Chapter One: Shan
Garlin stared down at me with that leer of his that I knew represented condescension, even though everyone else in the universes loved to try and convince me that it was just his rigid, tough side coming through.
Garlin has to lead with dominance and assertion. If he doesn't, then none of the other Space Knights will respect him, nor any of the crew members for that matter. We have too much on the line here, and we need a powerful leader more than anything.
If I had to hear my fellow Space Knight and closest confidant — if you could even say I had one in the first place, say those words to me one more fucking time, I was going to lose my fucking mind.
Back in the present, I was arguing with Garlin — as I often did. Some might say I couldn't help myself. I had trust issues, even with Garlin who had 'rescued me' and adopted me into his Space Knights crew after I had been sold into slavery by the Spacing Guild.
Don't even get me started on the Spacing Guild, or Garlin's father, King Garnon of our home planet Telanis. The king was a douchebag and a prick if you asked me.
The corruption that went on at the hands of that twisted tyrant were sick and disgusting… unthinkable. I was just glad to get away from the vicious nightmare that surrounded Telanis at the moment. As long as Garlin's cruel and utterly ruthless father was in charge, I was better off out here in the depths of space where his asshole minions couldn't capture me.
I was better as an outlaw, anyway. I didn't belong confined to one space. By nature, I worked better when I was able to stretch out my space legs so to speak—and get some miles under my belt out there in the open vastness of space.
Garlin and I got along for the most parts, but we definitely had our moments of squabble. My biggest qualm with Garlin was actually something that the poor bastard couldn't even do anything about — and that was his royal background.
Of course, I knew Garlin couldn't help the fact that he was born into a stained dynasty with a reckless cannon as a father, but sometimes it still didn't prevent me from instinctively wanting to combat him. Like I said before, I had a problem with authority.
I was a rebel at heart. This personality trait of mine was something that had been instilled in me from a very early age.
You better get out there and fight or die trying. That was what my family had told me since day one, and I never forgot that shit either.
I knew it was their way of protecting me without actually having to protect me. They knew better than I did at the time that eventually the time would come when I'd be on my own and having no choice but to fend for myself. I might as well be equipped to deal with the monsters early on.
Don't get me wrong. Garlin wasn't that bad. His main problem was that he tried too damn hard. He had earned the respect of every righteous soul aboard this ship, The Dominance, and he'd done it without a temper for the most part. Ironically enough, it seemed like whenever he lost his temper, it was always on me.
Maybe it was because I was the only one who questioned him and made it a point to make my grievances known. I never had a problem with calling bullshit when I saw it. Sometimes, my mouth, and my fist for that matter, got me into trouble. I knew better than to strike Garlin directly, but I'd had my fair share of fights within the ship — I'd say that much.
We had taken custody of the mothership from Garlin's uncle, Lord Draxis. Lord Draxis was a self-righteous, entitled little weasel who thought he could manipulate and scheme his way out of trouble. We showed him the error of his ways, of course, and his soldiers had since fled their own ship with Lord Draxis in tow, tucking his tail and his pride between his legs.
Only the gods above knew where they were at this point, but on the plus side — they weren't pains in our asses anymore — at least not for now. If and when they showed back up to seek their revenge, we would be ready for them.
"I need to be on that ferry back to Earth," I said, arguing with Garlin after he told me he needed me here instead. I was going to protest as far as it would get me without crossing that invisible boundary.
Garlin frowned skeptically. "Why? You were on the most recent fleet back to Earth. I need you here, doing inventory of plots six-hundred to six-hundred twenty. Take the Rogue Hover. It's been working well lately and it's the best land hovercycle we have. You're one of our best riders, and I trust you to get the job done quickly and effectively."
"Nice try, but I don't respond to praise the same way as some of your other bidders do." I crossed my arms and cut him a sullen smirk.
Garlin sighed loudly, as if he was trying to draw in patience with every deep breath he took.
"Shan…"
"They need me out there on the ferry fleet."
"There are plenty of others fully capable of the job."
I scowled and gazed out the window of the ship. We were standing in the operating room, and from this angle, I could see a cluster of rocky, sharp mountains stretched out as far as the eye could see on this red planet of Mars.
During the past couple weeks, we had an assembly line of tasks going. Various roles had been assigned to everyone aboard the ship. I wasn't arguing with Garlin about the fact that everyone was a vital part of how this operation worked. We were a team, and I understood all that.
I respected the fact that we were all necessary in our own ways to make everything seamless and structured. I was simply arguing that I wanted to be on the ferry ship that was used to charter the women that Lord Draxis had kidnapped back to Earth where they belonged.
I used every opportunity and excuse in the book to try and get myself on these convoys because I was a lone wolf on the hunt for adventure. I couldn't stand sitting still, least of all on this rickety old ship.
