Separate Ways
Chapter Ten

Corvus sat in the cockpit activating all vital and sub-systems to prepare for take off. After making sure the ship was ready for takeoff, he descended into the main cabin assuming Rik would want to be the one to pilot the ship to safety. As he descended into the main cabin Vikurl entered the ship carrying Rik on his shoulder and quickly dropped him on one of the tables. Vikurl began digging through cabinets until he spotted a large crate marked as First Aid. Opening the crate he placed it on the far end of the table above Rik’s head. Corvus stood there in shock looking at his friend who was fighting for his life.

“What are you waiting for? Get us out of here!” Vikurl ordered. Corvus looked at the pilot’s chair and back at Vikurl.

“I can’t do it, I’ll get us killed.” Corvus said. Corvus knew how to pilot a ship, but he’d never been in anything like they’d been through at Fares. He knew everything there was to know about both maintaining ships and maneuvering in them but flying headfirst into a dogfight needed instincts and guts.

“Rik is going to die if I don’t fix his wounds, and this station is likely to depressurize and implode if this battle gets too intense. You need to get us out of this war zone, now.” He explained much more sterner this time around. Corvus didn’t trust himself or believe in his abilities enough to make a successful escape out of the station and through the massive dogfight outside of the hangar.

“Go!” Vikurl said, pushing Corvus toward the cockpit. Corvus looked down at Rik who was looking over at him though squinted, cringing eyes.

“You can do it, kid.” He said strenuously as he trembled and winced at the immense pain in his side. Corvus stepped up to the pilot’s chair, sat down and quickly ascended into the cockpit. He quickly scanned all systems to make sure they were running, and once he had his confirmation he switched the ship to auto-pilot, which elevated the ship off of the ground. He could feel the power of the ship as it moved and knew what it was capable of; he’d fixed plenty of ships before and made mental notes when Rik was piloting through the last dogfight. He could do this. He had to do this. After all, he didn’t have a choice.

The ship began to exit the hangar and as he advanced closer to the incoming madness, he held his breath and removed auto-pilot with one hand and held the control stick with the other. The ship jerked slightly and he activated the ship’s shields as well as weaponry. Corvus shut his eyes for a moment and remembered everything he’d learned about starships and how to properly maneuver; he’d piloted many ships and deeply understood how they operated, but it was different to know than to do. He pushed the fear and doubt deep into his stomach contributing to the already growing knot. Letting out a deep breath he put the ship into full throttle and shot out of the hangar at a blistering speed.

Before focusing on the enemy fighters, he took a few moments to get a feel for the handling, speed and the power behind the starship. He made a quick few turns and executed some simple evasive maneuvers, and he now felt he understood the ship enough to make a full tilt stride toward the other side of the battle. He straightened his trajectory and began to carve his way through the intense conflict. His hands shook on the controls but he kept his wits about him and kept the starship stabilized amidst the chaos.

After a few moments of maneuvering around a small alarm went off and the rear radar activated informing him that he was being locked onto. He made a few small adjustments to the ratio shared between the shields and the weaponry, nearly deactivating the weapons. Just as the radar chirped out that the lock stuck he quickly nose dived away from the pursuant starfighter. The starfighter kept tightly behind him quickly trying to recapture it’s lock on Corvus.

Before he could react and continue his evasive escape, another fighter blew past them firing a few shots at the starfighter behind them, incinerating it. Corvus exhaled and pulled up now approaching a large Galactic Federation battleship. He felt staying close to them would keep a lot of the heat off of him, but what he didn’t know was that the primary objective of most dogfights were to eliminate the opposing battleship, which he then realized.

Starships shattered all around him in fiery wreckage, a few grazed their ship upon destruction but he kept his eyes on the shields. He noticed the Galactic Federation battleship was under heavy fire near it’s hangar stopping a lot of Federation pilot’s from taking off to defend their battleship. He needed to get them out of the battle, but felt after being saved by the troops on Fares and back at Alpha One , he felt it was necessary to return the favour so he quickly approached the attacking fighters. He diverted some of the power from the shields back into the weaponry and also reduced the speed to attack speed to help charge the weaponry.

At this moment, Corvus’ fear and doubt began to fuel his courage and he began to feel invincible. Like gunning down the IRP soldiers, and the mercenaries on Alpha One, his instincts kicked in and everything began to fall into picture perfect place.

