Inherit the Stars (19 page)

She pressed the lever.

The doors slid shut just as her boots clanked against them. She fell onto the floor, knocking what breath remained from her body. Blood bubbled from her lips. She coughed, bringing up more.

Kivita gasped with suffocating fright, since most of the cabin's air had emptied into space. She forced herself up, right arm numb. From a nearby locker she snatched a breath mask and breathed deep. The vacuum quiet seemed to last forever, until a faint buzzing tickled her ears. The sound grew louder until her ears popped back to normal in the repressurized cabin.

Sar's yell echoed from the speaker on the bridge. “Kiv? Kiv! Dammit, I'm coming aboard!”

She staggered onto the bridge and leaned against the console. With numb fingers she turned all of
Terredyn Narbas
's life-support systems back on and activated the mic.

“I'm . . .” She gasped, then sucked in more air from the mask. “I'm okay. Shekelor's taking the . . . long way to Umiracan.” Wheezing, Kivita strapped the mask on before she fainted from lack of air.

“Your old trawler is listing starboard, toward the gas giant. Can you trail me, at least from its gravity well?”

Kivita's breathing regulated, but as adrenaline wore off, her stomach throbbed. She coughed; blood splattered the inside of her mask. She ripped it off as life support resumed normal levels.

“With my eyes closed,” she whispered.

Slumped over the manuals, Kivita forced herself into the seat. The Juxj Star rolled against her right boot. The fact that the gem hadn't been sucked into space gave her a chill.

Through the viewport,
Frevyx
reappeared above her and blasted away from Tejuit Seven. Kivita flew after them as Cheseia's voice came over the speaker.

“We must definitely leave the system, Kivita. The Naxans have sent their mercenary transports to investigate, and Inheritor ships are unfortunately everywhere.”

Kivita glanced out the viewport and almost let go of the manuals. The two asteroids and crushed pirate ship had lumped together into scrap and dust particles.
Fanged Pauper
limped to the other side of Tejuit Seven, leaving several floating forms in its wake.

“I need . . .” Kivita bit back a groan, barely staying in the harness. Her right arm, left leg, forehead, and stomach all came alive with renewed agony.

Seul's voice popped from the console speaker. “Kivita? I've been ordered back to
Aldaar
, so please follow my coordinates. My people can help you. I want to help you.”

Three Inheritor battle cruisers appeared over the gas giant's horizon.

The speaker crackled. “All human craft seek shelter in sector TJ-Five-Three-Zero. Inheritor ships have been deployed for your safety against Aldaakian aggression.” The arrogant voice brought a cacophony of protest over the radio channels.

Two more Inheritor warships appeared.

Terredyn Narbas
shuddered and new warning lights lit up the console. Two starboard thrusters were gone. The port-side hull had lost its outer layer of iron-polymer coating.

“Give me some coordinates, Sar,” Kivita said on a direct channel to
Frevyx
.

“Too late for that. Inheritor military is in the system now. Every one of their ships will have locked on to
your beacon. If Shekelor hadn't given such a chase, we might've made it. Didn't expect such craziness, even from him. Must want you bad.”

“Yeah, a gal likes to be popular.” Kivita clutched her aching stomach. The movement sent fresh waves of pain up her right arm. “Listen, I'm pretty banged up, but I can still make a light jump. Send your coordinates.”

“Kivita, it is simply too late. They will certainly trail your beacon,” Cheseia said in an aggravated tone.

A knot formed in her stomach along with the pain. She slammed the console button. “I'm not leaving
Terredyn Narbas
!”

“Then let me pilot her. You and Cheseia take
Frevyx
to the coordinates.” Sar paused. “Coming alongside now. Two merc ships are nearing the pirate wreckage. They'll be after us next.”

“No, I won't—”

The speaker replied with static.

“Sar?” A wet cough ended her protest. Crimson droplets spattered her terminal.

She knew he spoke truth, but abandoning
Terredyn Narbas
again cut her heart with a dull knife. She glanced down at the Juxj Star. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she put it back into her pouch.

Within moments, after her airlock magnetized with his, Sar rushed in, wearing two pistols and a tooled leather satchel. Upon seeing her, his face fell.

“Your arm . . .”

“I'll make it,” she said, but he touched her forehead, smoothed her hair, felt her neck. This time, she caught a slight reaction every time he contacted her. After forcing raw data into Shekelor's mind, Kivita realized Sar's struggle.

“Hold still.” Sar reached for her right shoulder.

“Hell, no—” She bit her bodyglove sleeve to keep from screaming while he pushed the dislocated arm back into place. Hot dampness flooded her crotch. Tears misted her eyes, but she restrained a wail. He had to see she was strong, no matter what. Breathing faster, she glanced up at his face without wincing.

