‘we’ you’re talking about?” asked Mu.

“Honestly, I don’t know. It just slipped out,” said Tavian. “What now then?”

“With some good fortune, we will depart shortly,” said Ostara.

“The sooner the better,” murmured Kal. “We were just about done for down there.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” said Nova. “You held your own against a Resonance Bureau Enforcement Agent. I think that pretty much proves that the armour’s even better than we could have hoped.”

“He would have killed me eventually if that other guy hadn’t turned up,” said Kal.

“Maybe, maybe not,” said Nova, brightly. “I have faith in you, Big Guy.”

“Whatever may have happened, what did happen is that everyone got out safely,” said Ostara.

“Barely,” said Mu, “Are you alright, Seraphina? You fought harder than any of us.”

“I’ll live,” said Seraphina. Although he couldn’t be sure – because she seemed to permanently wear the same expression – something gave Tavian the impression she was downcast.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

She looked at him with her eerie red eyes. “We all got out. Everything is fine.”

“It’s your hat, isn’t it?” said Harry. “You lost your hat?”

Seraphina looked slowly at him, pausing before speaking. “I’ve always had that hat…”

“Never fear,” said Harry. “I’ll make you a new one!”

He could have been imagining it, but for the briefest of moments Tavian could have sworn he saw a smile flicker across the witch’s pale visage.

Suddenly Nova made a loud exclamation. Tavian – along with everyone else – looked her way. She was holding her tablet aloft.

“Yes?” said Ostara.

“The good news just keeps coming,” said Nova. “We’re cleared to depart.”

“Ahhh!” exclaimed Tavian. “I thought we’d never get away from this place.”

He could see Mu just holding a hand to her mouth and gazing at the ceiling, though Tavian could see the relief in her expression. It had been an intense, rough few days.

“This calls for bubbles!” announced Harry.

“Perhaps, Mr Zhang, we can wait until we’ve safely engaged the Jump Drive,” said Apollo.

“I think that would be best,” agreed Ostara.

“Okay, okay,” said Harry, “But once we’re underway you’re all coming to my bar. No excuses.”

Something occurred to Tavian in that instant that he hadn’t thought about, amongst all the chaos. “Out of curiosity, Captain, did you have a destination in mind after Shangxia?”

“Yarkan,” replied Apollo.

“Never heard of it,” said Tavian. “But that’s fine. I’m all for discovering new places.”

“Then you’re going to like it here,” said Nova.

“Maybe,” said Tavian quietly.

Ruyin cleared her throat. “Then I best be leaving.”

“You’re leaving?” asked Mu, in a shocked tone.

“I need to meet back up with Black Dragon. Bright Eyes has further plans,” said Ruyin.

Mu looked deflated. “I… I understand,” she said.

“But don’t fear, m’lady, we’ll meet again. Now that I’m away from the Court, it will be much easier to stay in contact.”

“I guess,” said Mu.

“And Bright Eyes also told me to deliver a message,” said Ruyin.

“Oh?” said Mu.

“He said to come to Lan He for the Heart Orchid Festival in six months-time,” said Ruyin.

“Lan He… okay…” said Mu, she looked around at the others.

Ostara beamed. “Oh, I would love to attend the Festival,” she said. “It so happens I know the Director. If the Captain doesn’t see any issues, I think we can provisionally commit to going.”

“We can be on Lan He for the Festival,” said Apollo.

“Wonderful, I’m so glad. I hear there are so many beautiful and exotic flowers on Lan He,” said Ruyin. She looked down, and spoke more softly, “Well, I better be going then, and leave you to get everything ready for your departure.”

“I don’t want you to go,” said Mu.

“I know, m’lady. I don’t wish to go either. But I must.”

Mu nodded and hugged Ruyin for a long time. Tavian looked away, toward the others.

“Alright, Nova, Kal, can you please start performing all the pre-departure checks?” said Ostara.

“You got it, boss,” said Nova, flinging off a rough approximation of a salute.

Mu was sprawled out on her bed, gazing out the window at Shangxia below. Her mind was strangely blank, her eyes tracing the swirls of white cloud and the great sweeps of coastline below. Her head lay on a towel she’d placed to stop the pillow getting wet from her hair after she’d showered.

