From the Ashes Page 5

  Sleep crept up on him again, but something new drew his attention. He spotted something from the corner of his eye, hidden beneath a table, underneath a small pile of scrap metal and refuse. A single shiny corner had slipped out between two stinky banana peels. Yosh didn’t know why he found it so interesting, but he kneeled and pulled it out from beneath the garbage. He brushed the dust off with the back of his hand and rubbed the grimy window of the small box clean with his sleeve. The thing was ancient, with familiar writing on it—Arkanian. Yosh could read and write in galactic speech, English, Kohiri and Arkanian, thanks to his grandfather.

  The sticker with the writing had a dozen stains of a dozen different colors on it and the letters were barely distinguishable. Yosh’s heart jumped when he recognized the word ‘Protector’. There was something inside, hardly visible through the dirty window. Yosh didn’t understand how to open the box. The window and the metallic casing had gashes and scratches and scorch marks on it, much like the smugglers’ ship. This little box has been through hell, Yosh thought. Someone was desperately trying to open it and failed.

  Yosh searched for a less stinky place to put it. Where was that blasted droid? The skin of his thumb snagged in a small bump at the bottom of the box as he wandered through the room. “Ow!” The box slipped from his hands, clanking against the metal grating of the floor. Somehow, it fell the right way up and made a short high-pitched sound followed by a hiss. The box’s glass lid popped open. Yosh kneeled next to it. His eyes wandered across the object. He’d never seen anything so elegant and beautiful. The piece rested on a soft leathery bed inside the case. It was white with black rims, and the main body had round curves everywhere, yet only so many as to be pleasant to the eye. It was a gun. Yosh had seen guns before, many. He trained side by side with Miles, but even an avid collector like Miles didn’t posses anything comparable to this.

  Yosh reached for it. The hilt was metal, but soft to the touch. At first it looked too wide for Yosh’s hand, but when he took it from the box it fit as if tailored to suit him. A small green light appeared on the sights of the gun. On its side, an inscription in silver letters read: Wesson 502. Yosh pointed its two muzzles somewhere to the far corner of the dim cargo bay. The weapon adapted, providing its handler with light. Now Yosh saw everything through its sights. “Great Void…” Yosh had found what he wanted from Obelyn.

  “Yosh!” his grandfather said from the doorway. “Don’t play with weapons, boy, how many times have I told you to be careful?”

  “You should see this grandfather—”

  Obelyn appeared behind his grandfather, his small piggy eyes wide with surprise. “Did he? You…” He came over to Yosh’s grandfather, who was already by Yosh’s side, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I knew it. You’ve been keeping things from me, old friend.”

  His grandfather shrugged the chubby hand from his shoulder, snatched the weapon from Yosh’s hand, and gave Yosh a look that made him shy away.

  “It worked, didn’t it? That’s why you wanted those ingredients for ointments and… Ooh, but you’re a cold bastard, you are.”

  “Shut it, old friend,” he said, his short white hair burly as he shoved the gun between Obelyn’s sagging teats, “or I’ll shut it for you. It’s not time yet.”

  The blood drained from Obelyn’s face and he nodded, his chins mimicking agreement. “All right. You know best.” He took the gun by the shaft and a high pitched electronic squeal rang through the room. Yosh saw the green light from before turn red, then die out along with the high-pitched squeal. “Huh. Lifeless again… and useless,” Obelyn said, and threw Olexander a reproachful stare.

  “And so it’ll stay until I say otherwise.” His grandfather grabbed Yosh by the arm. His old fingers hard as steel nails digging into his flesh. Yosh was too surprised at his grandfather’s strength to put up a fight as he dragged him to the exit.

  “This better not have been one of your ploys to make me rush things,” Olexander said over his shoulder.

  Yosh didn’t understand much, just enough to realize they left him way out of the loop, as usual. He looked back at Obelyn. Big beads of sweat poured down his fat forehead, and his soundless mouth closed and opened a few times. “I’m an old man, Olexander. I want to see my home again is all. Forgive me!”

  Olexander punched the exit ramp’s control panel, and it slid open. They stepped out into the darkness. Olexander dragged Yosh behind him without looking back. Yosh complied and didn’t argue, still surprised by his grandfather’s reaction and strength, and, he had to admit, just a bit scared of him.

