Xeno Core

"And there's really an orb like him in every spaceship?"

Han's doubt is well-founded, as I'm of course superior to those other cores.

"Really," answers Yosip. "But ours is the only one we've ever found with an alien spirit trapped inside."

The youth peers at me, a measuring look in his eyes. "Why is he different?"

"Please don't get him started," begs Yosip.

"What about this ship," inquires Han. "Is there a magic ball powering it?"

"No," I answer. "This scout craft, like others its size, relies upon banks of batteries. It needs to charge at a carrier or other appropriately outfitted dock between trips."

"Right. Power cores are rare," supplies Yosip. "Rare enough that even Mos Denn is too valuable not to use."

"Yes, and I need to get back to work."

Yosip is silent. Suspiciously so. Han cocks his head at the gray officer and says, "Have you not told him yet?"

"Mm, well."

"Told me what?"

Yosip sighs and stands from his place at the table. "We've been replaced, Mos."

"That can't be right. Are you sure you read the message correctly?"

"I'm sure, Mos. It's simple. The Matron got word back from Prime. You can't be trusted because of your origins, and I've been deemed too close with the Tserri."

Yosip paces heavily around the room. "They're giving my job to Eva, not that she doesn't deserve it, and I'm being promoted to Patron. They've got a retirement posting all planned out for me."

"What about the station?"

"For now, Jim's stuck there. The core from his ship is taking your place. Jim's whole crew is on temporary leave until a replacement core can be shipped in system."

"I should have you know I did much more than simply keep the lights running."

"Yeah, and the Matron'll find that out soon enough. Until then you're coming with us."

"Yeah!" Han bounces in his seat with unspent energy. "The miners found something weird."

The scowl on Yosip's face grows more intense. "Those poor bastards weren't prepared for what they found. The one that made it back requested help, and I think we could be useful before they bury us for good. One last mission."

That's a lot to absorb all at once. No longer needed, either of us. I seize onto the final revelation, a chance to die in battle rather than be retired once more.

"If it's too dangerous for the miners, why do you want to bring Han?"

"That's not fair!" Han leaps to his feet shouting at the same time that Yosip levels one arm at me.

"I don't have much choice. If we take him back to the station, we won't be able to leave again, none of us." He takes a deep breath and runs the other hand across his face. "We can't leave him here. The nomads have a blood price on him," explains Yosip. "And beside th-"

"I wanna go," interrupts Han. "This is my chance to earn some respect from the others."

"And besides that," I say, finishing for the officer. "You don't need to explain yourself to a rock?"

Yosip laughs once, quietly. "No. I was gonna say that I don't think I could stop him from coming."

"Yeah!"

Using one arm, Yosip gently shoves the youth away from the table. Han pretends to fight against the bigger male before being pushed back laughing. Yosip shakes his head, not quite hiding the smile that plays across his gray face.

"We're just waiting on clearance to leave. I told Eva we'd be going straight to the station, but..."

"But that's just to get them to give us time to get away," finishes Han.

"I didn't like lying to her, but we will be going back, eventually," Yosip explains in a pained voice.

I can hear the unspoken, maybe, at the end of his statement, though Han takes it at only surface value. His furry face never stops grinning. Yosip looks at me, pleading with his glass eyes.

"Just a short delay, of course," I agree. "Then we accept our new positions with quiet dignity."

Yosip snorts loudly, but Han nods along as if I had said something sensible.

The main screen above the piloting console lights up. Yosip signals Han to answer it, and a smiling female Tserri appears on the display.

"Everything's ready, Supply-Master," she states in a cheerful tone. "Be sure to give my regards to Vren."

"Of course, Nerra," confirms Yosip. "Thanks again for taking care of the paperwork."

"Oh, you'll owe me one for it, don't doubt," teases Nerra before terminating the call.

"We won't be speaking with Vren any time soon, will we Yosip?"

"Didn't take you long to figure that out," he confirms. "You might be getting better at understanding us, after all. Besides, Terla would gut her like a three-legged gau."

"Can I launch us?"

"Do you remember the sequence I taught you?"

"Yes, Yosip, I do," confirms Han.

"Then bring us out. Slowly, please."

The youngster concentrates upon his task and misses the pained look that crosses Yosip's scarred face. It passes quickly, and Yosip himself makes no mention of it, so I won't either. Not until Han's asleep.

Han does a more than adequate job of clearing the hangar, as expected of one training under the Supply-Master. Yosip praises the youth's piloting skills and commands him to head out on an elliptical course toward Kalibern. Han snickers quietly as he inputs the coordinates.

We're bombarded with transmissions, well wishes from the assorted miners and prospectors, though there are a few messages containing less than pleasant greetings. Some of the miners make threats, demanding that Han be turned over to them.

"Ignore them," recommends Yosip. "If they want to take it farther than threats we'll deal with it. Those little tugs are only dangerous to unarmed rocks."

One scavenger ship, armed with a plasma torch and claws, decides to impede our flight path. It's bigger than the scout that we're in, but is mostly storage space. Yosip's scowl deepens, but he doesn't issue orders for a change in trajectory.

"Sir?"

"Hold steady, Han. He's just posturing. Gotta look good in front of his pals."

"We're getting awful close."

"Don't worry," Yosip says, standing up. "If they don't move by the time I get to the turret, well. Don't worry."

"Sir?"

Yosip waves one metal hand at the youth on his way out. "Slow down, if you want, but don't stop."

"Yessir."

Yosip's footsteps echo back to us as he plods down the corridor. Han decreases our speed with a sigh. Emboldened by this, the scavenger's plasma torch begins to warm up. Blue-white gas, visible only for the miners' convenience, flares from the nozzle of the plasma cutter.

The other vessel turns, tracking us with the mining torch as we approach. The lights in the scout dim from a sudden power draw. Yosip must be powering up the turret.

We enter the scavenger's range and super-heated particles leap towards us. Cosmic fire bathes the scout, and systems whine at the abuse. The scout ship lurches. Two heavy slugs impact the scavenger, tearing holes through the thin hull.

The fire cuts off. Unable to survive many more shots like that, the scavenger flares its engines and backs off.

A high-pitched cheer erupts from our young pilot, and he increases our speed to its previous levels. Before long, Yosip emerges from the rear corridor, face drained of color.

"You were right," cheers Han. "They ran after the first shot!"

"Yeah, told you," grunts Yosip, taking his place once more in the nominal command seat. "Now they get to say they survived a fight against spirit magic. Pah."

It does seem that they got exactly what they wanted. "You could have taken another shot before they were out of range."

Yosip shakes his head. "I could have. We could have slagged them. Given their buddies the excuse to get together and come after us. It's better to exchange light blows and everybody gets to win."

"Yes," I say, reasoning out loud. "They're are witnesses around. And they'll all be able to say that we took damage on our way back to the station."

"New course set!"

"Good job, Han. I noticed a stutter during that little tilt. Why don't you go down and check out the batteries? Make sure they're all hooked up right."

"Yessir!"

Han leaps from his chair and races out of the room. Yosip's frown softens at the sight, and I admit that the youth's antics can be quite endearing.

"Now that Han isn't around to hear it, how bad is it, Yosip?"

"Let's just say that I'd rather be one of Jim's plants right now."