Kalon

  Chapter Eighty: Bakna

  Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

  Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

  Solar System: D-447

  Planet: Ora

  Location: Above the planet's surface

  Fennec and Luna stare at the comms panel still, neither speaking for a time. Leaving me to wonder about what the voice said. What is a category three zone? The gears in my mind begin to turn as I look at Fennec and Luna, whatever is happening I can tell from a glance, both of them are uneasy by the news.

  “This is your fault.” Fennec says while pointing at her “If you hadn’t killed a Noble from Gallec Empire there’s no way this would have been changed to a category three zone.”

  Luna cringes at the words, her face grimacing before words find her lips, she points a finger toward me before she speaks, “Should I have just watched as he killed him?”

  Fennec raises an eyebrow and nods vehemently. Luna’s jaw tenses as her hand balls into a fist.

  “We wouldn’t be in this mess if you would have listened to me in the first place and left him or better yet…”

  “Kill him?” she asks incredulously “You have a lot of nerve to bring that up again, do not test me right now, I will throw you from this slagging ship.”

  Fennec looks at her sideways for a second, as though he almost believes her. I do not. Looking down at her hand, it trembles still, the other hand is pressed firmly against her leg to stop it from shaking as well. She does not have the resolve to kill again, not so soon, and not a companion. Regardless of my feelings for Fennec, he clearly is close to her father, how close, I have not gleaned yet.

  “He is a liability,” Fennec says sternly.

  “If I am such a liability then why did you take me with you?” I ask him, curiosity finding my lips.

  “Because,” Fennec says, tensing his jaw, “You shielded my charge with your own body, and I saw you push Ralia out of the way of certain death. We are even now. Do not make the mistake of thinking we are allies, Ulima.”

  His words surprise me, yet I sense a wariness in his gaze that is more than before. He must still wonder why I am not a Shulka. A curiosity that I wonder about as well. Another strange thing that I am curious about is why he helped me open the loading bay door. Does he not care about the Cursed Edict like she does? His motivations are a mystery to me. I need more information. There is so much of late that I do not fully understand. So many new things to ponder and be frustrated by when I cannot find the answer.

  “JL987-GH316 you appear to be having comm issues, an escort ship will be dispatched if you do not respond in a timely fashion.” The voice says.

  Fennec and Luna glare at each other, silence falls between them.

  “JL987-GH316 escort ship enroute, hold vector.”

  Fennec groans and then takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly as my people teach, helping him find the calm. He pushes a button on the display panel.

  “Federation Space Command this is JL987-GH316, good copy, escort ship will be unnecessary. The flight plan will be provided shortly.” Fennec says.

  His mannerisms when using the comms seem similar to the grumbling man, Betran the man who I slew for trying to buy me, he said that man was a former soldier. Is Fennec also a former soldier like the grumbling man? My mind pushes it away so I can focus. There are enough questions that linger in my thoughts.

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  “JL987-GH316, good copy, awaiting flight plan.” The voice replies.

  Turning now to look at Luna again he says “That bought us about five minutes.”

  “We need to do a phantom jump.”

  My eyes blink as Fennec bursts into laughter. Luna’s jaw clenches.

  “I needed that, thank you.” Fennec chuckles, his smile begins to fade as he sees the seriousness etched across her face.

  “Begin the preparations.” She says.

  “This shuttle can probably barely make a regular jump, let alone one of those. What you're requesting is literally madness. Suicide is not in my job description.” Fennec protests.

  I don’t understand the terminology about jumping, but my mouth stays closed as my ears try to understand what is unfolding.

  “I can do it, Kotina has done it many…” she begins.

  “You–are–not–her!” Fennec yells, extenuating each word, his eyes bulging “She’s a Knight Commander in one of the largest houses in the Republic, not to mention a high ranking Edict holder. She spends every waking moment training. Last I checked you were just a spoiled Noble with limited training whose implants need a reboot, or did you forget?”

  Luna shoots me a quick glance, there is no other room to drag Fennec into this time to hide the words that wish to flow. A Noble? My stomach turns at the word, it is not the first time he has spoken like this, even the system at Fennec’s estate spoke in the same way, calling her a Lady. Do all the masters get referred to in this way? Or is Luna… my mind brushes it away as my stomach turns more. Something else he said, a Knight Commander, and an Edict holder. This Kotina, Luna has mentioned her before, though only in passing. My mind is spinning as the questions flood in. There is a frustration building on Luna’s face, one that is mirrored on mine, albeit for another reason.

  “I can do it.” She says resolutely “Even without my implants. I have trained for it, she personally trained me, or did you forget?”

  Implants? Does she have implants of some kind? Fennec also said something about it. The frustration is beginning to bubble in me, threatening to overflow.

  “No, you can’t.” Fennec says, spinning around now to the holographic display of the main interface console “As always it will be up to me to unfrag this mess.”

  “Insufferable…” Luna says under her breath, she moves towards a side panel of the shuttle.

  “Don’t you dare!” Fennec yells, trying to unclip himself, his injured arm getting in his way.

  “I said I could do it,” Luna says, gripping the edge of the panel with her hand, the metal bolts groan as she pries it off the wall, revealing a compartment with wires and blinking lights. Her strength again surprises me. I wonder if it has to do with the boundaries, I want to know more about her and her strength. If I can achieve even a fraction of it… no. If she is this strong, then others must be stronger still. I need to be stronger, much stronger.

  “This isn’t like the fancy shuttles you’re used to, it will take at least half a day to get it ready for that.”

  “Who said we were taking this shuttle?” she asks holding up a small silver object no larger than her finger, the Republic of Hekate’s insignia stamped in red upon it. Tucking it back into her clothes, she begins pulling wires from where the panel once covered, reconnecting them to different nodes. The lights on the craft begin to flicker as she works.

  “Fraggin hells.” Fennec curses, shaking his head, grabbing one of the wires from her hand “You don’t connect it to that on these types of shuttles, you’ll damage the main relay.”

  She looks at him, a half grin daring to form on her face. He shakes his head, cursing quietly to himself as he helps her work.

  I find myself watching what they do carefully. I may not understand yet what the intent is, but an Ulima must always pay attention to all the details.

  “No–No–No…” Fennec begins, then turning his head sideways his jaw flexes “Wait, you had that one right.”

  “JL987-GH316 this is Talum Federation Space Command, what is the status of your flight plan?” the voice says from the comms panel.

  Fennec moves through the shuttle towards it and presses the button quickly.

  “Federation Space Command this is JL987-GH316, unable to comply, our shuttle is experiencing extreme mechanical failures. Requesting assistance.”

  There is a pause, and silence between Luna and Fennec as they both look at the panel waiting for a response.

  “JL987-GH316, escort is enroute, do not change vector.” The voice says.

  Fennec clicks the comm off again, shaking his head.

  “Bakna,” he says quietly in the old tongue, so quiet I almost missed it.

  Its meaning is sometimes debated, depending on the inflection, but I believe his meaning was – The whispers of insanity.

  As Luna’s hands grow more idle due to Fennec taking over, I see they begin to rattle again, her eyes playing scenes of horror no doubt. It was like that for me as well my first time, and the same for Arrum, at least she kept her stomach. Many of my people would say praise for that. Yet, I do not want to say praise, part of me wants to comfort her, but I won’t. There is a rift forming between us, one we both widened earlier, with our words. A rift made worse by the frustration of having so many questions. So many, that my mouth moves without permission.

  “I still need answers, Luna,” I say, her eyes turn to me.

  She does not speak, she simply nods, though I can tell from her look that I am not the only one with questions, and that now is not exactly the best time to ask them. Still, I need to know.