“Tsir tu vask olazkin!”
Edge could hear the words as though they were simple sounds floating within the strange fog that encircled him. They sounded familiar like a voice from a recurring nightmare, but as pictures flashed through his mind, the voices became no more significant than white noise in the background.
Hey there mister. The new voice was softer and more pleasing. It was also recognizable, each syllable uttered from the woman’s sweet lips causing his heart to pound with the mighty rhythm of exhilaration. Where ya been all my life?
“Hey there yourself.” My god, he thought in a way that seemed as natural to him as the blue in her eyes. They were thoughts that had danced forth within his mind before and often. How could you love me? You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met, and you love me.
As the fog cleared like plumes of smoke in a sudden breeze, he could see her climbing atop him, her flowing blonde mane caressing his chest like smooth silk. She was beautiful, her skin freshly tanned yet soft and moist, her lips sparkling with the ruby gloss that she always wore. It tasted like strawberries and apples, and he could hardly wait to taste it again. As he felt her smooth skin press against him while he massaged her backside with the palms of his hands, their lips connected with the explosion of taste and pleasure.
“Silvak grone selba ti simtuk!”
“I’m certainly no Adonis,” he said, looking across the table at the café in California, her amazing blonde locks swaying in the ocean breeze.
If I was looking for an Adonis-, she answered with a turn of the head towards the beachside park where an army of scantily clad men carried on the daily routine of oceanfront workouts. -there’s a large selection over there on the beach walk. Laughing, she turned back to gaze deep into his eyes sporting a sarcastic grin, the sound of her giggle erupting a joyful flutter within his chest.
“And you could have any one of them.”
Hmm, she huffed with the forming of another chuckle. Not a brain among them. Besides, she continued, leaning in over the table causing a lock of her hair to nearly dip into her mojito. You look pretty darn sweet in a bathing suit.
“I love you. I always will.”
The communication device flickered while spraying blue light down from the ceiling, an image beginning to form within the shimmering haze of illumination. It was the view from the antechamber in a distant starship that Queen Biel-Tris knew was racing towards Volpa. Still on the ghastly planet she detested herself, she cocked her head witnessing the appearance of a prisoner forming; a small human fastened tight into a device with restraints across its chest and over each of its appendages. Its head
“That’s the detestable creature,” Vaul spoke in his loud and commanding voice from aside Biel-Tris with Chaktol Vanyoc at his opposite side.
“You complete me,” she heard the human say through the squealing communication device while its head quivered and rocked. Its eyes were tightly shut.
“What did it say?” The queen asked with a glance to her side and across to where Vanyoc was standing. ”What’s happening, Vanyoc?”
“Viel garjanox sur ti spektark?” Vanyoc commanded into the communicator in a roaring vibrato.
One of the two Tsri-Volpa in the chamber with the prisoner turned to face the transmission. “Gal rej sur tuvalek sim srottendar. Ist ba surilag rojohasitop ir hikslelik.”
Losing patience, the queen interjected. “Translate!”
“Effect of ismak device,” Vanyoc replied slowly, glancing back from the transmission image to the Queen. “Lectrisit use to subdue scub. Scub remembering.”
With widening eyes, Biel-Tris’s own memory surfaced a conversation; words spoken by her sister Mord-Tris within the Sandine palace on Estara. Beware the despair, Sister, she remembered her plump sibling uttering a dire warning. For the day he regains his memory will be the day of your undoing if you do not.
“Kill the human!” The queen barked. “There’s no reason to keep it alive. Get it over with, Vanyoc!”
“No!” Vaul snarled a response that birthed a quake within the queen’s chest. “I would stand over the filthy scub and enjoy the look upon its puny face as it realizes who has recaptured him.”
With a huff, Biel-Tris turned once again to face the tall creature beside her. “Honored emissary,” she began with a smile forced upon her high cheeks. “This is not a time for vengeance. As you say, I am not your Queen, but you are in my Queendom now and I expect you to respect my rule. I am after all well known for my strategic prowess.” The smile vanishing from her pale face, her eyes flicked to glance back towards Vanyoc while her hand rose to point in the direction of the Tsri-Volpa Chaktol. “Vanyoc, kill the filthy vermin.”
“No,” Vaul interjected once more. “I assure you, Biel-Tris of Voctari, I do respect your rule. But I must also remind you that the beast is my property and has not been charged with any crime worthy of a Queen’s death sentence. Take his memory from him again,” he said with a point of his own bulky fingertip towards Vanyoc. “But only prior to his original capture. He must remember me.” Glancing
“I see,” she responded with a return of sarcasm upon her tongue. “So successful was that the last time you captured it.” Stepping closer towards Vaul, she tightened the space between them. Instantly, she could feel the heat emanating from his large body. “Very well, but after you have your revenge, we end its existence. Is that an agreeable arrangement, honored emissary?”
With eyes locked as Vaul gazed downwards, he held his stare upon her for a moment as though his pupils were a weapon holding a vigilant mark on a target. She could see within his eyes a distaste for confrontation, a feeling recognizable in that she too had a lack of patience when confronted with choices that were not of her own design. Though she understood the tall creature, she was a woman determined to end the life of the scub that posed a threat to her rule, even though she believed the human to seem more inconsequential than her sisters had prophesized.
As the gaze from Vaul’s eyes wavered, he glanced back across towards Vanyoc. “How far are they from the avaskiel array?”
“Ivascaris trilisc,” Vanyoc replied with a direct glance towards Vaul before catching that Biel-Tris was also looking towards him for an answer. With a slight shift of his large head towards Biel-Tris, Vanyoc continued with translated words. “A short divert.”
“Good,” Vaul said. “Have them approach planetary orbit just close enough to tap the neural wave. Rip his memories back from him. Contact the array so that they can prepare.”
Biel-Tris stepped back and away from Vaul, satisfied enough. “I’m glad we’re in agreement, Vaul.” Glancing back towards Vanyoc, her displeasure with his actions in following the lead of the Shri Emissary rather than that of his queen bubbled out upon her expression. “We have but one Voctaran carrier circling the fourth system. The Bhey-Suut, I believe. Patch me through to her at once, Vanyoc.”
With a glance back at Vaul, the sight of his rising black eyebrows did not surprise her. “A carrier?” He said.
“Yes,” she responded, the returning sensation of confident command felt within her cheeks. “I will dispatch her to the array at once to retrieve our prisoner, to escort the flyer here to Volpa.”
“Seems an overstated reaction to but one renegade scub.”
Biel-Tris smiled, brushing the long auburn locks that draped over her right shoulder with a swipe of the hand. “As we get to know each other, Vaul, you’ll learn that nothing I do is overstated. The last time I was on board a Voctaran war vessel, it carried me to Estara, to the throne of the five systems. Now it can deliver our prize to us, and then I can return to the throne aboard the prestigious Bhey-Suut, victorious once more.”
She could see within Vaul’s face an acceptance to her compromise, though clearly he was not pleased with the direction she had taken. She had given in to his wishes however, and she knew that there was no reason for him to disagree further. “As you wish, Biel-Tris of Voctari,” he spoke softly with a slight bow at the torso.
“Perhaps you speak truth, my Earth friend,” Progue said, gazing out over the precipice as he cleared the gray strands of hair that blew across his cheeks. The human named Edge was wise and his words were encouraging to Progue, though deep inside his unconscionable remorse still weighed heavy upon his chest. But what the human had endured in being ripped from a home that he barely remembered easily matched his own sense of despondence. Edge lived within the shadowy torment of knowing that his life was but a memory in a sea where even the memories that made up the life were denied to him. The human had nothing, yet somehow had forged on driven by a survivalists will. The words Edge had spoken sparked thoughts within that were suddenly churning with a glimmer of hope for the first time since that moment when he knew his father had been slain. The uncertainty of a next step, however, still powered the heaviness within him. “I wouldn’t know where to begin, though.”
Glancing back at the light-skinned being who was pulling the nap of his collar closer in the cold gusts that billowed up and over the icy cliff, the prince’s eyes connected with the human’s as he stepped a little closer. “This is the beginning,” the human said. “Two people making a decision. Where we go from here, we decide together.”
