Tabitha Chirrick - Overshadowed

“It’s been a while. Not since the Elshan Council agreed to pay the peace tax, but they’d have a heck of a time getting into Deltic City, anyway. It’s too dense.”

“Then what did we just see?”

He shuddered, and the red feathers along his wings puffed up. “I know. It’s scary to think about. I hope this was just some freak incident.”

Otto pressed his comm to the side of his head. “Yeah, I’ve got a lead for you. Couple local kids came in to report raider activity.”

Local kids . Otto never did let the “kiddo” nicknames go, even though Tayel turned seventeen four months ago, and Jace was only a year behind. She spared Otto the reminder since he was on link with the defense force, and spun her chair around to look at the shop through the veil of swirling dust.

Five double sided shelves sat in the middle of the small floor space. Knick knacks covered the displays, from action figures and plushies to computer parts and home automation kits. The walls were just as crowded. What wasn’t taken up by shelves was covered in flexi-screens — micro thin computer screens as flexible as paper. One showed the action hero, Xander, launching fire aether from his talons as though he were attacking the observer. The fireball grew larger until it filled the entire image. The flames fizzled out, and the scene looped again.

Another flexi-screen displayed the entire Igador Star System where her home planet, Delta, spun on its axis large and purple — the sixth planet from the sun. But that paled in comparison to what looked like a new flexi in the corner.

“Alright.” Otto hung the headset back on a hook in the wall. “Report’s in. Can’t say they don’t think it’s some kind of hoax, but at least they promised to investigate the field.”

“You don’t think it’s a hoax, right?” Jace asked.

“’Course not, kiddo, I trust you two ‘bout anything.”

“Thanks. I just hope… I just hope this isn’t the start of a raid.”

“The force’ll look into it.” Otto’s gaze lingered on empty space before he reached for the shelf behind him. “Here. These the cards you were lookin’ at last time?”

“I don’t think these are going to help. Not right now.”

“Give it a go at least. I thought Tayel was the pessimistic one.”

The cartilage at the corners of Jace’s orange beak pulled upward to shape an Argel’s closest approximation of a human smile. He lifted the chest’s lid, reached in, pulled out a bundle of rectangular cards, and began to sort them. In what order, Tayel couldn’t have guessed.

“Hang out for a little bit. I gotta fix your mask anyway.” Otto grabbed a patch kit from the toolbox.

“Thanks,” Tayel said. The flexi-screens drew her attention again. “You got a new flexi.”

“I did. Got wanderlust for Modnik now?”

The new flexi-screen played a landscape shot of Cryzoar, the capital of planet Modnik. The skyline of the city towered above a valley of snow, unseen trails of wind tossing flakes of white so the ground shimmered. The aurora streaked green and pink through the night sky above the city, from which giant crystals protruded out of the walls. Perfectly beautiful.

“Well, Modnik’s the only planet in Igador I don’t have a picture of in my room,” she said.

He chuckled, but was obviously distracted by his work. His heat gun whirred to life, melting the patch plastic over the hole in the mask’s tubing. Tayel rapped her fingers on the counter. A box of trinkets sat in front of the register marked for only a couple gafs — dirt cheap enough to bother looking through, and better than keeping still so thoughts of raiders came back. She dug her fingers through the pile until a glint of bluish-white caught her eye.

“Is this eir stone?” She plucked the necklace out of the box.

Otto nodded. “Good eye.”

It reminded her of Mom, of stories about the stone mines where she used to work long before Tayel was born. “I think I’ll get it.”

“It will look nice on you,” Jace said.

“Getting it for Mom, actually. She hasn’t been able to splurge on herself. Especially not since she got that computer installed in the apartment — and that thing’s mostly for me."

A few cards slipped from his talons. “O-oh. Well, it would still look nice on you.”

“Repairs are done,” Otto said.

Tayel pulled her worn wallet out of her back pocket and flipped through it to find the card with Galaxy Accrued Funds embossed in the plastic. She held it out.

He waved it away. “This one’s on the house, kiddo.”

“Otto, take it. I’ve been working a couple days a week at the magball shop down the block. I’ve got the gafs.” She pushed the card into his waving hand. “Oh, and the necklace, too. You want anything, Jace?”

He mulled over the growing pile of cards. “No… thank you, though.”

Otto mumbled and disappeared beneath his seat. He placed a black canister on the counter and lowered the necklace inside it before sealing the top. Tayel took her gaf card back after the transaction finished.

“Thanks for everything,” she said.

“Sure, sure.” He set a tool back in its place. “I’ll see you at your magball game tomorrow? Good a time as any to check in about this raider business.”

Right, the game. She put on her mask, sliding her fingers over each of the seals to make sure they held. Going back to the field was the last thing she wanted to do. Whether or not it was daytime hardly mattered when shadowy portals could pop up out of nowhere.

“Yeah,” she said quietly.

Jace worked his own mask over his beak and put the trading cards back in their chest. “Thank you, Otto. Did you need me to put this back on the shelf?”

“Of course not, kiddo. You two get on home safe, alright? Don’t stop for anything.”

“We’ll be okay,” Tayel said.

“And if you see any more of them raiders—”

“Yeah.” Tayel coughed. “We’ll let you know.”

She led the way out of the shop and into the street, still crowded from the after work rush. She struggled to calm her nerves while inhaling the first few gulps of air. Her throat still itched from the exposure, but Otto did good work. The mask performed as it needed to.

Dim rays of upper city lights hit the pavement through gaps in Median and Top Sector roadways far above her. The contrasting beams spread randomly through the undercity streets, highlighting sections of walkways and buildings in faded neon. Tayel craned her head toward the undersides of the roads — her sky.

It must have been nice not to live in the Under Sector. They didn’t need to worry about gas mask leaks up there, where the air was fresh enough to breathe. Maybe they didn’t need to worry about strange shadows either. She and Jace turned onto the first residential block, where she eyed the dark gaps between apartments with scrutiny. Nothing.

Her first floor home stood at the end of the block where the security gates didn’t work and the pavement had crumbled into gray dust. Mom’s ceramic welcome sign on the front door had seen better days. Tayel gave Jace a nod before pulling open the entrance. He ran, and she ducked in after him, closing the door behind her. In the apartment, the fan above them whirred into action, sucking up whatever murk had slipped inside. Hardly any got in this time.

Mom looked up from the kitchen counter, her red hair frazzled. “Where have you two been?”

“We got caught up at Otto’s, Mom. Sorry we’re late.” Tayel turned sideways to get around the couch and went straight to her bedroom. The apartment was just about as crowded as the pawn shop.

“Do you need help with anything, Mrs. Evanarb?” Jace asked.