Radu shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. He and Brin had been brought to the audience chamber. It looked no more encouraging now than it
had when he'd first seen it.
Except that his friends were no longer dead. He was no longer faced with an eternity without them, second-guessing himself and wishing he could have saved them. The Christa
was tucked safely in his pocket, the lives of the crew entirely
dependent upon him. He could still save them, he had to save them. The only problem was, he had absolutely no idea how to do it.
At least Irony now stood beside him as an ally, instead of an enemy. That is, he hoped she did... but he realized suddenly that he hadn't thought of her as Irony for hours. His distrust was more reflexive than anything else. She had proven herself
repeatedly through the dangers
they had faced. Perhaps it was time to put faith in her. If he
could.
The two of them stood waiting in the center of the chamber,
guarded on
all sides by the
fierce Spung warriors Radu had gotten to know all too well
during his
short stay. Warlord Shank
had not appeared yet, perhaps striving to make a grand entrance.
Everyone seemed to be
waiting for him, unwilling to do anything but watch the
prisoners until
he arrived.
Next to him, Brin started humming a wordless tune, quietly to
herself.
He didn't
recognize it, but it stirred a memory he couldn't quite place.
Trying
to put it out of his mind, he
focused on the surroundings, preparing himself for whatever
happened.
He did not have long to do so. Immense metal doors to the
right of
them opened with a
resounding clang, and Shank entered with his entourage.
Warlord
Yung followed close
behind, cowering and groveling to his superior.
Shank crossed to his 'throne', a seat made of dingy grey stone
like
everything else on
this cursed asteroid. He barely glanced at them as he marched,
scaly
head high and expression
imperious, to the head of the room.
Only once he was completely seated did he turn his attention to
his
prisoners. Under
the Warlord's terrifying gaze, Radu flinched slightly, feeling
his
courage waver, but steeled his
nerve and stared defiantly back. If Brin was in any way
affected, she
gave no sign of it.
"Andromedansss... you appear to be foolish as well as stubborn.
As if
you could ever
escape me."
"I believe that's what we just did," Brin answered impassively.
Radu
stared at her in
surprise. He'd been thinking the same thing, but had held his
tongue,
unwilling to incite the
wrath of the Spung.
Brin obviously had no such quandary. A small sardonic smile on
her
face, she resumed
the quiet melody.
The Spung's eyes widened in rage, and he spat out, "Warlord
Shank tires
of these
games! Your usefulness has ended, Irony. As has the necessity
of your
pathetic
Andromedans." He turned to a contingent of warriors on his
left.
"Bring them here." Pointing at
Brin, he bellowed, "You will watch them die!"
Watching the guards turn to exit, Brin bit her lip, her face
twisted
with indecision.
"Wait!" she shouted finally.
Shank signaled them to stop, and nodded for her to
continue.
"I have something you want." She bowed her head in as she
spoke.
"What could you possssibly give me?"
"I have the alien ship."
Radu's blood ran cold as she continued, "It's completely intact
and so
are it's
passengers. You can study the technology to your black heart's
content
and do what you like to
the crew."
"Where?" Shank voiced, so anxious to have it that he could
barely
contain himself.
"It's been miniaturized. Only I know where it is."
Radu choked on his rage at the sudden betrayal. He shouldn't
have
believed her,
shouldn't have gone along with her plan, shouldn't
have...shouldn't have
tried to see something
good in her. He had failed his friends and they would die for
his
mistake.
The conversation continued around him. "Give I and the others
safe
passage out of
here, and I will give it to you."
"Or Warlord Shank can just kill you and take it off your
corpse," Shank
retorted.
"You could do that, but I don't have it. Besides," she began
in a
different tone, "I can still
be of use to you."
"You would do my bidding for as long as I wish it?" He sounded
intrigued.
She swallowed. "Yes. I will stay."
He considered for a moment, then pronounced, "Agreed. Now give
me the
ship!"
Brin nodded once and strode to Radu's side. He balled his
fists as she
drew near,
feeling the sudden temptation to knock her senseless. As she
came
within range, he decided to
do just that. She wouldn't get the Christa without a fight.
He swung without warning, as hard and fast as he could, knowing
that
she couldn't duck
in time.
