Inherit the Stars (30 page)

Kivita affixed one end of the flexi line to a girder just inside the lift shaft. “Make sure it'll hold us.”

Cheseia tugged it and nodded. Darkness waited below.

Jandeel nudged Rhii and Basheev after Kivita. “Hurry. I'll make sure the flexi holds up here before following.”

“May the stars shine for us, miss.” Rhii pressed a portable lamp into Kivita's hand, while Basheev passed out more to the others from a nearby locker. The ship vibrated again, longer and with greater intensity. Pods creaked from their casings in the cryo chamber. Crockery and foodstuffs spilled from the galley.

The intercom speaker buzzed and popped. “. . . And we can't . . . no! . . . coming in . . .”

The whizzing noise of a kinetic shot ended the connection.

“Let's get going,” Kivita said in a flat voice.

Cheseia helped her down into the lift shaft. Its spherical sides bore sensor pits and gravitational accelerators, which moved the lift without cables. Kivita activated her lamp, clamped it to her helmet, and hoisted
herself down. They needed to travel four decks down, from Four to Eight. Each lift stopped at fifteen-foot intervals.

Kivita swiveled her head left and right, the cold lamp lighting her descent in quick glimpses. A tug on the line signaled others were following after her.

“How much farther, Kivita?” Jandeel asked over the helmet speaker. “I've lost all gravity up here.”

“Yeah, down here, too,” Kivita replied. “I'm nearing Level Five now. With less gravity, there'll be less weight on the line. Cheseia, bring the other flexi roll and send everyone down. No one let go of it.”

A hissing sound exploded in the chamber above. Kivita vibrated on the line for a second; the galley had finally decompressed.

Shouts and sobs came over her helmet speakers, but Kivita magnetized her polyboots and descended, hand over hand on the flexi line. The lift exit for Level Five passed her by, and the one for Level Six came within sight.

“Everybody still with me?” she asked. “Just hang on to the line and try to keep your feet on the shaft wall.” Kivita's muscles burned with the effort of pulling the rest behind her. Lugging all those small loads through zero-G derelicts paid off now.

Luccan's Wish
trembled for an instant. The flexi line shook.

Kivita glanced up. Cheseia had wrapped the flexi around her waist and now helped Kivita pull the others via the shaft's sensor pits.

“Just keeping going. We are truly right behind you,” Cheseia said.

Along the shaft, several lamps shone their beams over the walls and across her fellow Thedes. Almost
thirty of them. Kivita had no idea, out of four hundred, how many still lived aboard
Luccan's Wish
. The thought drove her on. Her shoulders and legs shook with exertion; sweat pooled in her envirosuit collar.

“Kivita, there's—” Jandeel's voice cut off.

“Just hold on, I'm nearing Level Seven,” Kivita said, unable to keep the relief from her voice.

“Flaring red stars, someone's shining light on us from up there!” Basheev cried over their helmet speakers.

Maihh clicked several times. Some of the others mumbled and cursed, but no one stopped moving along the flexi line.

“Don't panic. It could be friends,” Rhii said.

Impacts vibrated down the shaft into Kivita's legs. “Jandeel? Jandeel, can you hear me?”

No one answered. The lights kept shining from above.

“Kivita, keep going!” Navon shouted.

A hard shake traveled down the flexi line. Kivita glanced up as something flashed far above them; then the line went limp in her hands. Cheseia bumped into her. With her boot soles knocked from the shaft wall, Kivita plummeted down.

The gravity had reactivated.

“It's been cut!” Basheev screamed over the speaker.

Though the gravity remained weak, it still yanked Kivita down with terrifying speed. Below, her lamp illuminated the top of the lift on Level Ten.

Mind racing, Kivita shouted over her mic. “Shit—grab the sensor pits!”

Her fingers scrambled over the shaft wall. Some of her fingertips caught on the pits, and her feet skidded along the surface. Kivita's polyboots stuck to the wall again as Navon and the others scrabbled past her.

