Chapter 2 #2
As I walk back to my fertilizer room and begin working on the broken hover lift hoist, the lights of my ship go out.
“Son of a bitch!”
Backup systems kick on, barely lighting the glossy white passageways. Drawing my tablet from my armored suit, I check the ship to find it inaccessible. “What the heck?”
I grab my gun and flip my visor over my eyes to show me the creatures in every wavelength of light. It ripples down the hallway when I step outside. Each room that I sweep and find empty, I secure it with a code only I know.
It could be a different Novark, hunting me for revenge.
It could be scavengers looking to snatch up the food growing in my garden.
Maybe it’s nothing but an electromagnetic field in space that wasn’t on the map.
But when I round the corner and see the figure down the row of Fringe Foods, popular among very distant planets, I lock up.
He glances over the plants and very carefully picks himself a flat of twelve seedlings, placing them in a special case that lights up when he closes the lid.
“Hey!” I shout, not quite thinking things through. He’s not Denarso or Novark. And when he faces me with the pale blue-white glowing eyes, I feel my heart slam into my ribs.
Nebulous… He’s a Neb! I’ve never seen an adult in person before. Zariah is raising a young refugee, but he can’t be more than seven years old by now.
This Neb wears different armor than I’ve seen in the holovids of empire battles. It looks hand-crafted, same with the gun he points at me.
I barely have time to flinch, igniting my shield on instinct after years in space. My shield lifts as the white-hot bullet slams into me.
The force knocks me backward and into the wall of my engine bay with pounding force. I cough and slump to the floor. When my vision returns, he’s gone.
Crawling onto my hands and knees, I put myself upright and stagger down the row to where he took the seedlings. The empty slots are heartbreaking.
Seconds later, my ship returns to full power like something he did caused the drain. But he didn’t shut my ship down completely. He didn’t kill me. And he only took medicinal plants.
I’m starting to think he’s like Caddok, Zariah’s adopted son, a refugee from the empire.
The frantic beep of an incoming call jerks my attention to the com. My tablet shows a call from someone I don’t expect.
“Prince Aurelius, what can I do for you?”
“Brynna! Still farming stardust?”
“And everything in between.”
He sighs with a heaviness that says he has another big favor to ask, and it makes me wonder if Amphiran seedlings have not performed well on his homeworld.
“Did the Lilivine not make it? You know it needs a lot of water. How is your…”
“We’re fine.” Children laugh in the background, and Aura whispers to someone, “Not right now, Brazin. Go help your mother. I must help someone else. But I will join you soon.”
The com rustles. “I apologize, Brynna. Talhuskins just annihilated the Drathious’ colony. They haven’t been free for more than a decade. We are helping the Drathious leave their world behind, again. Crops were destroyed during battle…”
“Say no more, my friend. I’ve got one final drop, but I’ll head your way the second I’m done. Give me a few hours?”
“I thought you were going to race soon.”
I draw in a deep breath and remember my entrance fees and documentation, which still sit in my office.
“I was, but I keep getting pulled out to do more deliveries. There isn’t really anyone else with my selection or repository size.
But I just had the Novark attack at my last drop.
They always try to steal my defense systems and any tech that’s a quick removal.
And when I arrived at my second stop, a Neb boarded. ”
“A Nebulous soldier?” Aura’s tone darkens, and I know I have his full attention. “Are you okay?”
“He hit me with a pretty hard blast, but it didn’t damage anything. Just knocked the wind out of me.”
“You need security.”
“I can’t afford security.”
“Well, he was definitely monitoring your communications enough to know you’d be there. We’ll get your security systems upgraded when you arrive. For now, I’m sending Fieri and Blaize to come escort you so there’s no more trouble.”
“I’m alright, really.”
A swooping primordial ship bursts into my space with a flash of green light. “Arrived, sir. Black Sun in view.”
“Thank you, Fieri,” Aura replies. “Please give Eos my thanks.”
“Thank you, sir,” a feminine voice replies. “It is my honor.”
“Eos?” I ask.
Aura replies, “An Orillium, a spirit orb that operates the vessel like AI. She is one of our much larger fleet now, a spirit in a ship’s husk. Please jump with Fieri when your mission there is complete. We have much to discuss. Aura out.”
“Fieri?” I ask.
“I am here.”
“What all am I looking at in terms of the Drathious?”
He hums a note. “They’re larger than humans, about our size, with wings, and they catch fire from the Inferno... What?”
I hear the soft thump of someone being punched in the shoulder.
“Ow, Blaize! What the hell?” Fieri swears.
Someone breathes out with force. “She means about the crops.”
Fieri snorts. “No shit. Crops burn if they aren’t sturdy. It is relevant. Asshole. I apologize, Brynna. Do you remember the last batch of seedlings we requested about a year ago?”
I pull it up on my tablet. “I still have the order.”
“It will be similar. We bought those to help the Drathious when they were recovering after another battle. But right now, we need to get them situated in space so they can move away from Talhuskins. Denarso attacked a cargo transport before this last battle, and you know they often work with Talhuskins.”
“I do.”
“Anyway, we just need to bring the Drathious into our protection. We just can’t take them to the surface of our homeworld, because it only allows those with honorable Storms. Infernos do not qualify unless they are Jorusk, who is blessed by Orillium Allele.
“I know that name. Jorusk.”
“Likely. He was on the last crew, moving seedlings.” Fieri’s words soften. “Aura mentioned you are going to join the Alien Bride Race?”
“I was.”
“Perhaps it is time for a break. It has changed Aura for the better, even though he didn’t want to go. Perhaps, we can work out some way to maintain your ship so you can go.”
“She’s a lot of work,” I warn.
Eos’ voice speaks over the coms. “My crew is very skilled. They put up with each other a lot.”
A video feed opens up, and I think Eos has connected us to a video chat without permission.
“Ah, Eos?” Blaize covers his face with a big purple hand. “I don’t think that came out the way you intended.”
“Is it not true?” she asks.
Fieri leans his purple face in front of the camera, showing me the seriousness in his bright green eyes.
“We will work things out. If you want to go, say so. And don’t mind Blaize.
He’s just self-conscious about his beard.
It is not as magnificent as a Thorian’s.
But he’s hoping a human female will like it. ”
Blaize throws something small that flashes like metal at Fieri’s head.
“Hey, chill out.” Fieri ducks and glares at Blaize. “Behave yourself, or no female will ever want your feral ass.”
I reconsider the Alien Bride Race. Aura’s people have only ever been helpful and kind. I know I can trust them.
“I…would like that. I am…tired.” Tired of getting the crap beaten out of me, shit breaking, and prices going up. I want to feel safe for a change, not sleep lightly because I’m always listening for intruders or the hiss of the hydropump system leaking again.
Fieri elbows Blaize in the side. “Then we will make it happen. Right?”
Blaize winces. “Yes. And you’re a dick.”
Fieri’s grin is one of satisfaction. “Alright, Brynna. You just let us know how we can help. We will get you to that race and care for Black Sun if you will help us.”
“Thank you.” I trust Fieri. He might come across like a grumpy jerk, but I know there’s more to him. Either way, I feel a lot safer with them here.
One more drop. The last one. Relief fills me, and I finally have hope for better things again.