Brin didn't duck. As the fist sped towards her face, she
caught it in
one hand. She
seized the other as well, and held them there a moment. Looking
him in
the eye, she said
softly, "Trust me." Her eyes begging for faith, she broke the
contact
and turned him around.
Trust her!?! How could he trust her? She was going to
turn his
friends over to
Shank! He couldn't possibly believe her when it came to a thing
like
that!
But what if she wasn't? What if she had a plan? Though he
wasn't sure
why, his
intuition was telling him to have faith in her. He briefly
wondered
whether he was going insane.
Regardless, he was in a no-win situation, and had nothing to
lose.
Besides the only family you have, whispered a pesky
voice in his
head. He
silenced it and made up his mind. All this was done in an
instant, and
he nodded once to show
his acceptance.
Brin flashed him a tiny smile as she went past, holding a small
black
box. Radu could
hardy keep the relief off his own face as he realized what she
held.
Neither were smiling, however, by the time she reached the
stone steps.
She ascended
them slowly, holding the box in both hands as if it contained
something
infinitely precious.
When she reached the top, she knelt before him and held it out,
then
hastened back to stand
with Radu.
The Warlord took it eagerly. As soon as it was in his hands,
an evil
grin appeared on his
face and he turned his attention back to them.
"Kill the boy! Half the prisoners as well."
"What!?! No!" Brin yelled in outrage.
"You lied!" he said at the same time.
"Of course Warlord Shank lied! Warlord Shank does not have to
keep
promises to
Andromedans! You will serve me, Irony, but not before you are
taught a
lesson!"
The guards surrounded them with weapons drawn and aimed.
Taking his
cue from Brin,
Radu did not resist. He fervently hoped she had a plan, because
if not,
he was going to regret
the decision a great deal. At that point it occured to him that
he
would be dead and it wouldn't
matter, but somehow that didn't make him feel better.
Before giving the order to fire, Shank paused to inspect his
newfound
tresure. He turned
it this way and that, inspecting the box from all sides.
Finally, he
ordered, "Tell Warlord Shank
how to open this box, or your punishment shall be even greater
than I
had planned."
Brin paused, as if to consider his words, then said with a hint
a
amusement in her voice,
"Push the yellow button on the left side."
The Spung glared daggers at her, irritated that he hadn't
noticed it,
then did as she said.
The black box began to beep, slowly at first, but the speed
increased
with every moment.
"What treachery is this!?!" he shouted angrily.
Brin grinned coldly at him. "You're not the only one who can
double
cross, my lord."
As the explosive in the Warlord's hand began to beep
insistently, he
howled in outrage
and threw it as far away from himself as he could. The device
exploded
as it landed amongst
the squads of soldiers in the cavern. Chaos erupted, some
warriors
dying instantly in the blast
and others fleeing in terror. Some were able to keep their
wits, but
were unsure of what do
to.
They were soon given ample possibilities. A horde of angry
Andromedans
burst into the
room, attacking every Spung in sight.
It occured to Radu then what Brin's melody must have been--a
signal to
her people, a
battle hymn that called to the blood. He turned to ask her a
question,
and found that she was no
longer by his side. Craning his neck to seach, he found her
weaving her
way through the
pressing crowd of combatants to the throne. She clearly wished
to exact
her revenge on
Warlord Shank. He followed her, his movements hampered by the
crowd,
and he was attacked
several times on his way there. When he finally caught sight of
her
again, she had nearly
reached her goal. Shank was battling an Andromedan with his
'souped up
cattle-prod'(as
Harlan had once refered to it). Even as he watched, the slave
went
down, and Brin reached the
podium.
Fighting through the throng, he saw them exchange heated words,
lost to
the roar of the
crowd. He couldn't tune out the many dozens of small skimishes
taking
place around him to
hear the coversation.
Finally reaching the throne himself, he arrived just in time to
hear
the Warlord snarl,
"This isn't over, Irony. You may be sure of that!",
dissapearing as his
molecules dispersed,
surely to reform at some safe location.
Brin swung at him as she realized what was happening, but it
was too
late. The blow
passed harmlessly through the air where he had stood seconds
before.
"Nooo!!!" she howled, enraged. She struck at the air
again,
purely out of
frustration, then sank to the ground and vented her rage on the
cold
stone.