As the man reached a hand forward, Progue felt the weight of his remorse lessen with the sudden feeling that perhaps he could make a difference through the help of another, one who shared a similar despair yet was drawing upon strength to overcome the deep sadness within. Pity was strangely intoxicating, especially when one becomes enamored with one’s own pity. But accepting that realization with the opening of a doorway, the decision to accept the offering of help, Progue also reached a hand forward. In the misty haze of the blustery snow, however, his offering of a hand was interrupted by rapid movement that caught his eye over the shoulder of the human called Edge. Progue glanced up to glimpse a spiny ship with multiple tendrils reaching out from its blackened hull that was sailing at high velocity over the precipice. Recognizing it immediately, Progue shrieked with the abrupt rising of his heartbeat. “Tsri-Volpa!”
As rapid as the howling wind around them, the ship’s ismak harness struck Edge’s backside with a weighty thud, rapidly curling over the light-skinned being’s shoulders and down his front. With the weight of the impact, Edge began to fall forward. Instinctively Progue reached out, though Edge was then pulled in the opposite direction away with the speed of the device’s rapid retraction. Nearly stepping off the edge of the precipice to reach further forward, Progue screamed while the being that had left the safety of the ship to rescue him was pulled airborne and away. “Nooooooo!”
Visions circled rapidly within Progue’s mind; bad memories reborn as the deadly ismak flyer cut through the blustery snowfall soaring rapidly passed overhead. The Tsri-Volpa had been key to the war that had ended his father’s reign. In his mind, he could once again envision the day the Sandine Palace was overtaken, the day that his father was slain. It was dusk after many days of knowing the warships were getting closer as the defensive front was breached. The beautiful Estara was aglow with flames in
As the spider-like craft disappeared quickly into the thick blanket of flurries, Progue knew that Edge was recaptured by the filthy vermin that had aided in the overthrowing of his father’s reign and had been ripping the humans from their home-world. It took but a moment in the mind of a young being trained through a short lifetime to be ready to command decisions for a choice to be made, at least a first choice. Though his confidence within himself had wavered in the hostility of the takeover of his father’s throne, his memory of a past he had been repressing continued to bubble up to the surface. As broken as he felt whenever thoughts of his father surfaced, he remembered words from the wise king which echoed within his ears as though the spirit of the slain leader was guiding them out of the dark spot in his mind where he had locked them away. Never pause when the enemy flees. Even if you are not sure of what your command should be, make chase and consider your options en-route. Never give the enemy time to escape, nor ally’s time to see you waver.
The snowfall seemed heavier as it whipped across Progue’s blue-grey cheeks while he raced with wide strides from his long legs back towards the Starship Harmony.
“What are you doing?”
Progue heard his sisters words as he ran passed her in the thin hallway that led to the Harmony’s command center. His clothes were still caked with white snow that was beginning to melt and drift away in the speed of his run.
“Progue!”
Tinsia was chasing him. He could hear the ruffling of the fabric from her shimmering gown as she struggled to keep up with him. He was faster though, and much more determined with a firm decision cemented within his mind. He was done allowing the Tsri-Volpa to destroy those around him that he cared about. He had permitted that to happen already, had sat idly by as he watched his own deception spiral out of control to an intolerably high cost. Though he knew that he himself had created the opportunity for the overthrowing of his father, he was no longer going to wallow in his own pity. All it had taken was once more witnessing the horrors that the enemy was capable of unleashing upon the good to drive him up from despair and into a new light. His mind set, he was taking the ship, and he would not return without the human called Edge safely on board.
“Progue!”
The princess’s voice grew more distant as he passed through the entry to the main command center, rushing up the stairs two at a time until he stood upon the first landing looking down at the expansive bridge. As he had hoped, Sriva was there monitoring. She had clearly seen the Tsri-Volpa craft and was already tracking it.
“My Prince,” she said as he began his decent to the main level, still at a quick pace using his long legs to drop two steps at a time.
“Proooogue!” Tinsia still pursued, and had entered the stairwell up to the first landing.
Sriva bowed quickly, though as proper as she was, he could see the alarm in her expression. “My Prince,” she continued while rising back up from the bow. “It is Tsri-Volpa.”
“I know,” he replied stopping short of the pilot’s station where a collection of ovular monitors wrapped around two large chairs. “You know how to fly this thing?”
“Yes,” she answered with a cautious pause.
“Progue!” Tinsia had arrived, sailing quickly down the stairs towards the main floor holding the dense fabric of her shimmering gown in a grasp before her. “What are you doing?”
Progue turned to face the princess. “What I should have done long ago, sister,” he said. “I’m doing the right thing. Sriva, fire up the engines.”
“But…Tyrsa and Gainog have yet to return,” Sriva slowly remarked with a continued air of caution.
With the feel of his sister’s hand upon his arm, Progue turned once again to face Tinsia.
“Have you lost your mind?” Tinsia said with a scowl. “Hasn’t your recklessness cost us enough?”
With a tug of the hand, Progue pried her fingers from his forearm and pushed Tinsia back with a hefty force. “Either fight at my side, or get out of my way,” he said seeing immediate astonishment within his sister’s expression. Turning away towards Sriva once more, he paused for a moment before turning back to his finally silent sibling. “And take off that uxfam dress. This isn’t a palace.”
Rob Alpine, known simply as Tinker since being pulled aboard the starship Harmony by her captain, felt the oncoming of another spasm. It was going to be a bad one. Wincing, he felt his body seize from the waist up before his shoulder twisted, abruptly smashing into the galley wall. “A-a-a-ahhh!” he wailed with choppy syllables when the flesh that was already heavily bruised took the brunt of the impact.
David turned. His somewhat egotistical friend who had been ignoring him since he had raced into the galley with an urgent need of help raised his eyebrows in the show of compassion he occasionally displayed. “You alright?” David said. “That was a bad one.”
Tinker was well aware that the fellow human who had grown to be his greatest friend since his abduction was somewhat self-centered. He was determined, however, to break through the selfish layers to the compassion he also knew lived deep within the tall man with the long blonde locks. Popping the shoulder back as another twitch rocked his torso, Tinker approached David once more, ignoring the pain. He was accustomed to the constant throbbing of his body anyways. “E-e-e-d-d-ge n-n-n-ee-eed-s-“
“Prince… Edge. Can it wait until I make the frex? It’s the closest thing we have to coffee here.”
Reaching forward while another convulsion erupted from deep within causing his chest to tighten and his head to jerk backwards, he grasped at David’s muscular forearm. “N-n-n-no.” At the completion of the word with his tongue continuing to twitch with the relentless tremor that impacted his speech, he felt the vibration in the floor. Releasing David’s arm while seeing his tall blonde shipmate’s eyes widen, he knew immediately the cause. He had felt it many times and was as familiar with it as he was to the constant twitches and seizures that had overtaken him since his abduction; since he was sliced open and the Tsri-Volpa had attempted to alter his brain. The ship was lifting off.
“What the!” David shouted. “Are Tyrsa and Gainog back?” Reaching out to the galley counter to steady himself, David glanced at Tinker and then raced towards the doorway.
Tinker felt another seizure erupting within him, though he ignored it while reaching towards the counter as well. His body rocked and tightened first and then his shoulders twisted at the climax of the convulsion. His thoughts wandered backwards to the moment that Edge stepped off the ship as he was climbing the ladder to find David. He could see the flashback clearly within and could feel the cold wind whipping across his bruised flesh where it was exposed from the thin vest he wore. The snow was swirling inwards then, but in his mind the snow was swirling once more as a blanket of white overtook his thoughts. He was drifting without control into another vision.
Precipice. He heard the word softly yet clearly within his mind while the misty white blanket swirled into an inner image of the prince standing upon the rim of the icy cliff, the tall being’s blue-gray hair whipping rapidly across pale gray skin. As Tinker’s inner consciousness circled the tall body of the prince wrapped up in the furs that once hung at the Harmony’s hatchway, his vision seemed to complete the rotation by merging with the prince to gaze through the prince’s eyes. Suddenly Tinker was looking upon Edge, though he could sense somehow that he had become the prince. There was movement over Edge’s left shoulder.