"Do we have a problem?" Garlin asked, cutting through my thoughts again.
He gave me an invading stare through his pale green eyes. His dark green hair was tied back in thin braids like it always was, and his burly shoulders were straightened into a confident posture that stirred an unreasonable anger inside me.
His dark brown skin was exposed because he was without his battle gear and armor at the moment — an attire that he only wore when it was absolutely necessary.
"There's no problem," I grumbled sourly, knowing there was no room left for debate on the subject.
I hated to cave, but what else could I do? I had unraveled this thread as loose as it would go.
A half an hour later, I was fully equipped in my life support gear and ready to go on this mission on Mars' surface. At least Garlin had given me the assignment and allowed me to complete it solo.
I stood on the Rogue Hover, our prototype machine that had been created by the laborious talents of our fellow Space Knight member, Merrix.
I glanced over my shoulder at The Dominance as I rode away from it, going off into the distance of the foreign, red planet that was as desolate and lonely to the naked eye as it felt to be riding around on its surface.
However, every time I scanned my surroundings that were full of craters, an endless map of clay and sand, or let the red sandy dust of Mars' basins bleed through my fingers, it made me feel alive.
There was something magical about this cold, quiet environment. I didn't mind the desolateness. I fed into the energy here. Mars wasn't the type of planet to show off or be accommodating. If you wanted to be here, you were going to have to work for the resources you'd need for survival. Mars wasn't going to just present them to you. No…you had to go find them yourself.
I gave the ship one last absentminded glance over my shoulder before focusing my attention on the land in front of me.
There was no way around it…The Dominance was in rough shape. Even after the several weeks we'd been trying to piece it back together to at least some functionality, the thing was a stubborn mule—old and haggard and refusing to yield. It didn't want to work anymore. In some ways, I didn't blame it.
The Space Knights, myself included, had been using the vessel as our base of operations. During this time, we had been busting our asses to get ourselves in a better position to get back to where we had other crew members waiting in the Asteroid Belt on our own ships.
The Dominance was proving herself to be a stubborn little bitch about it. I doubted the ratty old ship would ever get off the ground again, much less be able to blast off and escape the gravitational pull of Mars, but there were a few others on our crew and on the ship with us who kept the faith alive and refused to give up.
On the plus side, the ship had good bones. On the bad side, the damn thing had a dinosaur of an operating system. Nevertheless, it was our temporary home and our solid shelter from the catastrophic windstorms and sub-zero temperatures that were infamous on Mars at night.
My current mission was to ride out on the hoverbike during the daylight hours to see if I could locate any viable resources to bring back to the ship.
I had a salvaged robot head on the front of my bike, and it was like having an extra set of eyes and ears to spot anything I might inadvertently miss along the way.
The sky was a gray color, like it always was, because the sunlight was further away than it was from say the surface of the Earth. Also, the atmosphere of Mars was different than that of Earth, which caused it to diffuse the light differently.
One thing I'd learned from my many travels to other planets was the fact that not one of them was alike from another. In that respect, I was grateful to Garlin. Our outlaw lifestyle and travels around the universe at light speed were far better than being locked in a cell or being sold into slavery at the hands of a cunning dictator.
To me, the daylight hours on Mars made it seem like it was either just before dusk or just before dawn. There was never any in between, rarely ever a variety. It resembled Earth on an overcast day at the end of fall right before winter set in.
You weren't going to get the luxury of fluffy white clouds and blue skies here like you would on Earth. You'd never see a lush green tree or hear a bird singing. It was stark, dry, extremely cold, and empty. If you tried to step out onto the surface of Mars without your life support suit, the next breath you took would be your last.
Maybe that was part of the reason I liked to flee to Earth so much. It wasn't that I trusted human's any more than I trusted regular authority — but I craved the escape.
Today, as I rode along on the surface of a hostile planet that we were desperately trying to make accommodating, I thought about the fact that maybe it was for the best that I stayed behind to complete this mission. It was good to get away from the others.
I needed time to clear my head, especially after that fight with Garlin. I was an introvert of sorts, wild on the outside, but I preferred to be alone nine times out of ten.
I grinned. "Maybe that old bastard was right," I said aloud to myself. "Garlin thought he could show his assertion over me by keeping me off the latest ferry mission — but the joke is on him. Riding freely across the surface of Mars sure feels a hell of a lot better than being contained on a restricted ferry vessel."
The more I explored, the better I felt. Riding was my therapy. I twisted the throttle on the hoverbike, cranking the engine up a notch or two.
I was just testing her out to see how she'd respond. She purred like a kitten. I was impressed. I grinned again and floored it, taking off and enjoying every second. Sure, I had a job to do out here — but riding free was the best decompression I didn't even know I'd needed until now.
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