Blade of the Lucan: A Memory of Anstractor (2 page)

“Come on, Rhee, you don’t have to put security on secrets with me. Heck, you know enough of mine to end me,” Marika said, and Marian smiled at her words.

“When Rafian came into my life he opened my eyes, and when I saw what was going on around me, it upset me. At that time Rafian was one of the resistance leaders, but he risked his position to take me, an enemy woman, into his arms and make me his wife,” Marian whispered.

“Are you okay?” Marika asked, glancing around out of habit. They had been sitting in the cockpit for what seemed like a really long time, and it made her feel extremely uneasy.

“It’s just Rafian. Sometimes I forget what we went through to be together,” Marian said. She closed her eyes and inhaled the warm air of the cockpit vents.

“You know, back then I thought we were the good ones … the Felitians, I mean. I thought we were helping people and that the rebels were just fools that didn’t want things to change. Rafian helped me to see the truth, to see what was going on when you peeled back the layers.” She began to hit her knee with a balled up fist, and though Marika found it annoying, she let her continue with the story.

“Palus took power to suit himself, and was hurting and killing anyone that disagreed with his politics,” Marian said. “I was helping this creature to murder people, Marika. I was raised in that culture of hate, thinking myself a privileged member of his Utopia.”

“So, he killed the enemies of his regime. I’m still not getting the evil part of what this man’s about, Rhee,” Marika said.

“You’ll see it for yourself in time. After the resistance got some traction and people began to push back against his policies, Palus reacted in the worst way. He organized troopers to go after rebels no matter where they were. They would kill innocents, leveling villages and cities, just to get at a few resistance members. We need to get the leaders talking, Marika. I haven’t been here in a long time. If we cannot find anyone, then we will need to jump back and talk Tayden or Camille into letting us bring an army of Phasers here.”

“Or, you could just talk to your husband,” Marika said under her breath.

“I don’t want to talk to Rafian because he will make it about us. So, let’s see if we can reach the rebels. After we’ve done that, we need to fly into Talula and get those people out quietly, then see if we can smuggle them into Tyhera,” Marian said.

Marika squinted her black eyes and her face seemed to darken as she stared at Marian. But Marian was touching the panel in front of her, plotting a course to what looked like a tiny island on a planet that resembled Vestalia.

“Marian, this isn’t going to work and you know it,” she said. “You don’t know where to start in contacting these resistance leaders, and even if you did, they don’t know you from a Felitian spy. Think, Phaser! This is going to take an organized plane-jump. It will probably take over eighty Phasers and a good chunk of the main warp crystal. You and I both know that only Rafian VCA can authorize that. Tayden Lark would laugh us out of her office. It is going to take some real convincing to pull them away from the Geralos, which we both know is the priority where they are concerned. And you will have to play nice – with Rafian,” she said.

“I don’t want to hear anything more about Rafian, or Tayden for that matter,” Marian said. “They can stay in Anstractor and
thype
each other’s brains out for all I care. I need to see to my people.” She punched the console so that the ship’s engines came alive and then glanced over at the spotted assassin.

“Marika, we’re all they have and I imagine that it might take us several days. The citizens of that city will be hurting by the time we get there, but we must get them out. Then both you and I will need to find Palus Felitious and make him answer for his crimes!”

Marika waited for Marian to finish her orders and then watched her fight against the cold and emotion that racked her body. Marian saw her staring and made a face. “So say something,
cruta
. Are you with me or what?” she shouted. “Ugh, I know my plans are garbage, but we need to do something. Look, it’s why I brought you along to help me. This is what you’re good at. Tell me how to remove this bad man, and the rest of the stuff like the rescue”—she shrugged—“I’ll figure it out.”

“Take your time and get yourself together, Marian,” Marika said, her voice taking on an authoritative tone. “Go see your people on Tyhera and get back into the culture there. That way when we move, you will know more about the enemy than just a bunch of memories. I will blink back when we’re ready and talk to Rafian. I will get Val to help me convince him too, so that he knows it is more than you putting me up to this.”

Marian stared forward and put her hands on her knees, then nodded slowly to confirm Marika’s words.

“You know that he will move the universe for you, Marian VCA, so I wish that you would drop the victim act for a few, humble up and get him here. Your people need you and they need our skills,” Marika said, waiting for a reaction from Marian. When none came, she reached over and took her hand again. “Look, Rhee, Rafian will come when I tell him that you are here. But you must promise me that you will be ready.”