Tsri-Volpa! He heard the Prince’s voice as if he himself had shouted the word. He felt startled and could see the harness flailing through the air towards Edge’s backside. Edge was struck, and the tendrils upon the harness began to wrap around Edge’s shoulders. Though Edge fell forward first, he then sailed rapidly away, backwards towards the dark Tsri-Volpa ship. Tinker watched on as the craft flew overhead, but then felt the beginning of the eruption of another seizure. His vision cleared and he looked once again at the galley wall. As the seizure forced his torso to jolt sideways, his hip slamming painfully into the side of the counter, he again ignored that which he was used to. He was alone in the galley and he knew he had once more drifted into the precognitive visions that he at times could not control.
But how long, he wondered. David had told him details of the events and he knew when they occurred that his eyes grew glassy, his seizures stopped and his lips dropped open. He was never sure of the duration of time when he drifted into the visions, though it seemed that his latest was likely short. Feeling the rumble of the ships engines solidly quaking within the floor beneath his feet, he thought of what he had seen in the vision, and knew what it was that he needed to do. Stepping towards the monitor at the edge of the cabinet, he gazed upon it while reaching forward to its controls. His arm twitched slamming his finger into the controls, but the monitor came on. He knew how it worked; he could see the machinery within sparking with electricity. He remembered taking it apart and improving it.
With a stroke of his finger, he brought forth the interior scan. Though the machinery only displayed the life forms within the vessel, he could see within each glow that represented a living being traits that only he understood. The scans picked up individual attributes of each. He had thought once of taking it apart again and increasing the capabilities to identify a being after learning its attributes, but he had never done it. He understood it though, and he could see with little effort that Tyrsa, Gainog and Frock had not returned. The prince and princess were in the command center with Sriva. Elyse was approaching the command center and David was racing up near to where Elyse was. Edge was not on the ship and it appeared by David’s location that he had not been lost in the strange vision for very long.
With another stroke of his finger just as his head rocked with a tremor, he commanded the machinery to sweep with an exterior scan. Immediately he understood that they were nearing the edge of Lacroveria’s atmosphere, and there was another ship in the distance increasing in speed towards the outer rim of the system. They were chasing the ship.
Edge, he thought. He’s on that ship.
“Turn this uxfam ship around!” David could feel his temper rising as though the chilly temperature of the command center had climbed to a scorching level of heat. Glancing around the mammoth housing, he could see that Sriva was piloting the craft, but without question it was clear to him that it was Progue calling the shots. Knowing well that his temper tended to mask his sensibility, something he had thought of in contemplation often, he once again allowed rage to take control. As his legs approached the prince with quick strides across the lower level, the prince turned to return a determined glare. “I owe Tyrsa my life you son of a bitch!” he shouted on approach, but then reached forward and up to grip the thin neck of the Inari prince within his large hand. “I will not sit by while you steal her ship!”
“David!” Though Elyse was before him a moment prior when he had raced passed her, he realized how close she remained near to him as he felt the barrel of a small weapon held tight in her hand press against his own neck. “Release Prince Progue immediately,” she said slowly but with a tone more commanding than he would have previously thought possible from the seemingly introverted human.
The pistol was tiny, but glancing to his side to where the thin and short human stood with a firm look, he was not prepared to question its power. “Loyal to the royals,” he muttered through rapid breaths while loosening his grip to release the prince. “You’re a pathetic human.”
Dropping his hand to his side, he watched Elise’s face closely until she finally pulled the tiny pistol away from him with a flick of her wrist, and then lowered it slipping it inside her gray shorts where its size allowed it to hide well within the loose fabric. “Hmm,” he huffed deep with a sense of detest from within. “I always had the strange feeling you had secrets you were hiding.”
With a step forward while brushing the flowing fabric of her gown, Tinsia placed a protective hand upon Elise’s shoulder while gazing up into David’s eyes. David looked upon her with equal loathing. “In our travels,” Tinsia said. “Elise and I had to be prepared to defend ourselves.”
“I see,” David responded, glancing around and suddenly feeling as though he was an outnumbered combatant. “Got a rifle hiding in the folds of your gown, your rapture?” Looking back towards Elise, he once again felt the rising abhorrence of a human betraying those of her own kind. “And now you’re helping them steal Tyrsa’s ship. She’s been nothing but good to you. To all of you!”
With the unexpected feel of a hand upon his shoulder, David flinched while glancing back to see that it was Prince Progue. “I have no desire to take another’s property,” Progue said. “Certainly not from one as kind as your captain has been. But waiting for her return would have cost us the loss of your shipmate. He has been re-captured by the Tsri-Volpa and is on the ship we are pursuing.”
With a quick glance around, David confirmed what immediately had come to mind. Other than Tinker who he had just left, Edge was not amongst the crowd within the command center. “Edge.”
“My Prince,” Sriva interrupted. David turned back to witness Progue spinning to glance forward to where Sriva sat before the ships piloting controls. “We’ve cleared the atmosphere. I’m picking up the vapor trail where the flyer reconnected to its propulsor drive, but it has already left orbit. They are beyond the scanning range of this ship. We have lost them.”
“Not acceptable!” Progue barked while stepping quickly forward towards the pilot bay. “Look for a displacement in the trail that may discern their direction when engaging the drive.”
Though the prince continued to command, his words dropped into background chatter as David looked back towards where Tinsia and Elise still stood. He could see within the princess’s brilliant amber eyes that spied the prince’s actions with what seemed a disagreeable appearance that though she had sat idly by while Elise aimed a gun in protection of the prince, she was not pleased with what was occurring. Perhaps, he thought, there was a chance he had an unusual ally in her. “Tinsia,” he said softly, near to a whisper.
“Ahh,” Tinsia huffed with a snarl across her pale bluish cheeks. “Now you have discovered I have a name.”
For a man not normally impacted by rebuke from another, David suddenly felt the scold like a stab to the heart. He stepped closer, however, forcing himself to ignore the sensation. He needed an ally. “Look,” he whispered softly with his lips inches from hers. “Edge was stupid. We shouldn’t risk all our lives for someone who cares so little for his own. You’ve got to see that.”
Tinsia’s eyes narrowed as she took in his words. He could see agreement in her expression while she moved even closer positioning her lips near to his ears. “I do agree with you,” she whispered. “But I also know my brother. We will not stop him.” Pulling back, Tinsia reached towards Elise to pull her closer in towards them both. “We three must prepare to defend ourselves.”
Elise lowered her voice as well to interject. “Sriva has lost the vessel. Piloting is not her forte.”
“Then we return to the ice planet,” Tinsia’s voice grew louder as she stepped back. “Progue,” she shouted. “If we have lost the Tsri Volpa, then we should return and regroup with our remaining crew. Remember that we have other matters to attend to. The Inari are counting on us.”
“Wait,” Sriva interrupted. “I’m receiving coordinates. Looking up towards the prince with surprise evident in her yellow eyes, she continued. “They’re from the human Tinker.”
David felt the surprise as well in the crinkling of uncertainty upon his cheeks.
“The damaged one?” Progue said.
Sriva nodded. “He’s firing up the main drive from the galley.”
With a huff, David turned towards the entry stairs as if he could see the galley from the structure. “Tinker. What are you doing?” He whispered to himself.
“Follow his coordinates, Sriva.” Progue commanded. “Maximum velocity.”
“No, wait.” Frustration rose up once more within David’s chest causing the tightening of his lungs. “Progue!”
With the speed of a bullet, Progue’s arm swung towards him capturing David’s own neck wrapped within tight and spiny blue-gray fingers. “For the first time in my life,” the prince said through a determined scowl. “I have stopped thinking of how I am impacted by the decisions others make. I am thinking about how others, someone else is impacted. Perhaps you should have spent more time with Edge. He put his life at risk to teach me that lesson, to save my life. Now I will put mine at risk to save his. You can either join and help, or you can get out of my way. The choice is yours.”
The fingers released him quickly as Progue turned back towards the pilot bay. David turned, his jaw dropping in the astonishment of the moment, to see the swaying silver gown of Princess Tinsia creeping up the stairs followed closely by Elise. At the second landing, she turned back, her head crowned with shimmering jewels, and glanced towards David. Though he knew and could still see in her face that she agreed with the stupidity of the chase, she was clearly done trying to convince her brother.