“Grab me!” She leaned out and took Navon's hand until he found a foothold near the next lift entrance.

Rhii got a handhold opposite them and clasped Navon's other hand. An Aldaakian latched onto Rhii's ankle. Above, Cheseia held Basheev with one arm, but the weight of the rest slid the flexi down her waist and past her ankles.

The other people fell past them. Without atmosphere in the shaft now, Kivita heard no impact. The flexi line sunk in noiseless gloom.

Voices came over her speaker: people in pain, afraid, cursing, calling for help. Kivita walked up the wall as two light beams shone from above.

“Hurry, Kivita! Those are not friends!” Navon called. Rhii and the other hangers-on climbed down using the sensor pits for handholds.

Kivita pulled Basheev from Cheseia's strained grasp. “Here, climb on my back.” She took Cheseia's arm. “And, you, hang on to me.”

“I am definitely coming,” Cheseia said, renewed strength in her gaze.

Glancing down, Kivita's lamp revealed more than twenty Thedes lying in a crumpled heap atop the lift. Some had gained their footing, but most remained motionless. Maihh stood, hands reaching up to Kivita.

Level Eight's lift entrance waited three feet away.

“Kivita, definitely put me on that lip next to the lift door,” Cheseia said. “I will certainly try to open it. With your boots, try to help as many down there as you truly can.”

Kivita released Cheseia and Basheev on the lip and walked down the wall. Her heart thudded in desperation as she tried not to think about who watched them from above, shining lights on them. Who had cut the flexi line.

While Kivita neared those atop the stalled lift, Cheseia grunted and strained with the door; Navon helped her. Kivita reached for Maihh's hand as it came up to meet hers.

“The Solars bless you, dear,” Maihh said.

“I've got you now. Just—”

The lift shook and slid away from Kivita with increasing speed. Maihh's fingers brushed hers, then disappeared into the darkness. The wall vibrated under her boots. After a few seconds, the lamps of those who'd fallen winked out.

Kivita's gloved hand remained extended. Ready to save a life, to give hope.

She wanted to scream, wanted to follow and help them, but her lamp didn't penetrate the black hole beneath her.

“Kivita, come back! The lift must have gone to the power level,” Navon said. “We have forced the door open. We've got gravity—”

“They're still alive!” Kivita yelled.

“Please, Kivita,” Navon said over the speaker. “Help these others. We are being followed now.”

Far above, the light beams still scanned the shaft's walls. Shapes moved in the entrance to Level Four.

“You fucking bastards,” she whispered, then walked up the wall toward the others, where faint light emanated from Level Eight's entrance. Inside her envirosuit, the pouch containing the Juxj Star weighed her down. She'd thought her knowledge had illuminated the darkness of her life, and would have brightened the ignorance blanketing the Cetturo Arm.

Now it seemed to envelope her as it swallowed those she cared about.

Sar maneuvered the shuttle closer to Airlock Seven. One deck below,
Frevyx
was docked to Airlock Eight. He gripped the manuals tighter while examining the damage to
Luccan's Wish
. The ship had tilted twice more toward the gas giant since he'd escaped Dunaar. Outside the shuttle's starboard viewport, the Aldaakian cruiser waited. It didn't fire on him, though three assault shuttles maintained a tight flight perimeter near the decks above.

“Bet they've sent Shock Troopers aboard.” Sar flew parallel to Airlock Seven and initiated the shuttle's magnetizing array. With a shudder and a clank, both vessels linked airlocks; then Sar yanked off his restraints and rose from the cockpit. The scanner beeped twice. Sar studied it and cursed under his breath.

Fanged Pauper
had docked on the starboard side of
Luccan's Wish
, while the Inheritor shuttles drew closer to Airlock Three.

He needed more time, not more enemies.

“The Rector will find Kivita. Hmm.” Bredine followed him, face drawn in concentration. Since leaving
Arcuri's Glory
, she'd been quiet.

