Ava Read online

  Reaching the bottom of the hill, he rolled for a couple more metres before coming to a gradual halt. Everything hurt. His back throbbed, his arms cried out in agony, and scratches marked his face all over, but he was alive.

  Lying there and catching his breath, he allowed himself a private smile, “that was badass,” he said to himself, “at least that’s over with…”

  “Oh yeah?” a hard, female voice captured his thoughts. Feelo went to look up, but the cold barrel of a gun was dug deep into his skull. “Don’t even think about it.”

  “Who are you? What do you want?” he panicked.

  “What do you want me to answer first?” she said with a tinge of sarcasm.

  “Erm…” he thought, looking at her beige sandals which exposed the tanned, olive skin of her feet, “who… are… you?” he said, thinking twice about his choice.

  “You think I’ll answer that?” she scoffed, kicking sand in his face. “What are you doing here? What did you do to the ship?”

  “What do you want me to answer first?” Feelo repeated, smiling to himself, wincing in pain as she pushed the gun harder into his skull. “All right, sheesh, lighten up a little, would ‘ya? I’m here reclaiming this ship, saving it from the tests of time to live once more.”

  “… You’re a scavenger…”

  “Well, when you put it like that, sure, but I only took what I needed.”

  The woman knelt to the ground. A thick outcropping of onyx hair snaked out from under her tattered hood. Her eyes were an emerald green, sparkling in the suns as if made from the rare gem. She dug around inside Feelo’s satchel, discarding the assortment of tools to one side but saving the container of water before taking a long drag on its contents.

  “Thirsty, huh?” said Feelo, looking up as much as he could. “There’s more of that on my ship if you let me go.”

  She stopped in her tracks, pulling his head up so he looked her in the eyes. “You have a ship? You’re not from this world?”

  “Again, with the double questions…”

  “Answer me!”

  “Yeah, I have a ship, calm down, okay? You’re gonna hurt someone with that thing if you’re not careful.”

  Her eyes grew wide as she noticed the depleted red orb dug into the ground. “Did you get that from in there?” she nodded to the destroyed ship.

  “… Yeah, why?”

  She remained silent, transfixed by the orb’s iridescence. “That ship of yours,” she pulled the weapon away from Feelo’s head. “It have room for one more?”

  “Sure?” he raised an eyebrow. “You want off Aeos?”

  “More than you know,” she held out a helping hand. He ignored the gesture, picking himself up before brushing the sand from his tunic.

  He gathered up his things and stuffed them back into his satchel along with the orb. “I’m Feelo, by the way.”

  “Ava,” she replied, passing him a stray tool which he took and stuffed in his bag.

  “Thanks, Ava,” a sharp indignation tinged his voice.

  But, from behind the pair, a low rumbling snarl reverberated across the humid air. A smile spread across Feelo’s face, but Ava was a picture of worry. She turned to see a mechanical beast poised and ready to pounce. Its eyes glowed like garnets. Its bulky beige frame eked with every actuation of its hydraulic limbs.

  It it skulked forwards, its head low to the ground, its eyes locked dead onto Ava’s. “Good boy…” she squirmed, her voice trembling, “easy now.”

  Meco let out a ferocious growl. Feelo stood back and watched, enjoying the moment as payback for what she had done. He could have stopped it any time he wanted, but it was too much fun.

  Then with no warning, Meco pounced forwards snarling. He snapped at Ava trying to bring her to the ground. She was fast, though, and rolled out the way of the rabid ‘animal.’

  “Meco, stop!” Feelo shouted.

  But it was no use.

  Again, it locked on and charged. Ava drew her weapon, a beat-up old-Earth revolver, and fired two rounds which ricocheted off its reinforced titanium alloy shell.

  She tried to dodge to her left, ducking out the way of the incoming threat, but she wasn’t so lucky or skilful this time. Meco connected throwing her to the ground, pinning her in place without crushing her limbs.

  “You put up a good fight,” a smug Feelo said. “Meco here is as good as it gets as a guard dog, isn’t that right, boy.” He scratched its head as if it were real.