What tugged at his heart in his view of the second landing, however, was the expression of the face of another of the Harmony’s crew. Tinker had arrived, and even through the straining of his cheeks as the young man struggled in preparation for another approaching spasm, David could recognize disappointment. Tinker was his best friend on the ship. Perhaps it was that they each had no other Earth-born humans for so long, or perhaps they simply enjoyed the uniqueness of each other’s
As Tinker recovered from the seizing of his chest, the stare upon David’s eyes was broken. Tinker swept passed the dense fabric of Tinsia’s gown and dropped to the main floor of the command center. He gave David one final glance as he raced passed towards the second seat in the pilot’s bay.
Turning back to where the princess and Elise still stood at the second landing, he caught sight of what seemed his only ally preparing to exit. “Come along Elise,” Tinsia said loud enough for her voice to carry throughout the control bridge. “As my brother suggested, it’s time I took off this uxfam dress.”
Tinker dropped into the second seat left of where the tall and lanky blue-gray inari named Sriva struggled with the controls before her. As he landed upon the large cushion that was built for a being much taller than he, a spasm shot through his right leg causing it to slam painfully at the knee into the edge of the control panel before him. He winced, pushing the pain to the back of his thoughts glaring forward at the collection of monitors that hung before the two seats.
“I still don’t have them,” Sriva screeched with the frustration of her inability to satisfy her prince.
Tinker glared for a moment and then sat forward towards the edge of the seat, gazing upon the controls that were ablaze in shades of purple and green, each switch and touchscreen littered with words in a language he did not understand. As he focused upon the controls, his head turned sharply to the side in the force of another small seizure. He felt the seizure’s completion as the pressure upon his chest lessened. At that moment he glanced back to the controls, his mind racing forward examining the complex circuits and networks represented upon the screen that he knew was the neural composition of the ship. Increase the scanning range, he thought, his lungs seizing once more with the tightening of his shoulder blades. Environmentals. Everyone’s on the bridge except Tinsia and Elise. With a quick thrust of his hand forward, Tinker locked off the lower deck beneath where he could see that Tinsia and Elise were walking. With another swipe of his fingers, he shut down environmental controls to the lower decks and re-routed the additional power to the outer scan. He then disabled his ability to scan the interior knowing where all beings aboard now were, diverting that additional energy as well. “B-b-b-b-ooo-oo-ss-t-t-ting s-s-s-sc-a-an-n,” he said with a glance to his side.
“I have them,” Sriva replied almost immediately with an expression of astonishment. “They’re travelling at our maximum velocity.” Glancing towards Tinker, the gray brows atop Sriva’s long thin face rose. “Or can you increase our speed as well?”
His head jolting to the side with the force of another spasm while his shoulders twisted, he rode the tremor to its completion and then studied the glimmering panel once more. The answer to the question came quickly as his inner vision sailed through the workings of the starship comprehending its capabilities. As a young man who was once a simple beachfront bartender with a vibrant sense of enjoyment for life and no education for mechanical engineering, he wondered long ago of why it was
When the completion of his inner inspection of the ships mechanics resulted in all thoughts of opportunities to increase speed ending in failure, he returned his glance back to Sriva. “N-n—n—n-no.”
David watched on, circling behind the pilot bay as the amazing though very damaged mind of his friend Tinker did what it did best. He didn’t understand why Tinker could comprehend mechanics the way he did, but had stopped questioning long past. As his frustration for what was occurring transformed to a sense of pride for the effort Tinker was giving, David felt the sternness of his cheeks soften. “Progue,” he said, lighter than he had yet done since his entry into the command center. Though his sense of pride in Tinker was bubbling, his loyalty for the woman who had rescued him was still in control of his determination. “If we survive this, we go straight back to Lacroveria, right? Back to Tyrsa?”
“Yes.” Progue glanced back, turning his long thin bluish neck so that his lengthy gray hair swept across his shoulder. “I have no desire to steal a ship which does not belong to me. This ship is Tyrsa’s”
With a quick nod, David stepped passed Progue towards the side of the command center where two more large seats flanked a different set of control panels with another collection of monitors. Lowering himself into a seat that he had sat in before, he remembered a moment not long before when preparing for battle as a member of Tyrsa’s crew. It was a tense moment in space when his defiant captain prepared for betrayal by a Tsaultrob on board a cruiser. A moment followed by the successful transfer of two passengers named Tinsia and Elise. But he was prepared to fight then in those moments leading up to potential conflict, resulting in knowledge of how to use the controls before him, as well as those that rose up from the ends of the seat’s arms. “Tinker, Sriva,” he said gazing forward while studying the darkened panel, accepting that his temper had flared far too early as it always had done, and that the time to join in and help as Tinker was doing had arrived. “Give me control of the guns. We may need them.”
David stood aghast aside the weapons control seat he had occupied until a view formed upon the largest of the monitors that stood tall before the pilot’s bay. Suddenly breathless, he stared forward while all activity around him vanished into unfocused haze. Upon the monitor, a large object was displayed, ominous while floating at the edge of a planet’s atmosphere; deep orange and brown in color with saucer shaped units dotting its exterior. At the top center of the construct, a large armature reached outwards as if it was pointing into deep space. He had seen the object before, and it surfaced memories that stirred his nerves and caused his skin to erupt with a sensation as though insects were crawling upon him.
“Sriva, armament?” Prince Progue asked in his signature commanding voice.
“None recognizable,” Sriva answered. Though David’s eyes were locked upon the object on the screen with breathless wonder, he glanced down for a moment to see that Sriva had turned to look aside her to where Tinker was seated. Through his knowledge of his young friend’s abilities, he was not surprised to see that Tinker had managed to pull schematics of the object onto the panel before him. Through the occasional seizing of his muscles, the young man with wildly disheveled hair was rapidly studying the information.
“Do you agree, little human?” Sriva asked. She was also aware of Tinker’s unusual understanding of machinery and likely surmised that his damaged yet brilliant mind was dissecting the purpose of the frightening object.
“Does anyone know of this strange craft?” Progue questioned from where he stood within that unfocused haze. David, pulled from his introspection, looked down towards the pilot’s bay where Progue stood. “It is unrecognizable to me.” The prince continued.
Tension building within his chest, David heard the beginnings of Tinker’s attempt at answering.
“Y-y-y-“
“Yes,” David interjected. Glancing behind him to where Elise stood beside Tinsia who was now dressed in a black jumpsuit, he saw the look of dread within the female humans face as well. “Three of us have seen it before. And from what I’ve been hearing, likely several inari have been unfortunate enough to witness it.”
Near to the end of the words, the expression upon the inari prince’s face deepened to what seemed anger. “Tell me of this device.”
Glancing once more towards Elise, David confirmed what seemed to be the heavy beating of her heart in the dropped jaw upon her face. With Tinker’s limited ability to speak lengthy sentences, it seemed it was up to him to explain the moments that he knew resonated with the deepest fear within the memories, limited or not, in the minds of the three humans. He looked back upon the large monitor while his heart rate increased, the device seeming to hang lifeless above what looked to be a fruitful planet. “It produces the light,” he said after a moment of discomfort from attempting to speak with a dry mouth. “The light that washed over us and took us from Earth. It is where we were cut into…where our memories were taken from us.” Though his eyes were locked upon the monitor, he could see through the dim fog of his unfocused view where he knew Tinker turned to look towards him. He thought of Tinker, of his friend who he always tried hard not to pity, yet knew that he always did. “It’s where Tinker was damaged.”
The silence that followed his words was deafening, as if all motion on the immense control center of the starship Harmony had fallen into a state of suspension. His breath was all that David could hear, yet it resonated within his inner ears like an overpowering hum. Continuing to stare forward at the object of many a nightmare, he envisioned that moment when he was flung uncontrollably through space, never
“Then it must be destroyed.” The silence was broken by the commanding voice of the prince.
“No!” David reactively responded. It was an object which sparked fear within him, yet at the same time he knew that it was also a roadmap home for him. It knew where Earth was. For all he knew the armature was pointed toward his homeworld, spying upon an unsuspecting soul while preparing to do what seemed impossible by sending its power galaxies away to pull another human into a nightmarish encounter.
“The flyer,” Sriva interjected. “It is approaching the object.”
As the strange spiny craft that had abducted Edge from the icy precipice on Lacroveria floated up near to the object, the tip of the armature began to glow a putrid green while three of the surrounding saucers shifted direction.
“F-f-f-f-ire.”