Next to her bed a stick of incense burned. Seraphina had given it to her, saying it smelled of happy memories. If nothing else its scent gave Mu a sense of calm, the kind of calm that a child might describe as being bored, but which was a rare treasure in adult life. Somewhere down below a flash of light caught her eyes, and she saw a patch of dark clouds above the equator lit up by lightning. Soft music played over the speakers above, a guqin track she remembered from her childhood, Of What the Butterfly Dreams.

Her reverie was disturbed a moment later when a voice came over the sound system, interrupting the music. “Hello everyone… this is Apollo. We will be departing Shangxia momentarily and engaging the jump drive. Our next stop is Yarkan. Journey time is approximately eighty hours, the distance is three hundred and forty light-years.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Oh, and Mr Zhang has requested that I inform you all that he expects your attendance in the bar shortly. He… has requested I tell you all that he will accept no excuses and… ‘that includes you, Seraphina.’”

Another pause.

“That is all. As you were.”

Mu breathed in and sat up straight on the bed, crossing her legs, her gazed remaining on the window. She picked up the towel and gave her hair another once over, then cast it aside. She’d have to get ready to go and meet the others shortly, but for now she remained where she was.

If she hadn’t been looking out the window at that moment, she wouldn’t have even known they were moving, but the view of the planet and the stars began to change. A moment later they had risen above the plane of the Orbital Ring, and she could see the light from its many windows dwindling away below. Once the planet and the Ring were out of sight, however, it once again became less clear that they were actually moving, the background stars gleaming across the lightyears, seemingly fixed in place.

The music was interrupted once again, and this time it was Nova’s voice. “Captain, we are clear to proceed to jump.”

In the next moment the universe outside became very strange. Looking back everything took on a crimson hue, then faded to black, while the stars became brighter and denser when she looked forward, radiating brilliant azure light. The windows themselves responded, by increasingly polarising in the direction of travel. Mu felt a momentary lurch of acceleration, then once again everything felt still.

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The jump had begun. Shangxia and everything it contained was now receding at a rate of more than eleven billion kilometres a second. The Governor’s Yamen. The Silver Moon Lounge. International Road. Onyx Tortoise Avenue. The Resonance Bureau agents. Ruyin…

“Nope! Nope! Nope!” shouted Harry, grabbing the can out of Nova’s hands.

“Hey!” protested Nova, making an effort to snatch it back, but failing.

“You’re gonna drink properly tonight,” said Harry, as he passed the can to Mu.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” she asked.

“Get rid of it,” he said, picking up one of many bottles he had lined up and grabbing it by the base. Elegantly he poured it into a flute and passed it to Nova.

Nova sniffed at it and wrinkled her nose. “Do I really have to?”

“One glass. Then you can go back to that crap if you really must,” said Harry. “You wanna be treated like a grown up? You’re going to drink like one.”

“Fine. One glass,” grumbled Nova.

Harry had taken up a spot behind the bar while Mu, Tavian, Mingxia and Nova sat on bar stools opposite. Ostara, Kal, and Seraphina sat in the lounge chairs nearby. Apollo was perched on the arm of Ostara’s chair.

“I picked this up on New Elysia and have been saving it up for a special occasion. I feel welcoming Mu, Tavian and Mingxia aboard qualifies,” said Harry as he filled more flutes. “It’s made by the monks of the Order of Astraios in the Grand Abbey of Coeur-Lumineux. It is the very finest vintage… that I could afford.”

Tavian took it upon himself to pass glasses to the others. Finally, Harry filled a tiny dish and when Tavian gave him a strange look he nodded in Apollo’s direction. “Can’t leave the Captain out.”

Ostara took the dish and placed it on the small side table between her chair and Kal’s.

Harry finally put down the second bottle, having poured everyone including himself a glass. He lifted up his flute. “A toast to new friends and new horizons.”

“Here, here!” shouted Tavian. He clinked his glass with Mu. “Cheers!”

She flashed him a genuine smile, which he’d seen so rarely that it caught him off guard. “Cheers!” she said.

Leaning past Mu, he clinked his glass with Nova. Rising from his stool he went to Mingxia. “I’m sorry I left you,” he said, as Nova, Mu and Harry tapped their glasses together behind him.

