Dezz
Stantler Loving Writer
My muscles screamed in agony with each step I took forward. The heat of both suns during days like this served to test the mettle of even the most daring miners. I was only an intermediate level cadet and days like this made me wish I became a pilot or mechanic. Idolizing the glorious mines was a mistake that only someone inexperienced can make. It just so happens that I was one of those just gullible enough to come to this dry carcass of a planet.
This planet was owned by the self-crowned planetary guilds. They were a conglomerate of rich business owners that treated planets like their own personal income generation machines. They were well known to be as corrupt as they were stingy. Unfortunately anyone who signed away their freedom, like I did, was stuck due to the militaristic hold they had on their investments.
That said, I take my craft of mining seriously. Most of the others just resign to the fate the guilds gave them and put no level of care into their work. I know what’s below these walls and what can happen if you extract it cleanly. The ore on this planet can serve as fuel, jewelry, or hard metallic structure. You can build an entire ship, decorate it, and fuel it all with just what we find in this cave.
Finally arriving at my usual tunnel, I aimed my laser digger with care at the contour of the wall and began to chip away. My heart panged each time another layer dropped to the ground. Just as I’m about to get lost in the normal flow of drilling, I’m rewarded with a softly glowing red material. It’s the largest I’ve ever seen! Trusting my skill, I began to drill around it. Layers of stone fell as the piercing laser eroded its earthy casing.
When the ore dropped into my hands, I felt a strong sense of personal achievement. The edges of the mineral were clean and truly showed the care I poured into each movement. With even one fourth of the ore I held in my hand now, I could buy myself a ship to get out of here. Before I got too distracted, my director was on my hip.
“The ore, F-193” He curtly murmured. I could tell he was not going to risk anything happening to it on my account.
“It’s Straven.” I faintly stammered to myself. Handing over the ore, I received 13 bits. Compared to the millions that the mining guild would get, it seemed like a real rip off. What hurts the most is that I signed up for it.
Satisfied with what I had collected today, I made my way back along the sandy road to a small, bustling marketplace. I quietly slipped into an alleyway where some children would always wait for me.
“Aright – I got a lot today. Make sure your friends fill their stomachs too.” I pulled out all but one of my bits and handed two each to the children. They scurried off without a second to spare – as if I’d change my mind if they were idle too long.
“That’s quite the generous move, ore miner.” A feminine voice whispered just enough to be audible. I turned quickly to size up the interloper.
“I’m not hurting anyone.” I snapped back. My eyes couldn’t get a read on her face.
“Seems like you’re the only one around here not doing that.” She stepped forward into the dim light of the alley and I saw her for the first time. Sharp green eyes that cut through the dark. A smooth face that all but assured me she was not from this planet. Lips curled into a smirk that warned me not to drop my guard.
“What of it.”
“You just caught my attention. That’s all.” She seemed focused on me, as if trying to get a hidden passage opened behind my eyes.
I took a brisk step forward before I sternly warned, “I won’t let anyone intimidate me for my work.”
“One tip, sand pup. Intimidation with force only works on those weaker than you. Try to find someone’s desire – their deepest wish. Then you’ll be able to use it against them and intimidate them.” She reached into her jacket, a sparkle of mischievous anticipation gleaming in her eyes. Instinctually, I stepped back. I wasn’t about to lose my life over this.
“Look, I-“
“Take this.” She held out a military standard blaster pistol. The sleek shimmer of the metal warned that the beauty hid a deadly future within. I trembled as it slid into my grip. A faint familiarity washed over me as I thought of my drill. The precision I was able to get from it. My eyes narrowed and I pushed it back into her hands.
“I don’t know what you-“
“If you go into the mines tomorrow, you’ll need to be ready.”
“You-“
Before I could finish my unsteady thought, she turned and quickly vanished into the crowds of the night. The energy supplying the dim lights would soon be turned off as the guilds figured we should be resting up for our work. My mind raced with possibility as I fondled the pistol that stranger gave me. What did she intend to do? I don’t know. What I do know is mining and I wasn’t going to let this strange interaction ruin my good day.
Muscles aching with achievement and anxiety, I climbed into my small compartment. Barely enough room for a bed and shower. Uncertainty filled every corner of it as I stared at the ceiling. When the lights finally dimmed into nothing, the girl in shadow was all my mind could see.
The next morning I woke and showered as always. Wiping my face, I had hoped to erase my growing unease like the stone walls I work with every day. I would have had better luck with a laser.
The commute in seemed almost somber. My eyes glanced back, perhaps looking to see if anyone would notice the pistol I conspicuously put in the back of my pants. Or was it looking for her? The suns were clouded over today, yet the beads of sweat poured down my back as if they had doubled in heat.
As I entered the mine, my shift director walked swiftly up to me. My heart jumped into my throat and I wiped my brow shakily.
“Inspection, F-193.” He raised his hand and gave the faintest smirk. Yet before he could even begin to reach towards me, an explosion sent the both of us flying into the mines. Confusing screaming and a haze of dust came over us, and I knew I had to get out of the open area I was currently in. Then laser shots rang out in an unholy chorus, and screams rang out and were silenced quickly thereafter.
A shadowy figure lurched into the entrance of the cave. His towering demeanor nearly blocked the light from pouring in. His grunts indicated a heavy burden on his movement, but his powerful motions indicated that speed was not a weakness he possessed. A miner cowered in front of the hulking interloper as he lifted his clenched fist. Fire as blue as a crystal shot out from the wall and encased the victim in a blaze of horror. Only the guttural crunch of his bones as the man stepped on him to move deeper woke me from my stupefied daze.
“Clear the caverns and get out. Do not make me wait.” The man bellowed. I saw a few shadows begin to enter the large opening to the cave. My breathing got ragged. My vision was blurry as I tried to focus on everything at once. I scrambled down into the back end of one of the tunnels I had worked a week ago. It was the deepest I had ever gone and knew the turns by heart. When I finally got to the dead end I collapsed against the back of the wall.
Minutes went painfully slow as I heard less and less commotion from the entrance. Soon a deadly silence came over the facility. Backing against a rock at the edge, I heard voices for the first time.
“This is what I live for.”
“You’re pretty sick, you know that.”
“Never in my life have I had so much fun taking everything from people. Fuse was right. This place was so full of sheep it’s basically like wolves walking into a farm.”
“They were so brain dead most of them likely can’t tell the difference. I half expect them to get up and start working again.” They bellowed with such glee. My hand clasped my mouth as tears began to form in my eyes.
“Alright – fun’s over. Remember – no survivors.”
“Fuse’s weird about anyone trying to avenge themselves. Who would want to avenge the guild’s losses?”
“I don’t know. Let’s take these tunnels together though – hoping for no heroes this time.” I heard them make their way down tunnels. Each step they took echoed off the exceedingly empty metallic walls and into my soul. A few unlucky miners were in my position and got found. A few begged. A few tried to fight. All of them met the same fate.
Then the two of them came to my tunnel. The last one. I fell back and realized what I had to do. The pistol the girl gave me. I knew that there were two of them, so my hope of survival was slim if not entirely non-existent. But I’d take one of them down. My heart hoped it was the one enjoying himself. I thought about what death was going to be like. Though many possibilities crossed my mind, the only thing I had left was this last act of defiance. My hands stopped shaking and I knew the same steadiness that could extract an ore would now serve my final wish.
As the two rounded the corner, I stepped out with my pistol up. My eyes caught one of them pointing at me, and I knew that if I didn’t act now I would never be able to again. With an aura of finality, my finger squeezed the trigger firmly. I kept both eyes open as one of them fell backwards with a booming thud. His compatriot raised his rifle and screamed. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back.
A loud screech rang out followed by a crashing body.
Exhaling for the first time in what felt like forever, I collapsed onto the ground. I couldn’t feel the piercing of the loose pebbles or the icy kiss of the metallic floor. My heartbeat echoed in my brain as I drew what breath I could. Then a whisper roused me to my senses.
“Looks like I chose right.” The girl from last night spun her pistol in her hand effortlessly and replaced it in her holster. My eyes refused to leave her. This must be my final throes – an agonizing reminder that I had been given this last rite by the green eyed girl I met in the alley. She knelt down and wiped my face with a rag. The cloth brought back a sense of permanence to my mind and my limbs resumed their typical control.
