Kartega
Chapter 54

Sid’s eyes fluttered open to small slits and she could feel the sticky goop of sleep on her long lashes. She wanted to move but her body felt weightless. Panic rose in her as she realized her feet weren’t touching the ground. It was as though her entire body was floating, neither in one place nor another. She wiggled her fingers and toes, relieved to find some feeling there. She was weak and tired, drifting in and out of sleep for what seemed like hours.

Sid’s head rolled back and she let herself relax. Eyes shutting.

Some time had passed before she opened them again, pulling up her head to find that she was still nothing but air. Something moved under her back and she jerked up. At least she thought she did. Instead, she just let her head tilt to the side and strained her vision to get an idea of what was happening around her. Something gripped her gently, cradling her so her arms lay folded across her chest and her legs dangled back and forth. She was mobile. Someone was holding her and they were walking, slowly but with determination. Whoever held her squeezed her shoulders and she felt them take a sudden turn. Her body bucked with the movement and she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and cried out. The words were not real, none of this was. It couldn’t be.

Her eyelids grew heavy and she tried to fight the need to sleep without much luck.

When she finally awoke, Sid found herself stretched atop a flat surface. It felt oddly familiar, like a distant memory she had long since forgotten. Her hands scanned her body for restraints but she found nothing of the sort. Instead, all she felt was the soft fabric of a space suit that fit snugly on her body. Not her own, but an NSO issued one as she noted, counting off the similarities to the one she’d worn on her own ship. She’d grown through so many of those suits that she’d recognize one anywhere. She sat up slowly, carefully inspecting her surroundings. Metal grated floors, low vaulted ceilings and a ship-compliant sleeping bag under her. She was on a stardamned ship!

Sid fumbled for a moment before swinging her legs over the edge of the sleeping bag and pushing up to stand. As soon as she put pressure on her left arm, a numbing pain shot from her shoulder and she fell back down with a scream. Memories rushed back to her. The corridor in the Queen’s Tower. Running like she was being chased. The blade flying through the air toward her.

She turned to look at her side, seeing the bandaged wound between her shoulder blade and left arm. She carefully peeled the edges of the nanite threaded cloth to see the extent of the wound.

“Stop picking at it!” A voice sounded from the doorway behind her and she turned to see Ashlan. He leaned casually on the silver doorframe, his hair a tousled mess and his eyes blood-shot. Had he been crying? She wondered but thought better than to probe for information, her head still spun uncontrollably and she couldn’t be bothered to process his emotions on top of her own at the moment.

“Where are we?” She asked instead, her mind still groggy with sleep. “Are we on a ship?”

He nodded. “We’re on the ship.”

“As in…” she trailed off.

“You got it. The original human ships that brought my people here.”

“But…? Why…? How…?” She hiccupped, her mind racing at the possibilities. “How did you find it?”

“Me? Oh, I found nothing,” he smiled. “This was all Abbot. Pays to be the general, I guess.”

She felt for the sleeping bag under her and used her right hand to push herself up. Ashlan bolted over to her, gesturing for her to use his broad shoulder to lean on when she stood. Her legs were liquid but she took a staggered step to the doors. She was on the original ship! Nothing was going to stop her from getting a grand tour.

“How did we get here? What happened?” She asked as they slowly walked together. Her eyes danced from side to side, inspecting each section they passed. The ship was old, built with antiquated technology but most of it looked very much like what she’d been used to on the Arcturus and it made her wonder if her own ship was one of the originals as well. It would make sense that Colton would put her on a ship no one would miss or look for.

“Well, the short story is you got a little crazy,” Ashlan said.

“And the long story?”

“A guard pierced a blade through your shoulder, thinking you were going to kill him. We got to you in time to pull the blade out. When we regrouped with the rest, everyone was looking for a way off the star when Abbot mentioned the original fleet of ships. Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“It was a good idea,” she thought, remembering her own plan to find them.

“Anyway, it was a long walk through the jungle. A very long walk! Dalrak carried you the whole way. Tann and I offered to help but he refused to let go,” Ashlan’s lips curled up. “If you ask me, that one has a bit of a crush on you.”

“Stop it!” She laughed and sent her elbow into his side.

He jerked a bit but kept walking. “You were really out of it, Sid. We thought you’d die. As soon as we found the ship, we patched you up but we had no idea if you’d make it or not. Dalrak and Tazmin tried to feed you their magic but your body just wouldn’t take hold.”

“Sweet stars, you were worried about me!” She teased.

“We all were,” Ashlan said. The smile on his face faded and was replaced by something dark and melancholy.

“I’m fine! See?” She said and formed a small burst of magic with her good hand. “Almost back to normal!”

They reached a fork in the corridors and she stopped short. “So who else is here? Beside you and Dalrak.”

“Oh, you know. The whole team!” He smiled, “Serryl, Tann, Abbot.” Sid noted the way his lips pursed when he mentioned Tann’s name, “And Tazmin.”

“Tazmin? Seriously?”

“I know. We were shocked too. I think you made an impression.”

“Or she’s just waiting for the best time to finish me off.”

“I don’t think so,” Ashlan said. “She had a pretty intense conversation with Dee while you were out. I think he convinced her. Weird he can speak human by the way.”

Sid laughed, remembering the shock on Ashlan’s face when Dalrak first spoke his language in the domes. “Yeah, he’s full of surprises. Wait,” she chirped, “Abbot is here? What about Sylva?”