Mingxia’s face had the hint of a smile. “You came back. And you got me out of there… well, mainly Seraphina did… and Kal… and Mu… but you were there too, and I think you might have even tried.”

Tavian laughed. “I’m not a greedy man, I’ll take that.”

They clinked their glasses together and each took a sip of champagne. Mingxia lowered her glass and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t think that because I’ve kind of forgiven you that this will end like last time we drunk together.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, m’lady,” said Tavian with a grin. “I consider myself lucky that it happened once.”

“I don’t,” said Mingxia, with an approximation of a scowl.

Tavian simply laughed. “I better go share a toast with the others.”

He walked over to Ostara. “Thank you for everything,” he said. “Both of you.” Apollo was standing on the side table, lapping up the contents of the small dish. Both he and Ostara looked up at Tavian.

“Don’t trouble yourself over it, Mr Locke,” said Ostara, her violet eyes filled with mirth and warmth.

Apollo looked up at Tavian, slowly closing and opening his eyes. “Do you plan to leave us, Mr Locke?”

Tavian was surprised by the question. “Well… I mean… I’m not sure what I have to offer the crew. Of course, like I said… I’m grateful and all, but…”

“I think you should stay,” said Apollo. “Everyone needs somewhere to come back to, but you’ve always thought that meant being trapped, haven’t you?”

“Well, the home I left wasn’t so… homey,” said Tavian.

“If the Amrita was that home, I assure you, you never need to feel trapped,” said Apollo.

“I…” said Tavian. “I guess I don’t know what I have to offer you… and I don’t really understand what the Amrita… does… exactly…”

Ostara laughed at this. “We do whatever comes next. We follow the path the Captain lays out.”

“I think you will find like-minded people here,” said Apollo. “And I’ll warrant if you’re free and you can be confident that tomorrow will be a little better than today… that you can be happy here. Afterall, that’s what you’ve always sought, is it not?”

Tavian sighed. He took a sip from his glass. “Alright. I’ll hang around for a while.”

“We could ask no more,” said Ostara and she raised her glass. “Lovely to have you aboard.”

“Thanks for having me.”

Tavian clinked glasses and drank once more, draining his glass. Walking back to the bar he waved the empty glass toward Harry. “Bartender?”

Harry grinned. “Good man,” he said, pouring out another glass.

Tavian turned around and spoke up. “We need music!” he declared.

Harry, Nova, and Ostara gave a cheer at this, raising their glasses. Tavian strode over to his case and withdrew his mandolin. “This is a song I learnt when I first left home. It’s called Cold Road to a Warm Hearth.”

With that he began playing. The others who had been sitting at the bar came over to the lounge. Mu took a chair and Mingxia sat on the armrest. Nova took up a spot on the floor, sitting cross-legged. Tavian launched into song and soon Nova led the others in clapping along (even managing to coax Kal and Seraphina into joining in).

Harry emerged from behind the bar and walked to Ostara’s chair, extending his hand. “Would you do me the honour?” he asked. Ostara took the offered hand and soon enough the two were dancing with surprising skill as Tavian played. Ostara moved with the grace she always exhibited, but Harry was leading and had more than a touch of flare to his moves.

Inspired, Nova leapt to her feet and extended a hand to Kal. “Care for a dance, Big Guy?” she said, grinning widely.

“I don’t dance,” responded Kal.

“You do tonight,” said Nova.

“Come on, Kal,” said Ostara without breaking from her own dance with Harry.

Nova put her hand to her chest. “Don’t worry if you’re no good, I’m not either. But what I lack in skill I make up for in enthusiasm,” she said this last part while giving an appropriately enthusiastic thumbs up.

With Ostara joining in the pressure, Kal caved and soon enough he and Nova were on the dancefloor. Nova was as good as her word, and even as he played and sung, Tavian had to contain his laughter, watching her stumble awkwardly about with Kal. If Kal was any good it was hard to tell, given what he had to work with in a dance partner.

Soon enough Mingxia had dragged Mu out as well. The two made for quite a contrast – Mingxia having borrowed an ill-fitting tracksuit from Nova, while Mu was wearing her customarily elegant court attire. Tavian noticed that even Seraphina and Apollo bobbed their heads to the music as they watched.