“I will be ready, Marika. I promise you,” she said.

“Okay, but just make sure that when I do jump back in, it will not be to a frozen rock like this one, okay?”

It started with an argument, an objection to the status quo, then the demand for exclusivity, and finally—when things seemed hopeless, an escape to rejoin family.

“W
ell ,this is interesting. You all have a Vestalia in Luca, too?” Marika asked.

A groggy Marian woke up, looking around as if she was confused as to her whereabouts. “Ugh, I always get woken up from the best dreams,” she whined, rubbing her eyes for a long time before staring out at the bright blue planet that loomed in front of them. “That’s not Vestalia, silly, that’s Tyhera … my planet.”

Marika looked over at her with disbelief. “No wonder you guys look so much like the humans of Vestalia. If you had knocked me out a couple days ago and woke me up to this, you could have told me that we were back in Anstractor and I would have believed it.”

“You never sleep though, Rika. You’ve been up for what? Three days on this trip?” Marian said, using her pet name for Marika Tsuno.

“After all that talk about galactic dictators and Fel-whatevers torturing rebels, I wasn’t going to sleep on this trip. I’m an old assassin from Anstractor, girl. We were made to stay up for whole weeks during our training. Plus, y’know, there are some added bonuses.”

“Like what?” Marian asked, looking over at her.

“Like watching you sleep. You have a cute purring thing that you do when you’re knocked out,” she said.

“Watch it, you, and remember our talk. I don’t want Vallen after me for taking his woman, and I’m mad at Rafian, but that doesn’t mean that—”

“Oh, hush, what do you think I am? I’m not in love with you, Marian. I mean, you’re a cutie, in a deadly flower that will poison you when you pluck it sort of way, but I don’t want to marry you. Plus, seeing what you put old Rafian through, I don’t know if I’d want to—”

“One more word, cruta, and I swear to the makers that I will bite your nose off,” Marian said.

“That’s my girl,” Marika joked, and they both laughed, deep laughter from the bottom of their bellies, the kind that makes you feel good all over.

They had used the ship’s FTL drive to get into Tyheran space, but after three days of hyperspace travel, they were getting near the end of their fuel, and the snacks that they had brought along were finished with the exception of a bottle of water.

Between the hunger and the talks they’d had to pass the time, the women had become closer—if that was possible. Serious talks had turned to old stories, and old stories had turned to jokes, which became personal jokes, which became honest jabs, with honest answers to counter them, followed by even more honest jabs. One of these jabs had Marika calling Marian out for being a hypocrite. She had lost her temper when she saw her husband with another woman, but how would she be able to explain to him that they had been sleeping with one another?

Marian explained the history of Rafian’s infidelity and countered it with Marika’s own beau, Vallen, who had no clue she was having a relationship behind his back.

“Phasers thype one another; it’s a fact of life.” Marika had said, but Marian would not hear it. Rafian had driven her to find love in Marika’s arms, so she wasn’t to blame for what she was doing. This last counter had caused Marika to laugh, and it made Marian so upset that they stopped talking for three long, painful hours.

A large vessel approached them as they drifted towards Tyhera and the comm on their HUD showed the face of a mean, Daltak warrior who was shouting something into his own comm. Marika was amused by the man’s appearance: he had on a hat like the old cow farmers used to wear on old vids from Vestalia’s past. His skin was alabaster, with a slight tint of blues, and his nose and ears were missing, but the area where they would be fluttered as he breathed.

“That man is a Daltak,” Marian said as she saw the look on Marika’s face. “A race of warriors with a rigid set of codes and rules that means that we better hope that he’s on our side.”

There was a lot of static and then his voice finally came through. He was cursing in Daltese, but got quiet when he realized they could hear him.

“Felitian ship, you have ten seconds to surrender to our tractor beam, or become disabled by our fire. You have no fuel; we can see it. Surrender peacefully and we will allow you to eject in one of our escape pods towards the planet. You have seven seconds. What’s it going to be?”

Marian recognized the face but couldn’t pinpoint from where. She exchanged glances with Marika, and then clicked on the holo-video to show the Daltak who they were. Marika quickly pulled on the pilot’s helmet and slammed the shaded visor down. Marian had forgotten that her Casanian features would cause questions, so she was happy to see that Marika was a step ahead of her.

