She loved the observation deck of the ship. It was essentially a private room where the far wall was an entire window to the outside. She didn’t know. She just knew that they had gone across maybe a quarter of their galaxy and they had so much more to go through. But this spot was her space to hide when she was upset. After all this was small ship that housed the three of them comfortably.
She stared out at the massive ball of blue and purple in front of her. It was a planet, a gas giant, with a toxic atmosphere and constant storms. The hurricane of clouds and flashes of light below the surface made her anxious. They were floating just out of range of the monster’s gravity.
Her arms were around her legs, hugging them to her chest as she stared at the planet. She rubbed her pale blue fingers over the boney spine on her arms. They tugged at her skin but didn’t pierce it. They definitely weren’t sharp enough for that. They followed all the way around her body, running up her neck and converging in a triangular pattern at her forehead.
A woosh sounded behind her and a door opened. She didn’t turn toward the sound or approaching footfalls. There was no sneaking up on anyone on this metal floor.
“I’ve been looking for you captain.” The monotone voice said. Or rather there was an uplift to it but it wasn’t a voice that came from organic lungs.
She didn’t respond.
“Have you been here the past hour?”
Silence stretched between them.
“Please, Ya’Cahin, talk to me. Say something.”
“Have you heard a transmission from Tahu yet, Ula?”
“No. Nothing.”
Her head dipped down further as she squeezed her knees tighter. A hand was placed on her back and she jumped. Glancing at Ula’s face it showed nothing. It was gentle face with sharp features. They had grey almost silver skin, a metallic black suit over their body, and several long wires from the back of their head to their hips bound in places. Slender fingers and smooth feet. Their eyes glowed a soft silver.
They sat down beside their sulking companion and neither moved. However, Ula finally spoke and said, “It was not your fault. Tahu went out on their own and would have regardless of your words.”
“If I hadn’t made it seem vital they wouldn’t have gotten it in their head to go run off like this.”
“Tahu is reckless. Reckless but capable” they said simply. “And we will find them. We are a team. A manufactured unit. As long as I function I know that they are as well.”
Ya’Cahin slowly lifted her head and let out a shuddering breath. “Why is this so hard?” She mumbled.
“Leading?”
Ya’Cahin nodded. “Xilo made it seem easy. He always knew what to do next. Never had any stupid setbacks. Never had someone run off to a gas giant.”
“You did not know him as long as I did. Xilo made mistakes. He was far from perfect.”
Ya’Cahin snorted. “I know he’s not perfect. He was an idiot, hard to read, full of himself and reckless. But when it came to leading he was great.”
Getting to her feet she walked to a wall and placed her palm against it. A screen flashed to life, scanning her hand and then the door opened. She reached in pulling on a rack as clouds of cold air flowed out. She took a packet off of the rack and tore the corner of. Turning it upside down she began to drink, long thirsty gulps.
She sucked it dry and crumpled it up in a ball and shoved the rack back into the wall. “I hate sitting here. Makes me think. And when I think I wallow.”
“What would you like to do?” Ula asked turning to face her.
“I don’t know. Don’t you have things you like to do? I mean I’m just a street urchin from Xanic. You’re a pair Zorgs from Tear 2-23. You guys plug into the system for fun.”
“Yes we do enjoy that. However, there are other things.” Ula stood up and stared at the planet. “There is a moon orbiting this planet. We could visit it.”
“Is that smart?”
“Probably not. But while Tahu is down there we can be doing something. Maybe there is something worthwhile on this moon. It is large enough. A quick payday.”
Ya’Cahin thought for a moment then smiled. “Tahu would love that. Let’s go. What kind of moon is it?”
Their eyes flashed blue for a short moment, “A desert. I believe it’s inhabited but not by any civilization. Just local fauna”
“Then let’s go investigate it.”
The pair walked through the door and down a lit hallway. The lights were under the floor, beaming upward casting a soft glow. They walked through another door to a long half circle of a room. Like the hallway the lights came from the floor to give the room a brighter glow. A short set of stairs led down to a dimly lit table. They normally ate, met or just hung around in this room. But now they stayed on the upper level going to the walls.
