Ion 417: Raiju (6 page)

Once again I found myself staring into those unblinking eyes as he stood next to the pilot's chair. Even though he was at least ten centimeters shorter than me, his eyes gave no clue to his thoughts. He made for an imposing figure that way. I could still see the view-port over his shoulder, and the little dots of the converging missiles were gone. We had gotten away safely. I wasn't an expert on starship travel, but I didn't think there was a way to actually follow us in high drive. We would be safe for the next six months when the ship would drop out in the Sol system. My mother's people would give me sanctuary, and I'm sure they could protect the pilot that had gotten me away. I wasn't sure what to say to him in the meantime, but it was he that broke the silence.

"I am Traxel. Do you mind telling me why you decided to pick today to commit suicide, and take me with you?"

He was still frightened of Teyrn Elon. He knew who that Indigal was, and perhaps had real reason to fear him. I still had a certainty that we would be safe once reaching Terra, Sol. There was a chance that explaining a few things to him would satisfy his curiosity, and forestall any attempts at attacking me.

"I hadn't known about you when I planned this. I was..."

"Just what was your plan? Steal a ship from the worst possible guy to cross in this galaxy; set it on a course out to the rim; murder the pilot, and for what? Just so that you can get out of paying for your upgrades? Just who do you work for anyway? I know that once the Teyrn goes after them for you doing this, that'll be another one out to turn me into tiny bits of space debris just for being near you! Were you not listening when I said that he has powerful people that come to him?"

I don't think he knew all that much about me, but he knew something about those that I had escaped. I had caught the exclamation when he realized I had been part of the projects they worked on. Whatever he knew frightened him. We were both stuck on the same ship for the next six months, plenty of time to dig out everything he did know. I was getting the idea that I didn't know all that much about me, or the people that I had escaped. Just who was this Teyrn Elon that evoked such fear? I had his name, now to return the favor.

"I am Ion."

He didn't laugh at that, or try to correct me. I decided that gambling a little bit with my fate might bring out his cooperation better than threats. I knew the philosophies of a hundred different warlords, dictators, and despots. The points they agreed upon were far outnumbered by the ones they didn't. This was a point only a few thought good, but I thought it was worth trying.

"I don't know anything about these bio-enhancements you mentioned. Not much anyway. I don't work for anyone. I have seen Teyrn Elon, but I don't know who he is, or why it even matters. I only know that I was being held there by him, and now I am free."

I got up out of the engineer's seat so that I wasn't staring up at him. It felt sort of... threatening, and a part of me wanted to lash out to get rid of him for threatening me. Even with me standing a little taller than him, his eyes were a big unknown. We stood facing each other for several moments as we both waited for the other to break the silence. I could feel my feet starting to shuffle with the nervousness, and still he remained silent. He really knew how to test my patience. My mind started turning over the option of spending six months alone versus the same time with someone who actually talked to me. Once more he broke the silence before I settled on a course that had him being tossed out of the airlock.

"You forgot the part where you got Teyrn Elon so angry that he bypassed negotiations and went straight for vaporizing his own private yacht, killing the hapless pilot you kidnapped."

I didn't need to be reminded that I had forced him to come along because he just happened to be on the ship I took. If things had gone according to my plans we wouldn't be having this discussion. I'd be on my way to Terra, Sol in the hunter ship. I doubted that there was anyone on board that one. Still, he was now on the run from the life he had chosen, all because of me. He deserved a life just as much as I did. Once we reached my goal, then he could have the ship and return without me.

"I know that Teyrn Elon is in charge of that laboratory, and that everyone I've ever known has been under his control, but still I don't know what difference that makes. The only thing I did to him was to escape his cage. Well, Escape his cage and remove at least two Selstlak. As for the pilot you mentioned; He still lives, and his kidnapping was accidental."

