Star Brigade: Resurgent (Star Brigade Book 1) (13 page)

Tharydane took a few steps outside, and almost regretted her decision to visit Ymedes. A wave of dry heat slapped her across the face and chest, even this early in the evening. Noriida Major, the star Bimnorii orbited, cast a deep crimson sunset over the city of Rimhara. Since there was about 18 orvs of sunlight in Bimnorii’s 33-orv day, the sunsets would last 5 orvs or so. She slinked around toward the rear of the hostellaris, where Hugrask had his mini parking lot. A forcefield surrounded the enclosure, which held three options of transport; a large cobalt hovercar sedan, Hugrask’s pride and joy (which meant
off-limits
to Tharydane), the dusty and outdated hoverbike she loved, and the aaln.

“
Fehiza!
” Tharydane swore, digging through her pockets. She forgot the hoverbike keys, and could not back inside to get them unless she wanted to get caught. Which left the only the aaln.

Aalns certainly weren’t the prettiest beasts, with their gawky three eyes, smooth dome skull, oversized nostrils and elongated neck. But the beast’s apricot fur was short and thick, excellent for combating the arid Bimnorii weather. At the shoulder it stood about level with Tharydane’s forehead, though the neck made the aaln nearly twice that height. The creature’s only three appendages were its long tail and its two powerful legs with big splayed toes, which looked somewhat cartoonish. Moreover, the fact that the aaln looked completely graceless with its bird-like walk didn’t help the beast’s look any. Tharydane had seen how fast these creatures were, almost as fast as a hovercar. But anytime she had tried riding this obstinate beast, it would buck and writhe like mad until she went flying off its back. The young Korvenite opened the forcefield gate with her handprint ID, scowling as memories of those countless landings on compact sand filled her thoughts.

She took a tentative step closer. The aaln swung its thick tail like a whip, nearly taking her head off had she not ducked. The aaln honked a chortle from its mouth, which resembled an open double door.

“Oh, shut up!” Tharydane snapped. This had to be quick. So she ran, grabbed the aaln’s rump with both hands and vaulted onto its back. Before the aaln knew what happened, Tharydane flung an arm around its neck and at the same time released the reins securing it inside the enclosure. Luckily she had grabbed the neck. The beast bucked around the corral and honked loudly, tossing its head back and forth in order to throw Tharydane from its back. But she gritted her teeth and held on even tighter.

She reached out with telepathically, projecting obedience into the aaln’s mind. At first Tharydane met resistance, despite how appallingly simple an aaln’s semi-sentient mind was. There was still so much she had to learn about her abilities. The aaln bucked and bolted toward Hugrask’s prized hover speeder.

Tharydane gripped the beast in sheer panic, knowing Hugrask would kill her if anything happened to his beloved speeder. The aaln’s psyche was chaotic, flooded with fear. But Tharydane kept on pushing her calming thoughts. Now the creature spun around, its tail whipping toward the speeder’s headlights. Tharydane squealed. She had seen that tail break sturdier things.
STOP,
she psychically screamed out.

The aaln stopped its tail in mid-swing, and then stood stock-still. Its three eyes blinked dumbly, thick tail swishing harmlessly in front of the hoverspeeder. Tharydane sighed in relief and took the aaln’s reins.

“Why Hugrask feels you’re worth all this effort is beyond me.” The aaln obediently trudged forward, the gate sliding closed behind it. “
Aja!
” Tharydane cried, slapping the reins on the back of its neck. With that command the aaln jogged into the balmy evening, cutting through alleyways and scattering pedestrians in their way. The mount’s two-legged gait had some jolts and bouncing even with a saddle on its back, yet it was quite brisk. Tharydane had to bend forward so she could stay on the aaln’s rounded back. Its thick tail swished back and forth, never dragging or even touching the ground. If the aaln grew restless in its trot, Tharydane caressed its head and psychically nudged it back in the right direction.

Rimhara flew by in a blur, though Tharydane still took in its patchwork of activities. Bimnorii’s largest city always reminded her of a puffed up bazaar, but with actual buildings. Tiers of grubby balconies and windows jutted from blocky structures on each side of the street. Looming in the backdrop was a group of ramshackle structures that made up Rimhara Spaceport. During the daytime it looked trivial and tattered, but under the setting crimson sun the spaceport adopted a gloomy, almost sinister air.

