Twinks in Space: Fantastic Voyage - Part Two - 61. Chapter 61 - New Recruit

The three men were eating three different meals at the Last Supper. In front of Lyoth was a bowl of spicy pork with mushrooms and greens over oatmeal; Phentrom was enjoying crispy boar belly in sweet and sour sauce with quinoa, and Captain Suoki was partway through a large bowl of brothy soup with thick noodles, chunks of fatty meat, and plenty of fresh herbs floating on the surface.

Stawren and Thadjit stepped up to the table where the three men were seated.

“Thadjit wants to join us,” Stawren informed the men.

“Glad to have you, Thadjit,” Lyoth replied.

Stawren added, “And she’s got info about those three imprisoned godstrolls.”

Lyoth perked up, “You do? Please tell us.” He waved for the two women to join them at the table. “Can we get either of you some food?”

“We had a snack while we were talking,” Stawren stated. “I told her a lot of what we’ve gone through recently.”

Thadjit nodded. “I may not completely agree with what you’re doing, but I understand, and I’ll help you make this easier. In answer to Stawren’s question from earlier, yes, I do have a way to extract blood from a body, and I’ll provide you with a device, but you’ll need to find a means of travel that won’t attract attention to you.”

“I told her about the Galaxy Surfer,” Stawren added. “Turns out maybe we should’ve hung onto those police cruisers.”

“Too bad,” Phentrom replied.

“Too bad we didn’t get to watch them explode,” Lyoth countered, repeating Captain Suoki, who smirked.

“The Tonizal Empire,” Thadjit continued, “has put a lot of energy into scanning the space within their quadrants. They track every vessel that travels through the realm. You’ll need to find something besides the starship you came here on, and you’ll need to have a reason for being near the edge of the empire before you try to leave. Whatever ship you end up taking will be tracked, along with every other starship flying within imperial space, so you don’t want any reason to stand out from all the other vessels they’ll be tracking at the same time.”

“There are no shuttles that leave the empire,” Stawren declared.

“Ever,” Thadjit added, “the only way out is to have a ship of your own. You’ll need to visit – or at least seem like you’re visiting – one of the systems close to the edge of the empire, and make a break for it from there.”

Phentrom spoke up, “Thadjit, why are you helping us?”

She sighed. “I’m happy in my life here. I enjoy what I do, and I make a very good living at it.” She paused and became serious. “But I’ve had friends who left, and I’ve heard stories about things that have happened to others. I have a satisfying life in the empire; I’ve been taken care of, but I recognize that not everyone has a situation similar to mine. I get it that you four don’t belong here, and I want to help you get back to your homes and find your lost friends.”

Captain Suoki smiled and took her hand. “Thank you, Thadjit.”

“Finish up, gents,” Stawren encouraged, “and we’ll head back to Thadjit’s shop.”

Thadjit shook her head. “No, we need to go to a different part of town.”

“Oh, we do?”

“Yes, I can’t give you my aspirator, but I know where you can get one.”

When the three men finished eating, the group followed Thadjit a few blocks over into an even more desolate part of town. There were no people, no shops, no houses, just grey storage buildings. She led them to one that looked no different from any of the others, and the small group entered the quiet structure.

“It’s this way,” Thadjit instructed, heading down a hallway to a flight of stairs. “This is where I apprenticed. It was before the current expansion of the city.”

“What do you mean?” Stawren asked.

“Every few years, the dead royals’ stuff takes up more and more space, so the necropolis needs to be expanded,” Thadjit explained. “We are all provided with new facilities and brand new equipment, so we just leave everything else behind. There should be a lightly-used aspirator up here.”

Captain Suoki chimed in, “Don’t suppose any of these dead royals have starships lying around? It’d be nice to take one and travel in style.”

“Yes, there are a lot,” Thadjit replied, “but all the ships are registered as being docked here with the remains of their former owners. If one of the scanners picked up any of the former royal vessels, they would definitely investigate.” She pulled open a door at the top of the stairs, and a pristine laboratory was behind it. “Welcome to my teenage years. I didn’t spend them all in this specific lab, but in a lot of spaces that were very similar.” She began to rummage through some drawers. “Let’s see…”

Lyoth, Phentrom, Stawren, and Captain Suoki watched her search, but they were not sure what the tool looked like.