David glanced down at the sound of Tinker’s words. Coordinates had been sent to his weapons control. Turning back in a desperate glare towards his stuttering friend who was recovering from another spasm, David knew at once the coordinates had come from Tinker. “No, Tinker. We need it,” he wailed with a shake of the head.
“Fl-l-l-y-y-er! Hu-u-u-r-r-ry!”
Looking up once again towards the fearful object, David could see a steady stream of blue green shimmering from the armature towards the flyer, being sucked in from the nose of the much smaller craft as if it were an infant craving the milk of its mother. “No,” he said softly, his eyes locked upon the intoxicating vision of the stream.
“Edge!” Tinker shouted with no evidence of a stutter. With a flick of the head, David’s attention, captured by the clear word uttered by his friend, re-focused down to see the look upon the young man’s face to glimpseTinker’s body rock with another tremor that shook his unruly hair. Their eyes locked, and he knew immediately that he needed to trust in Tinker, even though trust for reasons he could not remember was not something he had ever wanted to offer. David gave into the feeling, turned to the weapons control, and slammed his palm upon the firing mechanism. The Harmony pulsed with the explosive force of its forward cannon while he felt a tremble within the flooring beneath his feet.
Glancing back up once more while his breath locked within his throat, David watched on as the blinding weapon stream connected with the flyer, exploding towards its backside. The stream from the object immediately ceased with the glow of the armature lessening, and the flyer began to drop towards the planet with pieces of its hull spraying backwards.
“What have you done?” The prince exclaimed.
“I’m tracking the wreckage,” Sriva said. “It’s dropping fast towards the planet’s atmosphere.”
“No!’ David shouted aghast. “Tinker’s never wrong.”
“Wait,” Sriva again interjected. With a glance towards Tinker, she continued. “You disabled the space drive. They’re jettisoning the drive and engaging interplanetary propulsion. The ship was damaged by the explosion, but they should be able to make it to ground in one piece. You forced them to land.”
Tinker nodded twice before his cheeks tightened in the grips of another uncontrollable convulsion.
“Follow it down,” Progue commanded stepping quickly towards the forward pilot’s bridge. “Sriva, is there armament on that craft?”
“They would have shot us down already if they did,” Tinsia cut into the conversation. With a turn of the head, David saw that she had unexpectedly approached the second weapons control to his left, dropping into the seat at the completion of her words. “Human!” She shouted towards the pilot’s bridge, clearly addressing Tinker. “Give control of the aft cannon to this station! We must all know well that the Tsri-Volpa have been warned and will be coming. I shall monitor for pursuers.”
As David raised an eyebrow in the surprising actions of the princess, she turned towards him, her silvery blue hair swaying across her shoulders.
“At least you and I shall die with our fingers on a weapon,” she said with a wink of the eye.
Tsri-Volpa!
Edge heard the words wavering in and out of a soupy haze. Progue, he thought as misty memories trickled into his mind. He had left the ship, stepped out onto the blustery surface of the ice planet. As his struggle with remembrance swirled onwards through images of the tall blue-skinned being standing upon the snowy precipice with locks of gray that were like wisps in the wind, the haze before his eyes began to clear into the bright luminescence of light shining upon him. He blinked against the blurry brilliance, nodding his head to turn away from the blinding glow. Realizing immediately that he was restrained and unable to roll, he blinked again fighting to clear his vision to see what it was that was holding him down that he could feel upon his wrists and his ankles. The brightness hurt his eyes, but as his vision began to clear, he could see a bleak object before him beginning to form. It was moving closer, and it was large and dark.
Edge closed his eyes tight, battling against the dryness that was denying him clear sight, before blinking twice more. His vision cleared though his mind still focused upon the memory of a shouting prince and nothing more. But as the image before his eyes grew more vibrant of that dark object that was creeping closer, he knew without recalling how it had happened that he had been recaptured. Even through the fogginess that his eyes fought against, he recognized that standing before him was the dark
With another flutter of his eyelids, the view cleared further. A scar brought about recognition, sparking the memory of the abduction like gas to flame. All that he knew was returning in an explosion of remembrance; nothing before the abduction as he remembered that it had been before, but the moment of the abduction re-emerged along with the moment of his escape at the scub market. The yellow eyes looking upon him had gazed upon him before. “Jonyoc.”
“Where blade,” he heard in response in a raspy deep and vibrant tone. Jonyoc’s voice was like a roar captured within a whisper, dark and low yet deeply understandable.
“What?” Edge responded, not comprehending at first, yet quickly remembering that moment when Jonyoc had granted him a choice with the exchange from a large alien hand to his own of an extravagant knife. It was the knife he had used to slice into the beige skin of the creature name Vaul.
“Blade!” Jonyoc screeched with a nearly deafening tone. “Where blade!”
“I kept it,” Edge replied, a torrent of memories from a bad time flooding the forefront of his mind. “It’s on the ship. The Harmony.”
Before the completion of his answer, he felt the sudden rocking of the surroundings while Jonyoc wavered to the side, his hefty alien body capturing itself with a grip of a large leathery hand to the side wall. “What’s happening?” Edge said catching the surprise even in the grotesque eyes of the Tsri-Volpa creature. The room he was in rocked again with the sound and the feel of explosion with ripples of a vibration he could sense within the restraining device that held him tight. “Jonyoc, tell me!”
Jonyoc regained his balance quickly, returning with a lofty step to stand over Edge, releasing heated breath upon Edge’s cheeks. “Should have kill Vaul. Vaul know one help skinny hooman.”
The surroundings rocked once more with the sound of a deep claxon suddenly resonating from somewhere beyond the room he was in. Realization churned within Edge’s mind as his nerves heightened with the quaking of the walls around him of the meaning behind Jonyoc’s words. Not only had Vaul survived, but Vaul knew that one of the Tsri-Volpa had aided Edge in escape. “Jonyoc, I-“ Apology was instinctively driving words upon Edge’s lips. “I tried. I was losing blood. I was weak and trying to get away.”
“Vaul can no find blade. Must destroy.”
Edge twisted his body, pulling up on the restraints clamped tight across his wrists as if his strength was enough to release their relentless grip. “It’s on the ship, Jonyoc. Help me get back and I’ll destroy it.”
Jonyoc snarled with the formation of a low gurgling growl. With a turn, he reached to the panel at
Jonyoc approached his side once again with two weighty steps. “Harmony!” He barked with a point of his large brown hands at the back wall.
“Yes,” Edge replied with eyes continuing to be locked upon the wall.
Jonyoc leaned forward, the width of his broad and thick shoulders blocking the view of the back wall prompting Edge to once again look up into the deep and large yellow eyes. “Destroy,” Jonyoc said with the final syllable exiting in a near hiss.
“No,” Edge shot back at once. “Jonyoc, what’s happening? Are they chasing us? Did you recapture me?”
“Destroy blade.” Jonyoc’s words ended with a finality that was frightening as the large beast turned quickly away stepping towards what seemed to be an exit from the room he was in.
Feeling a shudder from the motion of whatever ship he seemed to be on, Edge fought his restraints once more. “Jonyoc wait. They’ve come to help me. They can help you too.”
With a slam of his large fist into the exit wall, Jonyoc released another hefty roar in response.
“Jonyoc, you’re as much a prisoner as I am,” Edge said quickly, attempting to convince a creature that he barely understood, yet who seemed as emotionally frustrated as any threatened human would be. “It’s all because of Vaul. Let them help us.” Edge could see the Harmony displayed upon the back wall from the corner of an eye, but kept his view locked upon Jonyoc, searching for the wavering of determination.
“Jonyoc,” Edge continued. Jonyoc had stopped just short of the exit. “You can’t hurt the people on that ship. They’re good people dealing with bad things that are out of their control.” Lifting up upon his elbows as far as the restraints would allow, he gazed forward towards Jonyoc, pleading at the only opportunity that was coming to mind at the time. “Just like you and me, Jonyoc. No different. Let me loose. I’ll destroy the blade.”
The claxon sounding from beyond the chamber he was in grew louder, with the deep sound of words that seemed similar to what he knew to be Tsri-Volpa. Jonyoc turned to look outwards. “Jonyoc, please trust me,” he continued, trying to draw the creatures attention back. If there was any similarity to human expression and that of the Tsri-Volpa creature, Jonyoc was nervous.