“What… What is...?” I barely muttered with a grizzly exhale. Raising my body, it felt like I was struggling against gravity itself. She quietly offered her shoulder as a brace.
“Fuse was hired by one of the other guilds to exterminate this mine. He’s hired for all kinds of jobs like this – the ones that no one else would ever take.” Her face curled into a resentful glare. The arm that supported me tensed up, but when she glanced back at me I could feel her release the tension slightly.
“Fuse?”
“A mercenary that can control blue fire at will. One that embodies fear itself. You can see here what that leads to. You’re the first one I’ve given a gun to that survived one of these.”
“I…”
“We don’t have long. I can’t stay here forever. Take this.” She reached into her jacket and carefully pulled out what seemed like a small communication device. The glimmer of the screen matched a similar one the girl held in her own hand.
Backing into the walls of the cave, I pushed to stand on my own. “What exactly are you giving me?” I asked, rubbing my arm gently.
“It’s an advanced audio transmitter. It’s as strong as they come, but you’ll need to be on the same planet as me to use it. I once belonged to a world and people that created and sold these. All until Fuse was hired to do what did here.” Her eyes grew sullen. If there was one soul in the entire galaxy that knew the way I felt in this moment, it was hers. She turned back to me, looking at my eyes with the same intense curiosity she had when I saw her in the market. “Listen to me. I’ve given you this chance because I can only believe in the honor and kindness of strangers now. I will not be able to kill Fuse alone. I’ve tried.”
“I have no skills that can help you. What can a miner do?”
“Enough to survive.” She turned her head to the unmoving body I shot at earlier before moving to leave. “You will find nothing but pain and misery if you stay here. Find your way to Aelo. Fuse’s butchers usually stay on our target’s planet until Fuse has sufficiently scouted the location. That takes time. I saved your life, miner. Now I ask that help me stop Fuse. To stop this cycle of death.” Pausing for a moment, she faced me once more. “What’s your name?”
“Straven.”
“Vara.”
“How can I trust you if you’re with them?”
“You can’t, Straven. I’ve done all I can to prove my purpose here. Whatever you do, I’d get off of this planet as soon as possible. You’re nothing more than a loose end to them.” As she left the cavern, I witnessed the pools of blood clearly. Waves of it slowly spread across the floor, crawling slowly into the metallic cracks. My stomach lurched as my eyes became blurry again. I had never seen so much gore splayed out in front of me. I leaned against the wall and felt my consciousness waning. Having nothing to hold back anymore, I wept gently.
“Well,” a grim, husky voice barked at the entrance, “where are the rest of you?”
“They were as careless as they were cocky. Miners took them out.” Vara replied with a lower tone than she had used with me.
“Whatever. We have the ore we need to fund ourselves for at least five years. Let’s get moving before this becomes more trouble than it’s worth.”
Time was not a luxury I had anymore, but I wasn’t able to think off a way of this planet when I could barely inhale without the stench of charred bodies coating my lungs. Without direction or hope, I thought briefly of letting the guild find me. At the moment my muscles nearly gave into my dark desire, I heard a clanking noise. The communicator Vara gave to me rolled on the ground and I heard her voice echoing in my head. She believed that I could do something to stop this fate from spreading further than it had. That thought helped bring my dwindling hope to a sharp, temporary focus.
Crawling was not in store as the caverns were littered with the deceased. The numbness in my legs was beginning to spread, so I rushed quickly to the opening. The mangled corpses were basking in the sun, offering no solace from the devastation. My director’s speeder still had a key in it, so I did the only thing I could. Returned to the marketplace.
My eyes forced themselves shut against the frigid embrace of the wind. A small gasp escaped my lips realizing the boiling pot I was in could house something cold. My arm shielded the barrage of wind and I was able to make my way up into the living quarters.
The market was not spared. I nearly crashed the speeder when the alley I came to every day was now smoldering in the sandy abyss. Without direction and alone, I struggled to the only place I could hope to find some solace from the constant images of death.
I broke the window of my director’s unit and climbed in. The air was stagnant in our units but by contrast it was a burst of relief onto my sense. Not to waste any more time, I quickly discarded my clothing and let the water wash away the memories of the mine. I nearly convinced myself that I could hide among the planets forever. The only thing stopping me was Vara’s belief. If she thought that I could help stop Fuse, wouldn’t hiding be my complicit acceptance of his deeds?
When I felt like I was able to focus more, I found clothes that might help me blend in a bit more at the spaceport. Opening drawers, I found something interesting. A small pile of ore was being kept in the back of my director’s drawer. Though I despised the greed, I’d be able to take this and turn it into one of the refinery buildings. Perhaps it would be enough to get a ride to Aelo at the spaceport. I donned my director’s uniform, gathered the ore into a bag, and steeled my nerves before preparing to go to the nearest refinery that wasn’t massacred.
My lungs filled with the harrowing air of the market one last time. Though it wasn’t my home, it was the place I once dreamed of escaping. Now I could only think of the many souls that would never leave. Doomed to be forever trapped in the swirling dunes.
Time was against me as the wind howled its antagonistic disagreement to my speeder’s advancement. What amazed me most was that this planet didn’t change in appearance once. No vegetation, no civilization beyond the destitute markets and metallic cabins for sleeping. They truly turned this planet into nothing but a low tech meat machine for precious materials.
The turn in location appeared in the distance and I dismounted my speeder just outside. If I recall the process, miners would work to obtain the ore. Once shifts ended, it was taken to the local refineries and exchanged for paper currency – which was promptly given to the guild at the end of each day.
Eyes fell away from me as I walked carefully into the building. Folks in the refinery clearly didn’t like dealing with directors – almost as much as us miners it seemed. The transaction went smoothly and no words were exchanged. The shivering hand of the woman I was interacting with dropped a large bundle of currency in front of me. If you combined the entire amount of income my family had from the moment I was born until now, I doubt it would equal this sum. I pocketed it and shuffled out of the refinery before any other directors could see me.
Hopping back on the speeder, I could feel my physical exhaustion catching up to my emotional distress. I didn’t have much time before I would collapse with aching muscles. The feel of the communication device in my pocket was the only beacon I had to remind me of where I was going.
The spaceport was the only building on the planet that had the guild’s flavor of self-importance. It was a massive building that triumphantly defied the scorching desert with its aura of elegance and comfort. I only was able to recall the sheer level of wealth being put on display the first time I had landed on this planet.
Ditching the speeder in a dune, I walked into the bustling spaceport. Ships were taking off and docking at a decent pace. I suppose the guilds and recruits kept things busy. I’d use that to my advantage, discarding my previous outfit and donning a more casual set of clothes I had swiped from the director. Not exactly a man of taste, but I wasn’t in a position to get picky.
The line to enter the main dock wasn’t long, but I felt my legs begin to shake. They were meticulous in their pat downs and surely I’d be identified upon sight. My last ditch hope was hinging on the inspectors not checking my information – all but impossible with this level of precaution.
I was nearly to the front when a man was stopped for trying to smuggle ore out illegally. The guild branded guard smashed his baton into the man’s stomach and hit spit blood backwards. I wretched as the man’s anguish and fluids reached me. Images of the burned corpses came flooding back. Darkness began to dominate my vision and I stumbled out of line. My lungs felt like they were being squeezed and each attempt to fill them was in vain. It took but a moment to become nothing to the world.
Vision sputtered back to me and I felt a cool rag on my head. Squinting, I found a woman sitting on a module in the corner. Her hair was raven black with streaks of gray running throughout. Her bandana covered her neck and a pair of goggles sparkled in the console’s light.
“I hear you’re getting up. Good.” She lightly gawked before shuffling my way. My haziness had me questioning if she was the first guild member I’d have to convince.
“Where exactly am I?”
“Why in the humble care of Raxia. But you can call me Rax.”
“Straven.” I replied with a tinge of defiance. I saw little point in hiding my name – if she was guild she knew.
“You seem to be in some kind of struggle, Straven. Something you need to tell me?” My heart skipped a beat as her gaze focused on my face.
“Just here to… deliver parts for a refinery. I’ll be getting back to my planet.”
“See,” She teased, “the refineries on this planet all create their own parts. Part of the magic with the ore here.” Scooting closer to me, Raxia placed on hand on the back of my head casually. I could feel her fingers caressing into a grip that I wouldn’t be able to jolt away from. “You’ll need to work on your lying if you plan to get out of here. The first key is actually knowing what you’re lying about – anything else is a shot in the dark. Against folks like the guild, you need every bit of advantage you can get.”
