But no sound came.
“You moron! I can’t die! Not like this!” Ms. Patel yelled.
“Shh.” Rork cocked an ear. The glass tinkled en masse but it was far away.
“Hold on, Zero.” Rork slid forward, searching for something to anchor his foot as he went. But there was nothing. He pushed on anyway and reached the edge.
A hand reached up from below.
Rork grabbed it and hazarded a look down. Pitch black, the abyss disoriented him and his eyes unfocused.
“Focus on me.” Zero got his elbows up on the car and slithered across the hood and into the front seat.
The car rocked backwards and Ms. Patel screamed again.
Rork ripped his eyes away from the darkness. He slid down the hull and fell into the co-pilot’s seat. He grinned at Zero. “That was fun!”
Zero flashed him a pained frown, then threw himself over the back seat and was outside. Rork followed and ran to the street, ahead of Zero.
Zero caught up. “What about her?”
Rork searched the sky. Flashing red lights hovered above the spaceport. A cloud of smaller craft surrounded them. He pointed up. “They’ll find here. Come on.” He grabbed Zero’s elbow and they darted across the street.
Zero stopped outside the gate. “Why did you come back for me?”
Rork stood in the gate, well-dressed people streaming in and out around him. He shot his companion a lopsided grin. “I wanted to teach you a lesson about faith, and fear.” He continued inside.
Rork looked up. He wanted to just jump off and use his rockets to zoom up to a ship but this was high-grav. He’d have to hoof it up, step by painful step. He wasn’t looking forward to it.
“Which one is your ship?” Zero stood at his side and looked up. “How big is it?”
“It’s the closest one,” Rork mumbled with a wry grin. In the middle of the wide space people gathered around benches and tea shops. On the sides were closed offices behind ticketing counters. Straight ahead, travelers queued for immigration control.
“Don’t we need papers? I’ve never been to space before,” Zero said.
“Are you kidding me? You’re green? You at least had your inoculations, right?”
Zero shrugged.
“If you get sick and die, it’s not my fault.”
“The Universe will provide. I have faith.”
“Like your faith back there?” Rork jerked his thumb backwards.
“To err is human but to throw people’s failings in their faces is just rude.”
Rork followed his thumb backwards. A familiar red flash caught his eye. “Oh no.”
“What?”
They turned and Ms. Patel was between them, her arms around their shoulders, her ivory smile bared. A jet of air hit Rork’s cheek and bright lights blinded him from the front.
“I’m Sophia Patel, your Realm Attorney General and I’m running for Governor so that I can help the people, just like my own personal heroes, Rork Sollix and our beloved Guru Zero.”
A voice sprang from a white media drone marked with the letters ‘FP.’ “Guru Zero, you’re currently escaped from prison on charges of failure to pay child support to three different women for seven different children. What makes you think the Indian public will give any weight to your endorsement of Ms. Patel?”
Seven kids? Three women?
Rork’s eyes met Zero’s. “And here I thought you holy men took vows of celibacy.”
“I receive my guidance from the Universe, not from any Earthly church,” Zero whispered.
“So the Universe told you to knock up three different women at once?” Rork laughed.
“Mr. Sollix,” the voice droned on, “on what do you base your endorsement of Ms. Patel?”
Ms. Patel put her lips against Rork’s ear. “Make it sound good and I will get you a ship.” She pushed her hips into Rork’s and smiled.
“Mr. Sollix, we’ve just received word that the EDF has declared you public enemy number one and placed you at the top of its most wanted list. Dr. Malik is number two. What is your reaction?”
Ms. Patel’s fingernails dug into Rork’s lower back and he winced.
“Endorse me now or I walk. And back to prison for you two.”
A rotating ship, trimmed in continuous neon lights descended from above them, pushing air down and sending Ms. Patel’s hair into a Medusa-like tangle.
“This is the Earth Defense Force. Rork Sollix, stay where you are!”
Rork put his arm around Ms. Patel and pulled her cheek to his. He leaned into the camera lens. “Ms. Patel and I are close, very close, indeed.”
Ms. Patel inched away but Rork tugged her back, turned and kissed her cheek next to her mouth. He smiled for the camera. “Ms. Patel is committed to freeing the Indian people, and indeed all fifteen billion across the solar system, from the Cartel’s debt-enslaving machine. Ms. Patel stands for the people and against the Cartel. Vote Sophia Patel for Governor! Or why not Speaker!”
