The arena was not as far from the hangar as Kaau li had imagined. Keeping the handset in front of her, she hurried through the empty corridors, passing dark passage after dark passage. And a few lit corridors that were obviously main thoroughfares. Nothing stopped her. Once, she walked through an intersection and spotted some armored men at the end of a hall, but they had their backs to her.
The maze still didn’t make any sense, but Kaau li knew she needed to trust the map.
Had Kaur realized she was gone? Was he this minute tracking her with the handset? Or sending cyborgs after her?
She shuddered and broke into a run. If someone saw her now, she would attract attention, but the thought of Kaur at her heels, chasing her, spurred her forward.
Once, in her haste to make the next turn, she turned too quickly down the wrong corridor. Immediately, the lights turned off and she stumbled into the wall. Getting her bearings, she turned back the way she had come.
And then a soft whoosh of air went by her ear. Instinctively, she ducked.
What was that?
She held up the handset, trying to see better in its soft glow. Something thumped behind her. Kaau li spun around, keeping her back to the wall.
Then she heard a a buzzing sound, growing steadily louder. Remembering the booby traps, Kaau li tried to control her frantic breathing, swiped through the map, and looked for the way out. It showed to her left, so she groped down the black corridor, keeping to the wall.
Another soft whoosh went by her ear, and she pressed herself to the wall.
Behind, the buzzing stopped in a shower of sparks, and the light temporarily illuminated an intersecting corridor. Without bothering to turn back, thought, Kaau li continued following the map until she fell through some kind of barrier, which dumped her into the main hall where the lights still shone brightly. She wondered how the trick was achieved, but didn’t have time nor the desire to investigate.
As she picked herself up from the floor, the lights flickered on in the corridor she had just exited. There, laying on the ground in a tangled heap, was one of those insect-like drones—still sparking and feebly sputtering—with a long, thin spear sticking out of it.
Kaau li sagged against the wall. The spear had barely missed going through her head.
She looked at the map again, determined not to take any more wrong turns. As she wound her way through the remaining labyrinth, she thought she heard sounds behind. But when she paused to listen, they were only the echoes of her own footfalls going down the corridor.
Any minute, someone could spot her on a security feed and find a way to stop her. She walked around every corner with trepidation, expecting discovery. But she was getting so close to the hangar that she imagined being able to hear the typical movement inside it. Almost there.
The comm crackled, and Kaau li almost dropped the handset.
“Kali,” Kaur’s stern voice said over the comm. “What are you doing?”
But Kaau li ignored him. Ahead, the corridor widened, and large doors stood open.
When she finally stepped out into the hangar, though, the sound of boots running behind her were unmistakable. But Kaau li knew where she was now, and she hurried to duck behind some crates and edge along the wall.
Keeping an eye out for someone on duty, she skirted the perimeter of the expansive hangar. But it seemed that almost everyone was still at the arena. If she kept the ships between herself and the observation deck above, she might just escape notice.
The docks for smaller ships like the Inimical was through another short corridor. Around a bend, through a hatch, and there it was. Her ship. The Inimical was still attached to the dock with the ramp down. Her brother, Kai lu, was sitting at the top. When he saw her panicked, sweaty face, he jumped up.
She nodded to him, and he followed her inside without questions.
The ramp closed, sealing them in, and Kai lu gave the order to the pilot, who disengaged the docking clamps around the ship.
Both of them ran up onto the bridge and sat down in their seats.
“How much time do you think we have?” Kai lu asked.
“Very little,” she said. “They could at this moment be standing at the hatch.”
Kaau li went through the handset again, this time looking for a program to disable the Wraith’s capture beam. She found it, and relief washed through her as she activated the program. As she looked through the handset to find a way to lock the hangar doors, the hum of the engines signaled they were in flight.
“Kali,” Kaur said over the comm. “You cannot escape.”
Beyond the view screen, an asteroid field hid the Star Wraith from prying eyes. But it would also hide another ship if needed.
