Wrath of the Void Strider (10 page)

He returned a breathless smile.  “Thanks, Valerie.”

She reached for the linen shelf and halfheartedly tossed a small white towel against his chest.  “No problem.”  She winked playfully.  “That was fun.”

Gavin pulled on his shirt and shrugged into his jacket.  Before long, he had returned to Taryn’s quarters, shed his attire and stepped into the shower.  The pressurized mist felt luxurious against his skin.  After a moment, he shampooed his hair, soaped up and rinsed off.  For a while more, he leaned his forehead against the tiles, his eyes closed, feeling the water bead up and run down his body.

He shut off the mist and reached for the towel, but found it was gone.  “Huh?” he muttered and peered around the stall with squinted eyes.  He startled to see it flying at him.  Reflexively he caught it and dried off his face.  With a chuckle, he muttered, “Hey, Taryn.”

She stood with her elbow seated in the palm of one hand, her fingers near her lips.  “Valerie told me you were using my shower.”

“I think it was supposed to be a warning, not an invitation.”

Taryn shrugged.  “Congrats on being a Navigator.”  Beaming, she added, “I’m impressed.”  She reconsidered.  “Not impressed, exactly.  More like… amazed.  She said you saw me and Takeo talking in the cargo passage.”

“That’s right.”

Clearing her throat, she asked, “How much did you hear?”

Gavin laughed as he dried his hair, safe from view on the other side of the frosted glass of the shower door.  “Nothing incriminating, if that’s what you mean.”

She exhaled, relieved.  “Good.”  She listened to his breathing as he dabbed the water from his body.

After a moment, he asked, “Could you pass me my clothes?  I left them on the sink.”  To his surprise, Taryn slid the door open and took in his measure.  “Hey, I’m naked!”  Hastily, he wrapped the towel around his waist.

“I know,” she said, and she grabbed his wrists.  She pulled gently, though her grip was firm.

His heart racing, Gavin muttered, “Taryn, what are you doing?”

“Kissing you.”

He stepped out of the shower into her warm embrace.  Their lips met briefly, but Gavin pushed away.  “I’m not sure we should be doing this.”

She regarded him curiously.  “Why not?”

“You know why.”

“This doesn’t have to mean anything.”  Kissing him again, she pulled off her overshirt and guided him from the bathroom to the bed.  She pushed him down to sit, and he gazed as she shed her T-shirt, kicked off her boots and hiked down her jeans.  Her lingerie was silk and matched the crimson of her head feathers.

His expression was pained.  “Taryn, we…”  He trailed off as she straddled him.

“Shouldn’t?”

“Maybe not.”

She draped her arms around his neck and nuzzled against his ear.  “Are you sure?”

He felt his resolve crumbling.  “Not entirely.”

“Good.”  He kissed her neck, and their lips met.

·· • ··

Before long, Zerki issued a ship-wide announcement, calling all hands to join her in the briefing room.  It filled up fast, leaving much of the starship’s complement in the corridor crowded around the doorway.  Gavin, Taryn and Takeo stood close to the front, adding their whispers to the excited chatter that filled the air.

Zerki activated the holographic table, prompting her crew to fall quiet.  Bright colors skittered across the display, and a starship’s diagram instantly formed.  Using hand gestures, she manipulated the three-dimensional image of a lengthy warship, panning it slowly for all to see.  “This is the
Imperium
, a Turii-class cruiser of ellogon make.  It’s standard issue for all merchant princes in the Ellogon Empire.”  She took time to tap and enlarge each of the warship’s weapons systems.

“In about seven hours, I’ll be rendezvousing with Merchant Prince Lodoxol in the Ixion system, somewhere near the outskirts of the inner debris ring.”

Seated at the far end of the holographic table, D’Arro shifted forward and asked, “What’s the goal?”

“Behemothylax,” she responded.  “Lodoxol knows where it is.”

Some gasps followed, along with a mix of confused mutterings.  Zerki raised her hand to quiet them.

Taryn leaned toward Gavin and whispered, “What’s that?”

He shook his head in response and pointed toward Zerki.

The captain called up an archived encyclopedia file, and a colossal, millipede-like machine replaced the ellogon cruiser.  “For anyone who doesn’t know, Behemothylax is something of a myth, a white whale for a lot of us salvage crews.  It was the Union’s only attempt at giving a planet shaper droid any meaningful AI.  Their plan was to set this thing loose in a system scheduled for terraforming and let it learn, let it be… creative.”

