Lost Planet 01 - The Lost Planet (15 page)

Once his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Chase realized that the cabinet's metal door was perforated with thousands of tiny ventilation holes, giving him a hazy but decent view of the control cabin. A dark bulk passed before the storage area, blocking Chase's view. When he could see again, there was a very fat man sitting in the captain's seat. He said something in a high-pitched, whiny voice, and was answered with a yelp by someone that Chase couldn't see. Chase squinted at the captain, his heart racing. So, this was a Goxar.

The fat captain leaned back and strummed his fingers on the armrest of his seat. After a few minutes, someone else climbed the stairs into the control deck. Heavy boots stomped across the floor.

“I'm glad you decided to keep your mouth shut during the inspection,” came Maurus's lilting accent. “If everything is ready, we should leave now.”

Chase's eyes widened. What was Maurus doing on the slave ship? Was it not enough that he'd overseen their sale—he was catching a ride with their captors as well?

“Yes, everything fine,” whined the fat man in a sulky voice. “Inspection fine.” He barked something unintelligible, and a small creature skittered around out of view.

“If you're going to keep a deck hog as your only crew, you should at least keep it in a decent condition. This one looks pathetic,” said Maurus. “Your ship stinks too.”

“You want to take other ship?” cried the fat man.

“You want to give me back the money?”

The captain muttered to himself, interjecting an occasional incomprehensible screech. A hum vibrated through the floor as the ship powered up, and the fat man leaned forward over the consoles. Two long limbs unfolded from his back and reached up to grab at the cables dangling around his chair.

Chase gave a small gasp. These were limbs like he'd seen on the woman at the food stall—Shartese, Parker had called her. Maurus hadn't sold them to the Goxar after all. So where was he taking them?

As the ship began to lift off the ground, Maurus walked around the cabin and sat down. The small creature that Chase couldn't quite make out waddled past, and the next thing he heard was Maurus's boot skidding across the floor.

“Keep that thing away from me!” Maurus growled. “It's disgusting.”

“You strap in?”

Maurus reached for the bands on his seat, and the captain reached up and pulled a long lever over his head. The engine surged, and Chase fell back inside the cabinet, pressed by the gravitational force. At nearly the exact same moment, there was a loud
BOOM
, and the entire ship shuddered violently.

“Stop! Stop!” cried Maurus. “What on Taras was that?”

The vehicle spun wildly, and a sound of tearing metal splintered the air as alarms blared from the console. Chase clutched at the walls of the cabinet, his head slamming into the cables. A robotic voice announced something about structural breach.

Chase closed his eyes and braced for impact. He had enough time to wonder whether he would feel it when they crashed or die instantly. But the spinning slowed, and they resumed a wavering course. He peered out of the cabinet.

The captain hunched over the control panels, while his back limbs wove and danced among the cables and levers.

“What was that? You told me your ship was safe!” Maurus joined him at the console, grabbing one of his limbs. “Did your stupid Lakito leave the docking struts attached?”

A crackling voice came from the front of the cabin. “STS-40, return to port immediately,”

“Port auth, everything A-OK here,” said the captain loudly. “Ship under control.”

“STS-40, your trajectory is erratic and you appear to have a stowaway aboard. Please return to port for further inspection.”

Maurus touched something on the console. “We need to fold out of here,” he said in a low voice. “What's the damage? Can the ship handle it?”

The captain made a disgusted noise and pushed Maurus's hand away. “No stowaways, port, we clear inspection. Vehicle A-OK.”

There was a pause, and a new, harder voice crackled from the console. “STS-40, this is Fleet command. Return to port now or we will be forced to take offensive action.”

Maurus put his hand back on the console. “You'll face the death penalty for harboring me. If the structure is sound, you need to make the fold now.”

The captain looked at the console. “Structure fine, but ship still in atmosphere.”

“We're high enough that there won't be any repercussions on the surface. Do it, now.”

“Your funeral, Maurus,” muttered the captain. A moment later, Chase felt the air around him contract and warp as they made a fold through space. Then there was stillness, punctuated only by the sound of the captain tapping on his consoles.

