2-9
The planet looked very industrialized from where I was standing. The skies were covered in reddish pink clouds and there was a ring surrounding the planet. I was standing in the hanger with Owl, Shaluya, and Guardian Wannaniki. We were waiting on a ship to come get Sahluya, staring at the forcefield that kept the deadly void away. “Is that safe?”
Owl, knowing I was asking about said forcefield nodded, "It's a whole lot safer than when I bought it. I added a bunch of redundancies to the safeties around it.”
“Was it safe when we first got here?”
She shrugged, "Moderately.”
Shaluya shifted and I followed her line of sight out into the void. I could see a ship approaching us. It was covered in grey plates and looked like a flying tube. It took awhile for it to get close, the ship was enormous. It looked like it almost wouldn't fit in the hanger. It slowly slid into the opening of our space station. I let out a hiss as I watched. It looked like it was going to scrape but whoever was flying it was a really good pilot.
The ship looked like it was made from plates welded together. It looked very well taken care of but it looked like it had been rebuilt over and over again. It came to a slow stop and legs dropped from its undercarriage. Quite a lot of legs, they lined both sides and bore the weight of the ship as it landed.
The ship was still humming letting me know it was still running. It hissed and one of the square plates on its side freed itself and lowered to the ground. There were quite a few people on it that looked to be the same species as Shaluya. The platform landed on the ground, they stepped off it and started walking towards us. They were dressed in robes while Sahluya was in a form fitting suit Owl had given her. They stopped a few feet in front of us and one of them that was dressed in fancy looking clothing started talking. Guardian Wannaniki standing next to us allowed us to understand, “You come to trade with us?”
The one speaking spoke slowly. Drawing out their words. Owl took a step forward, “slightly. It's our peoples first meeting and I am looking for an exchange.” She waved at Sahluya, “She was on one of the ships I picked up recently as a performer. We are dropping her off as we were close.”
We were not that close at all. Looking at a map we had to go in the opposite direction of our home planet. They looked to Sahluya and dismissed her. “That doesn't sound like a good trade to us.”
Owl nodded, “I thought about that and came up with something. Our people like puzzles. One of the first words we learn when growing is why. It's the most repeated phrase when we grow up. I studied your laws and history before coming here and made something for you. A puzzle box.”
Owl waved guardian Wannaniki forward and in his hands he held a box with a few things on top of it. “The box is keyed to Sahluya’s DNA, it wont open unless she is holding it. The three rods are the puzzle. What's inside will bring you great riches.”
“Whats to stop us from taking the box apart to get what's inside it?” the lady asked.
Owl shrugged, “that is one way to complete the puzzle. Thats the easy way. The hard way you have to think of it as an investment. The more of the puzzle you complete the bigger the return you are going to get.”
The lady turned away from us and started whispering to the group that had followed her. Guardian Wannaniki didn't look bothered and Owl looked like she expected that reaction. The lady turned back to us and addressed Guardian Wannaniki, “Is the box safe?”
He gave a nod, “I watched as she built it. Inside are a few slates of steel with the prize printed on them.”
She got a victorious look on her face then she waved at Sahluya, “Come.”
Sahluya walked forward, past Guardian Wannaniki, taking the box from him. It let out a little beep when she took it. She approached the group and was pulled inside it. I could see them arguing who was going to take a rod from the top of the box. The lady had followed the box and when it was with them she turned back to us, “Good trade. We hope for future trade agreements.”
Owl nodded and we watched them scurry back to their ship. It sealed up then hummed a little louder before it lifted and its landing legs pulled back inside. It backed out of the hanger then swung its front around and started flying away. Owl pushed a few buttons on her forearm and we stood there, watching the ship fly away.
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The ships size changed a whole lot faster as it was leaving. I gave Owl a look, “Are we leaving?”
She gave me a nod but Guardian Wannaniki answered, “Its better to leave now that business has completed. They tend to throw fines at ships that loiter in what they consider their space.”
“I already have a few fines coming in.” Owl said.
“What kind?”
“Not having my ship registered. Things like that.” Owl shrugged then turns and headed for the doors int eh hanger. Guardian Wannaniki and I followed her. The halls were all white walls with curved ceilings, they looked like tubes with flat floors. There were very few windows on this part of the ship. We headed down the tunnel towards one of the lifts that would bring us to the center of the ship. “How does that puzzle box work Owl?”
She gave me a glance, “inside the box are three different cures for the disease they are being hit with. When the rods are far enough away from each other the box will open.”
“What happens if they force it open?” Guardian Wannaniki asked.