Ula placed her hand against a wall panel and it scanned slowly. It opened up and she pulled out a mask. It hooked up under her nose and mouth. Ya’Cahin pulled a suit, gloves, and boots that were similar to Ula’s. She slid them on, replacing her tank top and cargo shorts. Finally she pulled her helmet on. The visor glowed to life synching her display to her partner.
“Should we be armed?” She asked, her voice slightly distorted by the communications channel of the helmet.
“I believe the life to be hostile.”
“So that’s a yes.”
She went to another door and pulled a rack where guns were holstered against the wall. Ula pulled free a sleek gun while Ya’Cahin pulled out a longer rifle next. She flipped a bolt out and shoved it into the side. The barrel extended to twice its length and two scopes appeared, one above the other. She looked through each and the bottom was a little dirty but workable. “Do we have any more ammo for this thing?”
“I believe so.” Pulling open a drawer they handed two clips over. “The second one only has half left.”
“I can work with that.”
“Just try not to miss.” Resting their gun against their back she nodded.
“I don’t miss.” Ya’Cahin said but she knew she was being teased. “Often.”
The pair walked to the flat of their half circle and a door wooshed open as they went down another hallway. Instead of going to the cockpit they took an elevator down to their smaller scout ship. It had space for the two of them and a small cargo hold.
They both got in, Ula in the cockpit and Ya’Cahin behind them. Both buckled in and began to make sure they were ready to fly. Flipping switches and checking the displays Ula grabbed hold of the yoke, plugging one of her wires into the dashboard and the ship hummed to life.
Levitating for a moment the hatch opened and the ship dropped straight into spaces loving embrace. They passed through a soft blue barrier, and into distant stars, the giant purple ball of gas and the sand moon that was their destination. They were moving fast, they had to be but the rest of the universe seemed to be moving still. She continued to look around a star shooting past infinitely far away from them.
Their ship darted forward aiming on the greater edge of the plane to avoid its gravity. Ula turned slowly finally setting them directly toward the moon. Ula looked at the screen between the yoke. They reached to tap the screen and scrolled left and right to rotate the image. “There’s no good place to land.”
“Then set the ship to hover. We can have it pick us up later.”
“Alright. It will hover and track me until we need it.”
“Any sort of transmissions are getting forward to us aren’t they?”
“Yes. As soon as they come in.”
“Then let’s get down there and explore.”
The ship floated downward and it shook slightly but came lower and lower. It then hesitated and a light flashed from red to blue. Their seatbelts clicked and came off as the hatch opened with a hiss. They both stood up leaving the cock pit and leaving a hole in the cargo hold. Gravity took hold instantly but it wasn’t strong.
There was sand as far as they could see. Dunes upon dunes of sand rolling into the horizon. Mountains of the tiny particles. As they landed in the sand they could feel it shifting under their feet. They could see them actually shift and reform miles away. The sand was the color of rust reflecting what little light it could back, giving everything a red hue. Half the sky was taken up by the planet and another moon that was circling in orbit.
Ya’Cahin glanced at the sand that had surrounded her feet. She sprung free from the sand and rolled down the hill head over heels. Landing on her butt she got herself together. Standing slowly, she dusted herself off and stared at the ground. “Alright, that was weird.”
She stared at the hill she’d rolled down and watched as the sand caved in the path she’d carved out. The sand tumbled down into almost perfect formation. Then it exploded and a pair of mandibles lunged at her. Her eyes went wide she jumped backwards soaring into the sky.
Hanging in the air she reached for her gun and raised it to eye level. The rifle extended and the scopes came up. Staring through them she narrowed her eyes as a centipede like creature dug its way out of the sand. It was at least sixty feet long, dozens of legs and two sets of mandibles. Its gaping mouth was lacking teeth but frothing clear liquid.
Ula was underneath it and the sand dune began to crumble under their feet. Eyes widening, they leaped as well floating into the sky. They brought out their gun and let off a few shots but they bounced off the exoskeleton entirely ineffectively. The centipede raised its head to watch the pair of them before lunging at Ya’Cahin. Both of them had their weapons drawn and opened fire on the insect.
The centipede flinched and dove under the sand again the hole filling behind it. They exchanged looks and then looked below them. Weapons trained on the sand they watched as it exploded outward again. The centipede’s mouth was open wide eager to devour the captain. Ya’Cahin however was ready and fired two shots. One shot destroyed a mandible and the second flew into the mouth and out the other side.