Thank you, Lady Anu, said Tavian silently even as he played and sung. He was a long way from Cáerthand now, from that sad and dark home, and for all the trials and tribulations of the past days he suddenly felt as content as he could remember feeling in a long time.

He finished up his song and sat back in his chair, smiling broadly. “Another?”

“Another!” yelled Nova, pumping the air with a fist.

“Well, then,” said Ostara, “If this party is to continue, perhaps we need further libations. Mr Zhang? How about fetching the bottle.”

Harry’s eyes lit up. “Oh yes,” he said with glee. He headed back behind the bar and returned with a bottle of whiskey and some tumblers on a tray.

“Who’s up for a drink?” he asked.

“Finally, the real stuff comes out,” said Kal.

“One for the Big Guy,” said Harry, “One for Madame Ostara. Tavian, I take it you’re in? Nova?”

“Ew, gross!” proclaimed Nova, and with that, headed behind the bar herself to fetch one of her cans of energy drink. “You’re not pouring this one out,” she said, glaring suspiciously at Harry as she cracked the can.

“You’re a lost cause,” muttered Harry. “Seraphina?”

“No, thank you,” said the witch, “Alcohol makes me feel… strange.”

“Yeah, it’ll do that,” said Harry. “Mingxia? Mu?”

“Count us in,” said Mingxia, before Mu could respond.

Tavian took a glass once Harry had poured and lifted it up. “Sláinte!” she yelled. Harry joined him.

“Slaaa…” Mu stumbled over the word, then just offered a regular ‘cheers’.

With that Tavian returned to his seat, lifted up the mandolin and launched into another song.

At some point Tavian finished up his playing and joined in the conversation as the others gathered around once more in the lounge. Nova asked if she could put on some music, and Harry agreed on the condition she not attempt to sing along. This did not preclude her returning to the dance floor solo, as Tavian and Harry watched on.

“I’ve always wondered what a pigeon having a seizure would look like,” muttered Harry, his eyes fixed on Nova.

“And now you know,” said Tavian, his gaze also fixed.

“And now I know.”

“It’s mesmerising.”

“I’ve never seen such a complete lack of shame or embarrassment.”

“’Tis a thing of awe,” said Tavian, sipping his whiskey.

Thus the night continued. The whiskey flowed, the music played, and the Amrita carried on across the starry sea.

Ostara raised the pruners and made a careful cut, before taking a moment to take in her progress at opening up the centre of the bush. The new buds were coming along nicely.

“Ostara,” came a voice behind her, and she turned to see Apollo padding along the path to where she knelt.

“Captain,” she said, putting down the pruners and rising to her feet, removing her gloves one after the other. “Our new crewmembers seem to be fitting in nicely.”

“Indeed,” said Apollo, coming to a stop and sitting down. “It’s gone as well as I hoped.”

“All according to plan?” asked Ostara.

Bright yellow eyes gazed at her out of the dark feline visage. “As best I recall.”

“Has it diminished that much?” asked Ostara, concern creeping into her voice. She lowered herself to the ground once more, arranging her dress as she sat, her legs out to one side.

“The deterioration is accelerating.”

“Then…?”

“I believe all is still on course. Princess Mukushen is critical to that and she is with us now.”

“Then will you tell her everything?”

Apollo shook his small head. “Not yet. I can’t be certain, but I don’t think the time has come. She must know the right things at the right time, or everything could collapse.”

“But that time is coming, yes?”

“It is, but she needs to be prepared, beforehand. And I need to make sure that I get the timing right. That’s the part I can’t be certain of,” said Apollo.

“How long do you think we have?”

“A year maybe,” said Apollo, his tone uncertain. “Perhaps a year and a half. I only had the briefest of windows when I could truly see them. And that was so very long ago. From the moment Lotan devoured Pythia, their forms have been decaying in prophecy. Now even Lotan itself is just an odious cloud of dread lurking somewhere out there among the stars. Xerxes is a little clearer, but I still couldn’t say how long the Eleftherian League can hold out against him.”

“And the others?”

