Seas of Chaos Read online

Chapter Two: Sara Tonic

  “Space Log, Commander Sara Tonic reporting. I’ve made an emergency landing on a habitable planet. I would have run out of food, water, and oxygen in any other case. Looks like I survived by the skin of my teeth, yet again. Personal note: Find new occupation. Repairs are impossible, need to find replacement parts. Anyway, my previous log noted that I was responding to a distress beacon. I found the ship, a freighter by my guess. Unfortunately, someone else found it first. Fate of the distressed crew, unknown. Poor bastards. My skiff is shot to hell. I was ambushed by unknown enemies. Another personal note: They better pray I never find them.”

  Sara rubbed the sweat from her forehead. “So here I am, lugging as many supplies as I can carry. There might be sentient life on the planet. Worse, they probably don’t have the parts to repair my space skiff. I’d give it one chance in a billion. Why am I always rolling the long odds? Worst case, I’m the only person on the entire planet. I go crazy, but never have the courage to end it all. Won’t my parents be proud? Sara Tonic out.”

  She swore bitterly and checked the device she was speaking into. It did not seem to have been recording. Swearing again, she threw it into a nearby tree. “Great, just talking to myself!”

  The rest of the day progressed slowly. She was walking downhill, for no reason other than it was easier than walking uphill. It was not a difficult hike at least, the planet had slightly less gravity than the ones she was used to. Plus, she was accustomed to hard work. After hours of walking, Sara sat down on a boulder and dug in her pack for something to eat. She found a package of powdered meat, just add water. Along with that, she swallowed a caffeine tablet. The food energized her, but Sara did not dare to let her spirits rise. If there were inhabitants, they would not likely be human. She would be lucky if they were even intelligent. Life would get boring, fast, without any people.

  Suddenly there was a noise behind her. She jumped up and drew her plasma pistol, holding it in both hands. A man, human and strikingly handsome was standing before her. He held a hunting rifle and was looking her over. Sara felt relief that there were people on this planet. Then she remembered that they were both holding guns.

  “Don’t move a muscle.” She growled, with one hand looking for her translator. She checked the pockets of her jacket before remembering where it was. “Oh shit! I threw it at a tree!”

  The man was looking at her pistol and a flash of anger crossed his face. Sara had seen that look before. “Hey!” She was waving for him to put down the gun. “Don’t you even think about it. I’d hate to vaporize your pretty face.”

  She knew that he was going to do it anyway. When he tried to bring the gun to his shoulder she pulled the trigger. One moment there was a person and the next there was ash on the wind.

  “Idiot!” She looked around to see if he had been alone. No one else in sight. “Why would you destroy your translator? Now that nice man, also an idiot, is dead.” She shrugged. “Well, better you than me pal.”

  The rifle had fallen to the ground and she slung it over her shoulder. It was heavier than it looked, but had a comfortable weight. “Back to the ship then. Good thing I have another one.” She walked back the way she had come.

  Sara had time to think as she walked back to her crashed ship. The people here were advanced enough for gunpowder, but she would not be able to repair her ship with their primitive technology. On the whole, it was better than starving to death on a barren moon. The man she had killed did not leave her thoughts, but she was not overly troubled by him. Any guilt she felt was second to the sensation of being alive. Never before had she wrestled with the question of good and evil, and she was damned if she was start now. Morality was a nice thing to think about when you were home, safe and warm.

  When the ship was spiraling out of the sky, Sara had little time to pick a landing site. At the bottom of a ravine was probably not high on the list of best options. She was able to hide the space skiff easily enough though. With a few leaves and branches, the ship was almost impossible to find unless you knew where to look. Sara dug in the place under the seat, the place where everything ended up falling. Sure enough, she found the Device hidden among candy bar wrappers and strange scraps of paper. Sara slapped it against her palm a few times and switched it on.

  “Okay.” She said happily when it lit up. One of its many features was a universal translator, which she enable and stuck the thing in her coat pocket.

  It was already getting late, so she ate a meager dinner and settled down for the night inside of the ship. The outer canopy closed down above her, enclosing her in a bubble of metal and glass. The stars shone brightly in the night sky and she found a few familiar star systems. They were impossibly far away and she felt very alone.

  It was in the late afternoon, the next day, before Sara reached a town. She stole a cloak from a clothesline and wandered around. Most people ignored her, a few exchanged friendly greetings. They wore modest clothing, both men and women covering their heads in wide-brimmed hats when outside. Shirts and dresses were not brightly colored, but not muted either. On the whole, they looked like people that did the best with what life had given them. The same as any intelligent species she had ever met. It was easy to imagine that this was simply a distant human colony, rather than an alien world.

  Sara found a trader in the market willing to buy a few of her food items, in exchange for silver and copper coins. He was skeptical, but believed her when she said they were from “the city”. An easy enough lie, the people in the town were close-knit and distrustful of outsiders. Telling people that she was a city dweller seemed to excuse her of any and all odd behaviors.

  With the coins she stay at the local inn. The bed was probably infested with lice, but it was still a bed. Better than sleeping in the ship in any case. At dinner she chatted politely with the other guests.

  “I hope I’m not too bold, madam, but your clothing is quite strange.” A large gentlemen who had introduced himself as Mr. Winsteff, a wool trader, said in a booming voice. Sara guessed that he was referring to her flight jacket and the fact that she wore pants.

  “Oh, perhaps you are a forest guide?” Mrs. Tabalt, the owner suggested.

  “No, Mrs. Tabalt, but is that a common profession?” Sara deflected neatly, taking a long sip of wine.