It opened its mouth in pain and thrashed backwards in the sand. Flopping upward though it’s legs dug into the sand and it dashed across the sands and whirled around. The red sand was stained blue turning it purple as the centipede whirled on them.
Both of them landed on the dune their guns trained at the creature. “I guess that’s one of those hostile creatures we talked about?”
“I believe so. There is very little known about this moon. Or this planet system to be honest. We are very much off the grid.”
“Great. Well then I guess people won’t mind if we kill this thing, right?”
“I doubt it.”
“Good, because I think we pissed it off.” Her eyes rested on the centipede as it dug into the ground and surged at them. It sped up and Ya’Cahin held her gun at level.
“Would you like my shoulder to steady?”
“No. I’m good.”
“I don’t think that a regular shot will pierce its exoskeleton.”
“Neither do I. But I have a way around it.”
“Are you alright with using that?”
“Yes. Though not much. I don’t want to overdo it.”
Ya’Cahin’s gun glowed a soft blue. A wisp of energy swirled around the gun and her hands. As she reached for the bolt, to her, the world started moving in slow motion. Sliding it back she fired.
A bright blue light tore through the air and slammed into the centipede. It flew straight through the creature’s head, down most of the body and then out and into the sand. It collapsed suddenly into a tangled pile of body and legs.
They stared at corpse of the creature when their visors blinked. Ya’Cahin tapped her gauntlet as the notification became a message and it was static riddled but they were able to just make it out words.
“Hey … thing going …? Says … have a signal. … on the far … of … planet. Deep … a storm. Got the …. Releasing … signal … …. soon please. Would … it.”
“That was Tahu.” Ula said and Ya’Cahin nodded quickly.
Both looked toward the half of the gas giant that they could see and there were bright flashes of light in the gas of the planet. And then there was a streak of red. A growing spiral of it that was mixing with the clouds and scattering.
“That’s him. We’ve gotta go!”
“Yes. I am calling the ship now.” Both looked above them as the small ship came close. They jumped together and reached for the ship. It actually lowered so that they could get into the cockpit faster. Once inside and everything settled Ula shot them to the main ship.
The hatch opened and they dove in. The ship wasn’t even off when Ya’Cahin jumped out and ran to the cockpit. The space was small with two seats side by side against one another and two behind those. Whipping off her helmet she placed it on a shelf as she jumped into the passenger seat. Running her fingers over the display she typed rapidly until a map appeared focused on the gas giant. It was listed as GP – 5679.
“Set course for the last radio transmission received.” She commanded and a path appeared before her that angled directly at the red spot on the planets storm. Warnings appeared showing the hazards of this. Strong planet winds, lightning storms, difficult control environment, and hazardous air.
A woosh behind her and Ula walked in sitting in the other seat to look at the readings and the map. “We should be careful when going in.”
“I know.”
“Let me fly, captain.” Ula said which Ya’Cahin acknowledged swapping spots with her navigator. Ula reached behind their head, taking the cables and unbinding them. Taking three of them they plugged them into places on the dashboard and their eyes flashed bright blue. Body going rigid, they leaned backwards slowly and their hands rested on the arms of the cockpit seat.
Ya’Cahin stood for a long moment, staring at the zorg. “Go.” Ula told her as the ship started to life and it turned slowly before darting toward the gas planet.
Grabbing her helmet, she exited and put it on her head. She went to the hanger bay and got back into the scout ship. She powered it on, messing with the displays to fit her preferences. Frowning for a moment she grabbed the yoke with both hands and took a deep breath. “We are approaching the planet. Be careful. I would rather not lose you both.”
“I know Ula.” She grabbed the yoke with both hands. “Ready.”
“Hatch doors opening.”
The floor opened and the ship fell out. For a moment she felt the weightlessness of space again. She felt the excitement of risking her life on an unknown planet. But she remembered why she was doing it. Turning the ship downward she thrust forward and the ship rocketed into the storm. She opened up the radio channel to reply, “Tahu if you can hear this I’m going to you now. Sit tight and try not to die will you?”
The Harlequin Library 