  Chapter Five

  Yosh sat on the edge of the dry riverbed, looking down at the smuggler’s ship. Barren terrain surrounded him—nothing except dust and rocks and small angry-looking trees. Only the moon seemed alive, silvery blue in the night sky. Blue. Grandfather said Earth is blue. He looked to the small patch of night sky where the dim star his grandfather called home was, and an ache awakened deep inside his chest. A sigh left his throat, and he hurled another pebble at the ship’s hull.

  He hadn’t decided what to do next. He was ashamed to go back. News spread fast aboard the Archibald and by now the entire crew would know what happened. A strange name for a smuggler ship. It sounded too decent and dull. If I’d have a ship of my own, I’d name it the Protector, or the Unbeatable, he thought, smiling to himself. But I’ll never get off this forsaken slave planet. He hurled another pebble. It landed above the mess hall and bounced off the plating with a metallic clang echoing through the night.

  He eventually needed to speak to the smugglers and apologize to Captain Dupont. Otherwise, how would he see Assai again? But something held him back. Sometimes Yosh glimpsed a part of himself that was mysterious and unknowable, and it wanted to do things its own way. It scared him to realize it actually existed—as alien as the other slaves, but buried deep inside himself.

  He missed Assai. She would understand him. She was kind and gentle and very beautiful. Yosh also missed his father. Olexander had told him his father left Mandessa and would be gone a long time. Yosh was only seven. The old man gradually got Yosh used to his father’s absence before half telling him he was dead. By then Yosh already figured it out, but he never really got used to his father missing. He shook his head to forget about it and thought of other, more pleasant things, like Marge’s breasts for example. Yes, those were nice and distracting, but his mind worked its way toward Assai in the end.

  It was hard to get the past out of his thoughts. His boils and the trouble with his eyesight had appeared at about the same time his father died. Every time he used his eye drops or the ointment, it instantly reminded him of his loss. But ten years had passed and, as his grandfather told him, the pain dulled with time, although it prowled around the corner of each thought, always ready to show its ugly head again.

  Now he had no smugglers to talk to, no father, no mother—Yosh had never known her as she died at birth—no grandfather, as he was still upset and gone on yet another visit to another settlement. What did his grandfather do in there? What did a Spokesman do? And why hadn’t Yosh asked himself this question before? Yosh had pushed Olexander for answers once they got home. He wanted to know what really happened back at Obelyn’s shop, but his grandfather said nothing and urged him not to speak of it again.

  “You complained my father was as stubborn as a kohiri wyvern, but I see he inherited that from you,” Yosh had said to him and stormed out, but not before swiping the access card from the desk.

  The Shacktown slaves hated Yosh for being alive and human, so he couldn’t talk to any of them even if he wanted. Yosh had never felt this lonely before. He threw another pebble and listened to it bounce across the hull and over the upper cargo bay. Now he was out of rocks. He pulled out the access card he stole and studied it in the moonlight. Just another plain old access card. So why am I hesitating?

  “Yosh Farmer,” a thick voice spoke from behind. The suddenness startled Yosh, and he dropped the card over
the lip of the canyon.

  He peered after it. “Great, I’ll be on my knees searching for that until sunrise.” He turned to Captain Dupont. How did he sneak up on me? I wasn’t that distracted. “Captain Dupont, good evening…”

  The captain wore black leather trousers, a dark brown polo-neck sweater, and a vest that must have had at least ten pockets on it. A holster wrapped around his right leg, and the black butt of a pistol gleamed in the moonlight.

  Dupont noticed where Yosh was looking and smiled, showing him the wide gap between his two front teeth. “Just a precaution.” He patted the holster with his palm as he drifted closer. “Although these lands seem barren, many dangerous creatures, lurk beneath the surface. Things are usually not what they seem.”

  Yosh nodded. Lately, he’d been noticing the things hidden just beneath the surface more and more.

  The captain joined him, and sat next to Yosh, his long legs dangling over the edge. “You didn’t visit us last night.”

  Yosh looked away. “I was too tired. I had a rough day.”