I blinked in awe as a grin cracked on her face, revealing a well-cared for smile. She released the back of my hair from her hand and I rubbed the tense muscles on my neck. “Who are you?” I murmured.
“Rax. Haven’t you been listening?”
“Why would you, Rax, take in and care for a man who’s just fainted?”
“Simple question, Straven. One that I could give you a truthful answer or a lie for without a second thought.”
“No one would be willingly staying on this planet in a rented room. You need something to leave and you figured I’d have it.” She clapped her hands excitedly and rose to her feet.
“Now you’re putting things together. There’s really only one reason I’d come to this planet, personally.”
“Ore.” I exclaimed. She bellowed out a laugh that almost seemed forced.
“Do you take me for some guild crony? No – I came here because my ship ran out of fuel and I knew there could be some wealthy folks around here.” She took out the wad of cash I had just collected. “Looks like I was right.”
“You can’t do this.”
“Oh – please. Tell a guard. We’ll see who can do a better job of convincing them that they’re the victim.” I slumped a little before pushing myself to my feet. As far as I knew, she may be my best escape from this planet.
“If that’s all you needed then you’d have just left me in this room.”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re quick on the uptake, Straven?”
“What could someone like you possibly need from a person on this planet?” She let a small chuckle escape her before she motioned to her console. I walked over and saw a hospital record updating live with vitals for an unknown being. Based on my limited knowledge of anything medical – things were looking grim. Heart beat was low. Breathing was staggered.
Rax broke the silence with a calmed voice that said, “The hired help that led me here seems to be… on his way out. I can’t exactly pilot my ship alone. Even I know that’s basically suicide. The moment this man passes away my chances of getting off this planet go way down.”
“Unless…”
“Unless a kind stranger decides to lend a hand.” She offers the bundle of money back to me in a gentle motion.
“After all of this, Rax, you think you can still con me into some kind of deal with my own money?” She smirked and winked. I grabbed my money and shoved it angrily into my pocket. “No deal. I’ll try my luck with the guards.”
“You know that’s not an option.” I sighed, thinking of anything I could do to get beyond the guards on my own. There was nothing that came to mind.
“How do you expect to get be passed them.”
Rax made her way over to a large contained and opened the top. “This is a heat signature eraser. They won’t even know you’re here.”
“Will this work?”
“Shame, though. Only works with folks who are willing to be navigators, Stony.” With an inpatient tap, she motioned for me to jump in. Knowing what it meant, I silently complied. “Glad to see you came around. Let’s go.”
The bumpy journey began. My thoughts were racing, but I wondered how she planned to get someone who never looked at the controls for a ship to help pilot it just as well as a hired goon could.
My thoughts turned back to Vara. She was waiting for me on Aelo along with the arduous task of ending Fuse’s horror. I didn’t know what I could manage to do when I got there. Did she expect me to lead an evacuation? That would only result in a temporary solution. Without much of a plan, I could only barrel forward with a growing sense of dread in my chest.
After what seemed like 15 minutes, I felt a rapping on the walls of my container. A sharp pry popped the top and a frantic Raxia kicked the side, toppling me to the floor.
“I hope you know how to navigate.” She quickly wheezed through heavy breathing.
“Rax, I’ve never even been on a private ship in my life.”
“Well, Stony, you’re about to get a crash course. You better buckle in. My payment for the fuel is about to decline and they won’t let us leave if we’re still docked.”
“What do you mea-“
“When you’re as good as I am, you don’t support well known cheaters and slavers like the guilds if you can help it. Now look at that monitor and tell me when the gray overlaps the red.” The ship whirred to life and Rax flipped buttons in a seemingly random pattern. Before I could get too entranced with the dance she was performing, I recalled I had a job. The monitor beeped and began to flash patterns at me. My pupils glided along the pixels, searching for patterns or familiarity.
“Anytime the red overlaps the gray, tell me the direction. Don’t get cute and tell me where you think I should go. Just tell me the direction the overlap occurred.” I nodded in acknowledgment and turned back.
“Left.”
The ship lurched as Rax pushed forward on her controls and I felt myself losing a sense of stability. We rushed passed the gates of the dock and began to accelerate towards the sky. A gust of wind blew the sands into a dry vortex. The communities I had recently driven by were as unexciting as they were expansive.
How I was ever sold this planet as my future is beyond me.
“Lower right.”
We then entered the atmosphere and began to pick up speed. We avoided one of the guild structures that always guarded the stars from full view. Breaking beyond that barrier was a rush unlike any other.
“Top – right in the middle.”
The stars looked luminous in the view out of the front side of the ship. Then a beeping rang out.
“There’s at least three – all on the bottom.”
“What? I thought we’d have been clear of obstacles by now. Can you go glance out the back and yell out what you see?” Hopping up, I stammered to the back of the ship. The planet was in full view. I had only been able to admire this sight once. It doesn’t seem so bad from this distance.
Then a few glistening objects came into view. The closer they got, the more I could see the guild markings on the wings.
“The guild doesn’t like to be ripped off.”
“Come on – they have so much money they shouldn’t care about one ship’s fuel!” Rax yelled as she veered to the left. Sliding with the turns, I made my way to the navigation seat once again.
“There’s a lot of overlap – almost our entire back side.”
“Brace yourself. They’re firing on us.” A large crash echoed in my ear as the first shot banged the shields on the back end of the craft. A few more volleys rumbled. I felt my heart beat speeding up before I caught a view of Rax. Her eyes exuded a focus that was unwavering in the assault. She was careening towards an asteroid field. My job was more important than ever.
“Three on the right.” The ship jumped left, avoiding nearly imperceptible flying chunks of matter. Just as we passed a huge cluster, I felt the ship jolt backwards and all of our lights turned off.
“This works every time.” Rax chuckled as she leaned back. The emotional whiplash almost caused my jaw to hit the floor as I walked to the front of the ship. All of the guild fighters were circling around the asteroids aimlessly. After around twenty minutes of fruitless hunting, they all left our field of vision.
“So this is Rax in action?” I croaked in awe.
“Well,” Rax retorted, “that and more of that heat concealing technology. No one ever suspects it to be along the entire outside of a ship.” She flipped a few switches and we were off again – at a more reasonable pace. She poured some drinks for us as we floated in our slow advance.
“So you really needed a navigator to do what you just did?”
“More or less.” She winked and leaned forward. “So where exactly are you headed?”
“Aelo.” I blurted out. “I need to go to Aelo.”
“The whole universe and you want to go a stone’s throw away from this dusty prison of a planet?”
“I need to meet someone there.”
“You have a serious look on your face, Stony. What exactly is waiting for you on Aelo?”
“Fuse.” Her teeth clenched as her face contorted into what seemed like a painful cringe. Leaning, back she sighed heavily and rubbed her eyes.
“Not him.”
“What exactly do you mean ‘him’?
“When you’ve been around as much as I have, you’ve heard about the mercenary crews to avoid. Fuse is near the top of that list. His ability to control fire makes folks like me steer clear of that whole operation.”
“I’ve seen it.” I grimly stated. Rax’s focus was once again was clearly on the facial expressions I was making. “The gore. The burning flesh.”
“And you want revenge?”
“I should have died in that cave, Rax. If she had not given me this gun I wouldn’t be on your ship right now. I’d be a corpse being cleaned up by one of the guild’s lackeys.” Rax frowned and lightly shook her head.
“She? So you’re going after a girl.” She glanced my way as she stood up. “Look – she better be worth getting burned alive.”
“I owe her that much.”
Rax’s demeanor changed. She nodded to herself and began to approach me. “That’s a mentality you don’t get to see much of anymore. Devout honor, even in the face of uncertainty. You know we don’t recruit openly, Stony.”
“We?”
“Why the shadows of course. We’re a band of folks who use subtlety and manipulation to achieve a justice that common law can’t hope to. If you haven’t heard of us then we’re doing our job well. Sounds to me like you’re going to Aelo with just a prayer. Why not look at becoming a shadow, Stony, and give yourself a real chance?”
My eyebrows raised and I scratched my arm reluctantly. I couldn’t tell if she was pulling another prank on me or helping me become something useful to Vara.