Radu knelt next to her and waited for her to finish. It didn't
take
long. After a few
seconds she regained control of her emotions and ceased the
action.
Facedown on her elbows
and knees, she was silent for several moments. When she spoke,
he
hardly recognized her
voice. "I almost had him!" she said hoarsely.
Instead of replying, he turned to see that the battle was
nearly over.
The Spung may
have been trained warriors, but they were no match for
Andromedans under
the effects of a war-
chant that spanned millennia. "Let's get to the ship," he
suggested,
hoping to turn her mind from
her lost revenge.
She stood, composing herself as she did so. Turning to go, she
paused
a moment and
declared quietly, almost to herself, "Shank was right. This
isn't
over."
With that, she vaulted down the steps to land lightly on the
stone
below.
The fourty-six Andromedans who had survived their ordeal
encountered
little resistance
as they ran through the halls to Brin's ship. Once there, they
crowded
on and prepared to leave.
Radu slipped through the throng of people and into the
co-pilots chair,
deciding that Brin
might need help. She noticed, but said nothing, merely nodding
her
approval. He quickly
plotted a course, trying not to notice the people crowded behind
him.
Brin's ship was not large,
intended for a crew of one or two, and they did not all fit in
the small
workspace and cabin that
made up the rest of the craft. So their presense was a
discomfort that
would have to be
endured.
As they shot out of the asteroid's docking port, something
caught
Radu's eye. He did a
quick sensor sweep, and gasped with horror at what it revealed.
"What's wrong?" Brin asked quickly.
He pointed, no longer needing the sensors to show what was
revealed to
plain sight.
"A killcruiser!?!"
Radu felt like slapping himself. "Of course! Shank wouldn't
come
without at least one
'cruiser to transport him. It's beneath his station."
"Actually," spoke one Adromedan from behind him, "Shank's
station would
befit--
"
"Two more coming out of hyperspace!" Brin shouted.
"Yes, that would have been my guess," said the other
mildly.
"We have to get out of here! Now!" Radu spoke, the urgency
evident in
his
voice.
"How would you suggest accomplishing that?" Brin asked harshly.
The Killcruisers had moved to surround them. There was no way
to
escape the circle
without being fired upon. One hit from any of those ships would
turn
them into little more than
space dust.
The comlink crackled to life, a deep voice they knew too well
filling
the cabin. "There is
no way you can win, Irony! Surrender now! You will
be--"
"Shut that thing off!" she growled slaming a fist onto the
proper
button as she did so.
"No way I can win, is there? You'd think he'd know me a little
better
than that by now. I
wouldn't have survivied this long without learning to always
have a
backup plan." She pulled a
small black control device from her breast pocket. At the top of her voice, she yelled, "For Maya!" then flipped the switch on top with a coldsatisfaction.
The asteroid behind them exploded, fire blossoming along its surface, the cold rock breaking apart, pieces breaking off in a fiery doom. The white hot core sparkled for a few moments and then vanished into nothingness.
Other Andromedans picked up Brin's call, roaring the names
of friends lost to the Spung's eternal greed. They cheered to
see their
cursed home explode into
a billion fragments. They would never again pick away at it's
worthless
ore, or sleep on it's cold
rock, tortured by it's cruel inhabitants. Regardless of what
happened
next, they would never
have to return to that evil place.
Many larger chunks broke off of the dying asteroid, flying out
in all
directions. One flew
towards the triumvirate of killcruisers. The closest one flew
quickly
out of its path, inadvertently
allowing it to continue on to the one directly behind it. This
one was
not so quick. The asteroid
chunk scored a direct hit on the ship's hull. It hung there for
several
moments, reeling from the
effects of what had just occured, before its warp core was
breached, and
it, too, exploded into a
ball of red light and green metal.
The other two ships dodged out of the way, seeming to have
learned
something from the
last battle that had been attempted with the Christa.
But the explosion left a large hole in their destructive
circle, and
Brin intended to take full
advantage of it.
"Radu, got the coordinates ready yet?"
He worked feverishly for another few moments, then let out a
breath he
hadn't realized
he was holding and transfered them to her console. "Punch it!"
he said,
unconsiously using one
of Harlan's favorite phrases.
Needing no encouragement, Brin threw the ship into hyperspace.
