Author’s Note: For those of you who do not know, this is the first short story in an arc of three short stories and one novel. It’s probably going to replace Weaver, because Weaver died on me. I think I know the flaw in Weaver though, and it shouldn’t happen again. (I know . . . I said that last time, too.) It’s science fiction this time, which is extremely odd, because I have never read a science fiction novel in my life. I have a very odd muse . . . anyhow, see how you like this story. It’s supposed to be able to function as a stand-alone, but you need to read all three short stories to understand the novel.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Kalina, space commander of the ship Air Hawk, leaned lazily on the console, her eyes fixed on the endless mass of space that stretched in front of her.

            Technically, she was the captain of the ship, and should have been relaxing somewhere, making sure everyone did what he or she were supposed to. But as with most things, the technical definition was not the practiced one, especially when the captain also had to double as the lookout, commander and mechanic. The only other person on board was her second-in-command, Syom, who did just about everything else – including the cleaning, the job he was doing right now.

            Kalina was used to long hours keeping an eye on space as they passed through it. Radar could pick up stray meteors and space junk in time to easily avoid it, but Kalina was an experienced pilot who knew that relying on computers to do your work for you was dangerous. Ashnah and pirates would not show up on radar. Being a cargo captain meant that an accident with either one would mean no pay at the least, death at the worst. When ashnah and pirates were involved, Kalina did not want to be depending on computer system designed for the expected.

            But today everything was going as expected; in only three more days they would be docking at Asara, to deliver their load and get paid. And get paid well, if Kalina knew the dealer at all; spice shipments always paid well, but one from Tion all the way to Asara was going to get her enough money to buy a new ship! She nearly giggled with excitement, then sobered herself and reminded herself not to count her coins yet. There was still plenty of time for things to go wrong.

            Suddenly Kalina noticed an odd star in the mass of darkness. Shining with distorted light, it must have been a star near the end of its lifecycle, unless-

            “Dang it!” she cried, slamming the thrusters all the way back. But it was just as she had suspected. Some invisible force had wrapped itself around the Air Hawk, dragging it inexorably forward. Knowing the thrusters were not strong enough to fly backwards, she turned them into a hard right turn instead, trying to get in a position to use the powerful blasters normally used for take-off. It was no good; the ship tilted itself slightly, but could not make a full turn.

            Kalina kicked the side of console viciously. She could see the “distorted star” clearly now. It was the bridge of a huge vessel, clearly lit while the rest of the ship was hidden in the darkness. She glanced at the radar. Of course; the ship was made of ashnah, and would not show up on radar. She clenched her fists. Only pirate ships were made of ashnah.

            She kicked the thrusters into a right turn once more, but knew it was hopeless. The docking mechanism was designed to slowly draw ships into port like a black hole; the suction was impossible to escape once she was this close. Already she could see the glowing blue docks where she could land her ship.

            It was a common saying among flight commanders-in-training that no one could force you to land without your permission. Experienced commanders would reply, yes, but you would be a fool to withhold that from a pirate. And it was true; she could refuse to land in the glowing holders. But the only other option was to not land in the holders, and to dash herself against the side of the pirate ship instead. She nearly kicked the console again, but she knew that her cargo was not nearly as important as her life.

            Syom burst through the doors to the cockpit. “Do you see it?” he cried, pointing frantically at the glowing docking pad and the turbines which drew them toward it. “What are we going to do?”

            Kalina gritted her teeth. “Land.”

            “Land!” he cried in surprise. “And just give in to the pirates? Aren’t we going to fight?”

            Kalina glared at the less-experienced pilot. “Fight? The fight is already over! All we can do now is save our own skins by cooperating.” Her hands moved the control stick slowly in for a landing in the waiting holders.

            “Cooperate? With pirates?” he looked at her aghast. “We’ll lose our load!”

            “It’s better than losing our lives.”

            He stared at her for a second, then shook his head and vanished out of the cockpit.

            Kalina did not bother to watch him go. Docking horizontally was always a challenge, even with the turbines preventing her from floating out into space. She maneuvered slowly downward, trying to land in holders she could no longer see, and trying not to let Syom’s reaction distract her. She was worried about what the less-experienced pilot might do.

            Soon she heard the click that meant the ship was secure, and a gigantic door slowly closed off space. She heard the whoosh that meant the dock was being flooded with oxygen, and the slow turning of the turbines winding down. She heard all of this and still waited for the pirates to come out and make their demands.

            She had been captured by pirates before, and as soon as the turbine turned its last time she knew something was wrong. The dock was silent, and empty. Not a single pirate was to be seen. She stood still, watching and waiting.

            Suddenly Syom burst into the room, fully outfitted in ammo. Two lasers were attached to his belt, and a huge old-fashioned metal gun was strapped to his back. Kalina looked at him as if he were nuts.