Across the terminal, a group of young girls screamed and sprinted towards the cameras.
Rork pulled Ms. Patel past the media drones and towards immigration control. He got her ladies’ edition from his pocket and jammed it into her side. He smiled at the people and they nodded and parted.
“I’m not against the Cartel,” she hissed.
Rork shot an eye backwards. Zero followed them, the EDF ship hovering a dozen meters over him.
Rork winked. “You are now.”
The EDF ship glided forward and three EDF soldiers dropped to the floor in front of them, their pulse pistols painting Rork’s forehead with red dots.
“Now you can be truly Indian,” Ms. Patel said with a snarl. She shoved him in the chest with both hands.
Rork revealed the pistol, aimed now at her head. “I will kill her,” he said to the EDF soldiers. He pushed her forward and the soldiers moved out of the way.
Zero ran up behind him. “They’re never going to stop chasing us.”
The crowd parted and Rork strode to the passport counter. A tall, muscular man in a light blue shirt and a silver badge stepped forward. “Passport, please.”
“Get out of my way or I kill her!” Rork yelled.
“I just need to pat you down for—”
An EDF soldier pushed the blue-shirted man out of the way. Rork passed and entered into a transparent glass box. The doors swished closed behind Zero and they flew up. The EDF soldiers gathered below the box and aimed their weapons at Rork’s feet. The EDF ship floated towards them.
“Ship ID, please,” said a female voice.
Rork grabbed Ms. Patel’s soft, brown shoulder and squeezed.
She sneered at him. “Forget it! You screwed up the endorsement.”
“You wanted an endorsement from Rork Sollix? You got it! You’re a politician.” He waved the tip of the miniature gun in a circle in the air. “Evolve your views. I’m sure you’ve done it before.”
“Ship ID,” the voice repeated. The box jerked to a halt. The EDF soldiers crouched on the hull of their ship, their laser dots dancing on Rork’s face.
Rork put his hand over his face. “Back off!”
The EDF ship backed away.
“Listen, Sophia, we’re not going to hurt you—” Rork started.
Sophia turned, pushed her body into Rork’s and cupped his buttocks in her hands. Rork’s groin warmed and a not entirely unexpected reaction blossomed in him.
She looked up at him, her eyes playing with his, her hips shifting from side to side. “Do you have a girlfriend, Rork?”
Zero giggled.
“Y
OU
HAVE
to come with us.”
Rork stood inside the sleek, platinum pleasure craft and looked out at her.
Sophia held his hand. “I will do what I can for us here.” She looked down and turned her body away from him.
“They’ll capture you. They’ll put you in a cage.” Rork shook his head. “You have to come with us.”
“Don’t worry about me.” She smiled and squeezed his hand. “Good luck.” She ran towards a door in the near wall, hit the launch button and walked out.
The armed EDF soldiers rushed in from the other side of the door. Rork pushed himself up against the interior wall of the ship and readied his pistol.
The door closed behind her. The roof of the constricted, rectangular launch pad retracted sideways. The pad itself rotated to the left and rose up. Sun rays peeked in. Rork’s head spun and the harsh light blinded him momentarily.
Zero appeared behind him. “We have to take— Where is Ms. Patel?”
Rork turned to reply but two large EDF ships hovered above them. “Damnit!” Rork smacked the button to close the hatch and ran into the ship. He bumped into Zero and clipped his knee as he turned the corner into the simple, two-seater bridge. He scanned the control panel and hit the big, snowy auto-start button. The screens flashed their brilliant display. The ship rumbled and rose.
Zero followed him into the bridge. “Where is she!”
“I let her go.” Rork buckled himself in. They were full on fuel but there were no weapons systems. Their only option was to run. Rork didn’t like running. He liked to fight and to do it intelligently.
“What?” Zero asked.
“She gave us the ship. She’s going to help us from Earth. It was the right thing to do.”
Zero flopped into the co-pilot’s seat. His head hung forward and his arms fell straight down. “Just two escaped prisoners in a tin can.”
“Faith, my friend. Faith.” A red warning bar spilled across Rork’s display. The sunlight’s diagonal advance across the wall of the landing pad stopped. The dark shade of the roof was growing now.
He looked over at Rork. “I was on a mission, you know.”
