Jennifer Wells - Beyond the Stars - At Galaxy's Edge

“Okay,” the captain said, shrugging. “We’ll dock now, and try to get the security grid down. Once we do, my crew is out of here. You get the kid, and you get the Spire. It sucks, but you know you’ve got me. We can’t win in a fight.”

“Very wise, Captain,” the Marbok said, giving a rocky grin. The call was terminated, and the screen went dark.

“You’re, uh, going to turn me over?” Wes asked, suddenly cold. It wasn’t like he could stop them from doing whatever they wanted.

“There’s no way we’re turning over a member of this crew,” the captain said, eyes flashing. “We need to play for time. The Marbok will kill us regardless of what we do. There’s no way they’ll risk us going back and telling people the Spire is open.”

“So what do we do?” Wes asked.

“We get down there and open the security grid. Then we either hope that we can close it behind us, or find some lostek to defend ourselves with,” the captain said, grimly.

Wes raised a hand to his chest, feeling the amulet under his shirt.

Wes had his first real look at the Spire from the tiny window in the airlock door. The snowy white structure grew larger, dwarfing their little vessel as they approached. The place was massive, large enough to house thousands of people. It floated alone, hovering above an orange world he’d seen many times over holo, a hot gas planet ringed with a maze of debris. Derelict ships and hunks of rock floated slowly in orbit, though the space around the spire itself was empty of either.

He recognized the emerald curtain of energy enveloping the spire in a protective bubble; the veil the Elderi had called it. It established a breathable atmosphere, and protected the Spire from collisions.

Shirley inched toward the Spire, shuddering when they finally passed through the veil. Wes peered through the window, mouth falling open as they approached. The structure was magnificent.

“Tantor, you’re the only one who can slow the Marbok down, if it comes to that,” the captain said. She turned to the Melter, who hadn’t spoken since the Marbok had contacted them. The big man nodded at Tysha, still silent. “We’ll do our best to screen you, but have that psi-blade ready.” He nodded again.

“Sadie, I want you to assist the kid with anything he might need,” the captain ordered. Then she turned to Wes, clapping him on the shoulder. “And you’re going to get that door open. We’ll stay out of your way, but I have no idea how long we can keep the Marbok off our backs. If we’re lucky, they’ll really wait until you open the door. From there it’s a race. You need to get inside and... well do something to save our collective asses. Find a weapon, or a way to lock the door behind us.”

“If we do that won’t they blow up the ship?” Sadie asked.

“Better it than us,” the captain shot back. “I’d prefer to find weapons, but we can’t really predict what might be in there. We need to be adaptable.”

The ship shuddered to a halt, then a metallic pinging began from deep within. Wes looked up in alarm, but Sadie touched him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. Reactor’s just cooling off. I dropped power a couple minutes ago and we’re just coasting in.”

“Atmosphere verified,” Kestrel’s disembodied voice came from the speakers. “You’re good to go. Try not to get killed. Also, find something to make us rich.”

“All right, let’s go,” the captain said, slamming the square red button next to the airlock. It ground slowly upward, just as it had when they’d entered. It stopped in roughly the same spot, too.

The captain ducked through, then Tantor. Sadie came next, and Wes hesitantly brought up the rear. He’d never been in a situation quite like this, and being assailed by the Marbok certainly had no place in the victory he’d always fantasized about. What if he couldn’t get the security door to lower? They’d probably all die. Hell, they might die even if he did get it down.

Gravity was lower than he was used to, and Wes tried to imitate the others as they bounded toward the security barrier. It was a curtain of green energy much like the one they’d passed through, though this one was brighter, and by all accounts impenetrable. Directly over the barrier was a sigil identical to the one on the amulet. That seemed promising.

“Now what?” the captain asked, turning to Wes.

“Give me a minute,” Wes said, studying the sigil. He darted a glance at Tantor. “And no looming. I need to concentrate.”

Beyond the curtain Wes could see a pair of doors, and over them the Elderi sigil for one. It seemed simple enough, this was the first floor and that was probably the transport that led to the rest of the facility. That much had also been well documented.

“El dahi, con veritat,” a voice said, emanating from the doorway or somewhere near it.

“What’s it saying?” the captain asked, craning her neck to try to get a better look through the energy barrier.

“I’m hardly an expert in Elderi, but roughly translated it means ‘speak the oath,’” he replied. Wes withdrew his amulet, turning it over to study the symbols there. He held them up for the captain’s inspection. “I’m hoping that this is the oath. I don’t know what the words mean, not all of them anyway. But I can pronounce them at least.”

So he did. Wes intoned the words with as much grandeur as he could, in case that helped somehow.

His words died away, and Wes held his breath while he waited. Nothing happened.

“Are you sure you said them right?” Tantor asked, looming again.

“I’m positive,” Wes snapped, holding the amulet close to his face. He adjusted his glasses. Had he missed something?

The amulet grew warmer. Then it became hot. Light flared, then the amulet shot from his hand, directly at his chest. Wes tried to fall back, but the amulet moved in a blur. Heat suffused his chest as it disappeared inside of him. He could feel it there, like a hot coal. Yet his skin was unbroken. His duster hadn’t been damaged either.

“What the hell was that?” the captain asked.

Wes sagged to his knees, catching himself against Sadie. The pain was excruciating, shooting through every part of his body. His entire nervous system burned, and he had no idea why. No idea what this thing was doing to him. Fear and pain fought to overwhelm his senses, but he held on. Whatever it was had been designed for the Elderi. Would it even work on a human?

Then the pain ceased. Wes collapsed bonelessly to the warm metal floor, conscious of a little drool leaking from the corner of his mouth. Sadie’s beautiful face appeared next to his, eyes large with concern.

“Wes?” she said, lightly shaking him.

“Sss good,” he said, forcing himself to sit up. And he was good. He felt like he’d just had the most incredible night’s sleep, followed by a cup of the very best espresso Capital had to offer. Wes wiped the drool from his chin.

“The barrier is down,” the captain said, something approaching wonder coloring her voice. It was the first real emotion Wes had seen from her, and he shared it. Then her expression tightened, and Tysha withdrew her shotgun from her thigh holster. “Clock is ticking even faster now. The Marbok will have detected the energy drop.”

Wes knew they were in a hurry, but he couldn’t help it. He stared down the hallway in awe, realizing that they were likely the first people to see beyond this point since the Elderi had vanished seven millennia ago. He’d dreamed of this moment since he’d first entered university.

“Aww, crap,” Tantor said, turning to face the way they’d come.

Wes accepted Sadie’s help getting to his feet, then looked to see what was bothering the man. It was clear exactly what had caught his attention, because the Marbok ship was passing through the energy curtain. The bulky vessel was far larger than the Shirley, at least three hundred meters long. That could hold a lot of cargo, or whole lot of angry Marbok.