What Happens in Orbit Pt. 05

A shadow fell over the table and a massive, clawed hand dropped a tablet between the plates, in front of her companions. Keeping her head down, she tried to look at the tablet. There were pictures, but squinting was doing nothing for her. Mar and Tor stared at the tablet, confused. Mar began to speak to the stranger, but not in any of the languages Cora recognized. Judging by his expression, Tor didn't know it either.

As slowly as she could manage, Cora peeked around the hood of her cloak.

Her inner four-year old shrieked with glee. The newcomer looked like a dragon, wrapped in a garment made out of the same fabric as her cloak. They stood upright, with dull, earthy green scales and neon yellow eyes. When they spoke, it was with a crunchy-sounding growl. Shimmying forward in her seat, Cora tried to get a better look at the tablet. It was two photos, one of Mar and one of Tor. They reminded her of driver's license or passport photos. There was bold, unfamiliar text around the photos.

If I didn't know any better, I'd think that looks like a BOLO. Or a wanted poster.

It made sense. Cora wondered if there was a picture of her. Like he'd read her mind, Tor swiped at the tablet, scrolling down. There were no other pictures. He tilted his head, eyes darting over to her for a split second.

Oh no. Tor, that was a bad idea. She felt the dragon's attention shift. I'm not brave enough for this. Shrinking down in her seat, Cora considered making a break for it.

The stranger spoke again, what was definitely a question. Mar began to bristle, but Tor swatted at him, muttering something in Roshak before pointing at the tablet.

She hazarded another peek up at the stranger, letting out a horrified squeak when she realized that they were looking directly at her. Fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck-

The stranger coughed, then spoke in a suddenly clear voice. "A human?"

Tor and Mar responded in bewildered unison. "What?"

Cora, ever the survivalist, squeaked out a panicked reply. "Sorry- uh- what's a human?"

Staring at her intensely, the stranger straightened up. Mar began reaching for his belt, but there was no need. The stranger turned and left without a word, taking their tablet with them.

Tor slowly got out of his seat. "We're going back to the ship. That was bad."

Mar stood, eyeing the food on the table. "Yeah. But I'm taking this with us." He retrieved a collapsed box from the counter, folded it together, and scooped the contents in. Cora took the box and walked between them. She wished someone would tell her what was happening.

Back on the ship, Cora switched out the battery packs from the egg crate, plugging the old ones in to charge. Usually, Tor did this, but he and Mar had been in some kind of meeting with Amola for a while now. She didn't want to risk the eggs getting cold. Pushing her hand gently into the crate, Cora made sure that they were still evenly warm. Then, carefully, she turned each one to check it.

She'd tried not to think too much about what having these eggs meant for her. Space was massive, confusing, and unfamiliar. And Cora wasn't even in her mid-twenties yet. She had no idea when they'd hatch, even if they'd hatch. Mar seemed a bit uncomfortable with the topic, but Tor would always just shrug when she'd ask. I never should have taught him that.

Leaning against the box, Cora rested her chin on her crossed arms. They all looked the same as the day they'd come out of her, still dark and iridescent. She sat there for a while, watching them. The warmth radiating from the box made her drowsy, and she found herself dozing off.

"Cora." Tor was shaking her awake.

Her arms were completely numb. "Ouch. What's up?" She tried to stand, but settled for just turning around when her stiff legs refused to cooperate. He sat down with her. "We're going to be gone for a while."

"We?"

"Mar and I. Amola asked us to retrieve some things for her." He paused, thinking. "We'll be back before she's ready to leave." It was hard for Cora to conceptualize time off Earth, so she resigned herself to waiting and worrying.

"Will it be dangerous?"

Tor laughed, surprising her. "No, no." He thought for a second. "Don't worry. You'd be coming, too, if there were room."

She knew that Tor was awful at feigning nonchalance, so Cora decided to trust him on this.

"Okay." She pushed herself up, going to the door. "I won't worry, but I'm still going to go tell Mar to be careful."

He followed. "If I told him that, he'd go pick a fight just to spite me. But I'm sure he'll listen to you."

