Kalon
Chapter Seventy-Nine: Degor Ul Giba
Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant
Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation
Solar System: D-447
Planet: Ora
Location: Above the planet's surface
The irony is not lost on me. Were the circumstances different, I may have laughed at her throwing my previous words back at me. Her hand slowly raises to place the box in mine. Removing the fabric, I see that she spoke the truth. It is the Cursed Edict, but how? My fingers trace along the edges of it. Did the demon tamper with my memories? How else can I explain this? Is such a thing even possible? The world feels like it is spinning as I back away from Luna.
“Kalon.” Luna says, her slow rise to her feet becoming faster the closer I get to the back of the craft, “What are you planning?”
My hand fumbles across the wall at the rear of the craft, my eyes turning to look for the emergency release for the airlock.
“Oi, what the frag is he doing?” Fennec grumbles loudly from the front, swiveling in his chair to give another anxious eye.
“Kalon, it is very important that I deliver that to someone.” She explains, stepping closer.
My hand twists and then pulls the emergency latch, yet nothing happens except a red light illuminating it. My eyes trace over to Fennec, I see his hand running through the holo next to him, a red light flashing on one of the displays, he swipes through it and the light on the door turns green. Air howls as the loading bay door lowers, the hydraulic groan muffled by the torrents of wind.
“You will not do it.” Luna says, folding her arms, “You know that it is important to…”
Her eyes grow wide as I toss the Cursed Edict from the shuttle. Deep into night’s embrace. Luna’s eyes blink quickly as she walks toward me, looking below at the ground, far below us. Her eyes trace back to me as the loading bay door closes.
“I told you that you can not trust an…” Fennec begins.
“Be silent!” Luna roars, her eyes burning a path toward Fennec, his head swivels back toward the front.
She turns slowly back to me, her mouth hanging open for a few moments as she searches my eyes, her gaze softening more than it was with Fennec, but I can still feel the intensity of her stare.
“You have no idea how imperative it is that I deliver it!” she yells at me suddenly with so much ferocity in her tone that it surprises me. She pounds her fist against the hull, denting it, and she shakes her head at me “You asked me to trust you, and then you betrayed me immediately. I expected him to betray me, but you, Kalon, I did not expect you to do such a thing.”
Fennec looks back with a raised eyebrow before moving his gaze back to the front.
“Betray you?” I ask, adjusting my stance, my own face rippling with anger now, “I am helping you, that thing is cursed, you should not carry such a thing.”
“What I should and should not do, how is it your concern?” she asks, pressing a finger into my chest, “You barely know me, don’t presume to understand what I need.”
My chest tightens at her words. Swatting the finger away, I shake my head at her.
“You search for a dead man upon a barren world. All while carrying a thing that holds a demon. Degor Ul Giba.”
“What did he say Fennec?” she asks, not taking her eyes off me.
Fennec lets out an audible sigh “It means, your words hold no meaning.”
“No meaning,” she says, turning from me, “Well I’m glad you’ve got that off your chest. Turn the ship around Fennec, we need to retrieve it.”
Fennec groans, putting in commands.
“This time don’t touch it, it is imperative that I…” she begins, giving me a strange look, my eyes trace where hers are, towards my hand.
My eyes blink twice, bringing it closer to my face, a cube-shaped object in my hand that should not be. In my perception I hear the growing sound of malice-filled laughter, the hairs on the back of my neck rising as a phantom hand strokes across my chin, and words from the demon Krotha fill my mind.
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Do not forget… you are mine
The box falls from my grasp and clangs to the floor. My eyes meeting Luna’s now. There is an expression growing on her face, not one of surprise, but one that I know well from her… pity. It is etched deep upon her face, she knows something that I do not.
“What does this mean?” I manage to ask, sitting down again, my eyes moving from the box to her eyes.
She glances at Fennec, an expression filling his face as well. One I have never seen from him before, the same that she gives me. Pity. My jaw flexes as my teeth grind. Is there no way for me to be rid of the demon?
Luna comes to my side now, sitting next to me, her arms wrapping around me.
“We will figure this out together,” she says, pulling me tighter, “You are not alone.”
My eyes blink at her as she pulls away. What isn’t she telling me? What does this mean?
“Fennec set a course for the Gate,” Luna says, standing and collecting herself, giving me a nod.
“The Gate?” he asks, spinning around, “Have you forgotten what your mission is?”
“We need to bring him to my father, or Kotina, they will know what to do.” She explains.
The two of them begin arguing back and forth. Kotina, a name she has said a few times on our travels. Though I have gleaned little about them. What is it that she requires from them? I have heard of the Gate before. The Sage told me it is how the masters travel the stars. Does that mean that she plans to leave my planet’s star system? But then… the brothers, Haki and Daki. Arrum. My heart pangs.