He found his first target and began locking on but shortly after Corvus’ prey began moving evasively trying to shake his lock but he stayed tight on his tail. The lock connected but Corvus waited until the fighter who was turning right made a quick decision to break right in order to break the lock, which would give Corvus a short window to lead his shot and annihilate him. Reading the pilot’s maneuvering Corvus waited patiently and eventually reefed back on the throttle nearly stopping the ship in it’s tracks and spinning to the right slightly and firing a barrage of shots that decimated the fighter who flew right into Corvus’ trap.

Corvus cheered quickly and focused back on the battle, picking another target. There were about six fighters attacking the battleship’s hangar, and only two other Federation starships. He quickly eliminated one of them and another came around to plow itself into Corvus recognizing him as an immediate threat to their attack on the hangar. He couldn’t dodge in time but a Federation pilot behind him fired a quick shot into the wing of the fighter causing it to drastically change it’s trajectory, resulting in the fighter spinning passed Corvus and soon shattering into flaming debris.

Whew. He thought to himself. His new wingman was now hanging by his side as they chased down fighters as a unit, making the enemy fighters begin to panic when they got locked onto causing them to falter and let the two pilot’s gun them down easier, and quicker. After they teamed up on a few fighters the wingman broke off and headed back toward the battle now that the Federation pilot’s could launch and assist their battleship. Corvus turned away from the hangar and began making his way out of the fray. Suddenly, a radio call came in from a local source and the reading informed Corvus that it was from the battleship. He accepted the connection.

“Pilot, don’t know who you are but thank you for your assistance. What’s your call sign?” asked a deep, commanding voice.

“No problem, look, just call me Corvus. I really need to get out of this battle. It’s a long story but I need to get to my sister.” He responded. There was crackling on the other side of the call and Corvus waited for some sort of response.

“Alright, Corvus, I’ve got two of my men who are going to escort you out of this hell hole. Thanks again for your help.” He said as the call cut shortly after. Corvus checked his sides and now noticed the two starfighters approach and get into formation with him. Now escorting Corvus through the battle, the wingmen stayed close and picked off any threats that approached them.

Corvus appreciated the assistance and pulled away from the now fading battle behind them. Alpha One was in flames and he now felt even worse for those poor slaves back there. Many of them were about to die a quick and painless death, which to some of them may be a blessing. Now that they were out of the battle he decided to turn auto-pilot and a crackling went back over the radio.

“Thank you again, Corvus.” Said the same deep voice.

“Thank you.” He replied as he descended down into the main hull.

“We’re out?” he asked. Corvus nodded.

“Yeah, Federation fighters gave us a hand.” He responded. Vikurl nodded and cut the large piece of gauze he’d wrapped around Rik’s waste. He tossed it back into the crate and fell into the chair behind him and letting out a long exhale.

“Is he gonna be alright?” Corvus asked looking at Rik who was now unconscious.

“Yes, I stopped the infection from spreading and the wound is partially sealed. Luckily no vital organs were damaged, and Borin clumsily used an ion powered weapon. It wouldn’t cause bleeding, but would scorch him enough to kill him if not treated. He’s lucky to be alive either way.” Vikurl explained. Luck hadn’t been on their side during their encounter on Alpha One he thought, but the more Corvus thought about it the more he realized that luck may have played a large factor in both their search and escape. Corvus sat down at a smaller, circular table in the corner and slammed his head down on the table.

The reality had set in that he had no clue where Sasha was going and really who she was with. She could be going through hell at the moment and there was nothing he could do. He sat up and rubbed the sides of his head and shut his eyes trying to think of any solution. Vikurl could see the dismay and disappointment in his face.

“I’m sorry, Corvus. We will figure something out.” Vikurl said trying to lighten the mood, which only enraged Corvus.

“Damnit, this is bullshit!” he screamed slamming his fists down into the table.

“I was right there! I could see her, but she wouldn’t turn around! I screamed her name and she just wouldn’t turn around.” he yelled standing up and pacing across the room trying to keep his cool. He didn’t want to accept the fact that it may have been the last time he was ever going to see Sasha again, and a part of him wanted to give up and solidify the last memory of her in his head but he couldn’t accept that. He wouldn’t. He didn’t accept anything less than her safe return since Fares and he wasn’t going to give up until he was dead.