Cora sat in the main area, sorting out a pile of tiny parts into boxes. It had taken her a while to figure out why each piece went in a certain box, but she'd become good enough to do it unsupervised. She was proud of herself for this, since Amola never left her companions unsupervised at the same task. Enough time had passed for the lights to go out, so she'd been working by lamplight for at least a few hours. Now, she was hungry.

The food was stored in a smaller adjoining room, most of it shelf-stable. She wasn't sure what Amola ate, and didn't really want to know.

There wasn't much of her Earth food left, only a few cans of vegetables and some ingredients. There was a single can of chicken soup. Oh, yeah. That's a meal right there. Amola took the neatness of her ship very seriously, so once Cora finished eating, she cleaned the spoon and put it back with their supplies.

As she was heading towards the door, Mitri skittered past the doorway at a speed Cora had never seen from her. Concerned, she peeked out of the doorway, only to get yanked out of it by a clearly nervous Mitri. "Please, go. Go." She pushed Cora toward the ladder that led to her quarters.

Becoming uneasy, she climbed the ladder. "Mitri, what's wrong?"

Mitri followed her into her quarters, pulling the door shut behind them. She held a tablet on which she frantically began to type. She passed the tablet to Cora.

<Mom is in a bad mood. I think she might be like I was. Please stay away from her.>

Cora chewed at her lip, clearing the screen and typing a message before returning the tablet.

<Where is she right now?>

<Her room. You can still use the maintenance tunnels. She doesn't go there.>

Once Cora read that last message, Mitri took the tablet and left, immediately heading for the tunnels. While she was normally pretty twitchy, Cora had never seen her this nervous. I've also never heard her call Amola 'mom'. Her unease continued, so she decided to lock the door to her quarters. What a bad time for Mar and Tor to leave. The latch was a heavy strip of metal, maybe a half-inch thick. She slid it from an opening above the door, through several heavy brackets on the door, then clicked it into a hole in the floor. The door didn't budge an inch when Cora tugged at the handle.

She flopped back onto the bedding. I'm a bit nervous, sure, but I don't think I'm that scared. I'll be okay.

The lights dimmed once more, and Cora quickly realized that between the long day of sorting and the chicken soup, she'd become sleepy. It was cold without her companions, so she hunted for a bit of fabric that would serve as a blanket and nestled herself against the egg crate.

When Cora woke up, she was sweaty and uncomfortable. She checked the eggs, making sure nothing had changed while she was asleep. There was a heavy tapping coming from the main area. I've never seen Amola in a bad mood. She didn't want to know what that meant. I'm definitely not opening the door.

The gap under the door wasn't enough to see anything, so Cora quickly put her cloak on and took a running jump. Their room had a small access panel in the far corner of the room, with only a ledge halfway up to get to it. This ship was definitely not made with smaller creatures in mind. I never thought I was small until I had to start doing parkour to use the bathroom.

Above the room, the tunnel was unlit and very small. If Cora were claustrophobic, she'd be in trouble. I hope I'm not claustrophobic. Am I? Her heart rate picked up a bit as she neared the end of the tunnel, where it widened into a proper hallway. No. I'm fine. To her left, there was another access panel. This one opened up into the main room, near the airlock. Gingerly, Cora unlatched it and peered in. It was dim, but Amola wasn't anywhere to be seen. No maintenance tunnels were near the storage room, so she had to be bold if she wanted to eat.

Okay. I've got this. Lowering herself headfirst out of the opening, she reached for one of the handholds along the wall and pulled herself out. The panel closed behind her, latching again with a faint click.

Almost there. It was eerily quiet. Her shoes, the same sneakers she'd been abducted in, were squeaking every time she put too much weight on them. She put more of her weight on her arms to compensate, but by the time she made it to the floor, her shoulders were on fire.

Cora rolled her shoulders, waiting for the burning to fade. She still had to cross the room.

Without warning, Amola appeared in a doorway across the room. The way she moved scared Cora more than her sudden appearance, even though her back was turned. She hasn't seen me yet. Using exactly zero of her brain cells, Cora turned and ran out the disengaged, open airlock, into the spaceport.

Oh, shit. She didn't have time to beat herself up. It was the busiest part of the day and several creatures had noticed her frantic exit from the ship. Blend in, blend in. Cora pushed into the crowd, taking stock of her situation as she moved with the flow of traffic. She was hungry, but had no way to pay for food. The main walkway of the spaceport was a loop, meaning that she could simply keep walking and arrive back at the ship. Eventually. But I'm pretty damn hungry. I should have grabbed my tablet.