“I did not agree to go where you asked,” I say loudly, interrupting their conversation, and looking at Luna with narrowed eyes.
“You need to go, trust me.” She says, turning away from me to resume the argument with Fennec.
“Trust you…” I say louder, again, giving them both pause, throwing her own words back at her “You barely know me, don’t presume to understand what I need.”
Her jaw tenses as her purple eyes level with me, there is guilt in her eyes saddled with regret. I cannot tell where the regret stems, but it swallows her expression.
“You will die if you do not come.” She warns, though it does not sound like a threat.
“By your hand?” I ask, narrowing my eyes further.
She tilts her head sideways at me as though offended by the question.
“That you would even ask that.” She says, shaking her head at me.
Her words cause guilt to rise in me for a few moments before it is swatted away.
“You told me there is nothing left for you in your old city, so why do you wish to stay on Ora?” she asks me after a few more moments of silence.
“Haki and Daki,” I say, lifting my gaze to meet hers, “They are in Tarvashal. Sold by another Clan. I would see them freed.”
“Anything else?” she asks me, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Riza,” I say, Luna’s eyes constrict at the name. Her intense stare loosening.
“That is something that can wait.” She explains.
My jaw flexes, I know she is right. Still, ten years. It is a long time for justice to not be served.
“If we find your friends, will you come with me?” she asks.
“Once they are free, I will not fight you,” I say.
She nods, speaking with Fennec now as I lean back against the seat.
***
A few hours have passed, they have finally settled on a plan. The suns have begun their rise across the horizon as well. My weary eyes look out from one of the viewports on the side of the shuttle, they widen as it takes in one of the Arasha cities from above, not Tarvashal, but another I do not know the name of. The twin suns beginning to rise upon its metal frame. It is a marvel almost rivaling Tarvashal and the masters’ floating cities.
Looking next to me, I see Luna drinking in the sight as well now that she has finished speaking with Fennec. I find myself wondering how she sees it, does she marvel at it like I do? Does it make her feel small against the grandeur of what people’s hands have created? She is a master, I wonder what sights those eyes have seen, I wonder what sights I will see if I follow the path she lays for me. What will I see if I travel through the Gate with her?
The frozen wasteland sprawls and encircles the planet like a glove, but from this distance, it is somehow majestic. The snow seems to welcome my gaze, beckoning me to return to it. You would not know of the problems upon its surface from up here. You would never know the pain that is doled out by those who step upon the necks of others. From this far away everything seems so small now, I wish that Arrum and the brothers could see this. Nekam would surely scratch his beard at the sight. My mind focuses now, as though waking from a dream as I think about my tribe.
As I look upon the expansive landscape of ice on my planet, my mind widens further, thinking of all my people trapped by a life they did not choose, toiling for the masters. How many of us are there? How many still hold hope in their hearts? How can I help them? My eyes move down to my hands, one caked in black blood and the other covered in thick callouses. What can these hands do to help my people? I am so small, the problem so large.
My jaw flexes, this is not the time to lose hope, I am free for one purpose only. There is work to be done. Focus on helping the ones that I can, the brothers.
“Where do you take me?” I ask her, the focus beginning to fill me again.
“We cannot return to Tarvashal without new credentials. Fennec says he knows someone who may be able to help us.”
Before I can ask anything else, I hear chiming coming from a comm panel near the cockpit. Then a voice begins to speak.
“Shuttle JL987-GH316 I have your moniker marked as…” There is a long pause before he speaks again, it almost sounds like he is trying not to laugh “The Horny Rat’s Nipple…” Another pause follows.
Fennec puts his hand to his head rubbing his temples, a look of frustration on his face.
“You have an interesting taste in names,” Lunara quips.
“It’s not like I had time to pick and choose a ship based on the name.” Fennec grumbles, “We would be in my shuttle if you hadn’t used your fragging Republic Credentials.”
“So it’s my fault that you clearly chose a ship based on the look of the inside.” She says, pointing to the style of the interior, “There were hundreds of shuttles that would have accepted the command override chip I gave you.”
“Again, it’s not like…” he begins but pauses as the same voice speaks again.
“Ahem – JL987-GH316 this is Talum Federation Space Command identifier TXCN99-3-48. The planet you are originating from has been designated a Category three zone, as such, per regulation, SC56902-324 all ships must submit a detailed daily flight plan and provide proper credentials. No flight plan from you has been received.”
“Sekat.” Fennec says slamming the panel, having a small tantrum now “Sekat–Sekat–Sekat.”
“Relax Fennec, we can figure this out,” Luna says, her voice does not exude confidence.
“JL987-GH316 I repeat no submitted flight plan from you has been received.”
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