“Dunaar wouldn't still be in the system unless Kiv was trapped on board.” Sar slipped into an envirosuit and snapped on a helmet with a dirty faceplate. “You're free, Bredine. You want this shuttle, it's yours. Once I have Kiv and my friends, I'm leaving on
Frevyx
.” The words held more confidence than he felt. It would be madness inside the disabled ship.

After suiting up, Bredine stared at him with a strange clarity. “I want to see the queen. Hmm. Redryll? Kivita sends.”

“Whatever. Just stay behind me.” He snatched a spike baton from a small weapons locker; it held no swords or pistols. Once the shuttle airlock opened, momentary weightlessness gave way to normal gravity as they entered Airlock Seven. Red warning lights flashed inside, where supply crates, toolboxes, and gas canisters lay overturned. An intercom buzzed with static, which meant the bay hadn't decompressed yet.

It'd been more than fourteen years since he'd boarded
Luccan's Wish
. The only family he'd had since Caitrynn's death needed him more than ever.

“Kivita sends,” Bredine said over his helmet speaker.

“What? Don't distract me unless it's important.” He neared one of three circular doors leading from the airlock bay. Through the first-door window, light flickered in the adjacent corridor. Shards from a broken viewport floated inside. Sar approached the second door; utter darkness barred its window. His heart beat faster, and his breath fogged up his faceplate before it could defrost.

The third window revealed a Tannocci man in an envirosuit, leaning against a bulkhead. Several people sat behind him, their faces pallid from stale air.

“Jandeel?” he muttered, then rapped on the window. “Jandeel!”

Eyes meeting Sar's, Jandeel rushed to the door, a strained smile on his lips. The others rose and hugged each other. Jandeel tapped the window and mouthed words.

“Enemies aboard. Don't use main radio frequency. Kivita and Navon are trapped,” Sar whispered as he interpreted Jandeel's silent words. He glanced around the airlock bay. “Bredine, how much air in here, you think?”

She turned the nozzles on five different air canisters. “Hmm. Not enough for you to argue with Kivita.” Jets of gas blew from the nozzles.

“What the hell does that mean? Never mind.” Sar pecked on the window and pointed at the canisters.

Nodding, Jandeel turned and gestured to his comrades. The other Thedes' faces shone with new purpose. Sar wondered how they had accepted Kivita and her abilities, and Cheseia's betrayal. Did they even know that she was a traitor? What a fool he'd been.

“Redryll? You can let them in.” The more Bredine spoke, the more coherent her sentences became.

Sar motioned for Jandeel and the others to stand back. Holding his breath, Sar removed his helmet and inhaled. The canister air had a metallic taste, having not gone through a proper scrubber. Jandeel nodded and led the others toward the door. Sar pulled the release lever.

The pressurized door slid open with a hiss. Those inside the corridor poured into the airlock bay, weeping, laughing, gasping.

Jandeel removed his helmet and sighed. “I couldn't leave them in there, and we feared the bay had lost all
air. It's so damn good to see you again Sar. Thank the Solars.”

Sar clasped his hand. “Glad that knife wound healed. How was Kivita the last you saw her?”

“She's doing things beyond anything we ever dreamed.” Jandeel beamed.

The other Thedes neared the airlock, then gaped at the Inheritor shuttle docked outside. They murmured among themselves and shot glances in Sar's direction. Bredine stared at them with the authority of a military commander.

“Where is your queen? Black void out there. Cold. Hmm.”

Jandeel stiffened. “Everyone, Sar came here to rescue us. It should be his decision when we depart
Luccan's Wish
. We still might save others.”

Sar raised a hand. “No. The Inheritors have fired on the ship. Shock Troopers have boarded, too.”

“Add pirates to that list,” Jandeel said. “Brutes in polyarmor separated me from Kivita, Cheseia, and the others as we descended a shaft to Level Eight. I managed to escape, and found these other survivors.”

So, Cheseia was still alive. Why did that bother him?

Sar gazed into the corridor. “The shuttle will take all of you, but an Aldaakian cruiser and other ships are out there. Best chance is to make a jump as soon as you can.”