Ostara knew Apollo well enough that she could read the emotion even in his impassive face. He was worried. “Seraphel is near. She has crossed into the civilised parts of the Galaxy, perhaps into the Empire or the League… I don’t know. The others… I can’t even recall now how many others there were. Memory… prophecy… it’s all fading away. There was a moment when I perceived the entire history of the Cosmos… but now… now I feel blind.”

Ostara reached forward and gently stroked Apollo’s head, feeling his soft fur and velvety ears. “Now we have Mu.”

“Now we have Mu,” agreed Apollo. “But it is a great burden to put on one who came seeking freedom.”

“It’s the way it has to be,” said Ostara.

“Yes, my friend, I fear you are right. As always,” said Apollo.

Ostara did her best to smile reassuringly at the Captain, her hand lingering. “What about this Bright Eyes… you’ve never mentioned him before. Is he… preparing for them as well?”

“He will be an ally for a time. He does not want what we want, but we share some overlapping interests. He, like myself, recognises what Princess Mukushen is capable of. But there will come a time when she will have to choose – between her loyalty to him, and to us.”

Ostara smiled again. “Then we’ll do everything to make sure she makes the right choice when the time comes.”

“Thank you, Ostara, you always make me feel calmer in these moments of doubt.”

“Knowing what I know, it is only with your guidance that I can feel any calm myself,” replied Ostara. “Oh, I forgot to ask: what’s on Yarkan?”

“Knowledge,” said Apollo. “More literally, someone there will ask us for help. I believe that will lead us to an important discovery.”

“About the Praetors?”

“I believe so,” said Apollo. “And if prophecy is shrouded, all that is left is to go out and collect intelligence the classic way. I’m not content to sit idly by while the Oblivion Star and its Theophant make their moves. If the Praetors are already here – more than just Xerxes – we need to know.”

“Knowledge, as they say, is power,” agreed Ostara. She paused a moment, her eyes dwelling momentarily on the flowers blooming behind where Apollo sat. “There was one other thing I was wondering. About Tavian—”

“Mr Locke? He is something of a wildcard, but I believe he has an important role to play as well,” said Apollo.

“A wildcard?”

“Like I said, my memory of that moment of revelation, before the Heliophage came is dim now… but even then Mr Locke stood out, near the end of the long road… and even then, his precise role was unclear, but its significance was not. I have theories, though.”

“Oh?” said Ostara, raising an eyebrow.

“Tell me, have you ever heard of a planet called Cáerthand?” asked Apollo.

Ostara searched her memory. She shook her head. “I can’t say that I have.”

“They worship a deity there, but not one associated with any Awakened Star,” said Apollo.

“Plenty of ancient civilisations with no knowledge of the Starflow worshipped all sorts of things,” said Ostara.

Apollo shook his head. “No,” he said. “This isn’t like that. This deity – they call her Lady Anu… like I said, she is not the personification of any Awakened Star… but she still has Resonants.”

Ostara’s mind spun, trying to make sense of this. “How is that possible?”

“As I said, I have some theories, but fundamentally, I believe Mr Locke to be a Resonant of this Lady Anu. You’ve heard his music, haven’t you?”

“I have…” said Ostara, remembering Tavian’s playing at last night’s gathering.

“The Resonants of Lady Anu channel the Starflow through music and poetry,” said Apollo.

Ostara had felt it. When Tavian was playing. He was a Resonant, sure enough. But what were his powers?

She looked again at Apollo. “What does all this mean for the plan? What’s your theory?”

Apollo twitched his whiskers before replying.

Liu Jing glanced around furtively as she slid into the leather booth. The sole other occupant of the corner booth let out a long stream of smoke. With one hand he nonchalantly slid a glass across the table, placing it before Liu.

“Were you followed?” asked the man.

“No,” she said.

Her interlocutor sighed deeply. “You best be right. I can help you – for the right price, of course – but I don’t want your problems becoming my own.”

“I swear, I wasn’t followed,” said Liu.

“Not thirsty?” asked the man, pointing at the drink in front of her. “Better for any watchful eyes if we’re just two friends meeting for a drink.”

Liu distractedly picked up the drink and took a sip.

Stars! It’s awful. What even is it?