“Blast it all, Jupiter!” Rork grabbed the controls. He pushed the upwards acceleration on the left side of the ship but kept the other side in hover. They might slide out of the closing box sideways and upwards, or they might get crushed by the closing roof. But the steel enclosure would definitely damage the ship’s hull. He gritted his teeth.
“Until a hot piece played you for a fool.” Zero looked at him. “Pirates shoot people, you know. They shoot a lot of people, they steal a lot and they blast their way out of—”
The rounded middle peak of the ship scraped the moving edge of the roof. The scream of stainless steel on platinum invaded their eardrums and vibrated their jaws until there was nothing left in the universe but the bitter screech of crashing, crunching metal.
They broke free. The ship rolled over and Zero fell on his neck to the ceiling below them. Rork balanced the acceleration, then flipped them over hard and punched the forward acceleration up high. The ship careened up towards the limits of the atmosphere.
Zero fought the acceleration on the floor behind his seat, one hand holding his head, the other clenching fast to the chair, his eyes closed.
The front viewscreen changed from light blue to black and Zero floated up off the floor.
Rork killed the acceleration. “We made it, alright? We made it. We’re not dead or captured. I did it. I made a deal. I’ll keep my deal. Just relax and, whatever you do, don’t nag me, for Jupiter’s sake.”
“I just don’t think you should have let her go.” Zero maneuvered himself towards the co-pilot’s seat but overshot and found his cheek pressed against the front viewscreen.
“Weren’t you complaining about violence earlier?” Rork tapped the display screen and selected a destination. He unbelted his restraints and pushed off.
Zero turned himself around and aimed for the co-pilot’s seat again. “Where are you going?” He pushed off and connected with the chair, face first.
Rork glided towards the exit shaking his head.
Some Zen master.
“I’m refueling and resting. You should do the same, once you learn how to walk again.” He smirked and propelled himself down the tight corridor. He needed a nap after all that high-grav.
It was Sophia. The way she moved her hips, her silky black hair and the charge that zipped down his spine when she grabbed his butt. All of it ran through Rork’s mind like a deep Freektek beat that wouldn’t quit.
He found the captain’s suite and floated in. There would be more luxurious quarters, but he didn’t need them. He spotted the hammock and grabbed the straps to tuck himself in.
“Rork! You have... a phone call.”
The wall moved over and slammed Rork in the side of his head. He crashed over the edge of the hammock and the stretchy fabric constricted his neck. His head slingshotted back around and crashed into the edge of the captain’s pine desk. The light wood dented and split.
“Who turned on the goddamned gravity!” he screamed.
He pushed his hands out, instinctively searching for stimulus to feed his mind. He struggled in place, not knowing if the ship had crashed, lost cabin pressure or worse.
“Rork?” The voice poked something tender inside of him. It was familiar yet doomful. “Rork, it’s time for a conversation.”
He pulled himself up and stumbled to the bridge. “What happened?”
Zero sat cross-legged on the floor behind the co-pilot’s seat. He opened his eyes. “I believe something is wrong with the ship.”
Rork sat down and brought up the status display. There were two large EDF ships and a third private craft surrounding them. They were moving slowly towards the largest, likely an EDF destroyer.
“ESS
John McCain
to private Indian cruiser
United Love
, this is a goodwill seizure enterprise per criminal warrant J489S2524. Do not attempt to flee. We are not permitted to attempt any rescue while you are under attraction,” said a deep but definitely female voice.
“Damnit!” Rork slammed his fist into the arm of his chair.
“Your new squeeze has sold us out.”
“Shut up.”
“A new squeeze? Already? That would be record time, even for me.” There was that doomful voice again.
“Did you hear…?” Rork asked Zero.
Zero nodded.
“Did you accept a call or something?”
Zero nodded.
Rork groaned. “Yes, who is—” And then it struck him.
Barbary.
“I have someone here who wants to say hello,” Barbary said. “Someone who is only a few thousand meters away but might as well be a million kilometers from you.”
An industrial kitchen popped onto the viewscreen. There was a large, black stove with eight burners. Pots and pans hung from the ceiling next to metal shelves jam-packed with colorful boxes. In front of the stove, Lala hunched. Her blue hair was a ratty mess. She wore a frilly red apron but nothing else, not even shoes. She turned and looked at the camera.