A lone star on the Lady Liberty: Episode 6
Echo faces a fate worse than death
This is the gripping finale of my card challenge story — jump back to part 1 if you’re just joining us.
Echo coughed, her throat raw from smoke, and blinked.
Up ahead, a light flashed red, green, red. Then it stayed green. She blinked again and rubbed the tears from her eyes, trying to get rid of the blur.
Every inch of her body ached … like it had been caught in a percussive smoke bomb explosion. She coughed, then hauled herself up onto her knees and crawled towards the light, hoping it led to some form of escape.
A hiss sounded to her right — a burst pipe, an angry lizard or a hunting Skeleton, she couldn’t tell.
Then she heard the footsteps in the darkness. She froze, trying to discern where they came from, but her ears still rang from the smoke bomb. Barely louder than that ringing, a skitter sounded as a shadow passed on her left. Angling between her and the light.
But she had to keep going. The light was the only hope. She exhaled sharply, trying to clear the acrid odour from her nose, and then kept crawling.
A lump started to form out of the smoke.
The lizard.
But a couple of centimetres and a few seconds later, she realized it was the fallen guard. And the guard’s blaster lay on the floor by their fingertips.
She lunged for it. But instead she found herself pulled away, an icy grip wrapped around her ankle. Her own hand fumbled at the guard’s leg, grabbing it like she was drowning — anything to grasp that would slow her backward momentum. The disembodied fingers tightened even more, and nails dug into her flesh.
“The Goddess welcomes you to her bosom.”
“Are you bleeding kidding me?” Echo muttered to herself. Rage flared in her chest. She thrashed like a wild animal and kicked at the hand around her ankle. She winced as pain flared up her leg. Twisting, she tried to wrench herself free, but her movements lacked energy in her awkward position. Still, she fought. “So, she offers cankerous lesions and sour milk.”
“Submission is inevitable. You will serve her whether you’re willing or not. But willing is less painful.”
“Pox on your Goddess.” She kicked again, then her fingers found a service knife on the guard’s hip. She yanked it free. Once she had it, she used the guard’s leg to help turn herself over onto her back.
Two glassy eyes started at her from the Skeleton’s lifeless mask. With an iron grip, the creature hauled her closer, and she used the momentum to slam her free foot into their knee. A second later, she found herself suspended upside down, held up by a single Stardust-strengthened hand.
After a moment of spinning, she faced the light she’d seen before. The smoke had dissipated a bit, and she realized it was the panel of a small transport pod. So close. In between it and her lay the guard and their useless blaster.
“The Goddess will punish your insolence.”
“I told you, your Goddess can go to Hades’ dark, dank depths. And you with her.” She wriggled and thrashed out with her free leg. She managed to spin her face half way towards the Skeleton. With a desperate lunge, she swiped the blade across an exposed patch of stomach.
She tumbled to the floor with a thud as the hand dropped her. She scrambled to her feet as quick as she could, the red blade in her hand between her and the pirate. The Skeleton’s eyes were a bit less glassy … but a lot more bloody.
She swallowed hard and pressed her lips tight. She wanted to stay and fight. Instead, she spun into a crouch and swept her feet under the Skeleton’s legs, sending them sprawling before they had a chance to recover. In a fluid continuation of the movement, she grabbed the guard’s abandoned blaster and launched herself into the transport pod.
Before she even hit the floor, she was twisting towards the controls. Through the open door, she saw the Skeleton rise to their feet, their eyes glassy again. She jammed at the panel with the bloody hand that held the knife.
Nothing happened.
“Close!” She stabbed harder.
“Do you wish to close the door and eject the pod?” a disembodied voice said.
Echo jumped at the mechanical voice. “Yes!”
“There are living animals in the pod. Do you want life support on?”
“Yes! Just close the door!”
With a hiss, the door closed seconds before a fist slammed into the other side. Gleaming eyes peered at her through the glass. Then the face disappeared as the door on the Liberty closed.