“Cheseia's ready; I've already keyed in the coordinates. Any trackers will follow me in
Terredyn Narbas
. And there will be trackers, Kiv.” Sar looked her in the eye. “Damn it, take care of yourself. I swear this ship will be fine—don't worry. But you listen to Cheseia; she'll help. Promise me.” The fear in his voice sunk like a stone into her heart.

“But when will we link up?”

He looked away.

She grabbed his collar with her good hand. “Don't you dare! Don't sacrifice yourself for—”

“I'll find you.” The tremor in his voice stopped her heart. Sar hefted her into his arms and carried her to the airlock. Cheseia helped her through
Frevyx
's airlock, but Kivita stopped.

“Sar, take good care of her, will you?” She fought back fresh tears and kept her voice firm.

“Hope she's not as fickle as her owner.” He smiled sadly and squeezed her hand.

Kivita wanted to pull him along with her, but Sar released her hand and backed into
Terredyn Narbas
. The vacuum outside nipped at her skin as Tejuit Seven's multicolored atmosphere reflected in his eyes. She wet her lips.

“Sar, I—”

Both airlocks slid shut.

Dunaar paced before the bridge viewport while Stiego and his officers watched with tense faces lit by red and blue console screens. Outside, the traffic lanes orbiting Tejuit Seven had slowed to a crawl. Dozens of ships had already left the system after Captain Stiego's wideband announcement. Dunaar smiled. Let the gnats escape. Soon there would be nowhere to run to.

“Rector,
Terredyn Narbas
's beacon is still broadcasting in this system.” A hologram emitted from Stiego's monocle, showing Kivita's ship a short distance from the gas giant. “Surely, if we act now—”

“It takes cool resolve to achieve our goals, Captain. Kivita Vondir must depart without our involvement. Then we will follow her to the Thedes.” Dunaar ran his sweaty palm over the Scepter of Office. “What is the status of our blockade?”

Stiego's monocle hologram flickered and displayed a diagram of the system. “Two cruisers have taken position near the jump lanes, preventing further egress from Tejuit. One cruiser is in pursuit of the Aldaakian ship we spotted earlier. Our other two cruisers are maintaining order in the traffic lanes.”

“And the Naxans?”

“Three hive ships have agreed to await inspection by our boarding parties, but six have split up and have made for the jump lanes,” Stiego replied. “There is nowhere they can go, though. The system is ours, Rector.”

Dunaar swept his gaze over the pathetic panorama. Yes, the system was theirs, but the sight of so many rebels, heretics, and petty nobles sent a pang into his heart. None of these people had to live like this. Residing on outdated starships, orbiting a beautiful but worthless gas giant. How many children on those ships could be fed by Haldon grain and tutored by wise prophets? How many could he save by taking them to the young yellow stars in the Core?

By the Vim, he would see it done. As long as he had the strength to do what was necessary.

“Captain, order those cruisers policing the traffic lanes to target a few random Aldaakian craft and destroy them.”

Within seconds, the order passed to the Inheritor battle cruisers. From his vantage point, Dunaar glimpsed small flashes and hurtling debris. Stiego's monocle hologram projected data sent back from their cruisers: four Aldaakian merchant ships and two frigates destroyed.

One did not lead by mere words. Sometimes people had to be shown what they should fear, and whom they should beseech for salvation.

“That is sufficient. I shall—”

A terminal beeped, interrupting him.

“Rector, I have just received a report from our fleet at Bons Sutar,” Stiego said, his monocle hologram deactivating. The bridge officers perked up with expectant eyes.

“Finally, some news from that treacherous Tannocci strongpoint.” Launching campaigns across the light years tested even his patience.

“The system has been taken, though casualties have been heavy.” Stiego's right eye twitched.

“Of course those Sutaran brutes would fight well. Give me the numbers,” Dunaar said.

“Out of the thirty-five thousand troops sent, sixteen thousand were killed or wounded. An additional two thousand are still unaccounted for.”

The bridge staff blanched. Stiego's shoulders sagged slightly.

Dunaar clasped the Scepter in both hands and took a deep breath. “We shall not forget those brave men. When we reach the Core, we will reunite with them there, bathed in the Vim's light. The Sutarans have joined our cause. It is up to us to bring as many as we can when the time for departure arrives. The Sutaran losses, Captain?”

A mirthless smile stole over Stiego's face. “More than two hundred thousand insurgents have been eliminated, Rector. Internment camps have been set up as you requested. Their quotas, at the time of this message, were full.”