“Let’s just get our bearings and wait until Rik wakes up. He’ll have a better course of action than I.” Vikurl said. Corvus looked over at him.

“You’re a slave trader, don’t you know all these scumbags that buy these slaves?” Corvus asked angrily.

“No, I don’t.” He responded.

“So, what, you get a free ride out of hell with us only to deliver on nothing?!” yelled Corvus. Vikurl stood up and slammed his fist into the steel table.

“I saved your friend’s life, twice! Not to mention that your friend had been hunting me the last few weeks of my life, so trust me, if I really wanted to, the both of you would be dead right now!” he shouted back at Corvus, nearly knocking him into his seat with his near animalistic roar. Corvus waited for a moment for Vikurl to take his eyes off of him and let the tension loosen a bit between them before speaking.

“You’re right, just, chill. Sorry.” Corvus said looking over at him. Vikurl nodded his head but kept the sour, angry look on his face.

“Very well.” He said, sitting down beside Rik. The man and alien sat in silence as the starships engine roared and O2 system pumped air into the room from above them. Corvus could tell the ship had been fixed more thoroughly while they were on Alpha One, and he was glad they still weren’t working when they returned to the ship.

“You did good, kid.” Vikurl said. Corvus appreciated the sentiment but simply nodded and turned away from Vikurl.

“We’re still alive, so that’s what counts.” He stated. Corvus wasn’t sure if he was at all content with the idea of breathing at the moment. Every thought of Sasha that passed through his head twisted his gut and poked at his emotions taunting them into popping like a balloon. If Sasha was still alive and breathing he prayed that she wasn’t going through any more pain as she’d seen and been through enough which was more than Corvus really knew.

Corvus plucked at the idea of inquiring what exactly Borin put Sasha through while she was in his possession but he knew the answer would only anger him further so he avoided it with caution. They decided to wait in silence for Rik to wake up, and Corvus hoped it wouldn’t take too long. The awkward silence was getting to be too much to handle, and although Vikurl was now helping them, Corvus couldn’t help but feel angry and vengeful toward Vikurl. He wanted to kill him before, and the feeling still hadn’t left.

Roughly an hour had passed and Rik began to shuffle around now waking up from the drugs Vikurl gave him to kill the pain and knock him unconscious. Corvus stood up and walked over to Rik looking down at him. His eyes were fluttering as he struggled to regain consciousness and he began to moan. Corvus shook his friend’s shoulders trying to assist him out of his sleep. Rik’s eyes opened slowly and at first the room was blurry, and Corvus’ blurry silhouette made him squint to see who it was.

“Corvus? Where is Sasha?” he asked, being the first thought on his mind which Corvus appreciated that Rik genuinely cared about his situation even after failing to kill the Butcher.

“I don’t know. We lost her again, Rik.” He responded woefully. Rik turned his head away from Corvus and began inspecting his ship.

“Where are we? What’s happened?” he asked.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Corvus responded.

“Looking at Borin, at Alpha One… I don’t think I got him.” He said, looking down at his stomach.

“No, you didn’t.” Vikurl said, sitting across the room looking over at Rik with his arms crossed. Rik sat up slightly and saw his familiar foe on the other side of the room, and for a moment forgetting their partial alliance.

“What’s he doing here?” Rik asked already searching for his gun.

“He’s okay. He, oddly enough saved your life.” Corvus explained. Rik pulled himself up slowly and sat with his legs hanging off of the table. The pain in his gut was intolerable. He was familiar with this pain as he’d been shot many times and it hurt as much as he remembered it did. His headache was gone from before getting shot by Borin.

“Why?” Rik asked. Vikurl stood up and hung his rifle he’d been cleaning while waiting for Rik to wake up on a small peg on the frame of the exit ramp.

“Like I explained to Corvus, if it weren’t for Sasha you would be dead right now. I promised that little girl I’d help her, and if it means keeping you two alive then you are in good hands.” Vikurl explained.

“So, when we rescue the girl you’re going to turn around and kill me?” Rik responded quickly barely letting Vikurl finish his explanation.

