New Horizons: Chapter 4

“Am I supposed to feel different?” Gray called back as he bounded onto the ship. He was surprisingly chipper for someone who just woken up from having tech implanted in his heart, but all I could focus on was how clear the air tasted on the Event Horizon.

I knew it was bad on Pretia, but there was something novel about taking in a whole lungful of air that didn’t feel thick and heavy. That didn’t leave a bad taste and grit in my mouth. Even in my filtered apartment, breathing hadn’t been this easy.

It was hard to believe there was a time I’d taken breathing for granted.

“Why would you, ksiva? What do they do to you in Earth surgeries?” Lovath’s amused voice calling after Gray sapped away any relief I felt at breathing the Horizon’s air. Ksivas were basically cats, and that was Lovath’s pet name for Gray?

I had to hear an alien call Gray kitten all day?

Ugh.

Gray laughed, a beautiful sound, walking backwards as he turned to face us. “If they had to do something to my heart on Earth, I’d be be in pain and on bed rest for weeks. With a big scar to boot. Barbaric in comparison, right, Derrick?”

“Is it so barbaric in comparison to abducting humans from their homes and trading them in an illegal exotics market?” I huffed, in no mood to sing the praises of the Shukasi Federation or space society in general, to be honest.

Gray scowled, “Don’t be an asshole. The same shit happens on Earth.”

Didn’t I know it. But Earth wasn’t quite the same. We didn’t treat people like animals just because we thought they were of lesser intelligence or…well, the comparison was definitely there. I wanted to go home, but I could admit humans had some of the same failings, which I had found myself on the negative end of before.

I tried to ignore the boxes of illegal goods cluttering up the cargo bay as the landing ramp closed up behind us, but I just knew all sorts of contraband was in there. Kryn, Lovath, and Gray led me up a dangerous-looking ladder into a an open area that split into two hallways around a middle section that probably had most of the living quarters.

The hallways converged into another open area that seemed to function as some sort of mess hall, with a small kitchenette and a table and bench welded into the wall. Directly ahead, the large panel door that would normally hide the flight deck was open, displaying two nu’jaro manning the controls.

Nu’jaro were fish-like people that stood on digitigrade legs and had sharp, serrated teeth. Every nu’jaro I’d seen had brightly colored, uniquely patterned skin, and the two in front of me were no different. The one in the navigator’s chair was a deep purple with dark blue spots and his long green hair was braided intricately down his back. When he turned his chair to face us, light glinted on the scales edging his scowling features.

The other was golden skinned with bright red stripes, her hair a dark blue. Even sitting, she was clearly a bit taller than her male nu’jaro counterpart, which I’d discovered was quite common for their species. Neither of them were in skinsuits, but I knew any nu’jaro off their home planet had to supplement moisture to survive and sometimes wore skinsuits that did just that.

I hadn’t met these two almost six months ago when I’d tried to convince Lovath to leave Gray behind on Pretia. They’d already returned to the ship, so I’d only seen Lovath, Kryn, and Qwexil. Just the thought of Qwexil made me bristle.

“Derrick, this is Talisaar, our navigator, and Zenkara, our communications specialist. Tal and Zen, Derrick is our new mechanic.”

Talisaar—the purple one—made a disgruntled noise and rolled his large round eyes. “Great, another drekking human. Exactly what the ship needs.”

“Think humans have smaller brains than you, fish face?” I snapped, crossing my arms. Nu’jaro were bigger and taller than humans in general, but Talisaar sat in a chair all day and nu’jaro had bad stamina off their homeworld. I could probably beat him in a fight.

Gray made a pfft sort of sound as he laughed and draped an arm over the back of Talisaar’s chair, then leaned down and poked his face. “You talk a lot of shtec, Tal. You love me so much you burned all the Horizon’s fuel to rescue me.”

Talisaar made a sour face, but did nothing else. Had Gray always been so confident and flamboyant? It was nice to see him happy, but I hated that it came at the price of Lovath manipulating him. It was a bit jarring to hear him start using alien swears too. Was he so deep in this idea he’d stay in space forever?