Jonyoc turned back inwards, racing back with two lofty steps to lean over Edge, blocking his view once more of the back wall and the image of the ship that was his salvation. “Why trust hooman do for Jonyoc?” Jonyoc said in a low snarl.
Edge gazed up into Jonyoc’s eyes once again. He remembered the first time he had looked within those eyes that had then changed quickly from being the most frightening vision he had ever experienced to recognizing a strange sense of compassion. Perhaps Jonyoc’s eyes were teetering on compassion once more, or perhaps it was simply what Edge wanted to see. He saw it none-the-less. “Because you’re good people too.”
The agitation within the creases of Jonyoc’s expression seemed to lessen. He glanced down at the restraints holding Edge’s hands down and released a hefty and warm sigh. “Tsri-Volpa good and bad.”
Edge grimaced slightly, though his fear was still heightened, he suddenly felt the compassion he was hoping to pull from the beast that he had walked away from not long ago feeling as though he had gained an ally. “Yeah,” he said. “Humans work that way too.”
Though he was prepared to continue to pry for the compassion that may get him released from the restraints, his words were interrupted with the unexpected sound of alien words from over and behind the large body that was Jonyoc; words that also appeared to be spoken in the Tsri-Volpa language, yet echoing with a strangely mechanical tone.
“Holbin vis turajon gloen!”
Jonyoc stepped back a bit, clearly struck with a new sense of anxiety, yet not spinning around. As the large creature moved, Edge caught sight of a woman just beyond projected on the back wall where moments before the starship Harmony had shown the motion of pursuit. The woman seemed human even through the eerie luminescence of projection that left her somewhat transparent. Through the shimmering that sparkled around the image, he could see flowing auburn locks that were framed by a sparkling tiara with ruby colored gems that dropped upon strands down along the length of her hair to rest upon her shoulders. Luxurious pink fabric draped across the woman’s breast swirling up over the shoulders to where it seemed to flow backwards like a cape. The rest of her body was blocked by Jonyoc’s hefty shoulders, but the woman’s brilliant green eyes were clear to him as they locked upon his own. As they gazed upon each other while Edge inhaled with a gasp, the woman’s ruby lips separated to speak.
“How touching,” the woman said, her voice also enwrapped in the strange mechanical echo. He recognized the voice like a ghostly reminiscence of a dream, but where he had heard the voice before, he was unsure of. “Warm words that make me tingle with anticipation. Would now be a good time for execution, emissary?”
“Yes, touching,” a second voice spoke with a recognition that erupted like wildfire within Edge’s brain. He knew immediately from remembrance that was branded into his damaged memory, that the voice was the large creature name Vaul, and the memory quaked with fear-driven chills upon Edge’s skin. “Vanyoc, get your treasonous brute away from my prize.”
Jonyoc backed away without turning towards the back wall, but with the movement Edge could see that the image of the Harmony had completely transformed to what seemed to be a sparkling transmission. He had a full view of the woman who was standing next to the creature Vaul with another Tsri-Volpa dressed differently than Jonyoc at its opposite side. Edge’s eyes were drawn instantly to lock with Vaul’s, the gasp at last exhaling with a rasp that quaked with terror. As he felt his body begin to twitch with the overtaking of fear, the surroundings once more rocked tossing Jonyoc unprepared and out of control to the side wall.
“What’s happening!” The woman screeched as Edge saw the transmission crackle while the restraints painfully held him tight in the unstable motion.
“Ship dropping to atmosphere,” the Tsri-Volpa within the communication answered, confirming the happenings that Edge had already surmised.
Jonyoc had nearly lost his balance when tossed to the side wall, but quickly pushed himself back up to a full stance. With barely a moment of hesitation, he released a sound that was near to the level of a lion’s roar while spinning towards the back wall. With his large fist connecting with what appeared to be the control panel to the projection device, the sparkling image of a unique threesome wavered for a moment, and then with the look of multiple sparks across the wall, ceased. In the aftermath of whatever it was that Jonyoc had done, the wall was returned to the bland gray that it had been before Jonyoc had brought forth the image of the Harmony, and the strange mechanical echo faded leaving only the distant sound of the klaxon.
“Jonyoc.” Edge looked ahead at the now blank wall where the large Jonyoc stood with a crazed look upon his face. With his heart beating a forceful rhythm within his chest, he once again feared the creature that though aided him in the past, was again a terrifying image awash with monstrous rage. Jonyoc’s eyes were wide, and his wide chest was rapidly pulsing with heavy breaths. Jonyoc released several grunts as his eyes circled the room they were in before resting in a determined gaze upon Edge. As the beastly yellow eyes grew slanted with the creasing of Jonyoc’s brow, Edge’s heart rate increased. Was Jonyoc blaming him for having been caught?
With a single wide step towards Edge, Edge fought once again against his restraints, trying to push himself back and away from the anger that had overtaken an alien he had thought of as a friend. But as Jonyoc was about to lean over him once more, the room rocked with an explosive force greater than those felt earlier. Jonyoc became airborne rolling over the device that held tight to Edge, while Edge helplessly felt his body ride the shockwave with his appendages locked in place. The ship was crashing, he could feel the rumble of the wreckage sliding upon the ground of whatever planet they had come to rest upon, but his only choice was to remain restrained.
Edge rolled his head to the side, tightly closing his eyes as panels from the ceiling above began to fall in sparks of electricity like flaming raindrops. He could not protect himself as the wreckage began to buckle and the objects within the room rose up like deadly projectiles. When the rumble began to lessen and Edge could feel the motion lessening, he opened his eyes once again looking up to see that the room had grown dim, lit only by burning debris. With dissipating vibration, the wreckage came to a stop, and in the silence of sudden stillness, Edge could hear his breathing which was heavy and quick.
There was movement behind him, the sound of a struggle. As the rustling became accented with heavy rasping and grunting, he knew at once that it was Jonyoc. With the flexing once more of his muscles, Edge fought against the restraints, but again he was unable to release the tight grip that held him immovable beyond a squirm. As a dark object rose over and behind him, even in the darkness of the wreckage with the occasional flash of electrical circuits, he could see that Jonyoc was alive and lifting himself to a stance behind him. “Jonyoc,” he said between rapid breaths, fear of both the crash and the desperation of a large and powerful alien being colliding into an overpowering terror. “I didn’t want this to happen. You helped me before, but I never thought about the danger you put yourself in.”
As he felt the weight of a heavy being press down upon the device that was holding him, he knew that Jonyoc’s powerful hands were but inches from his head. He could see Jonyoc’s large eyes flashing in the occasional electrical sparks occurring around him, recognizing the despair that was still overtaking him. Edge squinted, preparing himself for a painful blow as Jonyoc released a wail that summoned the chill that was silently awaiting that final moment of terror before being called into action. His body shook, though his breath stilled. In the anticipation of rage from a forceful beast, Edge felt the sudden and unexpected retraction of the restraints sliding into the device he had been fastened to, releasing him.
Edge remained frozen, his eyes widened on the flickering view of the darkened leathery face of Jonyoc as it turned away from him quickly. With the flicker of damaged circuitry growing more rapid, he caught sight of the hefty Jonyoc racing from the room he was in and out the doorway until he could only see the darkness of wreckage around him. Still trembling, he knew as the sparks continued to rain around him that the only remaining danger was in the machinery of a much damaged vessel that had crashed on the surface of a planet. But he also knew that Jonyoc had delivered to him another chance. He was freed from the restraints.
“Human,” the Prince barked into the cavernous bridge area of the starship Harmony that was ablaze with the starshine of the planet they had just touched down upon. Behind him, the ovular screens above the pilot’s bay displayed the image of the damaged Tsri-Volpa flyer that had come to rest before them with plumes of black smoke rising from the wreckage.
The human named David glanced his way, realizing quickly that it was he who was being addressed.
“You’re with me,” the Prince continued while making quick strides towards the stairwell leading off the bridge. “Tinsia, keep the cannons aimed at that ship. Sriva and Tinker, be ready to get us off this piece of uxfa.”
Approaching the stairs, the human Elise turned to follow. “I’m with you as well,” she said.
“Are you good with a larger gun than that toy in your pocket?”