“I was hoping it would not resort to that, but don’t think I won’t kill you.” He said holding his arms out and letting them fall back to his sides. Rik thought about the proposal for a moment, and there were plenty of other bounties. He could collect on Borin later and get a decent pay check, since Vikurl was worth far less than Borin, at least in the eyes of the authority. Either way it was money.

“We’ll see.” Rik said.

“Rik, I don’t think we’re going to replace her. Vikurl nor I have no idea who the guy is who bought her is or where he is going.” Corvus explained.

“Do you know his name, anything?” Rik asked Vikurl.

“Some guy who called himself the Baron, dumb son of a bitch outbid the Black Butcher.” He responded. Rik’s eyes widened and he looked away from them being smacked with a stunning realization that made him smile.

“The Baron? You didn’t see his face?” he asked. Both Corvus and Vikurl shook their heads. Rik let out a laugh which ended quickly when he held his gut wincing from the laughter. He chuckled standing on his feet and leaning against the table.

“I miss something?” asked Corvus after looking at Vikurl with a mirror image of his confusion.

“Set course for Sareen, it’s not far from here.” Rik said, approaching the pilot’s chair. Corvus followed behind him and grabbed his arm pulling him away from the chair.

“Sareen? That’s another moon of Delirium, why there?” Corvus asked seriously. Rik pulled his arm away from Corvus and wanted to tell him everything but at this point in the journey, Rik knew it would do more harm then good; Corvus had to replace out by himself but it wouldn’t hurt to quench his thirst for answers.

“I know the Baron, she’s in good hands, kid. Try to relax.” Rik said slumping down in his chair and ascending into the cockpit. A blanket of relief covered Corvus and warmed him to a point he hadn’t felt in what seemed like days. Rik knew the Baron and said that she’d be in good hands with the man that purchased her but what really bugged Corvus was how Rik knew the Baron and why someone would overpay for a slave that he wouldn’t treat as a slave. His hope overshadowed his suspicion of Rik’s connection to the Baron so he decided not to ask. If Sasha was really okay, then he was going to see her again very soon.

Corvus had gone a long time with the feeling but finally after the past events had unfolded the way they did, the knot in his stomach was gone. He felt slightly normal again.

Sasha sat in silence as the churning hum of the ship made her feel fatigued and the gentle sway of the ship rocked her slowly in and out of consciousness. She needed a good night’s sleep, but her mind kept waking her up thinking her new owner was watching her. Now that her adrenaline had subsided slightly, the cuts on her body and the bruises on her sides, neck and arms were sore now; the headache was mostly gone, but now her scalp burned from being pulled on several times. Her new owner had been very gentle and kind with her since his purchase, but he hadn’t said more than three words to her aside from telling her to sit down and be calm. It was strange that he said be calm and not be quiet, as she’d been told to shut up several times since she was kidnapped.

Suddenly, she could feel the ship vibrate and then shake from the impact of landing. The cooling system kicked in which began to bring all of the sub-systems down and the engine slowly disengaged. Looking around at the interior of the ship, she was quite impressed with how well kept it was by the mysterious pilot. The Baron emerged from the cockpit and looked over at her through his helmet, letting out a deep sigh of what seemed to be relief. Sasha tensed up slightly, not knowing what to expect from the man.

He simply stared back at her, and soon approached her and knelt down in front of her, putting his hand on her knee. Sasha moved her leg slightly away from the man out of instinct and her eyes intensified.

“Sorry.” She said.

“Don’t be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for, kiddo.” The man said, calmingly. She gulped and wanted to look away, but her gaze would not break away from the pilot’s helmet as she ached to see the man’s face that was on the other side of the thick, dark glass.

“Who are you?” she asked. With her being a slave, she didn’t know whether the question was out of order and embraced for a commanding strike of dominance but the man nodded.

“I suppose you deserve that.” He said. The man put both his hands to the ring that connected the helmet to his thick pilot’s suit and unhinged two small clips that held it in place, releasing a sizzle of air from inside the helmet. Before he removed it he stopped his movement.

“I need you to promise me that you’ll stay calm.” The Baron said. Sasha was shocked at the request, and now she wasn’t so sure she wanted to see the man. It was possible that he could be covered in burns, or perhaps he wasn’t even human; he could be a horrific looking alien that’d cause her to scream against her own will. The last thing she wanted to do was anger her new owner, so she simply nodded and prepped herself for the reveal.