  “This thing is yours!?” she said, surprised.

  “He sure is, and while you’re down there, let’s discuss some rules aboard my ship, all right?”

  “Wait, the ship is also yours!?” she scoffed, “you got rich parents, kid.”

  Feelo went silent. “My parents are dead, Meco here is all I have left,” he said. Ava’s guard dropped for a second. “Plus, I ain’t a kid, I’m eighteen! How old are you? Twenty? Twenty-one.”

  “Nineteen,” she said, averting her gaze, “I’m still older than you.”

  “Yeah, and Meco’s older than us both, so we got that going for us.”

  There was an awkward silence. “So, these rules?” she squirmed.

  “Right, rules.” Feelo walked around the trapped woman, “first, you clean up after yourself.”

  “Easy enough.”

  “Second, there are no free meals, everyone has a job and they do it, maybe not well, but they do it none the less.”

  “… All right.”

  “And,” he bent down and got to one knee, “you assaulted your new Captain, that’s six days in the brig.”

  “Do you even have a brig?”

  “… That’s not the point.”

  Feelo got up and scratched Meco behind the ears. Its eyes flashed from a demonic red to a pale blue, sparkling in the intense suns as he backed up, sat, and panted like a regular dog.

  Ava got to her feet, shaking away the sand. “It’s a robot, why’s it panting?” she asked.

  “Well, it still needs to regulate its mechanical systems, its oil temperatures, that sorta thing. Its heat sinks do a lot of the work, but sometimes nature worked it out already and fixed the problem better than we ever could.”

  “Cool.”

  “Right, shall we get going?” Feelo dug into his satchel and pulled out a small communicator. “Caesar, you there?”

  A frantic rustling sound burst from the device. “Where is the God damn thing,” a voice said in the distance, the patting of the person’s clothes as he searched for the communicator was audible.

  Feelo smiled at an unimpressed Ava who crossed her arms.

  “Caesar!”

  “A-ha!” a man’s voice came back, “found it. What is it, Captain? I presume you need picking up?”

  “I would appreciate it.”

  The sound of footsteps echoed out from the device as the man moved before coming to a halt. “Get to pick up Charlie. I’ll see you there.”

  With that, he cut the communication. Feelo stuffed the device into his pocket and smiled. “Great guy that Caesar.”

  “Yeah… He sounds it,” Ava rolled her eyes. “So, lead the way, Captain.”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Feelo walked away with a skip in his step, cheerful at how the day had turned out.

  Following Meco, the pair walked beside one another without another word. A strong wind ripped across the surface, it tore at the sand and threw it up as stinging clouds which assaulted their exposed skin. The pair pulled their hoods and masks up tight against their faces, blocking the building storm.

  A small, bright light flickered on the tip of Meco’s swinging tail for them to follow as they trudged through the deep sand. Soon, their vision had been restricted to a few metres and only the blue neon wisp in the storm guided them.

  “So,” Feelo said, not able to stand the silence for much longer, “what brought you to Aeos?”

  Ava looked at him, her green eyes still vivid through the swirling cloud. She said nothing for a while, only thinking to he
rself. “Family,” she said, adding nothing more.

  “Family? Why are you leaving then?”

  “They’re gone.”

  Feelo put a hand on her shoulder, “I’m sorry to hear that, I am.”

  “Thanks.”

  “We’re like a family aboard the Ixion, a disjointed, dysfunctional family, but a family none the less. Maybe you’ll grow to like it, who knows.”

  “… Who knows,” she remained noncommittal.

  The sandstorm grew worse. Particles lashed at their skin like fine shards of glass. They walked hunched over, protecting their faces from the deadly weather. Feelo gripped onto his shawl, stopping it from thrashing about in the wind. But they persevered, following the guiding beacon from Meco’s tail, and before long, the storm abated, lasting only twenty minutes.