Echo’s stomach lurched as the gravity of the ship gave way to the vacuum of space. She grabbed the handles on either side of the door to keep her head from hitting the low ceiling in the tiny pod. She stared at the rapidly receding Lady Liberty. Escape pods littered the space around it, but a handful of retrieval bots flew amongst them … bots belonging to the Horde.
“Jacks.” Echo refocused on the control panel. The few buttons it had weren’t marked. She stabbed one at random.
“Do you want to eject air from the pod?”
“No! Why would I want that? I want nav control.”
“I’m terribly sorry. The AV9012-Z pod has no navigation control. Its destination is pre-programmed.”
“What?” Echo pushed away from the door, then immediately regretted it as she slammed into the crates on the other side of the small capsule. “Where are we going, then?”
“This pod is destined for the port at Excelsior on Ten Selva.”
“Bleeding Hades.” Echo grabbed onto a crate and pulled herself back to the one small window. Outside, the Horde, the Lady Liberty and the escape pods — which did have basic nav control — rapidly retreated.
She’d come onboard the Liberty at the last jump gate station. She knew it was heading through the Selva system. She’d just hoped not to land. But now her stomach fluttered at the thought of how far they might be from Ten Selva.
“Does the pod have enough life support to get to Excelsior?” She exhaled, then inhaled deeply, confirming she still had air to breathe so far.
“The AV9012-Z pod has moderate life support systems. However, it is designed to carry dormant food items, not humans. Diagnostics indicate if you remain calm and move as little as possible, you and your pet should just make it.”
“My what?” A rustle sounded behind her, and Echo twisted around, almost throwing up from the zero-g spin.
A lizard floating in the capsule behind her. Its taloned feet scratched at things as it flailed its legs, trying to gain traction. She didn’t know what a panicked lizard looked like, but this one sure didn’t appear happy.
Echo dragged herself towards it using the tied-down crates. As she did, she noted what each one contained — a mixture of food in stasis and bottled drinks.
“Huh, so we won’t go hungry.” She eyed the lizard. “Well, at least I won’t go hungry.”
Reaching the animal, she grabbed its collar with one hand, and the tie-down on the nearest crate with the other, pulling them both to the floor. Once she had them wedged between two crates, she tucked the lizard’s head under her right arm so she could open the container on her left. Surprisingly, the lizard seemed to settle, and its claws came to rest on her thigh without scratching.
From the crate, she pulled out a handful of small, pink fruit covered in tiny purple seeds and a bottle of purple liquid.
Tucking the bottle between her and the box, she popped a piece of plump fruit into her mouth. Sweet juice with a tart edge exploded onto her tongue as she bit into it. She offered the rest to the lizard from her flat palm. The animal took them, using its tongue and lips to pick them up. While it munched, Echo stroked her other hand along its back, and then ran her fingers over its collar.
“Huh.” She turned the collar around its neck. She could see where the Star had once been attached. At some point today, someone had removed it — there was no sign of wrenching or force. But a small fortune still circled its neck.
She ran her thumb over one. “Well, that’s no Star of Meropi.” The lizard turned its head to her, and she looked it in the eye. “But easier to fence.” She scritched the animal under its chin, and it chirruped in response.
Images of all she could buy flitted through her brain.
Her stomach sank. The collar might be just enough to pay off her debt to the Haggashi … if she found a talented, reputable fence.
“What should I call you? This collar doesn’t have a name.” The lizard ignored her and continued to chew the fruit in its mouth. “How about Lady, from the Lady Liberty?”
The lizard blinked, its nictitating lenses temporarily filming its eyes.
“Well, Lady, I hope you like hedonism and hell. We have a one-way ticket to Ten Selva.”
~ The End
I hope you enjoyed this Lyra Cycle long short story. To read more in this universe, pick up books in The Lyra Cycle on armchairalien.com or your favourite online bookstore.
And come back next week, when I write a follow up about how I used the cards from the card challenge as inspiration.