  “We get all kinds here in Lordsburg. All kinds.” The woman said with a hint of pride.

  “I met a strange man in the market earlier today.” Said Mrs. Dumphrey, a gossip by nature.

  “What was strange about him?” Asked Mrs. Tabalt.

  “Well, he looked like a trader, so I asked him about his wares.”

  She paused and Mr. Winsteff coughed impatiently.

  “So, I asked him what he traded, and he told me he dealt in secrets.”

  Both Mrs. Tabalt and Mr. Winsteff laughed. Sara took another sip of wine.

  “He said, that being a trader, he would make a deal with me. A secret for a secret.”

  “Oh, he was probably just flirting with you!” Mrs. Tabalt teased.

  “Well, I am available, maybe he was.” She paused again. “So anyway, I told him how well my neighbor, Mr. Gilbert, was getting along with his new maid.” She winked at them and smiled.

  “So what did he tell you?” Sara asked quietly.

  “He said he was a stage magician.”

  “You said he looked like a merchant.” Complained Mr. Winsteff.

  “That’s what I said to him, but he said it was part of his act. He said he was in disguise.”

  “Did he give you his stage name?” Asked Mrs. Tabalt, quite interested.

  “Hadrian the Magnificent.”

  “It couldn’t be the same Mr. Hadrian, no surname given mind you, that hired all those boys to accompany him out into the wilderness?” Mr. Winsteff clearly thought the woman mistaken.

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  “Why would anyone do that?” Sara asked the wool trader.

  “Hunting, probably.” Mrs. Dumphrey interrupt
ed. “That’s all men want to do. That, and drinking.”

  The women both laughed, Sara only frowned. “How many did he hire? And why hire men to hunt with you?”

  Mr. Winsteff shrugged. “Protection, he said. Seemed a cautious man.”

  “Are there many bandits?” Sara asked, thinking of the man she had killed. He had not looked like a robber, but that may been part of it. Who better to rob you than someone you would not expect?

  “A few ruffians, but nothing like what they have down South.” Mrs. Dumphrey said and nodded to herself. “Safe enough that a lady can walk through Town Square in the middle of the night without escort! Not that a respectable one would, anyhow.”

  There was a pause in the conversation as Mrs. Tablat brought out the dessert, sweet rolls with jelly.

  “If you want to know more, Miss Tonic, I know one of the men hired to go with Mr. Hadrian, young Drexler.”

  “Really?” Sara asked, only half interested.

  “Sure, he’s a farm hand at the Richard’s place.”

  “I think I will track him down tomorrow. I’m thinking of heading that way myself, to visit an old family shrine.” Sara explained, though she could have said she was looking for flying pigs and Mrs. Tabalt would have believed her.

  Sara excused herself a few minutes later, after she had eaten dessert. In the morning, she would speak with this Drexler fellow and find out what he was hired to do way out in the countryside. A small part of her was worried her ship had been spotted “landing”. It was unlikely, however. In her room there was a mirror hanging above the dresser. She looked at her reflection and smirked. Her leather flight jacket was covered in dirt and her pants were ripped at the knee. She sighed and went to sleep with her gun under the pillow.

  Sara woke up late in the morning, too late to get any breakfast. She mended her clothes and cleaned up as best she could. Mrs. Tabalt gave her one of her old hats, probably feeling pity for the strange woman, and Sara pinned down her red hair. Next, she tracked down the man named Drexler.

  He was a young man, maybe just turned eighteen. His eyes were bright and perceptive, looking up at her from the saddle he was repairing.

  “Good morning, madam.”

  “Mr. Drexler I presume?”

  “Just Drex, madam.”

  “Then just Sara.”

  He smiled. “Thank you. What can I do for you? Looking for a new saddle?”

  “Perhaps if you have a horse to go along with it.” She looked around the barn. Most of the tools looked like they had been used recently.

  “Sorry, I can’t help you there.”

  “Did you travel with a man named Hadrian?”

  “I did, Sara. Do you know him?”

  “Yes.” She made up the lie as she went along. “We are old acquaintances. I was hoping to see him while he was in town. He didn’t know I was here, you see. And I only just today heard his name come up.”

  Drex nodded. “He does seem the slippery type. I am sorry you missed him.”

  “Did he mention where he was heading?”

  “South, to the city, is my best guess.”

  “I did not think to see him this far North, or myself for that matter. What was he doing all the way out here? Hunting?”

  “No ma’am.” He seemed to be holding back, looking nervously at his work and fussing with a stray piece of leather.

  “Oh, I see.” Sara changed her voice to a more dangerous tone and drew out her pistol. “Listen Drex, do you see what I have here?”

  His eyebrows shot up and once he recovered, he nodded.

  “Good. You seem to be a smart man. I’m smart too. I know you are lying. Which is fine, I would have done the same. However, since I have the gun, you are going to give up your secrets.”

  He took a long breath. “Okay.”

  “Okay? Alright, first, what did this Hadrian want out there?”

  “He found some books. He couldn’t read them, talked about how they were cursed.”

  “Magic books.” Sara said slowly to herself. “Sure, why not? I’ve seen stranger, and he just left them there?”

  “Hadrian said no one else could read them either. Then we packed up and came home.”

  She nodded and put the gun away. “Was that so difficult? Relax, I’m sure the books were just old. No magic, or witches, or whatever.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  Sara was backing away from him slowly, she stopped and smiled. “I suppose I can’t be entirely sure, but I’m making an assumption. Lucky for you, another one of my assumptions is that you are telling me the complete truth. Good day, Mr. Drexler. For your sake, I really hope that we don’t cross paths ever again.”