His questions made me nervous, really nervous. I knew how to say 'Knowledge is power' in seven languages, and he had knowledge that I needed. There was a big part of me that wanted desperately to lash out and quell that nervousness. He was a pilot, and a skilled one at that. I had seen the way his hands worked those controls. A pilot would be very useful to me. I wasn't so ignorant as to believe knowing the controls was the same as being able to pilot well. He hadn't been any part of what happened to me that I knew of. It was more the silent staring at me that increased my nervousness. His expressionless face carried no clue as to the thoughts circulating in his mind.

"If you were really a captive, then how'd you get out? Someone slipped you a weapon? There's no way someone your size could've handled one, let alone two of those overbearing lizards bare-handed. He has them travel in threes for just that reason. That little stunner you hit me with wouldn't even tickle one of them. Whoever got you out won't be in any position to help you anymore. The Teyrn will see to that."

"You're right in that he has them travel in threes. One of them grew careless when they came with my food. I left at least two dead, and the third one most likely dead; I just didn't bother to check as I ran. Nobody brought me any weapon."

The discussion was starting to calm me down enough that I wasn't on the verge of frying him. It also let my mind sift through the stuff I'd read in xenobiology. Maybe all that stuff that Teyrn had set up for me to read wasn't so useless. There was a good bit of information about Cardovans, specifically about them being matriarchal hive dwellers. According to the texts the males would naturally defer to a female, but only as long as the female exhibited a stance of power. If the female attempted dominance and was found lacking, the males would often consume her. I could not let him see any weakness. Squaring my shoulders, I added a harsh tone to my words.

"You got us free and on our way. For that you may live. I will be in my cabin."

With those words I turned abruptly and exited the cockpit. I didn't dare breathe until the cabin door slid shut behind me. If I had breathed he might have picked up on a flutter of breath, or some other clue that could divulge the inner nervousness I was still feeling. I couldn't believe just how much I was sweating when I hadn't been exercising. Some of the xenobiology texts had mentioned that. Many species would sweat more in times of stress. Oh no! Had I just blown it by sweating? I stood in the cleanser for a good fifteen minutes, just letting the water pound into me. I could lean into some of the nozzles and the jet of water would relax my muscles a bit. The water still felt odd.

One thing that would have helped ease my tension even more was my exercise machine, but there was no way I could have brought it with me, even if I had found a way to un-bond it from the floor and ceiling. It was too big to fit anywhere except for the cargo bay. Why was I so nervous? I had escaped. The course was plotted for Terra, Sol. The ship was in high drive. The food was... I hadn't eaten in more than seventeen hours, and I had used my talents several times in the interim. Eating some food would probably clear my thinking and restore some of the energy I had used.

I shut off the dull water, and set the controls to dry. Those Selstlaks had been bringing me the day's first meal when I escaped. Escape had been so large in my mind that I had left the tray of breakfast wafers untouched as I ran. I re-braided my hair, and took a deep breath to ready myself for the next round of dealing with that insectoid. Just how much did I really need a pilot anyway? Perhaps the odds would have him returning to his cabin for some more time with that torque. Most likely I would open my door, springing a trap that he had plenty of time to set while I was enjoying the water.

The door slid open with nothing attacking me. For a moment I thought that he had sheltered in his cabin the way I had sheltered in this one. I had already called it mine too. There was a loud clacky chirp, shortly followed by a small thud coming from the common room. A few steps down the passageway brought me to a scene of mild chaos. The common room was in total disarray with food packages scattered everywhere. Traxel was picking through the stacks I had made, and resorting them into new piles. A few of the packages he simply tossed blindly over his shoulder. One such toss had been the soft thud that had drawn my attention.

"If you hadn't planned on me then why did you get my favorite worms? Of course, I don't know who you thought was going to eat z'kelk'ta. That stuff is poison to all but a few species. Perhaps you thought to torture me with it."