“The general’s wife is a pretty amazing woman. She’d wait for him no matter how long it would take.”

“But isn’t he worried about leaving her there alone?”

Now it was Ashlan’s turn to laugh. “Trust me, Sylva can take of herself. Like I said, she’s amazing.”

She took a deep breath in, quieting her thoughts for a moment. “And Leona?” She asked, rubbing her sore shoulder.

“She’s not a priority right now, Sid. That’s what I was trying to tell you before but you were so mad! It was like there was no sense talking to you. You couldn’t even hear me.”

“I heard you,” she said. “And I understand.” She touched the back of her neck where the wound from the chips was slowly closing up. “We can’t let her get me.”

“Good,” Ashlan nodded. “There’s just one small problem…”

“What now?”

“We kind of need you to get this thing running.”

* * *

“Tann! Check the thermal controls!” She yelled from the command chair.

Next to her, Tann stared blankly at the motherboard, trying to discern what each switch and button did. The controls on the original ships were manual and unless you’d spent most of your life learning how to operate them, it likely looked like a jumbled mess.

“The blinking orange light!” She shouted, pointing to a spot on his left.

Tann pushed the button, reading the display in front of him. “Heat levels are critical!” He yelled in a panic. “What does that mean? What do I do?”

“Isolate the thrusters from the main circuit! The switch on your right, the small one next to the display.”

Following her instruction, Tann flipped the switch and turned his attention to the display again. His eyes ran over the flashing numbers. “We’re good! It’s coming down!”

“Good,” she sighed loudly. “Tell me when it’s in the green. Ash, what’s the status of the spherical thrusters?”

“Up and running,” Ashlan noted to her right. “But FTL’s are down.”

“That’s fine,” she said considering the possibilities, “we just need to get this thing up. We can worry about that when we’re in orbit.”

She looked out of the observation window at the graveyard of ships scattered across the massive jungle clearing and wondered if the Al’iil ever found their way here. She’d have to ask Tazmin about it later. Her first priority was to get all of them off the star safely.

She checked the controls one last time before preparing for lift off. “Everyone strapped in?” She yelled over her shoulder, not waiting for a response. “Time to go!”

* * *

Sid watched the star get smaller and smaller in the large panes of the observation windows. The place that brought her so much joy and grief was nothing more than a red dot now, floating peacefully in space. The ship bucked a little and she placed a hand on the back of the command chair to steady herself. It was going to be a rough ride for a little while but she had no doubt they were safe for the rest of their journey. If only she knew where they were going.

Next to her, Ashlan looked just as grim and she cast a smile in his direction.

“So,” he said. “Any plans on where we’re flying this thing?”

She thought about it for a moment then breathed out deeply. “We need to get to my ship. We can dock there, repair the damages remotely and figure out a plan. This thing wasn’t meant for long travels.”

“You think we can do that?”

“Sure! I’ve fixed that rusted piece of junk with next to nothing for years. With whatever we have on this ship, we should be good for a while.”

“Oh! Forgot to tell you before!” He exclaimed excitedly. “We found some droids in the engine rooms. They look old and beat up but maybe we can use them.”

“Seriously? That great news! I’m sure you can figure it out, droid doctor.” She punched his shoulder with a chuckle and winced. Her own shoulder was still throbbing despite the nanites that had started working on repairing her skin cells. “Ash?”

“Hmm?”

“What do you think Leona’s doing right now?”

He laughed, “Probably kicking herself for letting you get away.”

“I’m serious,” she frowned. “Do you think she’s waging war?”

“I wouldn’t put it past her. You heard her screening. Anyone not with her is against her.”

Sid glanced back to the star, ringless and alone, thinking of the horror it must be enduring. She wondered if more of the Al’iil came and how many of the people they left in the tower were still alive. She thought about the domes and what would happen to them now that the queen had waged civil war. How many would turn against their own just to survive? She thought that by shutting down the ring, she was helping everyone but maybe all she did was cause chaos. Though sometimes, a little chaos was necessary to unshackle an entire star. Ashlan was right to get her away. The best thing she could do for Kartega was to leave and come back when they had a plan that was well thought out. One that benefited everyone. She just needed some time to think and what better way to do that than to go back to the one place where she did her best thinking; the one place that felt like home.

“Think we can telescreen to the star from here?” She asked.

“You tell me,” Ashland said.

“I think so.”

“What are you going to tell them.”

She looked down at her hands, still shaking from takeoff and the culmination of her life until that point.

“That they’re not alone. That we’re coming back and to try not to destroy the star before we get there,” she smiled. “And that I’m coming back for the queen.”

The ship shook again and she let the vibration run through her body. Her magic jumped at the impact, ready for attack at any point. She took a deep breath and let it flow through her, feeling every single spark of electricity in her veins.

She was coming back for them. Coming back to Kartega.

And this time, she wasn’t alone.

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About the Author

A.N. Sage has spent most of her life waiting to meet a witch, vampire, or at least get haunted by a ghost. In between failed seances and many questionable outfit choices, she has developed a keen eye for the extra-ordinary.

Since chasing the supernatural does not pay the bills, she dabbled in creative entrepreneurship, marketing and retail management. A.N. spends her free time reading and binge-watching television shows in her pajamas.

Currently, she resides in Toronto, Canada with her husband who is not a creature of the night.

A.N. Sage is a Scorpio and a massive advocate of leggings for pants.

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