“I have no idea if you’re leading me to some kind of scam, Rax, but I do know that Fuse will kill many more if I don’t try to improve. Tell me what you know.”
The new few weeks went by like a blur. Rax refused to touch down on Aelo until I was at least more competent in blending in. She taught me what she knew about reading faces, predicting motives, and understanding the psychology of other beings. My universe slowly began to expand. Other people had stories. Dreams. Goals. Sometimes our goals would align and we could be friends. Other times they contradicted. Rax’s key point was that anyone could be manipulated, but only a few should be.
Though this was a small fraction of what she could teach me, I came to trust Rax’s teachings. My plan of attack was slowly coming together. I would chip away at Fuse’s habits like the walls of a cave until nothing was left to hold him in place. Like stone to a miner.
“Don’t get too cocky, Stony.” Rax would often say. “That’s how shadows become graves.”
I finally proved to Raxia that I was ready to land on the planet. She brought the ship down into a nearby city. The plants on this planet sung with the virility of life as the wind calmly traversed the town. There were railways and large structures unlike anything I had seen on my home world or the colony. In my awe, I nearly ran into a moving speeder as it barreled down the hustling city street.
Rax had told me for a long while that she still had no interest in helping me against Fuse. Too much risk for her. I didn’t want to pull her into whatever fate I had waiting for me, so we agreed to part ways for now.
“I’ll be waiting to hear of Fuse’s demise, Stony.”
“I doubt that we’ll meet again, Rax. You’ve been kinder to me than anyone I’ve ever met.” I held out the wad of money we had exchanged a few times.
“Keep it. A novice navigator like yourself is going to need all the bribe money he can handle to get onto someone’s ship.” We embraced before I made my way to the edge of the city. I could feel her watching me like a wistful child watching a shooting star.
I turned on the communicator once nightfall came. The static broke the stillness of the night as I waited for some sign of a response.
“Straven?” A hopeful voice rang out.
“You told me we would stop the cycle of death.” I sighed as I looked into the darkness. “I hope you have more than words, Vara.”
“You actually came. I never dared to hope. I can’t meet with you physically. He’s tracking all of us.”
“Tracking? Why?”
“When you’re as paranoid as that monster is, you take precautions.”
“Well look, I’ve gotten some good advice.” I stole a glance of the city I just left. “I think we should understand why he’s so scared of you all.”
“I don’t think he fears anything, Straven. That’s why he is able to do what he does so brazenly. It’s why we have to stop him from doing this to anyone else. ”
“In the caves, I heard…” I mumbled before my heart skipped a beat. Sweat began to form on my neck and I swallowed hard. Before my mind lost its clarity, I continued, “I heard them say that Fuse desires no survivors. It stands to reason that anyone he kills would want revenge, but that seems suspicious for what was essentially a slaving colony.”
Vara’s voice took a long bit to return through the device, but she finally murmured, “What if he doesn’t want someone to reveal something about him in those moments? Something only a person who sees his fire up close could see.”
“The only way we can know that is by studying him. Vara, I need you to tell me where you are so I can watch him.” She sent me the coordinates and I calculated that it would take me around three hours on foot to reach their location. I didn’t want to risk anyone getting involved in this, so a ride was out of the question.
“Do not approach our camp.” Vara warned. “It’s guarded heavily.”
“Which direction does he tend to leave as he scouts?”
“South. He tends to always head south.”
After I made it to the outskirts, I set myself up in a tree. It’s not like I was planning to attack from this position, but I knew that I’d be able to get a good look at his actions without drawing him to hunt for me. After telling Vara that my plan was to watch his movement, I turned off the communicator.
It was a long, grueling test of my will. The stillness of the forest only served as the backdrop to the horrific fates I imaged myself facing. Just when I felt the silence was about to consume me, I saw a massive figure emerging on the horizon.
The man I assumed was Fuse stumbled forward, glancing over his shoulder every few steps. His breathing was labored – but his arms and legs gave no indication of dragging. As he approached my location, I could see he was shouldering a large bag. He would stop at random intervals and plant a metallic cylinder into the ground carefully before concealing its presence. He’d check his arm each time and continue on. I could feel my every breath hasten as his figure was unmistakably the one I saw in the cave. My pulse raced recalling his display of power.
As Fuse approached my position in the tree, my heart was leaping into my throat. I could see that on one of his arms there was a canister strapped down. His clothes served as a miserable attempt to camouflage it, but the silver shine was obviously protruding from his figure. As he disappeared into the shade of night, my body returned to a state of relative control. I quietly climbed down and grabbed one of the hidden items.
“Vara. What the hell is Fuse doing out here.”
“Scouting. He never takes anyone out with him so you’re seeing something I’ve never seen.”
“He’s planting these… metallic devices as he walks.” I looked at the side of the one I was holding. “Looks like it’s some kind of Aerospark branding. Have you heard of them?”
Vara was silent for a long bit. I felt the embrace of the silent forest, harkening images of my old sleeping compartment above the mines. A chill ran down my spine and I could have sworn I heard wayward noises among the trees.
“I just confirmed on my watch. It’s a fire accelerant, Straven. He can’t control fire. All he can control are these canisters. Without them, he’s nothing more than a deranged murderer who is drunk on the fear of others.”
“That seems like a secret he might not want to get out.”
“Better than that. There are seals on the back that allow the compression to direct the fire in the desired direction. If you disrupt the directional chip, the casing doesn’t know which way to release and it becomes an explosive.”
“Vara. He has one of these things on his left arm.” I could hear Vara getting up rapidly, her breathing intensifying.
“I’m on my way to your location. He’ll be on me very quickly, but he has no idea you’re there, which means you’ll be open to take a shot at the back of the housing where that chip is. If he tries to fire after that, he’ll explode.”
“Let me clear the area of the other devices or this will be a very short confrontation for you.” My hands dug into the earth rapidly as I unearthed the various hidden treasures Fuse had hidden. I threw them well out of distance from my spot in the trees. Once I felt the area had been sufficiently investigated, I notified Vara of my location and quickly jumped back into my hiding spot. Sure enough, just as she appeared a clattering uproar of metal came from the direction Fuse had gone. He was glancing at his watch as he immediately confronted Vara.
“What will on this planet gave you the idiotic idea to venture after me, girl.”
Vara closed her eyes and exhaled before opening them and stating, “Sir, I think I’ve found it.”
“You have exactly three seconds to explain yourself before I melt you into the next life.”
“I know your rules, sir. Don’t you think I have a self-preservation instinct?”
I positioned myself against the largest branch and started to take aim. My shivering hands made it hard to focus on his arm’s canister, so I didn’t have a clear shot. Vara glanced at me with a calming look. My mind thought back to the market… and to the mines. I realized now that no desert ore could be as valuable as the lives I would save if I could pull this off. My hands steadied, but at this point I didn’t have a shot.
“Do not mistake me for someone you can stall. You either tell me why you’re out here or I’ll kill you and any of the traitors you brought out here to ambush me.”
“It’s just me. Check your trackers.”
Fuse dropped the bag and lifted his left hand to his face. It would appear that this is where his tracking device was, and Vara knew it. The back of the canister was clearly in view and I exhaled gently before aiming. Images of the men in the cave harkened back and when I pulled the trigger I closed my eyes instinctually.
“You thought you could bring in outside help, wench?” He bellowed.
Vara began to run in the direction of the camp, screaming, “You missed!”
“You won’t get another shot, whelp.” He first tried to aim at Vara, clearly attempting to activate his previously hidden weapons. They activated off in the distance where I had thrown them. “So you know my secret. Then I guess I’ll finish you both with the only one of these that I know you couldn’t have moved.” He carefully lifted his bulging arm towards Vara and pushed the screen. I felt my life flash before my eyes.
The canister exploded in a mist of fire and blood. The same smell that had tormented my mind had now signified the success of our plan. I quickly rose and found him whimpering on the ground, his left arm completely severed. He writhed in pain as Vara emerged from her hiding spot stepped on his neck.
“I told you I found it, sir. The way to put out a fuse is to blow on it.” She put more pressure on his neck until a gurgling noise ended his struggle. Without a word, we began to walk away from his disgusting corpse, destroying the trigger he used to create his flames.
“You had no reason to come here, you know.” She finally sighed.
“Sure I did.” I definitively replied. “You saved my life. Why wouldn’t I risk it for you?”
