SON OF OSIVIRIUS

A Romantic Science Fantasy Novella

By Cathryn deVries

*Text not finalised and subject to change*

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

Jayden

 

Pain. Pain and blackness. The taste of blood in my mouth. My first awareness centred on these. Half-dazed, I registered that someone had removed my helmet, then fingers pressed on my neck, checking for a pulse. A concerned voice—masculine—broke through my stupor.

“The pilot’s still alive. Whadda we do?”

The words bounced around in my skull, not really making sense. Then a second voice—feminine—answered his question.

“Kill him. They’ll assume he died in the crash.” The tone was flat, business-like.

With dawning terror, I froze.

Rebels. Rebels had found me.

“I never pegged you as that heartless, sis.”

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. What do I do? What do I do? Dammit! How did this even happen?

“We have to think of what’s best for everyone, and seriously, would you expect them to spare us if they found us?”

There was a pause as the guy considered her question, and in that time, my training took over.

No time for pain. I had to think.

Ok. No sudden moves. Keep my eyes closed. Pretend I can’t hear them.

“No… probably not.”

Not the answer I was hoping for.

Pain coursed through my legs, my arms, my ribs, and the humid Osivirian air pressed against me now that my cabin was broached. But I remained still, willing them to just leave me for dead. Maybe nothing was broken. Maybe I could limp out of here and signal for an evac. Get back to the colony. To my family…

At the thought of what might happen to them if I didn’t come back, an extra spike of fear added itself to the nightmare situation.

Beside me, the two were silent, then I heard some movement, a slight rasping sound, heavy breathing.

“C’mon, do it while he’s still unconscious.”

Terror constricted every part of me, and my eyes flew open to see a dagger hovering only inches away.

I jerked back, fire igniting in every muscle. A horrible sound escaped my mouth, then, “No, please!”

I seized the eyes of the guy, then his sister, then the guy again, mine so wide that they hurt. I think I was gasping, staying alive all I could think of.

The guy lowered the dagger.

His sister huffed. “Fine, give it to me. I’ll do it. You can knock him out if it makes you feel better.”

I started shaking.

“Please,” I said again, my pained voice barely above a whisper.

The guy jerked the dagger out of the girl’s reach, sheathing it. “No. I’m not doing it. Besides, maybe we can learn something from him.”

“Or create a mass of complications,” the girl said in a caustic tone.

“I don’t care,” he snapped. “I’m not taking his life, and neither are you.” He turned to me. “Where’s it hurt?”

I saw his sister roll her eyes and stand upright, hands on hips, and with the immediate danger withdrawn, took in some more details. She looked in her early twenties, same as me, some Asian heritage revealed in her smooth, dark hair and almond eyes. Both she and her brother wore fatigues of deep green—the colour of the foliage here—with a dagger strapped to the thigh and the sleeves rolled up. Very much like colony soldiers.

I remained wary as I turned back to the guy. “Everywhere.”

A frown creased his forehead. “Nettle, bring a stretcher team and Doc Aspen,” he said, then turned back to me. “I’m a medic. I’ll do what I can for you till the doc gets here. I’ll need to feel for breaks, ok? Your ’thopter came down hard. We weren’t expecting to find you alive.”

As he undid my harness and rummaged around in a pouch, I vaguely recalled the controls going haywire, the altimeter spinning the wrong way as the FCS tried to correct what it thought was an out-of-control spiral—with an out-of-control spiral. I remembered battling with the manual controls; over-correcting. There were red lights flashing, sirens blaring, greenery coming ever closer…

 A pungent rag smothered my face and I reflexively struggled… then blackness returned.

 

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

Nettle

I stood on the wide ledge in front of the Masu den, watching for the first of the salvage crews to crest the ridgeline. At last, the net with its two accompanying Masu appeared.

“Right, here they come!” called Grandma Lily to the assembled sorting crews, of which I was a member. “You have your assignments. Let’s make this turnaround as quick as possible!”

Crouching with the rest of my team, I sprang forward as the salvage crew lowered the load of ’thopter parts onto the ledge and began running pieces to their designated areas. This was a brilliant score, as we were running low on metal. It was lucky Flint and I had seen the ’thopter go down.

Excited chatter amongst other nearby sorters drew my attention.

“It’s quite mangled, isn’t it?”

“I heard the pilot survived.”