            “What in the world are you doing?”

            He glanced down at her. “I am saving this ship.”

            “What? You’re going into a firefight with three handguns? You’ll get blown to bits!”

            “Then at least I’ll go down fighting!” he told her proudly. “I refuse to surrender to pirates.”

            “You’re crazy,” she told him, “and you’re going to get us both killed.” She stood up and drew herself to her full height – which was only up to Syom’s chest, but that was okay. “As captain of this ship, I demand that you disarm!”

            He glanced down at her, and instantly she knew he wasn’t going to obey. It also occurred to her that he had three guns, and she was unarmed. She was going to have to move fast to avoid the chance of mutiny. “However, if you wish to accompany me when I leave the ship, you may carry the guns,” she told him quickly, “as long as you do not use them.”

            He nodded as if it were a good plan, and followed her off the ship. Kalina knew that threatening the pirates was suicide, but there was nothing she could do. If only she could get her hands on a stun gun!

            The docking port was almost pitch-black except for glowing blue ground underneath their feet. Kalina followed the glowing path until she reached the port door, and then placed her hand on the center. The door had not been programmed for any specific person, and so it flashed blue and opened. Syom placed his hand on one of his laser guns as Kalina stepped through the opening.

            The hallway was eerily silent when it should have been crowded, the glistening metal resisting the intrusion of anything living. Their feet clanged uncomfortably on the steel flooring, and Kalina began to wish she had followed Syom’s suggestion and brought a laser gun. Something was not right, and she hastened her way to the bridge.

            The bridge itself was the only brightly lit place on the ship, and as soon as Kalina entered she could tell that the ship had been abandoned. A program ran listlessly across the front screen, and the endless reaches of space showed clearly across the transparent dome top. A proud gold plate read The Shadow in the front of the room. But it was empty. The heart of the ship was still breathing and functioning as if the pilot had stepped out for lunch, but the mind was gone. There was no one aboard.

            Even Syom could tell something was wrong. “Where’s the pilot?” he asked uncomfortably, as if she should know. Kalina walked wordlessly over to the console and began typing, trying to get a good look at the program that was running and trying to see if there were any messages.

            It was exactly as if the pilot had stepped out for lunch. The program running did not even have any radar or sensors that would allow it to dodge any space debris; Kalina was surprised the ship had stayed intact, with so many crucial functions switched on to manual.

            Kalina shivered as she read the simple program to end. Nowhere in the program was there a trigger to capture nearby ships. How had The Shadow drawn the Air Hawk in without a commander?

            On a hunch, the Air Hawk’s commander called up the Record – the part of every ship’s computer which held the information on the crew, cargo and every signal the ship’s sensors had sent. She ignored the crew info; if these were pirates, it would be all aliases and fake IDs anyway. To her surprise, none of the ship’s sensors had ever showed anything serious enough to warrant abandoning her. She called up the cargo.

            It was obviously a pirate ship. Its crew must have been cocky to leave such obvious evidence in their computer database. Spices, fuel, food – all bought and sold too quickly to have been done by conventional means. But there was one odd entry that caught her eye.

            A single jewel had been entered in the database, claimed to have been “bought”. A picture of the gem was shown beside it. It was a midnight black that Kalina had never seen before, glistening and sparkling almost ominously. An odd, unidentifiable gem, Kalina read the description, that may have fuel capabilities. Then came a number of data on the dimensions and several guesses as to what kind of jewel it might be.

            She turned around and spoke to Syom, who was trying to figure out where the weapons’ hold was. “We’re going below,” she told him, and set off.

            Their footsteps seemed to clang even more ominously as they descended down the ramps into the cargo room. As they went farther into the ship, the number of lights seemed to lessen and lessen until they were walking in near-darkness. Kalina was relieved when the glowing blue of a doorway appeared in front of her. It reacted to the pressure of her hand and sprung away.

            In front of her was a scene she would never forget. Spices and goods were littered all around the area, but they were impossible to notice, for in the center of the room floated a crystal. She recognized it from the picture in the database, but it looked much different now. It gave off a dark light, and crackled with energy. Spider webs of dark electricity shot around the room, lighting up pale figures.

            Kalina’s heart froze. Not pale figures – ghostly figures. All the pirates were here, pale and ghostly, lying as if dead. Suddenly the figures looked up with inhuman faces, and there was a scream. The figures dove for the intruders as the scream continued. It took Kalina a second to realize the voice was her own.

            Syom stood his ground fired, as she had known he would, but she was never able to see if his shots landed. She stumbled back into the hallway, away from the screaming, diving, ghost-like things, protecting her face with her hands. She heard Syom’s gun drop with a metallic clang, and felt herself drop to the floor. Darkness ate at her soul.

            Outside, the Air Hawk hummed.