The
star-sprinkled
blackness of space blurred into bright colors, throwing the
small ship
to a speed many times
that of light.
Safely in hyperspace, the weary survivors let out a cheer,
ecstatic as
they had not been
for twelve long years. There had been casualties that day,
friends who
had died so that the
others might live, and many wounded. But none of that mattered
right
now. They were
free.
Radu sat again in his co-pilot's chair, this time feeling the
strange
emptiness of the room
after several days of claustraphobic confusion.
After more than a dozen random hyperjumps, they'd dropped the
other
Andromedans off
on a small uninhabited planet. During the voyage, they had
taken a vote
to colonize the sphere
instead of returning home.
He looked up as Brin entered the room. "Are you sure your
people won't
reconsider?"
he asked. Radu couldn't imagine why they would want to stay way
out
here, so far from every
member of their race, rather than return home.
She sighed. "Has Andromeda changed so much, Radu?"
"Huh?"
"What I mean is, people like us didn't fit in even before the
war
began. Can you
honestly tell me that Andromeda would accept us now?"
He paused for a moment. "No," he admitted, "I suppose I can't.
Everyone wants to
forget that the war ever happened. Your people would be a
reminder of
it."
She nodded. "It's better for everyone this way. I think my
people
will be happy here.
They only wish to live the rest of their lives in
peace."
"What about you? Are you going to stay?"
"Perhaps someday. But I've got a lot to do first. I did so
many
horrible things as Irony... I
need to make reparations, to right what I've done wrong. I have
a debt
to the universe that must
be repaid." She smiled suddenly. "And hey, maybe I'll see New
Andromeda while I'm at it! I've heard it's an interesting place."
Over the last few days the two of them had reached a sort of
peace.
Radu still wasn't
sure how he felt, but he was determined to forgive her. Brin
wasn't terribly ready to trust anyone outside of her small clan, a Stardog in particular, but seemed willing to try.
The console in front of her beeped suddenly. "We're almost there. Dropping out of hyperspace... now."
The small ship deaccelerated swiftly and came to a stop in a
familiar
region of space.
Though it wasn't a particularly memorable area, just empty
blackness
sprinkled liberally with
stars, the sight of it cheered Radu immensely. It wasn't so
much the
area as what it meant. It
was the system they'd been traveling in when this had all began.
Now it
was where this
adventure would end.
Brin held out her hands, and Radu reluctantly handed the tiny
Christa
over to her. She
ejected it into space and traveled a safe distance away.
Soon all was ready. "Would you like to do the honors?" She
gestured to
the console.
He approached, licked his lips nervously and punched in the
correct
code. Turning his
hopeful face to the viewscreen, he smiled. Squinting, he saw an object smaller than his palm grow larger than him, then to the size of Brin's ship, then surpass it. Before he knew it, he was staring at a full-grown Christa. It was very likely the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Radu simply stared at it for a few moments.
Unable to catch his gaze, Brin cleared her throat loudly. He looked to her expectantly.
"Their stasis ended the moment they left the box. They'll be wondering where you are."
He nodded in understanding.
"C'mon, I'll transport you over."
He followed, feeling strangely reluctant to leave. It wasn't that he was not anxious to see his friends, it merely felt as if he had left something unfinished. Perhaps he simply needed to say goodbye.
Brin beat him to it.
"Stardog, I need to say something. I am..." she swallowed hard and continued. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to drag you and your friends into this, but I did. I nearly got you killed!
"You did what you had to do." And for the first time, he
thought he might actually believe it himself.
"Thank you for understanding." Brin looked as if a great
weight had
suddenly been lifted
off her shoulders. She raised a gloved hand, palm out, and in a formal voice intoned "Good
journey, Radu."
"May Yon light your way." He linked his fingers through her own, completing the ritual.
She typed the transport code on the console next to her. "You know Stardog, I'd like to think that if things had been different, that maybe... perhaps we could have been friends."
As he felt the transporter take hold of him, he responded, "Maybe we are." The beginnings of a smile on his face, his molecules separated. The sight of the surprised auburn-tressed girl melted into the familiar view of a ship he never thought he'd see again and faces he'd missed more than even he knew.
The smile grew into a happy grin as he realized that he was home.