The pang in Dunaar's heart lessened as he stared out the viewport again. One of the tiny points of light out there was
Terredyn Narbas
. Sweat dripped down his chest, rolled down his cheeks. Any moment now, Kivita would lead him to his destiny.

•   •   •

“Where're we going?” Sitting on the bench outside
Frevyx
's bridge, Kivita coughed again. Blood speckles stained her hand.

“To hopefully see Navon and the Thedes.” While she sealed the viewports and activated the light jump, Cheseia fidgeted. Did she know what she was doing?

Frevyx
shuddered and departed the Tejuit system.

“You didn't want him to do this, did you?” A knot of emotion strangled Kivita, knowing millions of miles now separated her from Sar.

Cheseia stepped into the crew quarters and stripped down to her breechcloth. Lamps along the ceiling and floors winked out in the galley and bridge while
Frevyx
's air chilled as the heating system relented its output.

Kivita shambled to the cryo-chamber doorway and blocked Cheseia. “Did you?”

Cheseia's russet eyes burned into Kivita. “Your bridge mic was still on after I truly left
Terredyn Narbas
. When I boarded
Frevyx
to unload payment for the three humans, I unfortunately heard some of your . . . conversation.”

“Yeah, so? Maybe I wanted something you've taken from me.” Kivita tried to straighten, but the pain in her stomach made her double over. She hacked up blood again.

“You are so truly foolish and ungrateful.” Cheseia lifted Kivita as if she were a child, then leaned her against the medical cabinet. “You will speedily receive proper treatment once we reach our destination. I hope these thogens will definitely stop your internal bleeding.”

Kivita swallowed the thogen powder after Cheseia spooned it into her mouth. Neither said anything. Cheseia's bosom rose with sharp breaths.

“How long have you loved him?” Kivita asked.

They gazed at each other for a tense moment.

“Certainly not as long as you,” Cheseia finally replied,
face drawn with anxiety. “He surely knows my feelings. Which makes it tragically hurt all the more when I saw how he looked at you.”

“I don't need him. I don't want him.” Kivita forced down a sob. No way in hell she'd cry in front of Cheseia.

“He truly wants you.” Cheseia's furred fists clenched. “Sar would definitely never have gone to Vstrunn, never gone to Umiracan, certainly never stayed at Tejuit, but for you!”

Before Kivita could reply, Cheseia lifted her carefully in both arms and carried her into the cryo chamber. Running lights winked out in the corridor behind them.

“I didn't ask for him to,” Kivita muttered.

“Sar told me you and I truly deserve better than him. If not for him, I certainly would . . .”

“Jettison me out the damn airlock? C'mon, just say it.” Kivita glared.

Cheseia stiffened and said nothing as they entered the chamber. The same cryopod she'd slept in with Sar awaited Kivita, hatch already open. As Cheseia set Kivita inside, the movement sent painful shockwaves up her right arm and left leg. Kivita gasped and tensed, which made her stomach throb anew.

“Bet you like seeing me like this,” Kivita rasped.

Cheseia gave her a flat stare. Her furred hands trembled over the cryopod's console.

Kivita started to say more, but Cheseia shook and closed her eyes. Before, she'd refused to believe anyone loved Sar as much as she did. Refused to admit the pain she'd seen in Cheseia's eyes. Now, with Cheseia nearing an emotional breakdown, the truth shamed Kivita.

“I'm sorry,” Kivita whispered. The thogens slurred her words, blurred her vision.

“So am I. Soon you will truly understand.” Cheseia swallowed and shut the hatch. While
Frevyx
's lights winked out altogether, Kivita glimpsed the Ascali wiping her eyes inside her cryopod. So she hadn't wanted to cry in front of Kivita, either.

As she closed her eyes, cold, black sleep stole over Kivita's consciousness.

In her mind, an ancient ship crash-landed on Susuron. Ocean waves rose and receded. Grains of sand as numerous as the stars sank beneath her naked feet.

•   •   •

Forgoing the gyro harness, Sar hurried into
Terredyn Narbas
's pilot seat. On the console scanner,
Frevyx
made a light jump and vanished. He knew it would take Kivita and Cheseia one Haldon day to reach
Luccan's Wish
, the Thede ship waiting just outside the Tejuit system.

“I had to lie, Kiv,” he whispered, gripping the manuals. Sar had no idea when he'd really see her again, if ever. She wouldn't have understood. Maybe he didn't, either.

Behind
Terredyn Narbas
, the Naxan merc ships had completed their examination of the pirate and asteroid debris. A Naxan voice came over the console speaker, but Sar muted it.