After what felt like an hour of walking, Cora started to worry. This wasn't the way Mar had went to the restaurant, so she didn't know exactly where she was, or how big the loop was. I should just keep walking. She looked around, gauging where she was by the port's time markings. The notch that would light up at the earliest part of the "day" was red, and was directly above Amola's ship, conveniently enough. This port wasn't in a planet's orbit, so its day and night cycles were artificial. And when it got dark, it got very dark. The red notch was across the port, still far away. It looked like she hadn't even gone halfway. Why am I so damn skittish? I could have ran anywhere else in the ship. Her stomach had stopped growling a while ago, choosing instead to burn unpleasantly. Yuck. Cora carefully extracted herself from the crowded middle of the walkway, aiming for the left. It'd be easier to get back on the ship if she didn't have to fight her way through.

It was easier to look around now that she wasn't surrounded by bodies, crates, and carts. This area was packed with vendors and stalls, selling things she couldn't hope to name. A wave of nausea and dizziness struck Cora. She'd never done well when her blood sugar got low. I need to take a moment. Looking around, she spotted a darkened alley. It seemed empty, empty enough for Cora to be safe for a minute or two.

It was not as empty as she'd hoped. When she ducked into the alley, she ran into someone. "Ah, shit- sorry." Hoping to play it off, she pushed past the figure and kept walking.

"Wait."

Cora recognized the voice of the stranger from the restaurant. She braced herself to run.

"Hey, relax. I won't hurt you."

Mildly annoyed, she straightened up. "How would I know that?"

The stranger held their hands up and took a step towards her. She immediately took a step back.

"No, sir. You stay right there. What do you want?"

"Why were you with those two?"

"They're-" Cora had never really thought about how to answer this. "We're traveling together."

"I don't think that's the whole truth." The stranger squinted at her. "Why are you shaking?"

"Because I'm hungry. Why do you ask so many damn questions?" She snapped back, instantly feeling guilty. They weren't being rude to her. "I'm sorry. Look, I'm just going back to my ship." Cora began to walk towards the stranger, hoping they'd let her pass. They didn't.

"I can get you some food. Humans can't go very long without eating, can they?"

I am going to get myself killed one day.

Cora sat at a booth in a small, mostly empty restaurant. She hadn't even tried to argue. The stranger was walking back, carrying a large plate and a small one. It was hard to tell what they were thinking, feeling, or even what they were. There weren't any defining features or behaviors to help her make assumptions.

"Do you have a name I can call you?"

Cora blinked. They set the plate down in front of her. "Cora." She was unsure of how to navigate this conversation. If I think too much about what could go wrong, I'll freak myself out. There's no point. "Can I ask you a few questions?"

The stranger nodded. "Yes, but eat some of your food first."

Her meal looked a lot like something she'd eaten often as a child. It had diced vegetables, meat, and what looked like some kind of grain, like barley. "Thank you." Her stomach petulantly refused to acknowledge that she was eating until the second bite. This is good. While she chewed, she thought about what she wanted to ask.

"Also, I realize that I never introduced myself. My name is Danger."

While Cora was raised to be polite, their tone caught her off-guard. A bit of food got involved as she fought back a laugh, and she struggled to right herself.

"Sorry, I forgot how to eat for a second. That's actually a word in my language."

Danger seemed to brighten at this. "I know! That's why I picked it."

Cora finally straightened herself out and took a breath. "So- What was yesterday about? When you came up to us and dropped that tablet on the table." Danger had just taken a bite of food and held up a hand, chewing. "Ah shit, I'm sorry. No, take your time."

Danger finished their bite. "You swear a lot. Anyway, your... traveling companions are wanted for murder and what I think you would call arson."

Racking her brain, Cora ran through everything she had learned about Mar and Tor. That doesn't make sense. From what she knew, none of them had met before the mission. It had to be something that happened between them leaving the old ship and going to Amola's. They would have told her if anything else happened. No. She shook her head. "What exactly did they do, according to what you've been told?"