“I want to leave this planet forever” Vara quietly declared. ”Where exactly do you plan to go?”
“There’s someone I need to meet. You’re not the only one I owe my life to, you know” I smirked as we continued on the path back to the city.
This planet was owned by the self-crowned planetary guilds. They were a conglomerate of rich business owners that treated planets like their own personal income generation machines. They were well known to be as corrupt as they were stingy. Unfortunately anyone who signed away their freedom, like I did, was stuck due to the militaristic hold they had on their investments.
That said, I take my craft of mining seriously. Most of the others just resign to the fate the guilds gave them and put no level of care into their work. I know what’s below these walls and what can happen if you extract it cleanly. The ore on this planet can serve as fuel, jewelry, or hard metallic structure. You can build an entire ship, decorate it, and fuel it all with just what we find in this cave.
Finally arriving at my usual tunnel, I aimed my laser digger with care at the contour of the wall and began to chip away. My heart panged each time another layer dropped to the ground. Just as I’m about to get lost in the normal flow of drilling, I’m rewarded with a softly glowing red material. It’s the largest I’ve ever seen! Trusting my skill, I began to drill around it. Layers of stone fell as the piercing laser eroded its earthy casing.
When the ore dropped into my hands, I felt a strong sense of personal achievement. The edges of the mineral were clean and truly showed the care I poured into each movement. With even one fourth of the ore I held in my hand now, I could buy myself a ship to get out of here. Before I got too distracted, my director was on my hip.
“The ore, F-193” He curtly murmured. I could tell he was not going to risk anything happening to it on my account.
“It’s Straven.” I faintly stammered to myself. Handing over the ore, I received 13 bits. Compared to the millions that the mining guild would get, it seemed like a real rip off. What hurts the most is that I signed up for it.
Satisfied with what I had collected today, I made my way back along the sandy road to a small, bustling marketplace. I quietly slipped into an alleyway where some children would always wait for me.
“Aright – I got a lot today. Make sure your friends fill their stomachs too.” I pulled out all but one of my bits and handed two each to the children. They scurried off without a second to spare – as if I’d change my mind if they were idle too long.
“That’s quite the generous move, ore miner.” A feminine voice whispered just enough to be audible. I turned quickly to size up the interloper.
“I’m not hurting anyone.” I snapped back. My eyes couldn’t get a read on her face.
“Seems like you’re the only one around here not doing that.” She stepped forward into the dim light of the alley and I saw her for the first time. Sharp green eyes that cut through the dark. A smooth face that all but assured me she was not from this planet. Lips curled into a smirk that warned me not to drop my guard.
“What of it.”
“You just caught my attention. That’s all.” She seemed focused on me, as if trying to get a hidden passage opened behind my eyes.
I took a brisk step forward before I sternly warned, “I won’t let anyone intimidate me for my work.”
“One tip, sand pup. Intimidation with force only works on those weaker than you. Try to find someone’s desire – their deepest wish. Then you’ll be able to use it against them and intimidate them.” She reached into her jacket, a sparkle of mischievous anticipation gleaming in her eyes. Instinctually, I stepped back. I wasn’t about to lose my life over this.
“Look, I-“
“Take this.” She held out a military standard blaster pistol. The sleek shimmer of the metal warned that the beauty hid a deadly future within. I trembled as it slid into my grip. A faint familiarity washed over me as I thought of my drill. The precision I was able to get from it. My eyes narrowed and I pushed it back into her hands.
“I don’t know what you-“
“If you go into the mines tomorrow, you’ll need to be ready.”
“You-“
Before I could finish my unsteady thought, she turned and quickly vanished into the crowds of the night. The energy supplying the dim lights would soon be turned off as the guilds figured we should be resting up for our work. My mind raced with possibility as I fondled the pistol that stranger gave me. What did she intend to do? I don’t know. What I do know is mining and I wasn’t going to let this strange interaction ruin my good day.
Muscles aching with achievement and anxiety, I climbed into my small compartment. Barely enough room for a bed and shower. Uncertainty filled every corner of it as I stared at the ceiling. When the lights finally dimmed into nothing, the girl in shadow was all my mind could see.
The next morning I woke and showered as always. Wiping my face, I had hoped to erase my growing unease like the stone walls I work with every day. I would have had better luck with a laser.
The commute in seemed almost somber. My eyes glanced back, perhaps looking to see if anyone would notice the pistol I conspicuously put in the back of my pants. Or was it looking for her? The suns were clouded over today, yet the beads of sweat poured down my back as if they had doubled in heat.
As I entered the mine, my shift director walked swiftly up to me. My heart jumped into my throat and I wiped my brow shakily.
“Inspection, F-193.” He raised his hand and gave the faintest smirk. Yet before he could even begin to reach towards me, an explosion sent the both of us flying into the mines. Confusing screaming and a haze of dust came over us, and I knew I had to get out of the open area I was currently in. Then laser shots rang out in an unholy chorus, and screams rang out and were silenced quickly thereafter.
A shadowy figure lurched into the entrance of the cave. His towering demeanor nearly blocked the light from pouring in. His grunts indicated a heavy burden on his movement, but his powerful motions indicated that speed was not a weakness he possessed. A miner cowered in front of the hulking interloper as he lifted his clenched fist. Fire as blue as a crystal shot out from the wall and encased the victim in a blaze of horror. Only the guttural crunch of his bones as the man stepped on him to move deeper woke me from my stupefied daze.
“Clear the caverns and get out. Do not make me wait.” The man bellowed. I saw a few shadows begin to enter the large opening to the cave. My breathing got ragged. My vision was blurry as I tried to focus on everything at once. I scrambled down into the back end of one of the tunnels I had worked a week ago. It was the deepest I had ever gone and knew the turns by heart. When I finally got to the dead end I collapsed against the back of the wall.
Minutes went painfully slow as I heard less and less commotion from the entrance. Soon a deadly silence came over the facility. Backing against a rock at the edge, I heard voices for the first time.
“This is what I live for.”
“You’re pretty sick, you know that.”
“Never in my life have I had so much fun taking everything from people. Fuse was right. This place was so full of sheep it’s basically like wolves walking into a farm.”
“They were so brain dead most of them likely can’t tell the difference. I half expect them to get up and start working again.” They bellowed with such glee. My hand clasped my mouth as tears began to form in my eyes.
“Alright – fun’s over. Remember – no survivors.”
“Fuse’s weird about anyone trying to avenge themselves. Who would want to avenge the guild’s losses?”
“I don’t know. Let’s take these tunnels together though – hoping for no heroes this time.” I heard them make their way down tunnels. Each step they took echoed off the exceedingly empty metallic walls and into my soul. A few unlucky miners were in my position and got found. A few begged. A few tried to fight. All of them met the same fate.
Then the two of them came to my tunnel. The last one. I fell back and realized what I had to do. The pistol the girl gave me. I knew that there were two of them, so my hope of survival was slim if not entirely non-existent. But I’d take one of them down. My heart hoped it was the one enjoying himself. I thought about what death was going to be like. Though many possibilities crossed my mind, the only thing I had left was this last act of defiance. My hands stopped shaking and I knew the same steadiness that could extract an ore would now serve my final wish.
As the two rounded the corner, I stepped out with my pistol up. My eyes caught one of them pointing at me, and I knew that if I didn’t act now I would never be able to again. With an aura of finality, my finger squeezed the trigger firmly. I kept both eyes open as one of them fell backwards with a booming thud. His compatriot raised his rifle and screamed. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back.
A loud screech rang out followed by a crashing body.
Exhaling for the first time in what felt like forever, I collapsed onto the ground. I couldn’t feel the piercing of the loose pebbles or the icy kiss of the metallic floor. My heartbeat echoed in my brain as I drew what breath I could. Then a whisper roused me to my senses.
“Looks like I chose right.” The girl from last night spun her pistol in her hand effortlessly and replaced it in her holster. My eyes refused to leave her. This must be my final throes – an agonizing reminder that I had been given this last rite by the green eyed girl I met in the alley. She knelt down and wiped my face with a rag. The cloth brought back a sense of permanence to my mind and my limbs resumed their typical control.
“What… What is...?” I barely muttered with a grizzly exhale. Raising my body, it felt like I was struggling against gravity itself. She quietly offered her shoulder as a brace.