“Oh wait a second,” Thadjit exclaimed, “replacement needles! You’ll need these also.” She placed a pack of them onto a tabletop. “You can reuse the tube, but you’ll want fresh needles. Now where’s the aspirator?” She squatted down and pulled open a few lower cupboards but was still unable to find the tool.

“Does this still work?” Captain Suoki asked, pointing at an electric teapot.

Thadjit glanced over at him. “I’m sure it does, but I’ve got a more serious question; is there any coffee left?”

“Doesn’t look like it, but there’s tea.” Captain Suoki set about making a cup for each of them.

Thadjit pulled open a closet door, and she found the aspirator. “Here it is!” She brought it out and set it beside the pack of replacement needles. While the tea steeped, Thadjit explained how the device was used to remove blood from a corpse. “I hope it helps you achieve your unpleasant task more quickly.”

The group fell quiet and drank their tea.

As Thadjit led them back out and through the older and abandoned part of the city, Captain Suoki asked, “So Thadjit, where are those starships you were talking about?”

She pointed at one of the enormous buildings. “They’re in any of those hangars.”

Captain Suoki ran up to one of them. It was unlocked and the big man entered. “Oh wow!” he called out to the others. “There are several really fancy ships in here!” They all joined him. “Too bad we can’t take one of these.”

Lyoth was focused on a particular ship that Captain Suoki had ignored. “Thadjit, what about this?” None of the others had given the ship Lyoth was looking at a second glance. “While that police cruiser was in control, we didn’t attract any attention to ourselves. Do you think this ship might be equally ignorable?” Lyoth stepped up to a dusty old cargo shuttle.

“Why is this clunker in here with the royal ships?” Captain Suoki asked.

“Probably for the same reason we morticians leave our equipment behind when we get new tools and facilities,” Thadjit replied. “I’m sure the shuttle was full of goods for the final preparations of one of these old dead imperials, and when it was emptied, they just left it here.” She turned to Lyoth. “But to answer your question, yes, I do think it might be possible to hide in plain sight by simply not attracting attention to yourselves. The ship’ll undoubtedly be scanned, and you’ll need a good excuse for where you’re headed at the edge of the empire, but this ship might do the trick.”

Lyoth disengaged its exterior door. All five of them entered.

“Roomy,” Captain Suoki commented.

The majority of the ship was its empty storage hold. There was a small bridge with chairs for two pilots, a bedroom with two beds, and a tiny kitchen. Plenty of packaged food was still stored in the cupboards.

“This’ll do nicely,” Lyoth said with a smile. He looked at Thadjit. “Thank you for helping us, and this ship is perfect, but what was your info about the three godstrolls?”

Thadjit looked concerned. “They’re easily accessible in the holy city of Dullu. They’re not being held in a prison, but they are trapped where they are.”

“Where are they?” Phentrom asked.

“There’s an ancient quarry in the heart of Dullu,” Thadjit explained. “During a terrible drought before I was born, the water at the bottom of it was drained for drinking, and now it’s just a massive pit. That’s where the godstrolls have been imprisoned. They’re completely alone and unguarded at the bottom, but they’re right in the middle of this planet’s largest city. The godstrolls are trapped, but they will be hard to get to, and it’s nearly impossible to get out of the quarry again. Every year, several citizens attempt to climb to the bottom and back to the top again, and occasionally someone dies. I think the city is hopeful no one will make the quarry climb from now on. I don’t know how you’re supposed to get down there. I don’t know how you’re supposed to kill three godstrolls, and I have no idea how you’d get out again, but there you have it.”

“Interesting,” Lyoth replied.

“Don’t you mean impossible?” Phentrom countered.

“It’s a tricky one,” Stawren admitted.

“Well, I suppose if you don’t need anything else from me,” Thadjit added, “I’ll be heading on my…”

Stawren stepped up and kissed Thadjit on the lips. The mortician was surprised for only a moment, and she wrapped her arms around Stawren. Their kiss lingered.

As their lips parted, Thadjit whispered, “Thanks for that.”

a little love, and now onto more... action!