The man leant forward, his elbows on the table. “You’re lucky you contacted me when you did. Big Bai has already found some of your associates.”

“Who?”

“Word on the street is you’re the last one still at large,” said the man, letting out another thick cloud of smoke. “But then, you are the smartest of them, aren’t you? You had the good sense to seek me out.”

“They got the others so quickly?” asked Liu, an involuntary shudder running through her.

“Big Bai don’t mess around,” said the man, grinning. “But you should feel honoured.”

“Why’s that?” asked Liu, growing frustrated with a conversation that had yet to deal with how exactly she was going to get off Shangxia.

“Word is, the big man hired the best in the business to track you lot down,” said the man. “You ever hear of Zhen Yan?”

“No,” said Liu, distractedly. On an instinct she looked over her shoulder. Just the usual assortment of denizens of the night.

“Well, that’s who they say is after you,” said the man, “And they say she’s the best in the business.”

“If that’s the case, maybe we should hurry this along,” said Liu. “I think you can appreciate my sense of urgency here.”

The man laughed and leant back again in the booth. “I just wanted to outline the situation, so you can fully appreciate what I’m going to do for you.”

“Believe me, I appreciate it. I never wanted this though. I don’t know why I let them talk me into it. And why is Boss Bai himself going to such effort to get me? I was just the accountant.”

The man grinned. “You stole from him – it doesn’t matter if it’s a single tael or a billion, there can’t be a precedent for anyone getting away with it. When it comes to the White Gang… well, you wrong them… it doesn’t much matter how. It’s all the same. You have to die.”

“Why haven’t they taken you out, then?” asked Liu.

“What I do is just business. Sometimes the White Gang are my customers, sometimes the Governor is, sometimes it’s you. There’s nothing personal, no animosity,” said the man.

“Whatever. Name your price,” said Liu, “On the off chance you can actually get me off-world alive it’ll be worth it.”

“Not even going to try to haggle?” said the man. “Frankly, I’m a little disappointed.”

“Can we dispense with the theatre?” asked Liu, waving away the thick cloud of smoke that had wafted toward her face.

“Four hundred thousand tael and I get you far away from here, where not even Zhen Yan will find you,” said the man.

“Only four hundred?”

“I’m a fair man.”

“Fine, done. Now can we get on with it; I want to be off-world tonight,” said Liu.

“So impatient… but it’s fine, I can make it happen. Interstellar travel has restarted, after all,” said the man.

“Great, so what now?”

The man suddenly straightened up and peered forward, through the thick cloud of his own smoke and the shadows of the club. “Don’t turn around, but perhaps we should relocate.”

Liu felt a sudden stab of panic enter her, but fought it down. The man indicated for her to follow and wordlessly she did, resisting the powerful urge to turn around. He led her to a door, and they stepped through into a corridor, Liu blinking in the suddenly bright light.

“No one’s going to stop us coming back here?” she asked.

“I’m known to management,” said the man, “I come and go as I please. Follow me, I don’t think they saw us, but we’d best be moving.”

He moved at quite a pace and Liu’s short legs struggled to keep up with his long strides. Eventually he showed her into a small office.

“Shut the door,” he said. She turned around to do just that. There was no button, just an old-fashioned manual handle. She closed it and then turned back to face him.

Only he was gone. In his place stood a tall woman dressed in a hooded and sleeveless black tunic, belted at the waist, and long pants, tucked into high boots. But the strange clothes were not nearly the strangest thing about this woman, for behind her fanned out nine fox-like tails. Liu stared at her, her mind frozen as it repeatedly failed to process what she was seeing.

Slowly, and with a sinister smile, the woman lowered her hood, revealing two vulpine ears. “You’re the last one,” she said. “Take a seat.”

As she meekly obeyed, Liu finally managed to get a sound out. “Y-you… who…?”

“Not who you expected?” said the woman with a laugh, advancing closer to Liu. She reached out with one hand to touch the side of Liu’s face, stroking it slowly. “You poor fool. You really had no idea what you got yourself into, did you?”

“I-I don’t understand,” said Liu, her heart pounding like crazy, feeling as if it were readying to burst from her chest. “Who are you?”