“Fuse was hired by one of the other guilds to exterminate this mine. He’s hired for all kinds of jobs like this – the ones that no one else would ever take.” Her face curled into a resentful glare. The arm that supported me tensed up, but when she glanced back at me I could feel her release the tension slightly.
“Fuse?”
“A mercenary that can control blue fire at will. One that embodies fear itself. You can see here what that leads to. You’re the first one I’ve given a gun to that survived one of these.”
“I…”
“We don’t have long. I can’t stay here forever. Take this.” She reached into her jacket and carefully pulled out what seemed like a small communication device. The glimmer of the screen matched a similar one the girl held in her own hand.
Backing into the walls of the cave, I pushed to stand on my own. “What exactly are you giving me?” I asked, rubbing my arm gently.
“It’s an advanced audio transmitter. It’s as strong as they come, but you’ll need to be on the same planet as me to use it. I once belonged to a world and people that created and sold these. All until Fuse was hired to do what did here.” Her eyes grew sullen. If there was one soul in the entire galaxy that knew the way I felt in this moment, it was hers. She turned back to me, looking at my eyes with the same intense curiosity she had when I saw her in the market. “Listen to me. I’ve given you this chance because I can only believe in the honor and kindness of strangers now. I will not be able to kill Fuse alone. I’ve tried.”
“I have no skills that can help you. What can a miner do?”
“Enough to survive.” She turned her head to the unmoving body I shot at earlier before moving to leave. “You will find nothing but pain and misery if you stay here. Find your way to Aelo. Fuse’s butchers usually stay on our target’s planet until Fuse has sufficiently scouted the location. That takes time. I saved your life, miner. Now I ask that help me stop Fuse. To stop this cycle of death.” Pausing for a moment, she faced me once more. “What’s your name?”
“Straven.”
“Vara.”
“How can I trust you if you’re with them?”
“You can’t, Straven. I’ve done all I can to prove my purpose here. Whatever you do, I’d get off of this planet as soon as possible. You’re nothing more than a loose end to them.” As she left the cavern, I witnessed the pools of blood clearly. Waves of it slowly spread across the floor, crawling slowly into the metallic cracks. My stomach lurched as my eyes became blurry again. I had never seen so much gore splayed out in front of me. I leaned against the wall and felt my consciousness waning. Having nothing to hold back anymore, I wept gently.
“Well,” a grim, husky voice barked at the entrance, “where are the rest of you?”
“They were as careless as they were cocky. Miners took them out.” Vara replied with a lower tone than she had used with me.
“Whatever. We have the ore we need to fund ourselves for at least five years. Let’s get moving before this becomes more trouble than it’s worth.”
Time was not a luxury I had anymore, but I wasn’t able to think off a way of this planet when I could barely inhale without the stench of charred bodies coating my lungs. Without direction or hope, I thought briefly of letting the guild find me. At the moment my muscles nearly gave into my dark desire, I heard a clanking noise. The communicator Vara gave to me rolled on the ground and I heard her voice echoing in my head. She believed that I could do something to stop this fate from spreading further than it had. That thought helped bring my dwindling hope to a sharp, temporary focus.
Crawling was not in store as the caverns were littered with the deceased. The numbness in my legs was beginning to spread, so I rushed quickly to the opening. The mangled corpses were basking in the sun, offering no solace from the devastation. My director’s speeder still had a key in it, so I did the only thing I could. Returned to the marketplace.
My eyes forced themselves shut against the frigid embrace of the wind. A small gasp escaped my lips realizing the boiling pot I was in could house something cold. My arm shielded the barrage of wind and I was able to make my way up into the living quarters.
The market was not spared. I nearly crashed the speeder when the alley I came to every day was now smoldering in the sandy abyss. Without direction and alone, I struggled to the only place I could hope to find some solace from the constant images of death.
I broke the window of my director’s unit and climbed in. The air was stagnant in our units but by contrast it was a burst of relief onto my sense. Not to waste any more time, I quickly discarded my clothing and let the water wash away the memories of the mine. I nearly convinced myself that I could hide among the planets forever. The only thing stopping me was Vara’s belief. If she thought that I could help stop Fuse, wouldn’t hiding be my complicit acceptance of his deeds?
When I felt like I was able to focus more, I found clothes that might help me blend in a bit more at the spaceport. Opening drawers, I found something interesting. A small pile of ore was being kept in the back of my director’s drawer. Though I despised the greed, I’d be able to take this and turn it into one of the refinery buildings. Perhaps it would be enough to get a ride to Aelo at the spaceport. I donned my director’s uniform, gathered the ore into a bag, and steeled my nerves before preparing to go to the nearest refinery that wasn’t massacred.
My lungs filled with the harrowing air of the market one last time. Though it wasn’t my home, it was the place I once dreamed of escaping. Now I could only think of the many souls that would never leave. Doomed to be forever trapped in the swirling dunes.
Time was against me as the wind howled its antagonistic disagreement to my speeder’s advancement. What amazed me most was that this planet didn’t change in appearance once. No vegetation, no civilization beyond the destitute markets and metallic cabins for sleeping. They truly turned this planet into nothing but a low tech meat machine for precious materials.
The turn in location appeared in the distance and I dismounted my speeder just outside. If I recall the process, miners would work to obtain the ore. Once shifts ended, it was taken to the local refineries and exchanged for paper currency – which was promptly given to the guild at the end of each day.
Eyes fell away from me as I walked carefully into the building. Folks in the refinery clearly didn’t like dealing with directors – almost as much as us miners it seemed. The transaction went smoothly and no words were exchanged. The shivering hand of the woman I was interacting with dropped a large bundle of currency in front of me. If you combined the entire amount of income my family had from the moment I was born until now, I doubt it would equal this sum. I pocketed it and shuffled out of the refinery before any other directors could see me.
Hopping back on the speeder, I could feel my physical exhaustion catching up to my emotional distress. I didn’t have much time before I would collapse with aching muscles. The feel of the communication device in my pocket was the only beacon I had to remind me of where I was going.
The spaceport was the only building on the planet that had the guild’s flavor of self-importance. It was a massive building that triumphantly defied the scorching desert with its aura of elegance and comfort. I only was able to recall the sheer level of wealth being put on display the first time I had landed on this planet.
Ditching the speeder in a dune, I walked into the bustling spaceport. Ships were taking off and docking at a decent pace. I suppose the guilds and recruits kept things busy. I’d use that to my advantage, discarding my previous outfit and donning a more casual set of clothes I had swiped from the director. Not exactly a man of taste, but I wasn’t in a position to get picky.
The line to enter the main dock wasn’t long, but I felt my legs begin to shake. They were meticulous in their pat downs and surely I’d be identified upon sight. My last ditch hope was hinging on the inspectors not checking my information – all but impossible with this level of precaution.
I was nearly to the front when a man was stopped for trying to smuggle ore out illegally. The guild branded guard smashed his baton into the man’s stomach and hit spit blood backwards. I wretched as the man’s anguish and fluids reached me. Images of the burned corpses came flooding back. Darkness began to dominate my vision and I stumbled out of line. My lungs felt like they were being squeezed and each attempt to fill them was in vain. It took but a moment to become nothing to the world.
Vision sputtered back to me and I felt a cool rag on my head. Squinting, I found a woman sitting on a module in the corner. Her hair was raven black with streaks of gray running throughout. Her bandana covered her neck and a pair of goggles sparkled in the console’s light.
“I hear you’re getting up. Good.” She lightly gawked before shuffling my way. My haziness had me questioning if she was the first guild member I’d have to convince.
“Where exactly am I?”
“Why in the humble care of Raxia. But you can call me Rax.”
“Straven.” I replied with a tinge of defiance. I saw little point in hiding my name – if she was guild she knew.
“You seem to be in some kind of struggle, Straven. Something you need to tell me?” My heart skipped a beat as her gaze focused on my face.
“Just here to… deliver parts for a refinery. I’ll be getting back to my planet.”
“See,” She teased, “the refineries on this planet all create their own parts. Part of the magic with the ore here.” Scooting closer to me, Raxia placed on hand on the back of my head casually. I could feel her fingers caressing into a grip that I wouldn’t be able to jolt away from. “You’ll need to work on your lying if you plan to get out of here. The first key is actually knowing what you’re lying about – anything else is a shot in the dark. Against folks like the guild, you need every bit of advantage you can get.”