Maurus collapsed into his seat. “What's the damage report? Did someone fire on us?”

The captain began to mutter something when the sound of footsteps clanging up the stairs cut him off. He whirled his immense bulk around in his chair.

Maurus leapt to his feet, pulling out his blaster as a figure stepped onto the control deck. “What are you doing here?” he cried.

Chase squinted through the vent, pressing his fingertips against the door. He couldn't make out the new arrival.

“Don't open the door to the rear storage room,” came Mina's placid voice. “I had to breach the hull to get in, but the door's sealed, so it's contained for now. Just watch for resistance when we're in atmosphere.”

Chase melted against the cables and hoses and closed his eyes in thanks. Finally, their first piece of luck since they'd left Parker's home on Trucon. He tried to climb out of the cabinet, when he realized that, just like in the container, there was no way to open the door from inside.

“That was you?” Maurus cried. “You tore a hole in the side of the spaceship? Were you trying to kill us?”

“You wreck my ship, stupid girl?” screeched the captain. “You sneak aboard? I throw you into space!”

“It was the only way I could board. You were already starting your ascent when I arrived at the port, so I jumped off the sidewall and caught you midair. I made as clean an entry as I could—I'll fix it for you when we land again.”

Maurus groaned. “So you're the stowaway that ground control meant. How did you even know—”

“Who is this, Maurus?” the captain demanded.

“This is the android I told you about,” said Maurus.

“You said you sell android!”

“I did.” Maurus turned to Mina. “What have you done? How did you find me?”

“I wasn't yours to sell, so the sale was technically invalid. When the electrostruct reanimated me, I left.”

“You just … left?”

“They put up a small fight. I may have broken someone's arm.”

“And you followed me here?” asked Maurus.

“Actually, I was following him,” said Mina. She turned and pointed at the storage cabinets. Chase felt a prickling flush rise in his face.

“What?”

“Come out,” Mina called.

There was a pause, and then Parker's muffled voice sounded from the next cabinet. “We can't, we're locked in.”

“What on Hesta's seven suns?” shouted Maurus.

Mina marched across the cabin and yanked open both cabinet doors. Parker tumbled out and jumped to his feet. Chase crept out of the cabinet, looking around at the other occupants of the cabin. The captain stared at his new passengers with disgust. A small, piggish creature with greasy pink skin and perky, brown-crusted ears huddled at his side.

“How did you get out of the cargo hold?” Maurus asked, shoving his hand through his hair.

“You mean out of the container where you left us to suffocate?” Parker stormed across the cabin. “Right after you locked us up to be sold to slave traders?”

“Sold to—I was trying to get you out of there!” Maurus looked like he wanted to throttle Parker. “I locked you in the container to get you past inspection, and then I told Vo which one to grab before hiding myself on his ship.”

“Where are you taking us?” Chase asked.

“This ship's going to Lyolia.”

“What? Why are you taking us there?” shouted Parker.

“
I'm
going there—you're just along for the ride! Would you rather have gone with the Goxar? I hear it's a fine life aboard their slave ships, the week or two that you'd have left!”

“So you're escaping to your homeworld now, you coward?” asked Parker.

With a shout of rage, Maurus took a swing at him, clipping him in the chin. Before Parker could strike his own blow, Mina grabbed each of them by the elbow and squeezed hard enough to make them both gasp.

Maurus tugged in vain at Mina's iron grip. His arrogant eyes and fierce scowl suddenly seemed less vicious. Had he really admitted to saving them?

Vo sat back in his chair as he watched the scene, and now smacked his fleshy lips and narrowed his eyes. “I understand you, Maurus. You most-wanted man in the universe, so you kidnap two Earthan boys to take with you back to your homeworld. Boys make good collateral, maybe? You owe me extra now for more passenger.”

Of course. Maurus hadn't saved them out of the goodness of his heart. He'd taken them along as a sort of human shield. The Fleet wouldn't attack if they knew he had children on board.