“Okay.” He said, slowly twisting the helmet counter-clockwise and lifting it up. The man pulled it off and held it in front of him, looking down at his feet at first and then into Sasha’s eyes. His bright blue eyes were beacons into her past and they read like a book that told a story from her birth to this moment. The Baron’s face was stained with oil and the black fumes from working around ships, similar to her brother’s complexion. The stubble that lined his jaw had been there for a while and was beginning to grow into a thick black beard. His jet black hair looked as if it had been slicked back at one point, but being inside of his helmet made some of the strands stick up and give him what looked like serious bedhead, much like her brother had on early mornings. She had seen this face before.

Sasha was now convinced that she’d passed out earlier and what she was seeing couldn’t possibly be real. It was as if an angel had taken off it’s helmet and graced her with it’s presence, releasing her from all her fears and sorrows. She felt like her brother had taken a helmet off to show her that he had somehow bought her at the auction, but she remembered her brother’s face. It was younger than this, but that gaze of brilliant bright blue was unmistakable in her family. All of the men had those ocean blue eyes; her brother had them, and her father had them. A part of Corvus was staring at her; a part of her was staring back at her. It was her father.

“Dad?” she said, barely even able to mutter to word. Her heart began to race, praying that she’d never wake up and that she could stay in this place forever but she never woke. The moment continued and a blanket of soothing warmth overcame her. The man she’d known only a few times cracked a small grin that was mixed with happiness and guilt. He had never been there, but at the most critical time in her life, when all hope had been reduced to a dwindling light at the end of an infinite hall of darkness, he was there.

“Is it really you?” she asked again, needing to be sure but deep down she knew her answer. Before her father could answer, she jumped at him and embraced him tightly, gripping the back of his pilot’s coat. He hugged her as well and comforted her as she began to cry into his shoulder. Her tears came from a deep place she didn’t venture to often, even with Corvus. Some things were meant to be hers and hers only, but the moment ripped her deepest emotions from her subconscious and poured them into her father’s shoulder.

“Im sorry, Sasha. Everything is going to be okay.” He said into her ear. She wanted to hold it all back and talk with him about everything but her emotions were stronger than they’d ever been and they hurt to hold onto, so she unpacked them before her father which is something she has wanted to do since her mother died. He had been absent for most of her and her brother’s life and although she hated him for it she could not help but be filled with joy. There was so much to say, so much to ask, that she hoped she’d have the time.

After what seemed like only seconds, her father gently pulled her off of him and looked into her tear soaked eyes.

“Let’s get you inside, I’ll clean you up and fix some of those scars.” He said. She nodded as her father led her out of the ship and onto a large landing platform with ships all around. The air was thick and the clouds were dark green, blocking out most of the sunlight. She was surrounded by buildings taller than she could see as the air around her was foggy. Her father led her across the platform over to a small building that looked very worn down and aged from years of careless tenants.

All of the buildings on this mysterious world were black and built into spiked spires that resembled stalagmite in a deep, dark cave. The dark green light from the sky barely pierced through the thick cloud coverage and gave the entire planet a green tint. She couldn’t explain the smell around her, but it was a mix of petrichor, moss and a little like the liquid Vikurl had given her back on the slaver’s ship.

The small door squeaked open as it slid across the metal rails holding it in place revealing the interior of a grungy, dark apartment. Her father shut the door behind them and punched in a code that locked the door. He walked up behind her as she looked around at the mess of his and put his hands on her shoulders.

“It’s just an outpost, while I was in the area.” He said. She walked across the room pulling away from his hands and looking at a small assortment of crates that were half opened and spilled out onto the floor. She turned toward him, tears still in her eyes but of a different origin.

“Were you even going to come by, since you were so close?” she asked, fighting both her tears and the need to break down screaming at him. He sighed knowing their meeting would come to this, but he knew that this was going to happen; he accepted that he deserved it.

“You don’t understand, Sasha.” He said trying to defuse her, which failed.

“No, dad, you’re right! I don’t understand! If Corvus were here, he would’ve killed you by now!” she screamed.

“Just sit down, and listen to what I have to say.” He said quietly, trying to explain himself, but it was no use as Sasha continued.