  The captain’s huge fist rose, and he used it to support his chin. “We heard some locals were killed yesterday. We hoped it was not you. You were not the one who killed them by any chance, were you? I’d hate to think you used the skills my crew have taught you for such purposes.”

  Yosh recognized the captain’s tone. He was teasing him, but Yosh didn’t have the stomach for it just now. “No, I only arrived afterward.”

  The moonlight played on Captain Dupont’s skin like on a pool of dark water. He rubbed a callused hand over the short brush of misty gray beard and the sound it made was a saw on wood in the silence of night. “You seem gloomy.”

  Yosh smashed his lips together and looked down into the canyon. He needed to look for that access card.

  “Assai told me to give you her regards.”

  Yosh turned to the captain. “Is she all right? I thought it strange it wasn’t her that came. What happened?”

  The captain chuckled and showed Yosh his full complement of white teeth. They seemed to blur and glow in the moonlight. “Is that the way of it? You wanted to see Assai, but also ignore our little issue. No wonder you are gloomy. You expected her fair face and instead you get my crooked smile.”

  “I—”

  “Do not worry, Yosh Farmer, I was young once too. Assai is fine. She insisted on coming here, but I gave her other duties.” Yosh wanted to ask why, but the captain anticipated his question. “I gave her other duties because I wanted to speak to you myself.”

  Has he changed his mind? He seems merrier than usual.

  “I have not changed my mind about taking you and your grandfather off world, if that is what you are wondering.”

  “I don’t think I would have talked him into leaving, anyway.”

  The captain’s smile dwindled. “Of course not. However, I have a proposition you might like.” The captain rose. “I recently caught wind of a… business opportunity in this very system. In and out, get the goods, load the goods, deliver the goods, no complications. It is not very exciting, but it is perfect for you to gain some off-world experience. Marge is feeling under the weather, so I will need someone to pilot my ship. You have flown her many times inside Mandessa’s atmosphere, and I believe you are ready for this challenge, if you wish to undertake it.”

  Yosh almost slipped over the edge. His heart soared. Was he kidding? Of course he wished to undertake it.

  “Yes,” he said, and realized he said it too fast and too loud. He cleared his throat and tried to sound dignified, as Captain Dupont always did. “I mean, yes. It is an interesting offer, I accept.”

  The captain rose to his feet, clasped his hands behind his back, smiled and turned to leave. “Good. We leave tomorrow night. Now go find your card and stop throwing rocks at my ship.”

  ◆◆◆

  Yosh didn’t remember the road back to the steel hovel he and his grandfather called home—he was too busy floating in the clouds. Assai had helped him search for the access card amongst the rubble. They crawled around the ship on their knees for over an hour. They spotted the card at the same time, its rims glimmering blue between the dull gray rocks, and reached for it in a single motion. Their heads bumped, and they laughed. The distance between them shortened suddenly. She kissed him. Or had he kissed her? Yosh couldn’t remember how it happened. One moment they laughed and rubbed their sore foreheads and the next they were in each other’s arms, their lips mashed together. It was the best kiss Yosh ever had—the only kiss. He went over every motion as if he were still living that moment, afraid to forget even the smallest detail.

  Assai’s claws bit into his back through the rough fabric of his overalls. Her tail coiled around his waist, keeping him pressed against her. She didn’t have Marge’s breasts, but Yosh felt the bulges on her chest through her thick leather vest. She always kept a knife on her and the hilt poked Yosh in the stomach the entire time, but it was an insignificant price to pay. He would have suffered a thousand hilts poking him in the stomach just so that kiss lasted forever.

  The world ended when their lips parted. Yosh craned his neck and leaned in closer, but she turned away, flicking her tail at his nose, graceful as ever, before strolling back to the ship. “See you tomorrow night, Yosh Farmer.” Yosh couldn’t answer. Words didn’t come out. He stood there grinning like an idiot, waving goodbye.

