Kartega

Darkness set on the pod, bringing with it a night’s chill that dug its claws through Sid’s bones until she found herself curled in the control seat with chattering teeth. She had already started to miss the climate controls in the domes and towers when her stomach gurgled and growled. Looking for food was pointless, there was nothing in the pod that could keep her alive for long periods of time. Why didn’t she think to bring supplies with her? She was so eager to get out of the dome that she didn’t even consider what spending the night in a powered down aluminum capsule would mean. If she didn’t freeze to death by Starise, she’d likely pass out from starvation. Then freeze to death in her sleep.

There was no way to tell this story that didn’t end with her freezing to death.

Great, just perfect.

With Jericho’s light tucked away for the evening, the jungle around her was dark and menacing. Light from the two moons above cast shadows from the surrounding trees in jagged angles and patterns which made Sid feel like she was encased in a prison of pure darkness. Locked away behind shadowed bars for crimes she was yet to commit, if she hadn’t already. According to the queen, the stunt she pulled in the dome was a crime punishable by, well, Sid had no idea what but she was certain that whatever it was, it couldn’t be all that pleasant.

The cold air bit at her skin, taking chunks out of her will to keep her eyes open. She tried to focus on the jungle outside, tried to stay awake as long as possible for fear of not waking up again. But her thoughts pulled her inward. Toward Ashlan and Tann, toward the Freedom Runners and the domes, toward Leona.

Sid could all but see the rancid smile on her face. The same smile she wore when she killed the Domer in her throne room; a Domer Sid was convinced she must have known as a child. It seemed there were many people that knew her and her parents and she wished for nothing more than to find them. To get at least one step closer to finding out who she was and who her parents were.

“Stardamned, foolish Colton,” she cursed under her breath.

Was it really necessary to hide the truth from her? What would she do if she found out? Hop in a pod and barrel her way down here at the first chance she got?

Sid could almost laugh at the irony. In the end, truth or not, that is exactly what she did.

“Way to do everyone zero good at all, Colton.” She shook a fist in the air, noticing the dull, blueish tone her skin had taken on. “I’m down here anyway and somehow in the middle of the nonsense you and your Freedom Runners started. You should have warned me!”

Tears froze on her lashes and she rubbed at their edges furiously to keep her face warm. The heat from her hands burnt but the sharp pain was welcome just to keep from freezing. Sid clapped her hands together and watched as her magic snapped in response. The tiny sparks of electricity surged at the edges of her skin and flew in bursts of light as they clashed with one another.

She kept clapping; lips curled into a smile to inspect the light show she was putting on.

“Hang on…”

An idea sparked in her. The lights and electricity she was creating, she could use that. Her magic was finally going to be helpful for a change!

She remembered the way she was able to collect the energy from the lights in the shop tents, all she had to do was redirect her own energy to flow outward. She’s done it before, just enough to heat metal but maybe if there was no receiving end, the magic would flow out of her. Enough energy around her could keep the pod warm and keep her alive. It was worth a shot in the least.

Rubbing her palms together speedily, she let the energy leave her body. The warm, yellow glow surrounded her and she could already feel herself warming up. Her skin tingled when rogue electric sparks made contact with it but she kept going, kept letting the magic spread out in a cocoon of energy and heat.

Before long, Sid had the entire pod glowing and emanating heat that rolled off her skin and into the metal casing of the pod. The trick was to warm the metal just enough to provide the comfort of a hot pod but not so much that it melted the exterior. The last thing she needed was her only home melting in the middle of the jungle.

After practicing with a few controls of her inner electrical current, she had the magic and the pod’s temperature perfectly tuned. She was even starting to sweat a little.

She wished Ashlan and Tann could see her. Wished they could be here with her so she could have someone to talk to. Even Fred would be good company at the moment. Sid felt a pang of guilt tug at her heart that she hadn’t once wished that she was back on her ship. It wasn’t that she didn’t miss the familiarity of the Arcturus but something about the idea of being completely alone again felt dirty and wrong. How could she walk away from everything she’d learnt in the last few days? She couldn’t. No matter how much she may have thought she wanted to, Neostar was important to her now. Not in the same way it was when she worshipped it from afar and memorized its customs through holographic lesson plans. It was important because it was a part of her. It always had been and it simply took her a bit of time to get here. To get back to herself.

As she recounted the events of the past days, she let herself stretch out in the seat. Her feet dangled off the edge and her goggles fogged from the magic around her.

Within moments of closing her eyes, Sid slept.

And as she slept, the pod glowed a bright yellow in the midst of the dark jungle, a beacon in the night.

* * *

Something poked at her ribs and Sid jolted awake. For a moment, she had forgotten where she was, and opening her eyes to see only the fogged glass of her goggles did not help orient her in the slightest.

She tried to reach up to take them off but something was holding her down. Sid wrestled against the restraints, shuffling in the seat and kicking her feet in every direction. Whatever had a hold on her was strong, too strong. The beast she met before? No, not even close.

“Let me go!” She screamed.

The fear that rushed through her made her lose control of her magic and she could already feel the cold air return into the pod. Sid didn’t mind, she didn’t need it to be warm right now. What she needed was to get loose from whatever had her trapped.

She bucked and shouted and kicked but nothing worked. Her heart raced and she could feel sweat soaking the curve of her lower back but she couldn’t stop trying. As the heat left the pod, droplets of water ran down the front of her goggles, slowly bringing the space back into focus.

Rapidly shaking her head, she tried to coat as much of the glass in wetness to get a good look at what else was in the pod with her, at what it was that had her strapped down and unable to get away. When she could make out the shapes around her, Sid stopped squirming and dared to look around.

There weren’t any holdings on her arms, no beast beside her. Her silent hope that the first friend she made on the star had come back for her died instantly.

As Sid’s eyes took in the intruders, her heart dropped and splatted at the bottom of her stomach.

She stared, slack-jawed, at the seven large warriors standing in front of her, each holding a knife larger than half her body. There was a man on either side of her that held her arms with such brutal strength that she wondered why she even tried getting away in the first place. Their eyes were like hers so she knew they had to be natives of the star but they didn’t look like the Domers she’d met so far. They weren’t covered in the standard Domer tunics that she knew were a prerequisite for the workers. In fact, most of them were barely covered at all.

Sid felt flushed looking over the strips of hide that barely grazed enough skin to conceal anything of value. But it wasn’t their near nudity that had her flustered; each one of the warriors was covered from head to toe in the same markings she saw on the Domer the queen had executed. Shapes and patterns she couldn’t discern no matter how much she tried to remember her lessons. Their faces held no expression, strong noses and prominent cheekbones; muscled necks that led to even more muscled shoulders.

“Who are you people?” Sid whispered.

There was a guttural grunt from one of the warriors in front of her and a few words exchanged in a language she didn’t understand. The words sounded like they were being swallowed instead of spoken and she couldn’t make out any familiar sounds.

“Look, I don’t know who you are but there are Starblades on their way here,” she bluffed. “You better let me go or you’ll have to deal with the queen.”

She saw the two warriors exchange a look and could have sworn a smile formed on the face of the one closest to her. It was the last thing she saw before something hard and wooden hit the back of her neck and she lost herself to sleep.