  Through the dying haze of sand, a looming, shadowy figure formed in the distance. Meco barked twice, bringing a knowing smile to Feelo’s face. “We’re here,” he said, pulling off his mask now that the winds had slowed.

  Through the tempest the Ixion became visible. It towered high above them, its massive frame sat on three landing struts that sunk deep into the loose ground. Its boxy design was over-engineered, its belly cut away at sharp angles towards a sleeker, more streamlined hull that sat on top.

  “Wow…” Ava said awestruck, “and you said this is yours!?”

  “You betcha,” Feelo’s smile spread between his ears. He walked up to the belly of the ship and banged twice against the armoured outer hull. “She’s a class-III, Orion designed, Arcadian built, gunship. Her outer hull is lined with adaptive plating. Its structure reinforced with a titanium alloy impervious to heat. Missiles, railguns, cannons, we’ve got it all.”

  Meco barked, staring Feelo in the eyes.

  “Well, we had it all…” he trailed off, pushing the dog’s face away, “most of it is… broken,” he laughed nervously to himself, scratching the back of his head, “but we’re working on it! I promise.”

  “Impressive,” Ava nodded to herself, “how did you afford it?”

  “We can save all that for later,” Feelo jogged between the thick landing braces before reappearing at the rear of the ship, “come and meet the crew.”

  He stood waiting for the rear of the ship to open. Seconds felt like hours as nothing happened. He shifted about on the spot, flashing a weak smile in Ava’s direction. Then, a deafening hiss screeched out from the ship followed by a rolling mist that escaped from the opening rear hatch.

  “Here we go,” he said.

  A ramp lowered down to the ground, digging deep into the sand. Once the loud hydraulics subsided, and the ship settled to a new equilibrium, he put a foot onto the ramp. Meco charged up into the ship without a second thought while Feelo waited to show Ava around.

  “Come on, don’t be scared,” he said, waving her over.

  She stepped towards the Ixion, intimidated by the massive ship and apprehensive about what lay ahead. There was a tingling static in the air that bit at Feelo’s neck as a deep rumbling rode across the dunes. Ava froze, listening to the thunderous sound growing louder as the sky darkened. A deafening clap of ‘thunder’ sent out a pulse wave that rocked the Ixion on its struts and pushed pair to the ground.

  Above, a red fissure formed across the clouds. It shimmered in the dimming light as red energy flashed from the unstable portal. Bolts of crimson lightning arced down towards the sandbanks, exploding and throwing a thick cloud of debris high into the atmosphere.

  Feelo got to his feet during the short lull in the action, offering a hand out to Ava which she accepted. A second deafening clap of ‘thunder’ erupted from the gateway. Its iridescent form disappeared leaving an angry mass of tumbling black clouds.

  “What was that?” asked Feelo, walking away from the ramp to get a better look.

  “… Get on the ship, NOW,” yelled Ava. “Come on!”

  Slicing through the boiling clouds came the nose of a black vessel with blood red lightning sparking off its surface. Luminous ruby chambers sat across the keel of the ship bathing the entire construction in a fiery glow. Its entire form revealed itself from the clouds, its size at least ten times that of the Ixion. Its body rugged and a darkened, a metallic ribcage sat flush against its hull.

  Feelo stood paralysed. He stared up at the menacing ship unable to move. It looked like an Ark of the dead, ferrying its crew of the deceased who still had issues to resolve – At least that’s what it looked like to his overactive imagination.

  “Feelo!” Ava screamed, emptying her lungs.

  She charged across the sand, dragging him back towards the ship by the scruff of his neck. He broke out from his trance to see the tail of the vessel leave the clouds which then swirled away like they had never been there.

  “Let go of me,” he twisted away from her grip.

  A bright red light pulsated from the nose, growing in intensity. Then, with little warning, a beam of energy crackled out from the craft. At incredible speeds, it slammed to the east of the Ixion exploding like a thousand-pound bomb.

  “Holy crap!” Feelo shouted, running up the ramp. “That’s all the warning I needed.”

