Emergence: Chapter 60

Some said that, outside the arena and the pits, there was fresh air. While Ash could not truly remember “fresh air”, he had assumed that it wouldn't line his mouth and lips with grit. Whenever he spoke, sand went in, and didn't leave, getting stuck in his teeth and making a horrible grating sound.

They had slept in an alley for the night; while Ash usually had his night-terrors, Carnat was adamant that he had to sleep in the darkness this time. They were alone on a strange world, penniless. Carnat stole some food from a small bazaar, but his strange appearance made him easily recognisable. When Ash tried, it was evident that he hadn't got the art quite right; he'd barely made off with a few small provisions before being chased out of the marketplace, until he lost them by ducking into a dark alleyway.

Carnat looked at Ash's meagre plunder with a disappointed expression. “While I admit that this is better than the food cubes of the arena,” He picked up a small brown fruit and rolled it in his hand, feeling for the lumps that may contain parasites, “I can't help but feel a little...let down by this haul.”

Ash sighed. “I'm sorry, I'm just not cut out for stealing.”

“Or fighting.” Carnat reminded him, tossing Ash the fruit. “It's edible.” He noticed Ash's forlorn expression, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, don't worry about it; you'll get the hang of it.”

“Hopefully I won't need to.” Ash took a bite from the fruit, feeling the juice ooze out and run along his tongue, activating a new sense of taste he had obviously forgotten. “Damn these are good.”

Keinam grabbed another and took a bite, before nodding. “They really are. I retract my earlier statement of disappointment; you didn't do too bad.”

They ate in silence, finishing the fruit Ash had stolen. Once finished and full, hes nodded appreciatively to himself; he wasn't that bad a thief really, at least he'd chosen food well, despite not knowing a thing about the fruit.

“You feeling better now?” Carnat asked.

Ash nodded. “Yeah, refreshed and ready to go, I think.”

“Right.” Carnat edged out of the alleyway and looked around. “We need to head towards the spaceport.” He nudged Ash and pointed at a market stall across the street. “Grab us some of the cloth from there; your armour fits in, you're like a human arena guard, that's fine. My species however, is meant to be dead, I'm kind of noticeable. However, a cloak-sized bit of cloth is likely to be difficult to nick, so swap your bow for it.”

“What if I need it?” Ash's hand shot to it's place on his back next to the quiver.

Carnat fixed him with a patronising stare. “You may need it. But that would mean I wasn't doing my job.”

“Cocky bastard.” Ash muttered.

“Can't disagree.” Carnat considered. “But a compound bow would be useless against real Enforcers or guards with real guns rather than spears and weapons made for pissing off arena creatures. If we get into battle, I'll disarm a guy and give you the gun and hope you don't shoot me in the back”

“Fair point.” Ash couldn't argue. “Stay here.”

“Obviously.”

Ash walked through the street, keeping his head down in case anyone recognised him. He imagined they wouldn't, but Carnat had taught him to be careful and, after the morning's fiasco, he was inclined to use those teachings. He approached the stall and its accompanying damp smell, which Ash couldn't tell if it was emanating from the poor-quality cloth hanging from the top of the stall, the straw lining the floor which the owner stood on, or the haggard-looking Hak'i owner, who bowed his head on approach, which Ash repeated; a Hak'i mark of respect.

Ash looked at the cloth until he found one large enough for Carnat to conceal himself. “I'll take this one, please.”

The Hak'i grunted, but didn't move. “And how you paying for that?”

Ash unclipped his bow and quiver from his back. “A straight swap. This is good quality stuff, you can probably sell it and get more than any of this cloth is worth.”

The owner nodded. “Then why don't you sell it? In a rush or something?”

“Something like that.” Ash nodded. “Sound good?”

The Hak'i unhooked the sheet of white cloth for Ash, and exchanged it for the bow. “Thank you.” Ash said, bowing his head once more.

“Thank you.” The Haki examined the bow carefully, before stashing it on the straw floor.

Ash gathered up the sheet in his arms and walked quickly back to the alley, handing it to Carnat. “Thanks.” Carnat wrapped it round him, leaving only a slit for his eyes to see through.

“You've never looked so good.” Ash mocked, and he knew Carnat smiled under the sheet.

“Shall we get going then?” Carnat asked. Ash nodded; they had a ship to catch.

*

The Rat'hak spaceport was not as elaborate or impressive as Ash had expected. When he'd asked Carnat about them before, he'd described security guards and some sort of procedure to actually boarding a ship to ensure that the authorities knew roughly where people were. Rat'hak had none of that, just a few large patches of concrete in the sand which various shapes and sizes of ships were perched on.

“Well, this is underwhelming.” Ash groaned.

“I swear it used to be better.” Carnat said drily. “Genuinely expected at least a bit of security. Must have got confused with Narcsia or something. Ah well, stop complaining, saves fighting.”

“So, which ship should we take?”

“None.” Carnat said, an element of shame creeping into his voice. “I never really learnt to fly; we're gonna stow away in a larger ship, get off on another world.”

Ash was surprised; he'd never considered that Carnat wouldn't know how to fly a ship, especially the amount he'd claimed to have travelled. “Fair. Which one you suggest?”

“This one.” Carnat grabbed Ash's arm and dragged him to the largest ship. “This one is a long-range Prauvian cruiser. Theoretically, it means we'll be going to Prauw, or another human world. Far away.” He removed a panel from the outside and tinkered with the wires inside, which sparked before the boarding ramp came down with a hydraulic hiss. “Get in.” Ash obliged, scurrying into the craft. Carnat replaced the panel and followed, pushing a button on the inside to bring the ramp up.

“Where now?” Ash asked, standing awkwardly.

“Cargo hold, come on.” Carnat dragged him through the corridor, and into a small cramped room.

“There's not much room in here.” Ash complained.

“Not made for people, really though, is it?” Carnat remarked.

“True, but-” Carnat placed a hand over Ash's mouth, stopping him from speaking.

“Shhh.” Carnat commanded quietly.

There was a hydraulic hiss from outside; the boarding ramp. Then voices.

“So, we're headed to Prauw?” Ash recognised the voice.

“That's what the voices command, that's what we do.”

“That first voice,” Ash hissed, “That's the Dominort. The Hak'i Dominort.”

Carnat paused to consider. “I think it might be, yeah. Why isn't he using his own ship?”

“And the Corlens will follow you?” The second voice grew closer.

“Undoubtedly.” The Dominort's voice was full of conviction.

“Good. They'll subdue the Empire forces long enough for us to gain an upper hand.”

“They shall.”

Carnat's expression changed to one of fear and confusion. “The Empire forces?” He looked up at Ash. “The Dominort is using Corlens in a battle with the rest of the Empire...”

Ash took a deep breath to try and steady his beating heart. “And we're gonna be right in the middle of it.”

“Or...” Carnat trailed off.

“Or what?”

“Or we march out there and end this battle before it even begins.” Carnat looked deep into Ash's eyes. “We could kill the Dominort and stop them using the Corlens.”

Ash felt his eyes widen in fear. He wanted to say no, preserve himself. But deep down, he knew what he'd have to do.

He nodded.