“She is!” His sister bellowed from the far wall. With a quick turn to glance towards Elise’s determined expression, his brow instinctively rose in the momentary thought of that there was more to his sister and her scub that he would need to question. Another time, he thought. Confirming that David
With the main hatch lowered, Progue held cover behind the main strut glancing to the side and forward to where he had seen movement. The wreckage was smoking vehemently, and if there was a chance their comrade had survived the crash, he knew that he would need to board the smoldering ship.
“Cover me,” he spoke to his backside prepared to race forward towards the second strut that extended at the edge of the lowered hatchway. “I’m moving-“
“No time.” Elise instead passed him leaning forward with the rifle she had armed herself with aimed outward while racing down the hatch. Instantly a flash of yellow light erupted; weapon fire from the exit of the downed ship.
Progue took aim quickly as the corner of his sight glimpsed Elise rolling to cover behind the forward strut. Another flash came from behind him with David taking aim at the opposite ships’ doorway. Progue saw a large Tsri-Volpa step backwards after being hit by David’s blast, pulling swiftly inwards on his own trigger with no hesitation. His weapon fired, connecting with the Tsri-Volpa soldier directly in the chest. Instantly, return fire began to stream towards them from the Tsri-Volpa vessel as he fired back towards the origin of one of the streams. Blinding blue beams passed over his shoulder from David behind him while he knew that Elise also returned fire with rapid blasts. The humans were better than he had expected as the opposing yellow blasts began to lessen. He watched on, focused on the direction the barrel of his weapon was pointed at as a second Tsri-Volpa fell lifeless and then a third. The weapon fire paused for a moment before a final blast from Elise brought about its end.
“The flyers gonna blow!” Elise shouted while still holding her cover. “Let’s get our man and get off this rock!”
Elise stood, preparing to race towards the Tsri-Volpa vessel as Progue caught sight of movement at the exit. Progue took aim once more. “Wait!” he shouted to the impulsive but courageous human. Preparing to pull in on the trigger, he glimpsed that the color of the skin emerging from the smoke was much paler than that of the Tsri-Volpa creature. Continuing to hold the trigger tight within his grip, Progue then confirmed the recognition of the face of the being running from the wreckage. It was the human called Edge.
With a hefty inhale of smoke-free air, Edge ran out upon the surface of the planet, the view of the starship Harmony unfolding through the mist before him. He caught sight first of Elise who was at the bottom of the hatchway holding a long weapon towards him, but then he could see her right hand release its grip on the weapon as she began to wave it in a motion for him to hurry towards her. At the sides of the open hatchway, however, he heard the deep and loud clanking of heavy machinery in rapid motion. The ships cannons were positioning themselves with their tips glowing in a brilliant reddish orange. Edge slowed, his heart suddenly racing for reasons other than the fear of the loss of his own life. The Harmony was preparing to destroy the flyer, and though Edge was unsure of whether or not
“What are you doing!” the commanding voice of the prince shot down from the top of the ramp where he could see the strands of gray hair flowing out upon the breeze from behind the rear strut.
“Come on!” Elise shouted, stepping further out in the open. She was risking her life to help him. As unexpected as her actions were, he remained unsure of what he was doing, yet determined to not allow the destruction of the flyer.
“You can’t destroy this ship!” He shouted. Was it Tyrsa on board, or Tinker holding a finger upon the cannon’s firing mechanism? With another glance towards Elisa, he saw the hand that was motioning for his speed return to the barrel of the gun while she dropped to her knees. Edge raised his hands higher knowing by the look in her eyes that there was at least one Tsri-Volpa behind him. “Don’t shoot!”
Turning his head to glance backwards, he caught sight of two Tsri-Volpa warriors with weapons aimed his way. But then he saw a third. Jonyoc was running between the two towards him with his large hands pushing outwards at the weapons of the Tsri-Volpa he was passing. Jonyoc’s lips separated, his bulbous jaw releasing a roar as he jumped with two powerful legs towards Edge, spinning to land with his outstretched arms guarding Edge from the Tsri-Volpa warriors. Somehow deep within, he knew that Jonyoc had known that Edge was risking his own life to protect the very beings that had abducted him.
Without pause, Edge spun back towards the Harmony to see Elise with her weapon aimed directly at Jonyoc’s wide shoulders that towered above him, with Progue and David also positioned equally. “No!” Edge screamed, extending his arms further up, back to back with the beastly creature that had aided him in escape twice. “No,” He repeated. “He’s not our enemy.”
“They took you!” Prince Progue shouted, stepping out from behind cover. “Ripped you into their icy clutches like the savage brutes they are! Get on this uxfam ship, or I’ll leave you with them!”
In the deep vibratory voice that he knew to be Jonyoc, he heard words echo from behind him. “No more det,” he said.
“Tseel vostrnol ke tronason ajanu!” He heard shouted in return.
“Weapons down!” Elise was stepping forward. There were two armed Tsri-Volpa, but three from the Harmony with two large cannons pointed at the flyer. The Tsri-Volpa were outgunned. “Now!”
Both Progue and David began to descend the ramp as well, quickly traversing to drop to the ground of the planet where they each raced towards Edge, David joining Elise with weapons aimed at the two warriors near to the flyer’s entrance. Progue pointed the nose of his rifle directly up at Jonyoc.
Edge turned his head again to see the Tsri-Volpa at the smoking flyer’s hatch dropping their weapons to the ground. “Progue drop your weapon.”
“They’ve done something to you,” Progue replied.
“He saved my life. His name is Jonyoc,” Edge said while turning fully to face Jonyoc. “Jonyoc, you need to come with us.”
“No,” Jonyoc replied in his signature growl of a voice. “Jonyoc not come with nameless.”
“Vaul knows who you are now, Jonyoc. He’ll kill you.”
Jonyoc’s head dropped low upon his shoulders, his deep and wide yellow eyes gazing intently towards the ground. Uttering a sound that captured Edge’s compassion, one that oozed with despair, Edge reached out to grasp the wide arm of Jonyoc. “Family,” Jonyoc spoke lowly, lower than Edge had yet heard from the lips of the large Tsri-Volpa. “Tilasaak, Vaul can no.” With his head slowly rolling to glance towards Edge, Edge’s head cocked with uncertainty of the meaning of the words. “Jonyoc go with nameless,” he said at last with a tone that sounded of defeat.
“Fine!” Progue commanded. “So we have a prisoner!” As Edge turned to glance towards the inari prince, he saw the weapon once again aimed directly towards Jonyoc. To his right, he saw that David had also raised the long barrel of his own weapon.
“Stop!” Edge shouted, spreading his arms outwards once more. “He doesn’t come aboard as a prisoner. He comes aboard as an ally.” With a determined glare, his eyes locked with Progue’s until he could begin to see Progue’s acceptance of his intent. Progue gazed back curiously. “Trust me, “ Edge said softly, speaking to the prince once more with the tone that he had used upon the precipice. He had built something strong in their short time together on the ice planet, and somehow sensed that it was a bond that he could rely upon. “I’m right about this.”
“Perhaps,” the prince replied while lowering the weapon just a bit.
“We need to leave,” he heard David’s words and then turned to glance right once more. Elise was backing away.
“Get away from your ship,” she said while stepping backwards. She was speaking to the Tsri-Volpa. “It might blow at any point.”
“Come with us,” Edge said, stepping backwards a bit himself. With the space created between he and Jonyoc, he could see the expressions on the two Tsri-Volpa by the flyer. They were gazing at Jonyoc, and the look was of rage. “Come.”
Jonyoc at last turned, beginning to walk slowly towards the Harmony while his head continued to droop downwards. It was clear he was despondent, but Edge knew at the moment that there was no other choice. Behind Jonyoc, Edge saw the sudden movement of the two Tsri-Volpa racing into the thicket at the side of the flyer. They were taking Elise’s advice, and probably well aware that any attempt to retrieve their weapons could result in the eruption of the massive Harmony cannons. He felt a certain peace in seeing them run, for inside he wanted them to survive. He was discovering that like humans, not all Tsri-Volpa were bad, though when following orders they sometime can appear to be.
He watched on for a moment, and then turned back to begin the climb up the ramp into the Harmony’s belly with a saddened Jonyoc at his side.