  He rushed into the ship, entering the loading bay. Ava followed close on his heels, taking a moment to take in the massive space, but there was little time for that. They burst through the open doors out into engineering, bypassing it into the corridor and up the stairs that led to the bridge. Feelo climbed into the pilot’s seat and spun it around so it faced the wide console that spread out in front of him. Out the cockpit window, another energy beam detonated in a nearby dune heating its molecular structure into a shimmering hill of glass.

  “All right, let’s get out of here,” he said, strapping himself in, “go on, take a seat back there,” he thumbed over his shoulder towards the empty seats the rear of the ‘bridge.’

  Ava strapped herself in as an ageing, tall and angry looking man burst through the open door. “What the bloody hell is going on?” he yelled, “and who the hell is this!?”

  “Nothing, no one,” Feelo said, “don’t worry about it.”

  With a grumble, the man moved into a chair beside Ava, his intense eyes locked to hers. Power coursed through the walls as the engines came online. Feelo reached above him, grabbing a comminutor. “Ellie, you ready? We’re outta’ here.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” the female voice replied enthusiastically.

  Smiling over his shoulder, Feelo looked towards the pair behind him, “welcome to Feelo airlines, please remain seated during take-off, our expected journey time is…” he looked at the console, “sixteen hours.”

  Increasing power rushed towards the engines which shook the entire ship. The vibrations grew in intensity before a deafening screech wailed through the vessel followed by an alarm that howled from the console.

  “What was that?” asked Ava, “it sounded like the borzellium limiter failing to me.”

  Feelo turned around, “how d'you know that?”

  “I was an engineer,” she replied, “let me look at it.”

  “No!” the older man yelled over the loud whining, “we don’t even know her, we can’t let her at the engines, what if she’s working with that… that ship out there.”

  Feelo locked eyes with her. “I trust her, Caesar. Go on, Ava, see what you can do, there are tools in the locker, take what you need.”

  She sprinted away just as an energy blast slammed into their hull. The entire ship rocked on its struts and it threw everyone aboard to their side, Ava only just managed to save herself by grabbing onto the railings.

  “Bring the shields up!” Caesar shouted, “arm defences!”

  “I’m doing it, calm down!” replied Feelo, stressing as he flipped switches.

  In an instant, a blue field wrapped around the entire hull. Its electrostatic waves drifted across the window, buzzing against the fake glass. He swung his chair around to face the defence console, inputting commands into the computer, but after a few second
s, a loud double beep buzzed on screen.

  “Point defences are down,” Feelo groaned, “I thought you were the engineer aboard!”

  “I thought you were!” Caesar complained.

  Two more blasts rocked the Ixion, this time dampened by the shield. “Shields are down to forty-three percent!” cried Feelo, “who the hell are these people? How do they have energy weapons? That stuff is reserved for the navy.”

  The intercom buzzed with an incoming transmission. “Try it now,” Ava said between large gulps of breath, “it should be fixed.”

  With a gulp, he engaged the drive, listening as energy raced through the walls once more. For a moment the engines coughed refusing to come online, the two bars on the console were red showing no power reaching the engines.

  “Damn!” yelled Feelo, “come on, do it for me… please?” he whispered into the ship’s ear. Then, pushing the dual levers forward once more, and after a few guttural coughs, the bars filled green, and the engines roared online. “Yeah! Way to go Ava!” he shouted over the comms, “you strapped in?”

  “I’m set,” she drawled, “get out of here.”

  With that, he pulled back on the flight controls. The Ixion lifted from the sand, its small landing repulsors throwing the loose surface in every direction before he angled them towards the thin cloud cover. Then, with two thunderous growls, the twin rear engines propelled them at incredible speeds.

  They accelerated towards the atmosphere’s exit. Feelo’s face vibrated at the thrust which pushed the ship higher and higher. Caesar, though, reached over and brought the rear cameras online. The enemy ship matched their speed, moving without engines or propulsion. The air around the entire vessel shimmered and twisted as if it moved through a heat haze.

  “They’re following us,” he said, “you’ve gotta do more to lose them.”