Terredyn Narbas
protested his commands, creaks and groans reverberating throughout the ship. Judging from the damage he'd seen while on
Frevyx
, Kivita's old trawler shouldn't even be together, let alone fly.

While prepping the ship for a light jump, Sar reviewed his options. In no way could he follow
Frevyx
, at least not from Tejuit. The nearest systems—Wraith Star, Ecrol, Senul Tur, and Soleno—offered no refuge.
Someone would follow, and he'd no idea how to disengage the Sarrhdtuu beacon.

Orbital traffic scattered as a large Inheritor battleship and five battle cruisers formed an erstwhile blockade. Sar's brow furrowed. Wherever he went, these bastards followed.

Many Aldaakian craft, including the cruiser and its shuttles, had fled. What was Seul's agenda, and why had she blasted those pirate ships? He believed Kivita when she'd claimed no deal had been made with the Aldaakians, but something was up.

“Can't do anything sitting here,” he muttered. With luck, everyone in the system had detected his beacon signal. The quicker he left and their enemies tracked him, the better chance Kivita and Cheseia had of making it.

Terredyn Narbas
was too damaged to pull off any fancy maneuvers, much less evade an airlock link. Sar ran several coordinates through his mind, rejecting each set in turn, until one set made him pause. The coordinates would lead just outside the Tejuit system, perhaps an hour in light jump. Sar had never remembered these coordinates before.

Not until Kivita had kissed him earlier.

Sar sealed the other viewports, keyed the coordinates, then hit the jump button. The ship shook, and red warning lights lit up the darkened bridge. The engine screeched. He held a breath and didn't move. A full minute passed before the trawler shuddered into the jump.

“Need some new equipment, sweetness,” he mumbled.

Images of derelicts floating in unknown systems flashed in his mind. What had Kiv done to him? He'd managed to resist its flow during those wonderful
moments before leaving the hive ship. Moments lost to him now.

Terredyn Narbas
's engine groaned, and the entire ship trembled. Bulkheads popped with pressure changes.

Sar ran to Kivita's lockers and pulled out a breath mask and cold lamp just as the gravity changed to low-G. He floated off the floor. Grabbing the locker door to anchor himself, he put the mask on. A proximity alarm rang from the bridge. Sar braced himself for impact or disintegration.

Nothing happened.

Sar pulled himself along the bulkheads, using regularly spaced handles for such situations. With excruciating slowness, he reentered the bridge. Each breath came out long and deep, just like he'd been trained. Red and yellow warning lights bathed him in shades of terror.

The console displayed a large asteroid field, hanging listless in the infinite space between systems. Sar unsealed the bridge viewports and stared.

Terredyn Narbas
flew amid the interstellar rocks, with the closest three thousand miles away. He sighed, thankful the coordinates had been accurate. By all rights, he should have slammed into an asteroid.

Sar almost laughed at his luck until a glimmer caught his eye.

A small life capsule floated two hundred feet away from
Terredyn Narbas
. Its cylindrical golden-meld hull reflected distant starlight back at him. Unlike standard life capsules, this one emitted no beacon distress signal. He'd heard of only feudal ones with such a hull.

“Must've been royalty,” he murmured.

The console gave an awful beep.

“Shit.” Sar ran a diagnostics check: the engine had
ceased working, two-thirds of
Terredyn Narbas
's thrusters were inactive, and he had life support for only eight Haldon days.

With deliberate keystrokes he routed all the ship's power to the cryo chamber and Kivita's single cryopod. The console and terminal both darkened, the viewports sealed. Sar flicked on the handheld lamp and pulled himself along the handholds from the bridge.

Terredyn Narbas
floated dark, silent, and cold in the asteroid field.

Sar's breathing escalated. He might never be found out here. Millennia might pass, the engine power would deplete, and he'd die in cryostasis. Frozen forever like Niaaq Aldaar, the Aldaakian legend. The Inheritors would crush the Thedes, and Kivita would never know his fate. She'd spiral through space, running until her enemies found her. He wouldn't be around to save her.

Hyperventilating, Sar snatched after the next handhold. Quick, before he froze to death, before Kivita went too far and got herself in too deep and—

“Stop, damn you,” he whispered to himself upon reaching her quarters.

Sar took slow, deep breaths, casting the fears from his mind, willing himself to stop shaking. He'd known the risks. Known them when he'd squeezed Kivita's hand. The lamp's bluish-white beam lit up her quarters, illuminating clues from her life.

It passed over glue-pen and Ascali claw graffiti, over placards of beefy males and buxom females. The beam came to rest on a placard of Kivita and her father. The child's wide smile and hazel eyes hinted at the beauty Kivita would mature into. The man, though, looked nothing like her.