Two long boardwalks near the spaceport were saddled with a jumble of shops, each matchless in style. Certain shops reeked of putrid cuisine that some found tasty. Diverse ranges of music floated out from others stores, mixing into the clamor of Rimhara’s streets. Holosigns floating above most shops were low-grade, bright and gaudy, completely clashing with everything else in the surrounding area.

Several metrids above Tharydane was a parking lot of hovercar traffic, each vehicle crammed with mining supplies. The Korvenite rolled her eyes. Someone must’ve found another ‘lucrative’ riinethe ore vein that would of course prove false. The sandy streets stretching before Tharydane were littered with a crush of different species milling about. This included disheveled vagrants near the boardwalks’ edges, many who were penniless miners desperate to join tonight’s dig. Their pleas for currency came in ‘portspeak’, the multi-species mongrel tongue used at all of Bimnorii’s spaceports.

Tharydane could name any world she knew of and then easily find someone from there on this microcosm of the galaxy at large. That was one positive out of many negatives to living on Bimnorii.

Before Tharydane knew it, she was at Rimhara’s borders. An endless expanse of reddish sand dunes and rocks laid beyond the city, glittering under the fiery sunset—the Crimson Reach. To the Korvenite’s right and left, this barren stretch of desert seemed to go on forever, the site where many had tried and failed or died to find their riches. Luckily for Tharydane, her destination lay straight ahead.

“Hold it,” Tharydane pulled gently on the reins. The aaln slowed at her command, hardly exerted. “Alright, let’s see some speed.
Aja!
” This time she kicked her heels into the aaln’s flanks. The Korvenite was jerked violently forward, hanging on to the reins for dear life. At her command the aaln craned its neck ahead and hurtled off, galloping like it was on a cushion of air. When its splayed toes did touch ground, they dug into the soft sand and tossed it back in crimson sprays. The creature’s thick tail went completely rigid and straight, streamlining its body for maximum speed.

“
Korvan’s blessed bones!
” she exclaimed. Tharydane’s curls of hair streamed behind her like shimmering violet flames. The aaln tore through the red dunes relentlessly, its speed still increasing. Tharydane let out an exhilarated shout and hugged the mount’s neck. Her whole body tingled in bliss.

A sudden presence shook Tharydane out of her glee, just before the sand dunes around her erupted.

Three large serpent creatures with grey scales burst out of the earth, twisting in graceful fashion through the air at her far right and left sides. And just like that they dove back into the dunes, showers of sand erupting in their wakes. Tharydane instantly recognized these as crotali, natives to Bimnorii’s Crimson Reach.

“But that’s impossible, crotali aren’t sentient beings!” Tharydane muttered. She had sensed three intelligent minds. When the three crotali burst up through the sand again, much closer this time, Tharydane saw that they had reins…and
passengers
. Humanoids wearing skinned crotalus hide jockeyed each massive serpent, their bodies flattened against their individual mounts.

“Duneskimmers,” Tharydane breathed in surprise. She had heard stories of these mysterious desert migrants, but never had seen one this close before. The crotali were moving too fast to clearly see the duneskimmers’ faces. They dove with their crotali mounts back into the dunes, but didn’t resurface. Their presences abruptly vanished from Tharydane’s mind, leaving just her, the aaln and the open desert of the vast Crimson Reach. In no time, the cubical profiles of Ymedes Slave Quarters loomed in the distance.

Upon arrival at Ymedes, Tharydane bound the aaln’s reins to a nearby post and hopped off the beast. “Thank you,” she smiled and rubbed the aaln on its domed head. In reaction the beast sat on its haunches and began licking its own eyeballs. Tharydane flinched in disgust. “Ah,
sweet Korvan!
” The Korvenite hastily turned to the row of blocky, terracotta structures before her, all alive with lights and sound seeping from their small windowpanes. By now, every Korvenite had returned from their daily slave shifts. Further away loomed the lit up structures of Ymedes, called Rimhara’s crueler stepsister, mainly because it was run by members of the sadistic Maruduuk race. It also had what Rimhara didn’t—Korvenite slaves.