As the Harmony broke free of the planet’s atmosphere, David marched towards Progue after leaving Edge and the vile beast within the cargo hold. It had been a long day, and he was tired, but the day would not be over until Tyrsa was back on board requiring a journey back to Lacroveria. As he approached the prince, though agreeing that rescuing Edge had been the right move, he still felt a strong sense of disdain for the prince’s approach. Shooting Progue a glare that he knew steamed with distaste, he thought for a brief moment that even with his limited memory, he knew that he had never been one to disguise his inner thoughts. “I hope you’re prepared to tell Tyrsa she has a filthy Tsri-Volpa on board,” he said with barely a pause as he passed the prince on his way back to the seat at the weapons bay. “If one of us doesn’t kill it before we get back to Lacro-“
Freezing in mid-step just passed the prince, he was captured by the sight of the device that had abducted him once more upon the ovular screens above the pilot’s bay which immediately caused uneasiness to ebb again. As the object slowly grew larger, he knew that they were approaching it. “What are you doing?” He said, the feeling of the increasing speed of his heart rate pumping within his veins. Turning back to the prince, he recognized within eyes that though were not human could still paint expression that was recognizable, a steadfast glare of determination. “You said right back to Lacroveria, back to Tyrsa. Why are we approaching that thing?”
“It must be destroyed,” Progue replied softly, though the words echoed within David’s ears as if they had been screamed.
“No!” David shouted, stepping back towards the prince once more. “You son of a bitch,” he continued with the elevated tone that he once again could not control and did not care to control. “You have no idea what it’s like, being ripped from your home.” With the word home, and image of his mother washed across his inner thought sitting upon that couch in the townhouse in Massachusetts. With his emotional control wavering, he could feel a sense of tightness within his throat. It always seemed that since his memory had become spotty, that the memories he did have were stronger. The image of his mother, though within his thoughts he could not even muster her name, was an image that haunted his emotion. “You have no idea what it’s like to not even know where home is, to struggle every day trying to remember what it was that you loved about it. That thing,” he said with a point of his finger to the monitors. “-is the closest thing any of us from Earth have seen since we were pulled out here to a roadmap home. It knows where Earth is. You can’t destroy it.”
Progue stared back with large ivory eyes that remained determined, the tall inari crafting a response to the outbreak. He sickened David, and in David’s mind was not the captain of the vessel. “It’s the right thing to do,” Progue at last replied. “As long as that object survives, it’s a sentence for any human or inari that it sets its sights upon.”
“No,” David shot back. “You’re not the captain of this ship. It’s not your decision.” David spun,
“Tinker,” David said, reaching forward to place a hand on his friends shoulder. He could feel the vibration of the budding tremor in the young man’s muscles. “That’s our ticket home. Think about what you’re doing. You could be back in Fort Lauderdale. They might even be able to fix you.”
“N-n-n-noo-o-o w-w-w-u-u-n-n-n el-l-l-sss-s.” Tinker shuddered before ending the words, riding another tremor that overtook his muscles yet did not disguise the steadfast determination on his tongue.
“Tinker, think-“
Tinker broke in ignoring David’s words with the continuous struggle to be understood. “N-n-n-not-t w-w-wor-worth it-t-t. “
“No,” David whispered. Tinker was convinced and David felt his friend’s disappointment in him hit deep within his stomach. Pulling back his hand from Tinker’s shoulder, he glanced back at Tinsia who was holding her hand on the controls to fire the weapon. He had lost. With a glance back at the monitors, he drank in the image of the object that called forth a terror-filled memory, yet birthed the few happy images of his previous life; the yearning of knowing that somewhere out there, the mother he loved may be waiting for his return. David felt the moisture of tears beginning to form.
“Fire,” he heard Progue command from behind him.
“No!” he cried out, laced with emotions he rarely allowed to surface that were fully in control of his actions.
The bridge rocked with the explosive vibration of the cannon’s firing. As David looked forward once more, he could see the object engulfed in the bright glare of its mechanics erupting while it dipped backwards, components separating and falling towards the planet’s atmosphere below. Raising a hand to his chest, he pressed in, though the hand could not lessen the tightness that felt as if he had stepped into the vacuum of the space that the object which had plucked him from the Earth was exploding within.
Progue had been focused upon the difficult moments upon the bridge. He was an emotional individual and truly felt for the humans. Unlike the words that David had spoken, hidden beneath the trained facial expression of a young royal raised to be a leader resided a being with a deep sense of compassion. He did understand, and as David stood motionless with his head dropped, Progue reached his long hand forward and stretched his fingers across David’s shoulder in an offer of comfort and understanding. David shrugged his shoulders, however, returning an angry glance. The look was not a surprise to Progue, however. He hoped though that one day the human would know what he truly felt
“Wait,” Sriva interrupted the moment while inching forward upon her seat. With a flick of his head, Progue could see that Tinker was also inching forward.
“We’re being scanned,” Sriva continued. “Do you see it Tinker?”
“Y-y-y-y-y-e-e-ss-ss.”
As Sriva turned to look behind at her prince, Progue stepped forward. “It’s big. And there are at least a hundred smaller vessels circling it,” she continued while furiously pressing commands on the control panel.
“It’s a carrier.” Progue said, instantly knowing from experience the only type of ship that could fit the description of such words. “Tinker, can you get a visual?”
While Tinker’s fingers also danced upon the panel before him, Progue gave a quick glance to his side to see David returning to the seat aside Tinsia at the weapons console. At least the humans remorse was not in control of his sensibility, he thought. Turning back to the monitors that crowned the pilots bay, he watched the image of the outer atmosphere of the planet flicker for a moment, and then change into the clear view of a starship that was long and flat with the backside rising high as though a metropolis had been perched atop in front of mighty engines that created a reverse glow which could easily rival a star. Circling the ship were tiny crafts that with the magnitude of the mother craft could have them easily compared to insects surrounding a light source. The ship was recognizable to Progue, causing his chest to tighten with fearful memories that were suddenly colliding with reality. “It is the Bhey-Suut,” he said, hearing at once the gasp of his sister to the side. “Get us out of here.”
“Brother!” Tinsia shrieked. “They must know we are on board.”
As Progue backed away, his eyes circling and monitoring the continuing dance of Tinker’s fingers as well as the long blue-gray digits of Sriva, his thoughts swirled. “Perhaps,” he replied while deep in thought of how the queen in command of the fleet could know the whereabouts of the royals that had escaped her coup. “Unless there is another reason this ship has become dangerous to the traitor queen.”
“The fighters are breaking away in pursuit,” Sriva said with urgency upon her tongue.
“We need the main drive online, Tinker.” Glancing down as the human’s body rocked with another turbulent tremor, his legs seizing before releasing an uncontrollable kick at the underside of the panels before him. While the sensible being that he was knew that in another part of his life, he would not have relied upon a being so damaged as Tinker was, yet in this new life that he had been thrust within, he trusted the human without question. Tinker had proven his value to him in a short time in ways few with such a handicap dealt to them possibly could.
As he pondered thoughts of how Tinker had come to be an unusual ally, Progue glanced to his side at David and Tinsia who were preparing to release the power of the ship’s cannons. Continuing to scan
In the continuous swirling of his thoughts, he pictured the Tsri-Volpa that had come on board, and the human Edge that they had risked so much to rescue who had put his own life at risk to save the life of what to him was an alien being in a strange world. The human and the Tsri-Volpa beast were a strange pair that somehow had come to each other’s aid, something he would never have imagined as the prince that he once was. And then there was Tyrsa and Gainog hopefully awaiting their return. All together on an aging ship that was barely beyond what he once would have considered junk, they were a motley bunch, he thought.
Turning back to glance towards the pilot’s bay, he could see that they were speeding away preparing to engage the main propulsor drive. Could it be, he wondered for a moment while continuing to ponder the many facets of the beings around him. It is the root of the legend, the diverse qualities that when together create a power that is unstoppable. He had studied the legend during his days with the Farakah, when he was being manipulated and soon to be betrayed. But the studies were not a part of the manipulation, he knew.
As the monitors ahead of him blazed with the ignition of the space drive, Progue silently cemented another decision within his head. He needed Tyrsa and Gainog for they may be key components, but the pursuit from the Bhey-Suut and its fighters would likely continue into the Lacroveria star system. They would have to find another way to retrieve the remaining members of the crew.
Progue dropped his head, his heart beginning to race as he continued to wonder. Glancing around again at the beings upon the bridge with him; courageous in ways that were both surprising yet striking, his mind raced onwards. Are we the third sheyd? He thought.