The golden, striped nu’jaro stood and held out her hand, a very human gesture, and I shook it. “Gray taught me that.” She sounded proud. “Nice to meet you, Derrick.”

“You too, Zenkara.” I wasn’t an absolute dick. She was being polite so I could be too. “Can you get me up to date on your search for Qwexil?” Really I should’ve asked to see the engine room and get walked through all the equipment, but I had a one track mind when it came to Gray.

Zenkara’s smile turned into a scowl. “The last lead I had traces him into deep space. Edge of the Milky Way, just outside of Shukasi Federation control. I actually have news on that. I think he’s hiding out in the Undoor DMZ.”

“A demilitarized zone?” I asked at the same time as Lovath swore under his breath. My translator was probably picking out the closest thing to what they meant, but the idea of it seemed so human. I’d met a few undoor on Pretia, and they were avian but more in a dinosaur sort of way. No feathers. No one had ever indicated to me that their homeworld was a DMZ.

“Yes, it’s very dangerous there, too. They border Imperium space.”

“Imperium?” Gray shot Kryn a concerned glance. “No one’s mentioned that before.”

I wanted to do something stupid like point out that was the exact reason humans like him and me didn’t belong in space. There was too much society and too many political technicalities that we knew nothing about. Until humans naturally joined alien society, it was better for us to stay where we belonged.

Lovath scrubbed his jaw with his hand, clearly vexed. “Because we’re not stupid enough to go near the border. Shukasi aren’t the only telepaths out there, and unfortunately the only thing telepaths can agree with each other on that they’re more evolved than the rest of us. The Respian Imperium and the Shukasi Federation have been at war for centuries.”

“And that’s a problem in the Undoor DMZ because…?” I led the conversation, because I wanted to know exactly what I was getting myself into. There was no way in hell I would back down if that’s where we’d find Qwexil, but being prepared never hurt anyone.

“There was an undoor uprising thirty years ago.” Gruff Talisaar volunteered, surprisingly enough. “Lovath and I fought in it together. When the Federation beat back their forces, they demilitarized their homeworld. No Federation or undoor military allowed.”

It made sense that Talisaar was a military type; I was more shocked that Lovath had been a soldier too. I was starting to understand what the problem was, though. “So you said the Undoor DMZ borders the Imperium. No military means that the DMZ is unprotected space?”

“Not exactly. There’s Fed forces on the border itself, but not inside the DMZ. Meaning all the Imperium has to do is get across the border to invade the entire area. They’ve been trying for years.” Lovath did not look happy. “We don’t drek around over there for a reason.”

“The DMZ is a large hub for exotic trade too. It’s dangerous to bring humans that way, not to mention it could take months to get there.” Kryn offered, very unhelpfully.

“Look, you don’t have all this for me.” Gray was shaking his head, brows creased together in a frown. “If he’s that far out, we’ll probably never see him again, right? We should just let him rot out there.”

“No.” Lovath’s eyes flared, and I hated the jealousy that surged when Gray sidled up next to him and let Lovath slump his arm over his shoulders. “I told you I was going to kill Qwexil with my own hands. That hasn’t changed. We’ll just need to be careful.”

“And if it’s not worth it?”

“If it helps, Tal and I already set the trajectory and there’s nothing you can do to change it.” Unfazed, Zenkara shot Gray a toothy grin. Compared to Talisaar—her husband, I was pretty sure—she certainly was optimistic. “Just try and hack the nav system.”

At that, Gray barked a laugh. “Is that a challenge, Zen?”

“Even if you could, you wouldn’t understand enough of it to change course without crashing the ship.” She teased back, and something about their interaction stabbed at my chest. They were so…familiar. Like family. For the first time I understood how Gray might think this crew of alien smugglers could care about him. It kind of seemed like it might be true.

“In that case, can you show me where I’m staying? And I’d appreciate an overview of the engine room.” I was only looking at Gray, and he startled like he’d forgotten me. It hurt to know that maybe he had.

“Of course. I’ll set you up in a room and Lovath can—”

“Kryn can show you around the engine room.” Lovath cut in. “I need to discuss our trajectory with Tal so we can find some jobs along the way. Can’t chase Qwexil down with no credits.”