Chapter 15 #2
"If you run away, you get eaten by the bear!
" I said. "Bears and men will chase you and are faster than you unless you're regularly training.
So no, you don't run, you don't act scared, you don't play dead.
You act like you can shoot lasers from your eyeballs, and you make it absolutely clear to that man-bear-pig that if he comes at you, he is going to deeply regret it, if he even manages to survive the encounter.
If you act scared, you're telling them they can take you.
If you act like a crazy person, they know you aren't scared to go to jail because you already have a great spot to bury bodies. "
"Your people can shoot lasers from their eyeballs?" he asked. "It doesn't say anything about that in your medical data."
"Don't ignore the point in favor of the metaphor, Lyrian," I said.
"Your point is that you think acting crazy is the correct tactic," he said. "That explains why you want to charge straight at them if they're out there."
"I want to charge straight at them because it is going to make them feel like they should run away," I said. "We're going to make them flinch."
The hole opened wide enough for us to fit through.
"Let's go," I said, and pressed down on the gas.
We slid out into open space.
Mostly open.
Rocks tumbled by me on every side, and the view of the huge expanse of open stars around me was impacted by the whizzing form of boulders.
I froze, the sense of vastness overwhelming me, like I was floating in the ocean, watching as the shelf dropped off suddenly below me to plummet into a deep depth so dark I couldn't see the bottom, all the while shapes moved around me, threatening to clobber me and knock me down under the surface.
"Don't worry," Lyrian murmured, his voice soft and warm in my ear. "I have the wheel."
"You are the wheel," I whispered back.
We slid through the asteroid field, weaving between the rocks.
"There is a hunter here," Lyrian said, his voice tense.
"They haven't spotted us yet, but they will eventually if we stay here or approach.
We're too far away to just charge at them; it will take some time to close the distance.
The distance is great enough that if we kept enough asteroids behind us and moved like we were a part of the field, we would be able to increase the distance enough that we could make a real run for it, maybe even getting out of the system entirely before they spot us. "
There was a sound of hesitation in his voice. Every time Lyrien had proposed running as our main strategy, he had sounded certain it was the right choice. Now he said it like he was torn, like it hurt to suggest it. I knew him well enough to know that the change in his tone wasn't because of me.
"What is it?" I asked. "What is different from what you expected?"
"It's not a normal hunter ship," he said, a note of deep sadness infusing his voice. "It's one of my kind, an enslaved Vaurelcar."
The ship was one of his people.
"You're certain it is a captive?" I asked.
"I can tell," he said, the heaviness in his heart palpable. "The signs of deterioration are there."
"If it is a different type of ship, we can't hit it in the same way," I said, working through the problem. "How can we help them? Is there a way for us to free them?"
"I'm..." Lyrian started to say before he cut himself off. "I can't put you at risk."
We drifted behind an asteroid, the hamster wheel spinning to mimic its rotation.
"What were you going to say?" I demanded. "Don't keep your thoughts from me."
"I'm big enough," Lyrian said. "I've grown big enough that I think I can do it, especially as captive Vaurelcar's are often weaker, despite their size. But it isn't guaranteed, and it would put you at risk."
"Details, Lyrian," I said. "How will it put me at risk?"
"I have to grab onto the other Vaurelcar and tear into it," he said.
"If I can pry all the Caliciums out of its body and kill them or get to its center and free it so it can do the same, then I will win.
It will be forced to fight back against me, though I should be able to handle it.
The issue is in grabbing it; the Calicium will immediately board me and cut into me to hunt for my center.
I'm not shell locked anymore, so they won't be able to find me easily.
I have enough mass that I should be able to withstand them, but the effort will be damaging, and if I fail, they will capture you as well. "
"Are there any other ships in this system?" I asked.
"Not that I can see with my less invasive sensors, but if I do a deep scan, they will spot me," he said.
"There is a chance that they aren't alone, and if you weaken in trying to free the other Vaurelcar, they will move in," I said.
"Yes," he said. "We cannot take the risk."
"The captive Vaurelcar will be forced to resist you prying into its center," I said. "But is there anything in the way that its captivity is structured that will prevent me from going there?"
"The Calicium will stop you," he said.
"But they'll all be trying to cut into you," I said. "Will the other Vaurelcar itself stop me?"
"If you attack it or try to cut through its neurofilaments, it will be forced to resist you," he said.
"What if I ask nicely?" I said. "You've had people get free, so there has to be a record of how all that works. Will it have to get clearance from the Calicum for me to go to the center?"
"I never heard of anything like that," he said. "It isn't treated as a sentient being. It can't ask for anything, even permission. It just has to obey Calicium orders."
"So if I look like a Calicium, then it will obey my order to let me into the center?" I asked. "I just need a disguise to make me look like an alien. Once I'm in the center, how do I free it?"
Lyrien was silent for a moment, telling me everything I needed to know.
"Are you sure about this?" Lyrien asked, his tone soft. "You would really risk everything to help free someone you don't even know?"
"You did," I said. "You risked everything when you opened the hatch and let me on board."
He was silent for a long moment.
"You would have to bring a tool to cut off the collar," he said. "I already have a portable one made. As for the disguise... You won't need one."
"Why not?" I asked.
"The Caliciums produce units that look like other species for the purpose of infiltration," he said. "You just have to claim you're one of those. It won't fool another Calicium, but as long as the Vaurelcar doesn't see the cutting device, it will be able to believe you."
I noticed his wording, ‘be able to believe me’.
"It will want to let me in," I said. "I just can't give it enough red flags to trigger its control device."
"Exactly," he said. "Now don't forget, once it locks on, it will take about a minute for the cutting device to work, but when the control collar is severed, the Vaurelcar will have a moment of shock and won't be able to act for a few moments.
Make sure you aren't in a vulnerable position.
If it is holding you in that moment, it could crush you by accident. "
I took a deep, slow breath as I anchored into my intentions, making sure this was what I wanted to do.
It was up to me. Lyrien prioritized me over everyone else, so he wouldn't insist on putting me at risk for the sake of saving another being from captivity.
If we were going to do this, it was my decision.
"What I wouldn't give for some loudspeakers blasting Hall of the Mountain King to go with this moment," I said.
"Let's tiptoe closer to this group of parasitic fuckers, get as close as we can while still hiding in the asteroid field, and then at the last second, burst out of nowhere with guns blazing and aim right for the heart. "
"Are you sure?" Lyrien asked, his voice full of fear and hope all at the same time.
"We can do this, Lyrien," I told him. "I can do this."