“No, I don’t have to listen to anything you have to say! I don’t give a shit what your excuse is! I wanted a dad, and I needed a dad! Ever since mom died, Corvus has been there for me every step of the way, no matter how bitchy, or angry or sad I got; he was there!” she screamed finally breaking down and falling onto a dark brown sofa that had paperwork sprawled across it.

Her father stood in the middle of the room, unable to move with his arms at his side awkwardly. He had dealt with emotions like this in other soldiers he knew, but never in a young girl, let alone his daughter.

“I’m sorry, Sasha. I had no choice.” He said after a long, drawn out silence. She looked down at her feet and gripped the edge of the couch. She looked up at him again barely lifting her head and glared at him.

“We all have a choice, you made yours.” She replied.

“Sasha, I was protecting you and your brother, whether you want to believe me or not.” He explained.

“Protecting us from what?!” she raised her voice, now clenching her fists. The thought of punching him in the face crossed her mind and stayed there like a parasite but it would solve nothing although it might have made her feel better.

“Protecting you from everything you’ve been through.” He replied.

“You did a hell of a job,” she responded through gritted teeth. He walked over to her and sat down beside her shuffling some of the papers out of the way. She would not make eye contact with him, and stared forward to where he stood moments ago. Her face was red with anger and she was visibly shaking, and as much as her father wanted to comfort her, he couldn’t.

“Sasha, what did your mother tell you about me?” he asked her. Sasha shrugged and looked down at her hands which were tense with ferocity, now gripping her knees trying to keep her cool.

“That you were nothing but a freighter pilot.” She responded. The Baron nodded and smirked slightly; knowing that his wife had kept his secret from their children made him feel warm. She was an amazing woman and he would’ve done anything to help her but her illness came at a intense time for him. He felt awful, but he knew his wife would understand. Sasha looked over at him and he shook his head slowly.

“I’m not a freighter pilot, Sasha.” He stated.

“Then what are you? Who are you? Is your name even Orion? You can’t even call yourself that, you hide behind that ridiculous name. ” she yelled turning fully toward him. He was pleasantly surprised that his children would even remember his real name, but of course he didn’t know them all that well. He pulled a pin off his chest that resembled a green star that was lined with gold trim and had words written along the trim. Handing it to her he closed it in her hand and held her hands for a moment.

“I’m a starfighter pilot, for the Galactic Federation.” He began to explain, “The only reason the war broke out on Fares was because our defences were thin and it finally broke, letting the IRP forces in. For the last fifteen years, I’ve been fighting wars across the sector trying to keep the IRP from invading. I’m a high priority target of the IRP, and if I returned home I feared that they’d replace you and use you to get to me.” Sasha listened intently but did not want to believe what she heard.

She wanted to call him out and smash his bluff into pieces but as she pulled her hands away from him and looked down at the pin he gave her, it was a service star in the Federation fleet with his name etched in the centre. Corvus had shown her one of these before after replaceing it in one of the ships that had arrived as wreckage that his service shop used for parts and raw materials. It was authentic, at least as far as Sasha could tell, and she assumed her father wouldn’t lie to her. He may have been absent, but it didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t a nice man. Their mother spoke very highly of him, despite how absent he was from their lives.

“I wanted to come home, every day to see you two. I wanted to hug you, and teach you and bring you up as a father, but had I left for even a day the war would’ve come sooner and killed all of us.” He explained holding back tears now himself.

“The guilt, I have felt over the last twenty years has been crippling. I haven’t slept properly in months, and ever since I heard you were kidnapped I’ve searching for you.” He said. Sasha raised an eyebrow and looked at her father.

“How did you know I was kidnapped?” she asked him. He smiled and looked into his daughter’s eyes which so closely resembled her mother’s it almost made him cry. Just speaking with her for the last few minutes has reminded him so much of his wife and it made a warmth rise up in him that he hadn’t felt for nearly a decade. The hair was a striking difference, but her eyes, nose, mouth and even voice reminded him dearly of the woman that stole his heart and gave him two children he never had the chance to watch grow up. Two decades of guilt and fighting had piled up on his shoulders and he felt he could now release at least some of it, as his daughter was now safe. There was one more child he had to look after now, but he knew Corvus was in good hands.

“You have a guardian angel, honey. You and your brother both.” He said.