“You're leaving?” Jandeel's brows rose.

“Hell, no. I'm getting Kiv and taking
Frevyx
.”

“I'm coming with you.” The intense loyalty in Jandeel's eyes made Sar grip his hand again.

The other Thedes opened the airlock and rushed onto the shuttle, but a few waited, guilt on their faces.

“Go while you still can,” Sar called. “I'm not leaving without Kiv.”

Seconds later, the shuttle, and Sar's nearest escape, departed.

“Kivita sends.” Bredine's breath exited in cold clouds as the temperature dropped.

Jandeel looked at her with amusement.

“She's a Savant that Rector Thev held captive on his ship,” Sar said. “I'll explain later. What about everyone else?”

Jandeel frowned. “I don't know. So many compartments have lost gravity, life support, or simply decompressed. We could have used that shuttle to link with Level Eight.” He gestured behind him. “We saw bodies floating on the opposite deck across the cargo trench. I have no idea how many have survived.”

“Why the hell weren't the security protocols I came up with put into action?” Sar kicked a supply crate. “Told you we couldn't hide forever, that we'd have to fight sometime.”

Sighing, Jandeel raised his hands. “There was such panic when the attack came, and—”

Luccan's Wish
shook. Sar steadied himself against a bulkhead, while Bredine reacted with precise reflexes, gripping Jandeel's arm and the airlock handle. An explosion vibrated through the decks above them. The bay's red warning lamps clacked off. Only the gas giant's turquoise glow lit the chamber.

“Did you try to reach Level Eight again? Should be another lift nearby,” Sar whispered to Jandeel.

Helmet still on, Bredine tugged Jandeel with her toward Sar. She pushed damp hair from Jandeel's face, making the Tannocci Sage view her with exasperation.

“I wanted to try, but those I was leading feared the airlock bay may not have air, and none of them had an envirosuit.” Jandeel's eyes narrowed. “I know you're right. We didn't even use the old evacuation plan, and . . . Cheseia betrayed us. We'll never defeat the Inheritors like this, Sar. If the organization is to survive, we need Kivita to—”

The ship tipped again, making all three of them slide toward the far wall. Sar snagged his hand on the corridor doorway and crawled inside. Jandeel grabbed hold of Bredine's waist, and together they followed. Though some of the canister air had seeped into the corridor, its foul carbon taste made Sar grimace.

“We can't stay in here,” Sar said. “The planet's gravity is pulling
Luccan's Wish
down bit by bit. That son of a bitch Dunaar knew what systems to target.”

“Dunaar Thev? The Rector himself is out there?” Jandeel balked.

Sar shrugged. “We need a lift to Level Eight.”

“My group passed a second lift that still worked,” Jandeel replied. “But some of those pirates guard it, Sar. I think they want
Frevyx
, but don't know or can't hack your keypad sequence. My group refused to fight them, so we moved on.”

Sar forced down his rising anger. Shekelor and his men had moved fast—too fast, considering he'd left
Arcuri's Glory
before that backstabbing asshole. His former comrade had gained more things from the Sarrhdtuu than just coils.

“Then we force our way in. Without
Frevyx
, there's no use in searching for the others.” Together, he and Jandeel pried open the lift entrance. The darkened tube echoed with screams and clanging metal from below.

Sar hefted his baton and crept just over the ledge. Jandeel donned his helmet, drew a curved Naxan dagger, and followed with Bredine in tow.

Through the lift entrance, more shouts drifted up, followed by whimpers and laughter.

“Plumb stupid fucks,” a gruff voice said. “Gimme the girl, and ya can keep ya fingers.” Laughter followed the man's comments.

After locking his helmet back on, Sar freed one hand for climbing. He stepped from the ledge into the shaft, then clawed into the sensor pits with his fingers. Below, the lift hovered near Level Nine.