Noriida Major had finally given way to the twinkling night as Tharydane approached the slave quarters. When she was little, Hugrask brought her here every now and then so she could know her race. Tharydane felt right at home. These Korvenites had taught her how to dance and improved her fluency in Korcei. Now she visited every other day—her escape from the depravity of Hugrask’s Hostellaris.

During each trip, the Korvenites she visited would tell their tales about an idyllic culture long before the humans settled on Terra Sollus. A time when every Korvenite could freely use their abilities.

Tharydane thought these stories were merely tall tales. She had been born twelve years after Korvenites were thrown into internment camps, having only brief memories of her actual family. After that, Tharydane had only known Bimnorii and its oppression of her species. She hated—
ha-ated
how none of her kind could share the same freedoms she knew. But what could one Korvenite girl do to change that? She tossed back wind-mangled curls and approached the closest quarters. Before she even knocked on the door, it flew open and Tharydane felt her ribs creek under an overenthusiastic hug.

“THARYN!” a voice cried
right
in her ear.  The other being finally released her. Masra was Korvenite like Tharydane, but pudgier and with spiky lavender hair. Her pallid skin brightened with a moonstone glow as she looked at Tharydane. “[You’re here! How are you?]” Masra hollered in Korcei, yanking Tharydane inside before she even replied. Masra turned to her parents. “[Mothi! Pothi! Tharyn’s here!]” Tharydane caught the familiar thin red scar on the back of her friend’s neck.

Right where slave auctioneers implanted the restraining bolt to dampen her Korvenite psionic abilities. Even worse, it detected when a Korvenite has moved a certain distance outside an assigned township—and exploded. Tharydane shivered, grateful for Hugrask buying her freedom before one could be placed in her head. Masra’s parents, Amra and Stavroos, ambled forward. Both Korvenites were well over forty cycles, as noted by the streaks of gold running through their violet manes.

“[Tharydane,]” Amra spoke softly. “[How are you child?]” Tharydane looked away from Masra and smiled kindly at the pair. Both eagerly embraced Tharydane, who relished in their affection. It didn’t matter that after six steps she was already a quarter of the way into the tiny abode. This still felt more like home than Hugrask’s. The quarters had the aromatic scent of various desert spices. Lit candles cast an orange glow on their belongings and beds. The room’s center was bare except for a small hearthrug.

The family hastily ushered Tharydane inside to sit and join them for dinner—leftover crotalus stew with boiled bimweed roots. Stavroos served up a dish, insisting that Tharydane eat. “[Too thin, child. A stiff wind could break you apart!]” He all but shoved the steaming plate into her mouth.

“[Pothi!]” Masra shooed him off. “[Tharyn looks healthy enough.]” Despite being three years older, she idolized Tharydane. At times it was a bit unnerving, but tonight Tharydane welcomed the flattery.

“[My thanks Amra, Stavroos.]” She took the plate and dug in with the dipper utensil given to her. Only Amra could make crotalus meat delectable. As Tharydane ate her food, the couple shared stories of their life on Terra Sollus, ancestral home of the Korvenites. They spoke nothing of being forced from their home or sold into slavery after that, but Tharydane sensed the pain in those memories at the edge of their thoughts. Still, Amra, Stavroos and Masra found joy in their time together now.

An orv passed before Othia, Zago and Zakros entered the house, three Korvenites who lived next door. Othia brought more food. The abode was packed full, but somehow there was still room to move around and exchange pleasantries. Zago brought his eight-stringed halaika, a Korvenite instrument that his master bought for him because of his hard work. It was long, box-like and sounded like a fusion between two different stringed instruments; the sizzling, high-pitched chords of one juxtaposed the potent bass strings of another. Within macroms, Korvenite-style music weaved through the small home. Zago strummed and plucked away, breaking out with fiery thaoque songs that always made Tharydane sway and hum along. The music told a tale of the Korvenite race finding their way home, back to Terra Sollus. Laughter erupted as Othia, Zakros and even Amra got up and began to dance along with Zago’s music.

At this point in time, nothing else mattered to Tharydane. It floored her how these Korvenites, her brethren, had so little—no freedom, no gifts of Korvan—yet they made the best out of it and still found happiness. The joy in this small home was pure, so Tharydane soaked in every bit of it.