His head spun to look straight at me, though I know that he could already see me clearly. Cardovan eyes can see three hundred thirty degrees, with only a five degree per side peripheral distortion. The gesture had to be a purposeful gesture to gain my attention. If what he said was true, then I had unknowingly grabbed poison along with the rest of these packages. From the other things he said, it sounded like they were food after all. He had just proven another reason why I shouldn't turn him into an airlock bound cinder.

"Is any of this food?"

He paused in his sorting with one of the packages still in his hands. He sat there idly flipping it over a few times before tossing it back and forth. I'm sure that he was once again trying to evaluate me, and the best way to keep from being zapped again. This was much better than his stationary silent stares. I could see that he was thinking, just not what. Inwardly I grimaced at the lack of self-control that had me betraying my need for him.

"If you didn't know this was food then why get so much? Everybody knows food, try again."

"I found the food locker, but nothing in there was labeled food. I'd only seen what my food looked like when they brought it to me. Knowing it was a long trip, I grabbed what I could carry, and I..."

My stomach was cramping and I felt exhausted. I tried changing my tone in the hopes of eliciting some help. He knew which of these packages were food, and which were poison. I needed his help to find answers that I was getting desperate to obtain.

"Which of this is food that I can eat?"

Once again he rocked a little as he emitted that staccato chirp that I was fairly certain meant laughter. I had asserted dominance before, and now I was handing it back to him. I knew I could boil him inside that carapace if he tried consuming me, but it was annoying to be finding myself in this position.

"You hold my life hostage with a hidden weapon. I hold yours in a simple package. This is most funny."

He set the package that he had been tossing back and forth on the floor, and took another from the small stack as he stood up. His walk seemed casual as he made his way through the packages that were scattered on the floor from being tossed around in his search, ending at the bank of machines along the aft wall. He opened a small door and gently placed the package within before closing it once more. A few quick stabs of his finger to the controls, and a timer began counting down.

As he waited for the timer to complete its two minute cycle I could see his head bobbing slightly in rhythm to the nearly imperceptible clicking of his jaw. It seemed like a rhythm, but it kept varying pattern, sometimes going back to repeating segments. I was just starting to get the complex variances to the point that I could anticipate the next part when the timer reached its conclusion and chimed. The package that he pulled out of the little door had increased in size by about four times, and when he peeled back the top it released a cloud of aromatic steam that he let waft over his face. I could hear the deep breath he took of the steam.

"Ahh... Sissk'tal Bore Worms. It's been awhile since I could afford this. As a thanks; Here."

As he walked past me, he reached down to the large stack and handed one of them to me. He took a seat at the table and lifted a plump worm from the package. I had the impression that he was savoring a small victory, and likely one where I'd lost my position of power. A flick of his third hand pointed to the package I was clenching.

"I'm not sure what species you are, but that one is probably good for you."

I glanced down, having momentarily forgotten that I still held it. The label read Moatra Berries. On the side of the small package were simple instructions. Simple that is if you knew what it meant by ".5 min., hyd 2" I had to study the mechanism for a few moments to decipher the requested settings and select a hydration level of two. Less than a minute later I was peeling back the top to stare at some violet orbs approximately 2 cm in diameter.

They looked nothing like the greenish-brown wafer cakes that the Selstlaks had brought me twice daily for my entire existence. Three of the centimeter thick cakes stacked neatly on the small tray. Some of the times they would crush them before my eyes, and laugh as I had to lick the crumbs from the floor. Hesitantly I tasted one of the berries. It had a very different taste than I was accustomed too. The flavor was strong and... different. Not unpleasant, just different.

I held each one in my mouth, letting my tongue slowly crush it. I had done it with the first one out of trepidation that it was somehow poisonous, but the flavor was so vivid that I wanted to make each one last as long as possible. After I had swallowed the last of them I asked my Cardovan shipmate about the little cakes they had brought me before. He cocked his head slightly to the side such that I didn't think he understood, so I went on to describe them. My somewhat simple description was interrupted by that staccato chirp of his.