Sar had climbed Freen's jagged landscape in his childhood, and clambered through some of the most heavily damaged derelicts in the Cetturo Arm. Descending one-handed while using his boots for leverage, however, taxed his muscles to their limit. Though flickering yellow light shone from Level Eight's entrance, Sar knew one slip would cost him his life. Jandeel and Bredine climbed down after him.

“Guess they wanted to leave on Redryll's ship,” a thin male voice said below. “Stupid bastard will pay for that shit on Umiracan. My brother died, and we lost all those slaves.”

A woman screamed. The pirates laughed; Sar guessed at least six occupied the airlock bay, maybe more. Only with surprise could he even hope to succeed.

He finally drew near the entrance. The lift door had been blown off and lay just inside the airlock bay, charred and dented. Three mangled bodies lay near the far bulkhead. They bore the sliced cheeks and cut throats of Sutaran execution rituals, no doubt influenced by Shekelor. Once, Sar had done the same to Inheritor
soldiers. How close had he come to being one of those pirates?

A small Ascali girl lay in her own blood, her amber eyes staring right at Sar.

Bredine came down and spotted the bodies. Before he could stop her, she dropped into the airlock bay and leapt forward. Shouts echoed from within, traveling up and down the shaft. Ringing metal, and a painful grunt followed.

“Kill the Thede bitch!” a pirate shouted.

Grasping the corner, Sar yanked himself into the entrance. He stepped fully into the airlock bay as Bredine jammed her elbow through a pirate's faceplate and grabbed the man's sword. Another pirate lay at her feet, head and neck leaning at opposite angles. Five other pirates rushed at her with swords, while three more aimed pistols. All of them had olive-tinted flesh and Sarrhdtuu carapace armor. A dozen Thedes lay strewn on the bay floor, dead or dying. Seven others cringed in one corner.

Bredine crushed a pirate's cheek with her foot, then ducked and sliced off another's fingers. A kinetic shot slammed into her left arm, but she kept swinging. Sar charged forward and drove the spike baton into a pirate's lower back, then swung with both hands. The spikes crunched through the man's cuirass and snapped his collarbone.

As much green as red blood splattered from the pirates' wounds.

A pirate kicked Bredine across the floor and into a wall, and the sword clattered from her grasp. Sar slammed the baton into the man's stomach, then brought it down across his neck. Blood sprayed from the ruptured polyarmor, but the pirate rammed a knee into
Sar's right side. Grunting, Sar broke the pirate's neck with the baton. The man crashed onto the floor.

The other pirates took cover behind supply crates and fired again.

A shot grazed Sar's left leg, and he dove for the wall on his right. Jandeel jumped from the lift entrance and shoved a pirate woman into the crossfire. She went down with a smoking hole in her back, green-rigged flesh popping.

One pirate slashed through the back of Sar's envirosuit. The blade drew a deep nick through his skin as Sar turned to defend himself. A kinetic shot struck the wall a few inches from his helmet. His faceplate cracked from shrapnel impacts.

The pirate raised his sword, but Bredine snapped his neck from behind. The man went limp and crumpled at Sar's feet, while Jandeel scrambled for the man's sword. Bredine ducked and rolled toward the pirates as they trained their guns on her.

Sar flung the baton. It knocked one pirate's gun from his hand, as Bredine tumbled up from her roll and struck with both palms. The pirate fell back, faceplate, nose, and mouth crushed.

The last pirate struck Bredine across the face with his pistol, then aimed it down as she fell.

Sar ran forward. “Here, you bastard!”

The pirate aimed at him and smiled.

“Sar!” Jandeel lunged for Sar as the pirate fired.

The shot blew away the left side of Sar's helmet in an explosion of faceplate particles. Sar fell on his back, tasting blood as a thousand prickling stings materialized on his face. He rolled over and opened his eyes. They stung.

With both hands, Jandeel crammed the sword into the pirate's chest. Polyarmor cracked, and crimson ran along the floor. A heavy mildew stench mixed with the scent of blood. The pirate batted Jandeel aside and punched Bredine's helmet. Scrambling to get up, Sar glimpsed the pirate's feet melding into the floor.