We entered a lift and the door closed behind us. A little jerk and we started moving upwards, “Nothing happens. The puzzle is the trick.”
“So they could just get a bar and pry the thing open?”
She nodded at my question, “they could do that.”
“Then what's the point of the rods?”
“If the box isn't opened in a week the rods will project the cure on a wireframe diagram.” She answered Guardian Wannaniki.
I watched level after level fall past us as we rode the lift, “So no matter what they do the cure will be out there?”
Owl shrugged, “I don't care how it get out as long as it's out. I predict they will split those rods between them and break the group apart. The box will stay with Sahluya, if she has any skill she will leverage it to advance in her society. It's going to be an exciting few months for them.”
Guardian Wannaniki set his hands on his hips and nodded to Owl, “A noble idea! Well done!”
She gave a shrug and the lift stopped. The door opened and we stepped onto the command bridge of the space station. Rowand and Lahrya were sitting around. I could see the planet out of the view window. It was about the size of a coin and getting smaller quickly. Soon it was just another dot in the sky.
Owl walked up to one of the consoles in the room and started fiddling with it. The stars the stretched across the sky started moving by faster. Whatever Owl had done had kicked out speed up quite a bit. Guardian Wannaniki walked over to chat with Rowand and Lahrya.
I let out a sigh and brought my kiseru to my mouth. I was chewing on it while staring at the little dot that was a planet. “Owl, when are we getting home?”
She paused in her fiddling with the buttons and things on the console, “We are on plan J13C. The little detours we are taking added some time. A week, maybe two and we will be home. It depends on how long we are going to take on Rowland's planet.”
I gave her a nod then looked at the other three, “Rowand. Let's go train some.”
She perked up at my call but deflated when she heard about training. That got Guardian Wannanikis attention, “You are training her to fight?”
I gave him a shrug, “Its something Owl wanted me to do.”
Rowand stood up and walked to the door, “I will go get my headset.”
“Meet me in the atrium. Find a bot to lead you there.” I told her.
Guardian Wannaniki and I walked out of the room, following her. She headed for her room and the two of us entered a lift. It lowered us down a few floors to the atrium. We walked out to a nice place that looked like it had a carpet of blue colored grass. I waited for Guardian Wannaniki to step on it before I did, not wanting to have to fight a carpet of grass.
Rowand showed up ten minutes later following one of the bots Owl made. She was carrying her headset and then pads Owl had given us to train with. She passed them to me and I slotted them over my hands. She brought the headset to her head and started putting it on, “What does that headset do?”
“Owl made it. It helps her muscle memory apply faster.” I answered Guardian Wannanikis question.
He gave a little frown and his belt lit up. A light shot out and scanned the headset as Rowand applied it. His eyes glazed over before he huffed, “Neural hardware like that can be dangerous.”
“Owl made it. I trust it.” I replied.
“How dangerous?” Rowand asked.
“Quite a few places that use slaves have tech like that. It's easier to rewrite what your slave knows with hardware like that. Find a slave that likes to build explosives, suddenly all the know is how to cook. It's used by bad places to keep people down. The Solar Guardians run into it every few hundred years. We tend to stomp it out in force.”
Rowand paused in placing the nodes of her headset. I raised my hands holding the pads and she finished in a hurry. She knew if she didn't get her mind ready for what was ahead I would just slap the stuffing out of her. She brought up her guard and I nodded at it. She was better at it than when we had started, I slapped her across the jaw quite a few times when we had started.
She started throwing jabs and crosses while Guardian Wannaniki watched. He was tense at the start but he seemed to calm down as we worked. It took Rowand a few minutes to get back into gear but soon she was throwing out combos I had driven into her.
Lahrya showed up about a half an hour into our training. She walked over and sat on the grass, watching Rowand exhaust herself trying to break my guard. Soon Rowand was sweating and I waved my pad at her, “Break.”
She flopped down onto the grass. Lahrya scooted over and offered her water. I pulled off my pads and set them down. I pulled my pipe off my hip and chewed on the mouthpiece as I watched Lahrya tend to Rowand. Guardian Wannaniki stepped next to me and nodded at the two, “My doubts are diminished. That headset works a lot smoother than the tech we Guardians normally run into.”
I gave him a slow nod, “Owl builds good things. She probably understands how a brain works better than most of the people that use the tech. Their attempts probably come off as hamfisted.”
Guardian Wannaniki gave me a weird look, “Hamfisted?”
I prolly my hand into a bunched up fist and held it up, “like a bludgeon not a scalpel.”
He rubbed his chin and looked thoughtful.