“How could anyone survive a crash like this?”

“Don’t know, but he did.”

“Might still die of his injuries.”

“Maybe, but what if he doesn’t?”

“Guess we wait and see.”

Their questions got me thinking again. ’Thopter parts might be extremely useful, but a ’thopter pilot certainly wasn’t. Flint’s soft heart would lead to trouble down the line, I grumbled as I ran another part over.

Mopping my brow, I raised my eyes to the section of caves where the surgery and hospital facilities were located, and saw Doc coming down alone. Strange, why wasn’t Flint with him?

The nets were almost empty now, and Doc checked in with Grandma Lily, who, as usual, was directing operations. After hearing how she’d organised things, he gave his wife a brief kiss and squeeze, and wandered along the ledge, inspecting the piles and encouraging people as he went. When he spotted me, smile lines crinkled around his eyes and he walked over.

“Where’s Flint?” I asked before he could say anything.

“I left him to monitor the pilot.”

Something inside me became very uncomfortable at this, but I tried to keep my expression neutral. “Why? There are nursing staff who could do that.”

Doc tilted his head and hummed; gave me his ‘Really, Nettle?’ look. “Perhaps, but it’s important he learns what signs to look for, and practices taking readings. Besides, he was eager. He’s shaping up to be a fine doctor.”

I grunted. “Too good.” Lifting the final piece of metal from our net, I stepped back so the crew could take off again.

Doc put a hand on my arm. “What’s wrong, Nettle? You seem worried about something.”

I stilled, met his gaze. “Of course I’m worried about something. There’s a flaming Central pilot in our valley. Why wouldn’t I be worried?”

“Because he’s severely injured and isn’t a threat to anyone?”

“But he’s here. That in itself is a huge problem.” Pulling my arm out of his grip, I strode over to the appropriate pile and dumped my piece in it.

Doc followed me. “We don’t know that yet.”

I straightened, put my hands on my hips. “Please tell me he’s going to be a prisoner.”

Doc sighed. “This needs more discussion.”

“What’s to discuss?” I demanded. “He’s an enemy soldier.”

Doc narrowed his eyes. “The people of the colony are not our enemies, Nettle.”

“Somehow I don’t think they feel the same way.”

“Be that as it may, this is the first ’thopter that’s come anywhere near us, we have the black box and the beacon, and we are well protected here. It was pure luck that you and Flint were on your way home from zone-5 and saw him.”

Doc had a point, but my hatred ran too deep. I lowered my gaze. “Doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be a prisoner.”

Sighing again, Doc put his hands on both of my shoulders. “Nettle, I love you dearly, my girl, but you can’t keep feeding your anger like this. It’s not healthy.” He gently took my chin between one thumb and forefinger and lifted it. “You’re safe. We’re safe. I made sure of that.”

I shrugged him off. “But for how much longer?”

Again, Doc sighed. “This pilot is no threat. He won’t even be able to walk for weeks. Please, trust me. Trust the leadership team.”

It didn’t seem like I had much choice.

But Doc had led us well these past fifteen years, always knowing what to do next, and keeping spirits up when things were the hardest. He and Grandma Lily had adopted me and Flint, made room for us even though they had hundreds of other people to look after. I owed him this much.

“Fine. But I’m not going to let my guard down.”

 

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

Jayden

“I still think we should’ve killed him.”
Nettle’s voice roused me from semi-consciousness. My fear ignited immediately; any lingering brain fog shattered in the ice of her words.

But where was I? What was happening? I took a mental inventory of my body. It didn’t take long: I ached all over. Through the discomfort, I registered I was lying on a thin mattress, and all of my limbs were immobilised.

Trapped. I was trapped.

Breathing shallow, I blinked my eyes into focus. The room, if it was a room, was dim, and mats of woven palm shielded my view of Nettle and whomever she was speaking to. A sweet, herbaceous scent floated on the air, but it did nothing to lower my heart rate.

“Well, I’m glad we didn’t.” The brother’s voice. “This way we have a bargaining chip.”

Bargaining chip…

The fear loosened a fraction. I was a hostage. I could work with ‘hostage’.

“What makes you think they’ll care enough to want him back, Flint?” Nettle demanded. “It’s not like he was carrying any valuable cargo, and no one means anything to them. Everyone is just a number in the system; a cog in their machine. We escaped that. Why risk even contacting them?”