She called up several images of grisly devastation.  “Unfortunately, it got creative with an inhabited colony world, and thousands of lives were lost.  They tried to shut it down, but it was too smart, too adaptable, and as soon as it got back out into space, it was gone.”

The image winked out.

“Officially, it’s a black file, and until now, no one’s been able to find it.”  Her excitement was palpable.  “Lodoxol claims he did.  It could be our Holy Grail, the answer to all our dreams of wealth and fame.”  She grinned.  “Picture it: we could fill all six of the
Shadow
’s bins on just the first segment of that monster, not to mention all the ore it must have within its depths.  Ore harvested from a dozen unspoiled worlds.”

She let the excited whispers build for a moment before raising her hand again.  “Lodoxol won’t touch it since it’s not of ellogon origin.  Behemothylax is beneath him, hardly worthy of his notice, but he’s no fool, and he’s aware that there’s plenty of Union interest in recovering it.  Being the sort of opportunist that he is, he’ll repeatedly sell the information to as many smaller crews as it takes for the word to get out that he’s a cheat and a pirate.”

“Hold on,” Krane protested.  “Holy Grail or not, how are we supposed to go up against a cruiser if he makes a move for the
Shadow
?”

Zerki nodded calmly.  “I have a plan to insure our success, one I guarantee you Lodoxol won’t see coming.  However, you make a good point: this is a high-risk job.  If we fail, he’ll take the
Shadow
for his own and ransom us back to the Union.  It could mean weeks or months as prisoners of the Ellogon Empire.”  Crossing her arms, she leaned against the wall.  “You’ll miss out on the buried treasure, but I won’t blame anyone who wants to call in some vacation time for the next few days.”  She winked.  “Don’t worry, I’ll came back for you.”

She studied the faces of her crew as they discussed amongst themselves.  At last, it began to quiet down.  “Can I get a show of hands from anyone who’s taking a personal day?”

No one answered.

“Excellent.  Security team, please remain behind to discuss tactics.  Everyone else is dismissed.”

Excited chatter resumed as her crew filed out into the corridor.

Zerki glanced to Gavin as he lingered, and she brightened.  “You too, Gavin.  Go check out your quarters.  I think you’ll find them to be quite satisfactory.”

He nodded and bid his friends farewell.  They settled in for the briefing, and he shuffled out into the corridor.

At seeing him, a lean young called out, “Hold on a sec,” and a handful of others stopped as the rest of the crowd dispersed.  He was tall, had dark brown skin, black hair with blonde highlights, and he dressed casually.  He had narrow shoulders and a square, closely trimmed beard.  Facing Gavin directly, he offered a sloped smile and a critical once-over.  “You’re the new Navigator?”

Gavin jammed his hands in his pockets.  “I am.”

“You know what you’re doing, right?” he asked, and he crossed his arms.  “Hell, you look fresh out of high school.”

“It’s a condition,” Gavin replied, and he nodded with exaggerated certainty.  As the young man was about to press, Gavin inhaled sharply and interjected, “Called being eighteen.”

The others chuckled, and after a moment, he too allowed a smile.  “Name’s Cajun.  Bruce Cajun.”  He offered his grip, and Gavin took it.  “I’m the ship’s medic, and the five of us here, we’re the salvager team.”

“Gavin.  Pleased to meet you.”  He smiled politely.

Cajun pulled free his hand and regarded him thoughtfully.  “Well, I’ve never heard of a Navigator so young, but if the captain’s got your back, so do I.  Welcome aboard.”  The others introduced themselves and exchanged handshakes before heading to the rec room.

Alone again, Gavin found his way to the corridors of the officers’ quarters.  In time, he came to a doorjamb that wore his first initial and last name, under a flashing strip of LED paper that cautioned, “WET PAINT. DO NOT TOUCH.”  He set his hand upon the scanner, and the door slid aside.

Furnished similarly to his friends’ cabin, his quarters were a bit more spacious, and the trim was pale blue and black.  It had two bay portholes, separated by a sloped structural support, and an empty vase rested upon the corner cabinet.  Folded neatly and placed upon his bed, he found a black utility vest and black cargo pants.  He recalled Zerki’s attire. 
I guess this is a uniform?
he thought, and he shed his orange jacket.  Lifting the vest, he put it on over his heavy shirt and took up the pants. 
These are way too small
, he thought and set them back down.