I blinked in awe as a grin cracked on her face, revealing a well-cared for smile. She released the back of my hair from her hand and I rubbed the tense muscles on my neck. “Who are you?” I murmured.
“Rax. Haven’t you been listening?”
“Why would you, Rax, take in and care for a man who’s just fainted?”
“Simple question, Straven. One that I could give you a truthful answer or a lie for without a second thought.”
“No one would be willingly staying on this planet in a rented room. You need something to leave and you figured I’d have it.” She clapped her hands excitedly and rose to her feet.
“Now you’re putting things together. There’s really only one reason I’d come to this planet, personally.”
“Ore.” I exclaimed. She bellowed out a laugh that almost seemed forced.
“Do you take me for some guild crony? No – I came here because my ship ran out of fuel and I knew there could be some wealthy folks around here.” She took out the wad of cash I had just collected. “Looks like I was right.”
“You can’t do this.”
“Oh – please. Tell a guard. We’ll see who can do a better job of convincing them that they’re the victim.” I slumped a little before pushing myself to my feet. As far as I knew, she may be my best escape from this planet.
“If that’s all you needed then you’d have just left me in this room.”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re quick on the uptake, Straven?”
“What could someone like you possibly need from a person on this planet?” She let a small chuckle escape her before she motioned to her console. I walked over and saw a hospital record updating live with vitals for an unknown being. Based on my limited knowledge of anything medical – things were looking grim. Heart beat was low. Breathing was staggered.
Rax broke the silence with a calmed voice that said, “The hired help that led me here seems to be… on his way out. I can’t exactly pilot my ship alone. Even I know that’s basically suicide. The moment this man passes away my chances of getting off this planet go way down.”
“Unless…”
“Unless a kind stranger decides to lend a hand.” She offers the bundle of money back to me in a gentle motion.
“After all of this, Rax, you think you can still con me into some kind of deal with my own money?” She smirked and winked. I grabbed my money and shoved it angrily into my pocket. “No deal. I’ll try my luck with the guards.”
“You know that’s not an option.” I sighed, thinking of anything I could do to get beyond the guards on my own. There was nothing that came to mind.
“How do you expect to get be passed them.”
Rax made her way over to a large contained and opened the top. “This is a heat signature eraser. They won’t even know you’re here.”
“Will this work?”
“Shame, though. Only works with folks who are willing to be navigators, Stony.” With an inpatient tap, she motioned for me to jump in. Knowing what it meant, I silently complied. “Glad to see you came around. Let’s go.”
The bumpy journey began. My thoughts were racing, but I wondered how she planned to get someone who never looked at the controls for a ship to help pilot it just as well as a hired goon could.
My thoughts turned back to Vara. She was waiting for me on Aelo along with the arduous task of ending Fuse’s horror. I didn’t know what I could manage to do when I got there. Did she expect me to lead an evacuation? That would only result in a temporary solution. Without much of a plan, I could only barrel forward with a growing sense of dread in my chest.
After what seemed like 15 minutes, I felt a rapping on the walls of my container. A sharp pry popped the top and a frantic Raxia kicked the side, toppling me to the floor.
“I hope you know how to navigate.” She quickly wheezed through heavy breathing.
“Rax, I’ve never even been on a private ship in my life.”
“Well, Stony, you’re about to get a crash course. You better buckle in. My payment for the fuel is about to decline and they won’t let us leave if we’re still docked.”
“What do you mea-“
“When you’re as good as I am, you don’t support well known cheaters and slavers like the guilds if you can help it. Now look at that monitor and tell me when the gray overlaps the red.” The ship whirred to life and Rax flipped buttons in a seemingly random pattern. Before I could get too entranced with the dance she was performing, I recalled I had a job. The monitor beeped and began to flash patterns at me. My pupils glided along the pixels, searching for patterns or familiarity.
“Anytime the red overlaps the gray, tell me the direction. Don’t get cute and tell me where you think I should go. Just tell me the direction the overlap occurred.” I nodded in acknowledgment and turned back.
“Left.”
The ship lurched as Rax pushed forward on her controls and I felt myself losing a sense of stability. We rushed passed the gates of the dock and began to accelerate towards the sky. A gust of wind blew the sands into a dry vortex. The communities I had recently driven by were as unexciting as they were expansive.
How I was ever sold this planet as my future is beyond me.
“Lower right.”
We then entered the atmosphere and began to pick up speed. We avoided one of the guild structures that always guarded the stars from full view. Breaking beyond that barrier was a rush unlike any other.
“Top – right in the middle.”
The stars looked luminous in the view out of the front side of the ship. Then a beeping rang out.
“There’s at least three – all on the bottom.”
“What? I thought we’d have been clear of obstacles by now. Can you go glance out the back and yell out what you see?” Hopping up, I stammered to the back of the ship. The planet was in full view. I had only been able to admire this sight once. It doesn’t seem so bad from this distance.
Then a few glistening objects came into view. The closer they got, the more I could see the guild markings on the wings.
“The guild doesn’t like to be ripped off.”
“Come on – they have so much money they shouldn’t care about one ship’s fuel!” Rax yelled as she veered to the left. Sliding with the turns, I made my way to the navigation seat once again.
“There’s a lot of overlap – almost our entire back side.”
“Brace yourself. They’re firing on us.” A large crash echoed in my ear as the first shot banged the shields on the back end of the craft. A few more volleys rumbled. I felt my heart beat speeding up before I caught a view of Rax. Her eyes exuded a focus that was unwavering in the assault. She was careening towards an asteroid field. My job was more important than ever.
“Three on the right.” The ship jumped left, avoiding nearly imperceptible flying chunks of matter. Just as we passed a huge cluster, I felt the ship jolt backwards and all of our lights turned off.
“This works every time.” Rax chuckled as she leaned back. The emotional whiplash almost caused my jaw to hit the floor as I walked to the front of the ship. All of the guild fighters were circling around the asteroids aimlessly. After around twenty minutes of fruitless hunting, they all left our field of vision.
“So this is Rax in action?” I croaked in awe.
“Well,” Rax retorted, “that and more of that heat concealing technology. No one ever suspects it to be along the entire outside of a ship.” She flipped a few switches and we were off again – at a more reasonable pace. She poured some drinks for us as we floated in our slow advance.
“So you really needed a navigator to do what you just did?”
“More or less.” She winked and leaned forward. “So where exactly are you headed?”
“Aelo.” I blurted out. “I need to go to Aelo.”
“The whole universe and you want to go a stone’s throw away from this dusty prison of a planet?”
“I need to meet someone there.”
“You have a serious look on your face, Stony. What exactly is waiting for you on Aelo?”
“Fuse.” Her teeth clenched as her face contorted into what seemed like a painful cringe. Leaning, back she sighed heavily and rubbed her eyes.
“Not him.”
“What exactly do you mean ‘him’?
“When you’ve been around as much as I have, you’ve heard about the mercenary crews to avoid. Fuse is near the top of that list. His ability to control fire makes folks like me steer clear of that whole operation.”
“I’ve seen it.” I grimly stated. Rax’s focus was once again was clearly on the facial expressions I was making. “The gore. The burning flesh.”
“And you want revenge?”
“I should have died in that cave, Rax. If she had not given me this gun I wouldn’t be on your ship right now. I’d be a corpse being cleaned up by one of the guild’s lackeys.” Rax frowned and lightly shook her head.
“She? So you’re going after a girl.” She glanced my way as she stood up. “Look – she better be worth getting burned alive.”
“I owe her that much.”
Rax’s demeanor changed. She nodded to herself and began to approach me. “That’s a mentality you don’t get to see much of anymore. Devout honor, even in the face of uncertainty. You know we don’t recruit openly, Stony.”
“We?”
“Why the shadows of course. We’re a band of folks who use subtlety and manipulation to achieve a justice that common law can’t hope to. If you haven’t heard of us then we’re doing our job well. Sounds to me like you’re going to Aelo with just a prayer. Why not look at becoming a shadow, Stony, and give yourself a real chance?”
My eyebrows raised and I scratched my arm reluctantly. I couldn’t tell if she was pulling another prank on me or helping me become something useful to Vara.
“I have no idea if you’re leading me to some kind of scam, Rax, but I do know that Fuse will kill many more if I don’t try to improve. Tell me what you know.”