“Maybe they’ll leave us alone.”

“For one pilot? You’re trippier than Vine.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just tired of hiding,” Flint said with a weary sigh. “Returning him as an act of goodwill might show them—”

“—That we’re weak. That we need them.” Nettle’s voice was scathing.

Flint was silent.

The knot loosened a little more. They didn’t know why I was here.

Footsteps shuffled, and a new voice entered the conversation. “How’s our patient?”

“I was just about to check on him, Doc.”

That was Flint, and his tone kicked my brain fully into gear. His naivety could be useful, and I had to escape this place.

Rustling indicated they were all walking towards me. Heart suddenly thumping again, I closed my eyes. At the sound of the mats being moved, I rocked my head from side to side and pretended to blink my eyes open. I didn’t want them to suspect I’d overheard their conversation. Way too dangerous.

Light from the entrance silhouetted three figures: Nettle, Flint, and—I presumed—Doc Aspen.

“Ah, you’re awake. You’re lucky to be alive, young man, you know that?” Doc Aspen’s voice was a curious mixture of light and matter-of-fact. I didn’t know what to make of it.

Behind him, Nettle gave a snort. “Luckier than he knows,” she muttered.

Flint elbowed her and lowered his brows, and Doc Aspen took a seat next to my bed.

I flicked my eyes between them all, not sure where I should look. Finally, I settled on Doc Aspen. “I… yes.” I had to force the words past my dry throat.

Doc Aspen turned to Flint. “Some water and a straw, please.”

“Sure, Doc.”

While Flint stepped away, I took in the doctor’s features. Deep creases lined the tanned skin of his face, and his hair was almost white. He wore thick glasses over his pale, blue eyes, but nothing else marked him as a doctor.

He turned back to me. “Do you have a name, young man? Do you remember what happened?”

I startled at the words, and didn’t want to answer right away, but Flint returned with the water, so I took a grateful draw, then deliberately slowed to give myself time to think. These were rebels, and at least one of them wanted to kill me. Would it be dangerous to give them my real name? Did they have covert agents in the colony who would threaten my family? Whatever I told them, it certainly couldn’t be the whole truth. It seemed I would be allowed to live for the moment, but who knew when that would change.

I saw Nettle glaring at me. If it was up to her, very soon.

I shifted my eyes to Flint, then the doctor. They acted nice now, but it might be a ruse. I couldn’t take the chance, but neither would I blow this opportunity to lull them into complacency. I didn’t risk taking this mission just to find myself helpless again.

My insides twisted. No, I would never let myself be that helpless again.

But, wrapped up like a mummy, subject to their whims, my best shot lay in making them believe I was harmless. It had worked plenty of times before.

“My name’s Jayden,” I said, putting on a kind of dazed and innocent look. “And… not really. I was just on a routine survey mission…”

Doc Aspen frowned. “Central put you in a lot of danger sending you near a dead-zone, Jayden. The electromagnetic barrier is ruinous to electronics. That’s why we came here.”

‘Here’ was one of the many ‘Bermuda Triangle’ black-spots of Osivirius, the planet we’d colonised only a generation ago. I was planet-born, and that had made me stupid enough to think I had some kind of innate ability to defeat the random EMP eruptions that plagued it. Like a small number of other pilots, I’d been able to anticipate and handle them elsewhere, but what I’d encountered here hadn’t been an eruption, it’d been a wall, its blanket strength ludicrous.

The number of dead-zones had been steadily increasing each year, spreading like cancer and wreaking havoc on our equipment. Central was sure the rebels were behind it. Colony Commander Tun wanted them brought under control, so had offered a huge reward for the location of their base—which had proven near impossible to find. Like Doc Aspen said, every piece of tech became useless in these regions. Even satellite images turned into worthless pixelated murals. It was like there was some kind of interference barrier over every one of these areas. For this mission, I was just supposed to get a visual, then return. Instead, I’d accidentally infiltrated.

Feigning ignorance, I again tested the waters. “You’re the rebels, aren’t you?” I croaked. “The ones who abandoned the colony?”

Doc Aspen sighed and shook his head, looked off to the side. “A generation from now, we will be its salvation.”

Salvation? What the heck was he on about?

It didn’t matter.

One thing was certain though. When I got out of here, they would certainly be my family’s salvation.