Vo leaned forward, jowls wobbling eagerly, and reached out with one of his long bronze limbs to take Maurus by the chin. “But you stupid too,” he sang. “You greedy. You sell android to most dangerous man on Qesaris for big money, and then have her return to you. Now you have Rezer Bennin's money
and
Rezer Bennin's android. You must have real death wish!” A smug smile spread across his face, and he rubbed his overhanging belly with his humanoid arms. The pig-like creature jumped up and down in excitement.

Maurus gritted his teeth, still yanking against Mina's grip. “I didn't plan it like that. None of this was supposed to happen!”

“Maybe I take you back to Rezer Bennin, see if you can sell android a second time, pay for extra passengers?”

A beep sounded from the console. Still chuckling, Vo glanced at the screens. The folds of his fat face drew together in a sudden frown, and without another word he turned to the controls.

“What is it?” asked Maurus. The alarm in his voice sent a shiver down Chase's back.

“Someone hailing us,” Vo muttered. “Not good, not good.”

“Who is it?” Mina released Maurus and Parker and joined Vo at the consoles.

“Someone's followed us. Get us out of here,” Maurus hissed.

The center panel of the windshield shimmered and became a screen showing the grizzled face of a gray-haired man with pitted cheeks. Maurus threw himself against the side of the cabin, his eyes locked on the screen. Out of instinct, Chase did the same. He didn't know who the man was, but he knew the fact that he was contacting them was bad.

“Salutations, this is Captain Lionel Lennard, commander of the
IFF Kuyddestor
,” said the man on the screen in an oily drawl. “Prepare to surrender your vessel.”

 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“We are circling you from a distance of two parsecs, and we have the entire nuclear capacity of our starship aimed directly at your vessel. If you do not surrender immediately, you and everyone on board your ship will be destroyed.” Captain Lennard's cold eyes pierced the screen, and although Chase knew he was outside the frame of view, he still felt like the Fleet captain was staring directly at him.

Vo raised his arms from the console, his fat chin trembling. “I not do nothing. Just commerce vessel.”

“The entire Federal Fleet knows that you are harboring the galaxy's most-wanted fugitive. More ships will arrive in just a few minutes. Hand over Lieutenant Maurus now, and I'll make sure you live.”

While Lennard spoke, Maurus dropped to his knees and crawled up to the control console. He stayed just out of sight as he squeezed in front of Vo and started entering information on the screens.

Parker leaned toward Chase and whispered, “We have to turn him in.” Chase frowned and shook his head. He wanted nothing to do with the Fleet to begin with, but something in his gut told him they needed to stay far away from Captain Lennard.

Vo did an admirable job of keeping his face impassive as he kicked at Maurus in front of him. “I know not what you talk about, Captain. Only myself and Lakito deckhand on board.”

Captain Lennard shrugged. “If that's how you choose to play it, then prepare to meet your maker. In five, four, three, two—”

Parker took a step toward the screen, and Chase grabbed a handful of his shirt.

“Okay, okay!” Vo screeched. “Surrender!”

Maurus leapt up and yanked down on one of the levers surrounding the captain's chair. With a savage twist, the air collapsed around Chase, but this wasn't like any other fold he'd experienced. Just as the compressed feeling started to fade, it amped up again, over and over in waves. There was a tumbling sensation, as if he were falling down a spiraling hole. Bright colors and black abysses flashed through his vision, and he was paralyzed, unable to grab his whirling head or reach out for help.

When it finally stopped, everyone was sprawled on the floor except for Vo, who gripped the cables around him with every limb available. Chase rolled onto his side, pressing his hands against his pounding temples.

“Never touch my controls again!” Vo barked. “I kill you!”

“What was that?” moaned Parker.

Maurus was already on his feet. “Kathadaxus maneuver. That'll buy us five minutes, tops. We need to turn off the trackers and fold once more so he can't follow us.”

“Impossible,” said Vo. “With no trackers we fold into solid object. Everybody die!”

“We have to take the risk, just this once. The odds of catastrophic fold are infinitesimal.”