The new few weeks went by like a blur. Rax refused to touch down on Aelo until I was at least more competent in blending in. She taught me what she knew about reading faces, predicting motives, and understanding the psychology of other beings. My universe slowly began to expand. Other people had stories. Dreams. Goals. Sometimes our goals would align and we could be friends. Other times they contradicted. Rax’s key point was that anyone could be manipulated, but only a few should be.
Though this was a small fraction of what she could teach me, I came to trust Rax’s teachings. My plan of attack was slowly coming together. I would chip away at Fuse’s habits like the walls of a cave until nothing was left to hold him in place. Like stone to a miner.
“Don’t get too cocky, Stony.” Rax would often say. “That’s how shadows become graves.”
I finally proved to Raxia that I was ready to land on the planet. She brought the ship down into a nearby city. The plants on this planet sung with the virility of life as the wind calmly traversed the town. There were railways and large structures unlike anything I had seen on my home world or the colony. In my awe, I nearly ran into a moving speeder as it barreled down the hustling city street.
Rax had told me for a long while that she still had no interest in helping me against Fuse. Too much risk for her. I didn’t want to pull her into whatever fate I had waiting for me, so we agreed to part ways for now.
“I’ll be waiting to hear of Fuse’s demise, Stony.”
“I doubt that we’ll meet again, Rax. You’ve been kinder to me than anyone I’ve ever met.” I held out the wad of money we had exchanged a few times.
“Keep it. A novice navigator like yourself is going to need all the bribe money he can handle to get onto someone’s ship.” We embraced before I made my way to the edge of the city. I could feel her watching me like a wistful child watching a shooting star.
I turned on the communicator once nightfall came. The static broke the stillness of the night as I waited for some sign of a response.
“Straven?” A hopeful voice rang out.
“You told me we would stop the cycle of death.” I sighed as I looked into the darkness. “I hope you have more than words, Vara.”
“You actually came. I never dared to hope. I can’t meet with you physically. He’s tracking all of us.”
“Tracking? Why?”
“When you’re as paranoid as that monster is, you take precautions.”
“Well look, I’ve gotten some good advice.” I stole a glance of the city I just left. “I think we should understand why he’s so scared of you all.”
“I don’t think he fears anything, Straven. That’s why he is able to do what he does so brazenly. It’s why we have to stop him from doing this to anyone else. ”
“In the caves, I heard…” I mumbled before my heart skipped a beat. Sweat began to form on my neck and I swallowed hard. Before my mind lost its clarity, I continued, “I heard them say that Fuse desires no survivors. It stands to reason that anyone he kills would want revenge, but that seems suspicious for what was essentially a slaving colony.”
Vara’s voice took a long bit to return through the device, but she finally murmured, “What if he doesn’t want someone to reveal something about him in those moments? Something only a person who sees his fire up close could see.”
“The only way we can know that is by studying him. Vara, I need you to tell me where you are so I can watch him.” She sent me the coordinates and I calculated that it would take me around three hours on foot to reach their location. I didn’t want to risk anyone getting involved in this, so a ride was out of the question.
“Do not approach our camp.” Vara warned. “It’s guarded heavily.”
“Which direction does he tend to leave as he scouts?”
“South. He tends to always head south.”
After I made it to the outskirts, I set myself up in a tree. It’s not like I was planning to attack from this position, but I knew that I’d be able to get a good look at his actions without drawing him to hunt for me. After telling Vara that my plan was to watch his movement, I turned off the communicator.
It was a long, grueling test of my will. The stillness of the forest only served as the backdrop to the horrific fates I imaged myself facing. Just when I felt the silence was about to consume me, I saw a massive figure emerging on the horizon.
The man I assumed was Fuse stumbled forward, glancing over his shoulder every few steps. His breathing was labored – but his arms and legs gave no indication of dragging. As he approached my location, I could see he was shouldering a large bag. He would stop at random intervals and plant a metallic cylinder into the ground carefully before concealing its presence. He’d check his arm each time and continue on. I could feel my every breath hasten as his figure was unmistakably the one I saw in the cave. My pulse raced recalling his display of power.
As Fuse approached my position in the tree, my heart was leaping into my throat. I could see that on one of his arms there was a canister strapped down. His clothes served as a miserable attempt to camouflage it, but the silver shine was obviously protruding from his figure. As he disappeared into the shade of night, my body returned to a state of relative control. I quietly climbed down and grabbed one of the hidden items.
“Vara. What the hell is Fuse doing out here.”
“Scouting. He never takes anyone out with him so you’re seeing something I’ve never seen.”
“He’s planting these… metallic devices as he walks.” I looked at the side of the one I was holding. “Looks like it’s some kind of Aerospark branding. Have you heard of them?”
Vara was silent for a long bit. I felt the embrace of the silent forest, harkening images of my old sleeping compartment above the mines. A chill ran down my spine and I could have sworn I heard wayward noises among the trees.
“I just confirmed on my watch. It’s a fire accelerant, Straven. He can’t control fire. All he can control are these canisters. Without them, he’s nothing more than a deranged murderer who is drunk on the fear of others.”
“That seems like a secret he might not want to get out.”
“Better than that. There are seals on the back that allow the compression to direct the fire in the desired direction. If you disrupt the directional chip, the casing doesn’t know which way to release and it becomes an explosive.”
“Vara. He has one of these things on his left arm.” I could hear Vara getting up rapidly, her breathing intensifying.
“I’m on my way to your location. He’ll be on me very quickly, but he has no idea you’re there, which means you’ll be open to take a shot at the back of the housing where that chip is. If he tries to fire after that, he’ll explode.”
“Let me clear the area of the other devices or this will be a very short confrontation for you.” My hands dug into the earth rapidly as I unearthed the various hidden treasures Fuse had hidden. I threw them well out of distance from my spot in the trees. Once I felt the area had been sufficiently investigated, I notified Vara of my location and quickly jumped back into my hiding spot. Sure enough, just as she appeared a clattering uproar of metal came from the direction Fuse had gone. He was glancing at his watch as he immediately confronted Vara.
“What will on this planet gave you the idiotic idea to venture after me, girl.”
Vara closed her eyes and exhaled before opening them and stating, “Sir, I think I’ve found it.”
“You have exactly three seconds to explain yourself before I melt you into the next life.”
“I know your rules, sir. Don’t you think I have a self-preservation instinct?”
I positioned myself against the largest branch and started to take aim. My shivering hands made it hard to focus on his arm’s canister, so I didn’t have a clear shot. Vara glanced at me with a calming look. My mind thought back to the market… and to the mines. I realized now that no desert ore could be as valuable as the lives I would save if I could pull this off. My hands steadied, but at this point I didn’t have a shot.
“Do not mistake me for someone you can stall. You either tell me why you’re out here or I’ll kill you and any of the traitors you brought out here to ambush me.”
“It’s just me. Check your trackers.”
Fuse dropped the bag and lifted his left hand to his face. It would appear that this is where his tracking device was, and Vara knew it. The back of the canister was clearly in view and I exhaled gently before aiming. Images of the men in the cave harkened back and when I pulled the trigger I closed my eyes instinctually.
“You thought you could bring in outside help, wench?” He bellowed.
Vara began to run in the direction of the camp, screaming, “You missed!”
“You won’t get another shot, whelp.” He first tried to aim at Vara, clearly attempting to activate his previously hidden weapons. They activated off in the distance where I had thrown them. “So you know my secret. Then I guess I’ll finish you both with the only one of these that I know you couldn’t have moved.” He carefully lifted his bulging arm towards Vara and pushed the screen. I felt my life flash before my eyes.
The canister exploded in a mist of fire and blood. The same smell that had tormented my mind had now signified the success of our plan. I quickly rose and found him whimpering on the ground, his left arm completely severed. He writhed in pain as Vara emerged from her hiding spot stepped on his neck.
“I told you I found it, sir. The way to put out a fuse is to blow on it.” She put more pressure on his neck until a gurgling noise ended his struggle. Without a word, we began to walk away from his disgusting corpse, destroying the trigger he used to create his flames.
“You had no reason to come here, you know.” She finally sighed.
“Sure I did.” I definitively replied. “You saved my life. Why wouldn’t I risk it for you?”
“I want to leave this planet forever” Vara quietly declared. ”Where exactly do you plan to go?”
“There’s someone I need to meet. You’re not the only one I owe my life to, you know” I smirked as we continued on the path back to the city.
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