THE COUNCIL OF LIGHT

Chapter 1 - Day 1: A scene of chaotic mess

Lucia thought of herself as a woman who knew the way the universe worked. She may have only been alive for eighteen years, as far as she could remember, but her soul felt like it had seen long forgotten ages. She had a knack for sensing when things were about to turn south, which was why on this particular day, she was not in a very good mood.

Lucia was employed as the cook on an itinerant mining vessel with no kitchen. Cooking in the year X1495 didn't require a kitchen, but the Ataxi miners preferred the luxury of a live-in cook. Lucia preferred to use her skills as a navigator, but she spent most of her days sweating over boiling Pheleranx, instead of feeling the cool wash of stars whip past her on the ship’s flight deck.

There was a limit to the crossover between the Ataxi’s language, produced from grinding the stones in their belly together, and the human tongue, so Lucia spent a lot of time by herself as they bounced from rock to rock, collecting precious minerals. Not that she minded being by herself; that was how things had been for most of her life.

Their mining vessel was parked at a waystation in the P1 quadrant of the Lub Galaxy — not a particularly nice area. Lucia was currently occupied with finding Pheleranx, a lard-like ingredient that, when mixed with salt, heated up to around ninety three degrees celcius. As the cook on an itinerant mining vessel with no stoves, Lucia used the stuff like air. So she stood in the waystation's Goods Window, using her left hand to scroll through the ‘Baking Needs’ section of the Goods Portal while her right hand rubbed the back of her neck, a motion she often did when she was nervous.

They better not leave me again, she thought to herself, remembering a few months earlier when a miscommunication resulted in the miners marooning her on a different waystation along the Lubian Flight Path. Lucia kept a close eye on two of the miners, who were playing a slot machine twenty meters to her right. The flickering lights of the game reflected off their giant, bulbous shoulders, which swayed left and right in alien excitement.

She focused on the Goods Portal screen and selected twelve lbs. of Pheleranx. The screen projected an orange smiley face that then began to spin clockwise, indicating the order was processing. Lucia turned back to watch the slot machines, but an incoming ship grabbed her attention as it landed next to the Ataxi mining vessel.

It was a x1373 Duster — a model used by the Light Police. The hairs on the back of Lucia’s neck stood on end. The Light Police had once been a rare sighting, even in these parts, but their presence now meant certain conflict. Lucia looked down frantically at the Goods Portal screen, but the smiley face was still spinning, oblivious to the violence that was about to unfold. Suddenly, the crack of an electrical weapon pierced the silence, and it began.

One of the gambling Ataxis bolted, her rock-like body scraping the soft Waystation platform as she rolled away. Lucia watched as the other gambling miner had her throat sliced clean through by a neon disc, shot from the gun of a very determined looking human running in her direction. Lucia dove around the corner of the Goods Shop, slid between two fuel compactors, and curled up into a ball. By the Council, they’re after one of the miners?! The Ataxi Race, while appearing to be very menacing and formidable, were generally a non-confrontational and peaceful race. This is why Lucia agreed to join their crew; it was an uneventful, safe existence. Lucia pondered the irony to a symphony of whirring discs, grazing phasers, and the high pitched whine of overheated personal shields. The melody was accompanied by two separate choruses of shouting — one Ataxi and one Human. At times, a soprano shrieking cut through the refrain, begging for it to stop — probably the guardian of the waystation.

The symphony became acapella as the weapons fire ceased and the miner was caught. The sound of rocks grinding together — the Ataxi’s protests — gnawed at Lucia’s ears as the miner was dragged onto the Light Police’s ship. The terrible musical was punctuated with the slight blip of their Duster passing through the exo-sphere surrounding the station.

Lucia extracted herself from her hiding spot and rounded the corner of the building to a scene of chaotic mess. At least a dozen prone bodies, mostly Ataxi, were strewn on top of the remains of the slot machines and waystation structure. As the life bled from them, the stones that comprised their bodies slowly disconnected into indiscernible piles. It was dead and silent, the only movement coming from the Goods Portal, where the smiley face continued to spin, and smile, and spin.

Chapter 2 - Day 1: She can cook

I knew it.

Those words echoed around her head mercilessly. Lucia was sure she was going to lose it. She paced back and forth amongst the carnage, rubbing the back of her neck furiously. The smiley face was laughing at her. She had known something was going to happen...why did she let them stop at the station, why did she join a crew of aliens in the first place, why did she even come to this galaxy...Lucia screamed through gritted teeth.

At that moment, another ship passed through the exo-sphere and landed on the rubbery waystation pad. Another Duster, this one even older than the last. Curse Elia’s name, Lucia thought, they've come back for me. There was no use hiding, the way station platform was only 300 meters end to end. Lucia fell to the ground and put her hands behind her head, signaling submission to her new captors. She could hear them talking as they exited their ship, and was at least a little relieved to hear them speaking Ertish, and not in the broken sort of way her translator usually provided.

"...told you the intel was old, we never should have gave that guy 200 Redits..."

"Old? Look around you, the bodies are still smoking! If you had not taken so long in the bathroom we could have captured him before—"

"If I hadn't taken so long we'd have a dozen more holes in our bodies than we need, so you’re welcome."

Lucia raised her head and shouted, "Please do not shoot! I submit to the authority of the Ertian Empire!”

The pair, an Argruarian and a human, stopped bickering and regarded Lucia conspicuously. The Argruarian — a short, dark green creature that looked somewhat like a dog standing on its hind legs — spoke for the duo.

"We’re not the Light Police, sen, you can stop pissing yourself."

His partner, a muscular woman, stepped forward with a bionic leg and added, "but do not get any funny ideas. We may not be police, but we are bounty hunters. That just means we do not have to fill out a database entry if we kill you."

"I....I didn't have anything to do with this! I'm a navigator who joined up with the Ataxi miners only five months ago. I had no idea they were doing anything wrong!" Though Lucia trembled at the thought of what these bounty hunters might do, she was more afraid they might leave her alone on this Waystation.

"A navigator?” the woman queried. “What is a human navigator doing in the Lub galaxy with a gang of Ataxis? This does not smell right to me."

"Hold on Marim, let’s see what else she has to say. We must be sure." The Argrurian motioned with three clawed fingers for Lucia to continue.

"I'm originally from the Triangulan Galaxy, but I lived in many places before I came to Lub. I don't have a home or family and haven't for a very long time but I'm not a criminal and I'm not crazy."

The Argrurian looked at the large woman. "Well, that's either a good reason to trust her or a good reason not to."

The woman shrugged a hard, uninterested shoulder. "Let us search the victims and leave."

"Wait!" shouted Lucia, "I'm a very good navigator, I can customize your jump scheduler to —"

"Sorry child," interrupted the woman, "we already have a navigator." She had one sharp eye trained on Lucia while she sifted through a dead policetenant's jacket.

Lucia gritted her teeth. She was running out of options. "I can cook too!"

The woman stopped her search and stood up. "You can cook human food?"

"Yes!"

"Ertian food?"

"Of course!"

"Have you ever heard of strawberry shortcake?"

"Take me to another waystation and I can have it for you in a matter of minutes."

It was a simple dish, but not one that could be easily found in most of ….. [CONTINUE READING]