Danger fished out the tablet from their bag. "I'll read the report to you. Two Roshak expedition members were seen leaving their ship just a few hours before it exploded near Port 34. The remaining crew member, who was the mission coordinator, and cargo, including a test subject, were not seen leaving and are presumed dead."

Her heart dropped into her stomach. "No. No, that's not right." She thought about Ray's guilt and shame after the last video call. He wouldn't do something like that, would he? If he was being threatened by his family, then- oh, this is my fault. Cora buried her face in her hands. Is he dead because of me?

Danger was trying to peer under her hands. "Are you crying?"

Quickly, she swiped at her face and sat up. "There's something really wrong with that report. I won't say they're lying, but they left out some major details." When Danger said nothing, she continued. "And I think I know why. I'm the test subject. We snuck out because things got really dangerous for me. Well, Mar and Tor snuck me out."

Danger let out a harsh wheeze, making Cora jump. "What?"

"I was hoping you weren't the subject. You need to come with me, once you finish eating."

She bristled at this. "I will be returning to my ship. Whether I come with you or not." It was hard to be assertive and teary at the same time, and her voice shook.

"They can't hurt or experiment on you anymore. I don't think you understand exactly how many laws they broke by taking you from your home. Why would you want to stay with the ones who abducted you?"

"I do know. They risked a lot to get us off that ship." I don't think it's a good idea to tell this guy about the eggs.

"Cora, what did they do to you?"

She wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. "They were just following orders."

Danger lowered their voice to a whisper. "I know that. What exactly did they do to you?"

Fucking hell. "The last time I was honest, it ended up causing complete chaos. What could go wrong by doing it again?" Danger didn't respond. "Fine. You know about their kind, right? Their population issues?"

They nodded.

"As far as I can tell, from what I've learned and overheard, they sent out up to, maybe, twenty missions, sponsored by the Foshar. They had this weird medicine. I wouldn't even really call it medicine. This stuff that was intended to change similar species into genetically compatible mates."

"And did it work?" Cora accidentally bit her cheek, hard. She was really hoping that Danger wouldn't ask that.

"Define what you mean by work," she spoke, rubbing at the outside of her cheek as her eyes watered.

Danger sat back, making a low hissing noise. "I get it now."

I don't like that.

"You're free to return to them, but I need you to come with me first. My queen wants to speak with you."

"And if I don't want to come with you?"

"She'll be very disappointed."

Cora made a sour face. Oh, God forbid. "Fine."

Danger led her up a sloping alley, towards the upper level of the port. There were only a few ships up here, spaced far apart. The one they approached was disc-shaped, like Cora had always thought a proper spaceship should be. Like the Enterprise, but if Syd Mead had designed it. It was incredibly ornate, satin-finished gold with a blue geometric design along the edge. Cora tugged at her cloak, feeling nervous. It had just occurred to her that Danger had said "queen." Not captain, not director, queen.

Fuck.

Their ship was docked to the spaceport by a tunnel with the same design as the rest of the ship. The opening was flanked by four guards, only two of which looked like Danger. They all wore the same uniform, something that was rather skimpy for any kind of guarding in Cora's opinion. The other two were lithe and brightly colored. As they got closer, she realized that they had yellow fins along their arms and legs. Another fin sat just above their foreheads, but this one gently flowed back and forth. Cora glued her eyes to the ground as they passed through the entryway.

Danger didn't say anything as they walked. The tunnel was empty, but well-lit by lamps every few feet.

"I'm not sure that I'm dressed appropriately to meet anybody's queen."

They shook their head. "I'm sure she'll fix that."

For some reason, this terrified Cora. "What?"

The door ahead of them opened and two figures briskly moved towards them. They were taller than Danger, certainly taller than Mar, and wore the same uniform as the guards. It reminded her of a bathing suit, but with sheer fabric draped from their shoulders. They didn't have any weapons.

"Is that the human?"

Cora stiffened, not sure what she was expecting. Danger nodded at them. The two circled, staring at her. "Wow! It's so small."

"She. Cora, these two are Milo and Tara."

Cora hadn't thought to ask anyone about something like pronouns, so it caught her by surprise when Danger corrected them. Are pronouns even a thing in the languages out here? She'd have to ask Mar when she saw him next. He seemed like he would know.