“Can you spare two stranded girls with their hearts in the resistance?” she said. Daltaks were a stubborn, horned race of warriors that would not bow to Palus Felitious. She respected them for their tenacity, and she could not recall seeing a Daltak in the Felitian army; only Tyherans, Deijens, and a few Ranalos.

The man on the holo cocked his head and glanced over at his co-pilot and asked, “Mitchum, are you seeing this? Am I spiced, or is that Rafian’s wife flying that ship?”

Mitchum was another Daltak, much older, and a lot more handsome than the one seated next to him. He pulled up a tablet and punched in some codes, then scrolled a bit before showing it to his partner, nodding.

“Is Rafian with you? Is the old warrior back?” the man asked excitedly, and Marian shook her head at him.

“I am here alone, back to visit Tyhera, but I can tell Rafian that his friend helped me. I know that he will be grateful once he comes to meet me on the planet,” she lied.

“Tell him Makk of old Cally sends his greetings. We bled together against the Fels for many years, wife of Raf. He saved my life, I saved his … we really thought we had a chance. We really thought we would find Palus Felitious and kill him in the center of Veece.” He laughed so violently that it almost looked like crying, but Marian and Marika saw how much his demeanor changed when he spoke of Raf.

Marian spoke up. “I am always humbled by my husband’s friends, Makk. You all were titans in your time, and we can still be titans if we can reunite the resistance to destroy Palus.”

There was a pause after she said this, and they could feel their ship being pulled in by a tractor beam. The large junk ship that Makk and Mitchum flew was outfitted with weapons, but Marian saw where that fact could be easily overlooked.

When they were onboard and the vacuum port was sealed they exited the tiny ship and stumbled on to the dirty dock, holding one another for support. Marian looked over at Marika in her helmet and lifted it off. “Let me do the talking, okay?” she said, and the Casanian warrior nodded.

The dusty dock doors opened and the Makk stepped through, larger than life. He crossed the floor in long, powerful steps, and then embraced them tightly, as if they were long lost friends.

“Well met, well met, freedom fighters, it’s been too long. Where on Tyhera are you wanting to go? Me and Mitchum were headed to the Yilen space station to refuel, but we can drop you girls off if you want. That station has a bus that takes pilots down to the shuttleport near Veece. A few words to the right escort and you can slip past the so-called security.”

Marian regarded him, and wondered why he hadn’t asked about Marika’s features. Maybe he thinks it’s makeup, she thought to herself, and then looked back at their old vessel.

“Makk, I don’t want charity, especially since I have another favor to ask. That ship, the one you pulled us in, you obviously wanted it badly enough to delay your refueling in order to attempt a hostile takeover. How about I give it to you, in exchange—”

“For?” Makk asked as he stood with his hands on his hips, his duster flared out to give him the appearance of a powerful horned god. He had a wide brimmed hat on that covered one of his horns, but the other was out and it was missing the tip, as if he had lost it in a swordfight.

“Boy, Vallen better be lucky that I am a faithful
cruta
, Marian,” Marika mumbled as she admired Makk’s body, and the pirate swagger that came with his entire appearance.

“I need a house or an apartment for a few days, somewhere close to Veece and out of the view of the Felitians. I also need some food and drink. We haven’t eaten in hours, and I think I’m about to pass out.”

“You and your friend both look the worse for wear, lady Raf. I’ll get you fed and on your way,” Makk said.

“What about the house?” Marian asked, and the Daltak smiled and offered his hand.

“Lady, you don’t have to worry. Mitchum and I may look like a pair of have-nothing, space pirates on a scavenging hunt, but we have property on Palus’s beloved Tyhera. But we can talk about all of that later. Come join us in the cockpit, and you can tell me about Rafian, and why he has you out here alone during the worst time possible.”

They spoke for long hours with Makk and Mitchum, who Marian found to be both personable and enjoyable as company. They spoke of the old resistance and the things that they had gone through, and Marian lied and told them that she and Rafian had fled to one of the remote planets in order to live as man and wife, away from Palus’s rule. Makk had given her a look of disbelief when she told him this, and it was obvious that he wasn’t buying it.

“Rafian would never do that, lady Raf. Any one of us that knew the man, knew that the one thing he didn’t know how to do was give up. Sure he loves you; you’re worth the love as a warrior bride, but don’t sit in my ship and feed me feces and expect me to smile up at you as if it smells and tastes good. You can keep your secrets; I’ll leave it to him to tell me the truth. Now let’s get you down to Tyhera, like I promised.”