  Yosh stepped inside the hovel. He stared at the chest in the hallway, full of nutrient bars, but he wasn’t hungry. His stomach craved something else. Should I return to the ship? Yosh thought as he collapsed on his too-small bed. His legs hung over the edge. I should bring her flowers if I do. Do kohiri like flowers? He stared at the bland ceiling with wide eyes, unable to fall asleep. There were at least four more hours until sunrise and Yosh twisted and turned on his hard bed. He smashed his eyelids together, hoping sleep would take him. It didn’t.

  He jumped out of bed, grabbed the card to his grandfather’s office, and adjusted his glasses. It was too bad Obelyn hadn’t carried the materials required to make new frames for his glasses, but he didn’t care right now. Curiosity awoke inside him and drove him forward. He had never explored his grandfather’s office. He never spent more than a few minutes there, and he only entered when he was called. His gut told him there were things to be seen. Perhaps he’d find out what in the galaxy really happened back at Obelyn’s. At least, he’d find out what his grandfather did in there. There had to be a reason he kept his room locked.

  He slid the card over the locking mechanism. The panel chimed, and the door slid open. His grandfather’s small, unimpressive room opened before him. A small desk with a wooden chair faced the door. On the sides were a simple, well-made bed, and several cramped cabinets and bookshelves.

  The first thing Yosh did was to throw himself in his grandfather’s chair and dump his feet on his neat, organized desk. He leaned back and cradled his head with both hands. He tried to imagine himself with white hair, beard and mustache, but couldn’t quite picture it. After a minute the game got old. Yosh turned his attention to what was on the desk. A clean iron cup, a crooked reading lamp, neat piles of paper documents, pencils, and nothing of interest to Yosh. He sifted through the papers. Reports: how many pounds of rice, dog meat, corn and so on would be ready for the next shipment. Yosh sighed and put them back, just as he’d found them and not a millimeter off—otherwise his grandfather would know he’d been in here.

  He sat back in the chair. Perhaps I was wrong. What did I expect to find? This is ridiculous. He put his feet back on the desk and his hands behind his head again, thinking.

  Something cracked beneath Yosh. Wood splintered, the chair crumbled under him, and Yosh tumbled to the floor. What remained of the chair lay scattered in pieces underneath him. He sprawled on the floor, feet still dangling from the desk. He got to his knees through the splinters, rubbing the back of his head. “Wonderful. How am I going to explain this—”

  Yosh spotted something under the
steel desk. “What’s this?” The table’s underside was supposed to be smooth. It had a bulge, a small bulge, but he recognized it. It was similar to the bump that had opened Obelyn’s box.

  He let the small bulge pinch his thumb. The familiar electronic squeal came from the desk, and it moved toward the door along with a rectangular part of the floor beneath it. Stairs leading down a dark corridor appeared before Yosh where the desk had been a second ago. Dim light shone at the end of the stairs, far beneath the hovel Yosh lived in for seventeen years. Great Void, this was here all along?

  ◆◆◆

  Yosh’s heart fluttered as he descended the stairs. He brushed his hand along the wall as he went—steel, but a different type than the walls and floors of their home. Durasteel? Where would his grandfather get durasteel? Why would he need it? The light in front grew brighter until Yosh entered a large, doorless chamber the size of their entire hovel. Large posters covered the walls, the likes of which Yosh had never seen. Tables and cabinets brimming with weapons, instruments, data pads, and other gear he didn’t recognize, lined the walls. A beautiful sword, similar to Assai’s kohiri blades, hung high on the wall. Yosh found a computer terminal on a desk near the wall opposite the entrance. It was so small and flat he mistook it for a toy at first.

  “White and black,” Yosh told himself, surveying all the gear. “They’re all white and black, like the gun back at Obelyn’s.” He shook his head to get his expectations back in check. “No way. No way, Yosh. Stop dreaming.”

  Yosh approached the largest poster—square shaped and near six feet across, depicting a cluster of stars. He touched the smooth surface, and the poster blipped. The stars shifted. The view zoomed in on a single star, big and yellow, with several planets distinguishable around it. A big blue one, a red one and then a huge one with mighty rings surrounding it. Yosh tapped the blue one. The image zoomed again, centering on the blue planet with one moon, larger than Essa and pale. Blue and white swirls covered the planet’s surface. Yosh somehow knew to tap the poster again to stop the view from gliding away.