“Aww, sweetie, you should’ve worked that out by now.”

The fox-woman’s eyes were bright, but there was a malevolence to her smile.

“Zhe-zhen Yan,” murmured Liu.

“Ding! Ding! Ding! You got it. Well-done you,” said the fox-woman.

“What h-happened t-to Mr… P-p-pan?” asked Liu.

“You weren’t the only one to reach out to Mr Pan. I lied,” said Zhen Yan. “The others did too. Once I’d taken him out it was a simple matter really. One by one you came to me like lambs to the slaughter. You were all so scared and so self-interested that once you realised your little scheme had come to Big Bai’s attention, you stopped talking to one another. Not the slightest attempt at coordinating an escape. Not that you ever had a chance of getting away, but you could have made it a little more fun for me.”

Liu was shaking, even as Zhen Yan leant in closer, putting her mouth to Liu’s ear. She spoke in a silken whisper, even as her fingers continued to gently stroke the side of Liu’s face. “But maybe I can still have a little fun?”

“P-please,” stuttered Liu, staring straight ahead, even as she felt the fox-woman’s warm breath against the side of her face. Her eyes began to water with tears. “I’ll give all the money back. More! I’ll tell you whatever y-you want to kn-know.”

With a swish of her tails, Zhen Yan rose to her feet and walked around behind Liu, one hand resting on the other woman’s shoulder the whole time. Liu felt a second hand on her other shoulder and a moment later Zhen Yan’s face was almost brushing up against hers, cheek-to-cheek. “It is much too late for that.”

Liu whimpered, even as she felt Zhen Yan’s strong fingers digging into her shoulders, almost massaging them. “Please…”

Zhen Yan pulled away again and walked back in front of Liu, her tails brushing against Liu’s face as she went. She pulled up a chair and sat, crossing one leg over the other. The smile never left her face. “I should feel sorry for you, I guess,” she said. “But really… it gets old. I suppose I’ve desensitised myself. Become a cold person. It’s unfortunate really. But as I look at you there, whimpering and trembling, just about ready to wet yourself… all I feel is contempt. I… I don’t think I can have any fun with you after all. I need to see some fire, some anger… but you… you’re just pathetic.”

Zhen Yan laughed bitterly, drawing a long knife from a sheath on her belt and holding it up to her face to inspect it. Liu let out a sob. She tried to hold it in, but it escaped nonetheless. She could feel her teeth chattering. “Please…”

“I hope my next job’s more interesting,” said Zhen Yan. “I think it should be. Did you hear about all that ruckus at the West Gate Yamen? Apparently, the same people responsible also killed some of Big Bai’s men. He is not happy. And like I explained before, once you cross Big Bai, that’s it. There’s no coming back.”

Zhen Yan laughed. “These ones though, they’re cleverer than you. They got off world.”

Liu gave out a shuddering breath, not daring to speak, simply staring as Zhen Yan absent-mindedly twirled the knife, seemingly oblivious as she continued her monologue. “Which is exciting really. Means I have an interstellar chase on my hands. It’ll really put my detective skills to the test, won’t it?”

Liu said nothing. Zhen Yan rose to her feet again, once more coming closer. She leant forward until it felt like she was about to kiss Liu. “But I’m rambling. I shouldn’t keep you any longer.”

Liu’s whole vision was filled with Zhen Yan’s cruel smile when she felt the blade slide between her ribs. It was a strange, detached sensation, like she was simply an observer in her own body – aware of the pain, but not really experiencing it firsthand. Zhen Yan lifted up the knife so that it was in the narrow space between their faces. It shone with blood that Liu only slowly realised was her own. So much of it. Zhen Yan’s tongue darted out and licked along the blade.

Then she withdrew, spluttering. “Yick!” she said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I thought that would look cool, but I feel like it was just disgusting. Oh well, I’ll take that one out of the repertoire. You don’t have any diseases, do you? Can’t talk? Guess I’ll get myself checked out. Anyway, better get this over with.”

Liu felt the knife again. This time, it was lower, sliding into her abdomen. Her vision went dark. The last thing she saw was Zhen Yan’s face.

“Goodbye, Liu Jing,” said Zhen Yan.

Then Liu died.