“Kali. Answer me.”
She could picture his angry countenance, his cold, dark stare.
“Can we hide in time?” Kaau li asked her pilot. “Long enough to lose them and jump to hyperspace?”
“It’s doubtful,” her pilot said. “They will launch their fighters any minute.”
For the moment, the sensors showed everything was clear. But the pilot was correct. They wouldn’t for long.
Technically, the Star Wraith didn’t need too many fighters. It could lock onto the freighter with its weapons systems and blow them far into the asteroid field, which now looked like giant brown lumps in a sea of black.
“Kali.” Kaur’s voice sounded muffled, as if it were bouncing inside a mask.
It could only mean that he was inside his combat armor. Which meant he was flying to Kaau li himself.
Goosebumps rose on her arms, and the crew on the bridge exchanged terror-stricken glances.
She decided to answer him.
“Yes, Kaur.”
“Turn your ship around.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then you will die. You saw what happened to the cyborg, and yet you ran from me.” The murderous tone of his voice was bone-chilling.
The pilot shuddered.
“I cannot live there with you, Kaur. I can’t. Let us go. There are so many women who would love to be there with you.”
“Ten fighters just launched from the hangar, Kaau li,” her brother said. “They are headed this way.”
“Kaur, please,” she begged. “Let me go.”
“You know I can’t do that. You have shamed me.”
“No, I haven’t. I can spy for you.”
Her brother shot her a wild look. But Kaau li had to try something. Anything to keep the pirates from firing on the Inimical. The fighters would be within range in seconds.
Kaur laughed. “Why do I need you to spy?”
“Because I can find out what they are doing with the arthenium. Really find out, I mean. You need my eyes and ears there much more than you need me on the Wraith.”
There was a long silence, as if Kaur were considering her request.
“Kaau li, they have locked on. Any time now.”
“Please, Kaur.”
“No. Turn around, and I might be lenient with your crew.”
“They’ve launched,” Kai lu said. “Evasive maneuvers.”
The Inimical banked right, diving straight for a large asteroid. Bits of brown dust pelted the shields, burning up in bright flashes of red.
“Kaur!” Kaau li said. “Don’t fire! Please. I’m begging you.”
“Why shouldn’t I? You have disappointed me more than I can say.”
“Because I am carrying your child.”
As one, the bridge crew turned to look at Kaau li. Looks of shock crossed their faces. But she didn’t have time to deal with them now.
“My child?” Kaur asked, and shock registered in his own voice.
The Inimical dove beneath the first giant rock.
“We’ve lost the first missile,” her brother said, turning back to his duties.
“Yes, Kaur,” she said, intent on being heard. “And now you know why I can’t stay. I can’t raise a child on your ship.”
“That is my child!” he roared.
“And he or she will be taken care of. Far away where no harm can come to him.”
“They’re no longer locked on,” someone said. She didn’t register who.
“Kaur?” she asked.
“Kali. You have wounded me deeply. But I will not kill my child.”
“Thank you.”
“It is not for you! But for him.”
“…we’re almost ready for the jump,” her brother said. “Around this asteroid, we can get to the edge of the field. In ten, nine…”
“Kali!”
“Yes?” she asked.
“…six, five…”
“The ring! Use it if you get into trouble.”
Kaau li reached down and felt the band around her finger. In her haste to leave, she had forgotten it.
“I will still protect you,” the Pirate King said, “for the sake of the child. But know this,” he hissed. “One day I will come to claim him. One day. Until then, you protect him with your life.”
“…three…”
“I will,” she whispered.
And right there, she vowed that Kaur would never set eyes on their child, not while she had breath in her body.
“One.”
And they jumped.
I hope you enjoyed reading this story! If you liked it and want to know more about Kaau li in upcoming books and stories, give me a heads up in the comments. She is an interesting character, and I’d love to tell you more of her adventures if people are interested. So tell me, what would you like to know?
~Wilhelmina
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