Gavin crossed the main room to the secondary chamber.  For a moment, he gazed out upon the stars, and he sighed.  He eased down onto his plush deck chair and lost himself in the view.  He wasn’t certain how much time had passed when his door chimed.  Getting to his feet, he called out, “Be right there!”  Tapping open the door, he smiled and said, “Oh, hey Valerie.”

“Can I come in?”

With a nod, he stepped back and gestured for her to enter.  “Of course!”

“Captain thinks you should call your folks before we head out.  Is now a good time?”

He nodded.  “Probably.”

She crossed to his data station and sat down before it.  After activating its communications interface, Gavin recited his parents’ number, and she entered it into the call field.  It rang several times before going to voicemail.  Clearing his throat, Gavin said, “Hey Mom, hey Dad.  Hi, Amanda, if you’re listening to this.”  Sniffing, he calmed himself before continuing.  “So, uh, something came up, and I have to take some time off school for a while.  It’s pretty serious, and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to talk to you again, so… I love you.  I love you all, and I’m sorry for all this.  You should probably find a way to lay low for a while if you can, like that time when Takeo was in trouble.”  He laughed dryly.  “This isn’t because of him, by the way, but it’s that same kind of trouble.  Anyway, I hope this message gets to you okay, and again—”

The message center emitted a loud beep.

“I love you.”  The connection went dead.  He turned to Valerie.  “Do you think they got the last part?”

She shrugged.  “They got the rest of it, for sure.”

He sighed heavily, as she got to her feet.  “Thanks, again.”

“No problem.”  She nodded and paused at the door, turning slightly to regard him.  “Breakfast’s in an hour.  Don’t be late, or you’ll get stuck with steamed spinach and brown rice.”

“A fate worse than death, no doubt,” Gavin chuckled.  “Thanks for the heads-up.”

“See you later.”  The door slid closed behind her.

In time, the starship’s cook announced that breakfast was ready, calling the crew to the mess hall.  Gavin rejoined Taryn and Takeo, and they each received a plate of scrambled eggs and biscuits drenched in gravy, a set of metal dining utensils, and a cup of water.  Together, they faced the noisy room and looked on with some dismay at how quickly all the tables had filled.  Zerki, Valerie, Krane, Collins and D’Arro had gathered around one table, leaving a few spaces unoccupied.  Taryn nodded toward them just as Cajun stood slightly and waved for Gavin’s attention.

“We’ve got space for you,” he declared, and scooted closer to his fellow salvagers.

Relieved, Gavin smiled and glanced to his friends.  “This guy’s alright,” he assured them and gestured to Cajun’s table.  It took a moment for Taryn to realize she had been gazing at D’Arro.  She shook it off and hurried to her friends.

“You know this guy?” asked Cajun, as Taryn and Takeo sat down on either side of Gavin.

“For about 13 years,” answered Takeo, and he offered his hand.  “I’m Takeo, and this is Taryn.”

After everyone had shared introductions, Taryn said, “I haven’t known Gavin as long as that, but I do know him… biblically?”

Cajun’s salvagers erupted into laugher, and Cajun nearly shot his coffee through his nose.  “Whoa, Gavin!  Man, you must be packing a serious nine-iron!”

His ears bright red, Gavin said, “No… come on.”  He cast a flustered glance Taryn’s way.  She lunged, kissing him deeply as the others hooted and cheered.  “That’s not fair,” he gasped after she disengaged and returned to her place at the table.

“I know,” she said with a wink.  “But you love it.”

As the table dissolved into bawdy jokes and war stories, he stole a glance toward Valerie.  He startled to find she was already staring right at him.  With a smirk and a shake of her head, she looked away and focused on whatever Zerki was saying.

His shoulders sagged, and Gavin poked at his eggs.

Chapter 08

D’Arro joined his security team in the forward hangar.  “In about ten minutes,” he began, “we’ll be priming the jump drive.  Our Navigator’s never done this before, so it could take a while before the PLA is ready to fire.  If he’s as good as the captain says, it could take an hour, but it usually takes two.”  He glanced toward several tiny vessels docked at the back of the bay.  Regarding Taryn and Takeo, he said, “I wanted to show you rookies our boarding sleds beforehand, maybe let the vets give you a few pointers.”

Taryn raised her hand.

“Don’t do that,” D’Arro advised.  “Speak your piece.”

“I’ve never had any training with this kind of thing.”

D’Arro smiled slyly.  “You’re ospyrean.  Anyone else could train their whole life and never have what you and I are born with.”  He nodded toward Takeo.  “No offense.”