Chapter 6
The landing was rough and jarring, certainly not his best work, but considering he ignited the hyperdrive before clearing the fly-zone and his copilot never attended flight school, it could’ve been much worse. Prince Leonidas had crawled into the engine compartment now that they were far enough away from his assassins and safely landed on a low-class planet. He ran some tests and checked some specs, and as he feared it wasn’t looking good.
“What’s the diagnosis?” Adira called down the hatch, poking her head through the floor separating them. Leo paused and scrunched his nose at the question before shooting her an odd look.
“The warp core is cracked, we’ll have to get a new one.” He answered, turning back to his work to secure some things in place.
“Is that a bad thing?” She probed, not entirely sure what those words meant. Leo smacked his head into some low hanging conduit and let out a curse.
“Yes. It’s very bad.” He muttered, rubbing the top of his head.
“Alright, geez. No need to be so grumpy.” Adira countered, holding up her hands as a sign of surrender. Leo snarled at the condescending tone, baring his teeth like a wild animal. It would’ve been intimidating if this unknown alien warrior hadn’t just rescued her and her sisters from lifelong servitude and spent the entire flight responding to every single one of Harlow’s endless questions.
“Wait a moment!” Harlow suddenly announced, popping her head down the floor hatch next to her oldest sister. Adira regarded her with shock, not expecting her to suddenly appear. “Are you talking? And we’re able to understand you??”
Adira’s eyebrows nearly shot into her forehead at the revelation. “Hey, yeah! What the heck, what happened to needing to translate everything through your glasses!”
Leo used his shoulder to shove the panel in place. “This ship is equipped with brain scans for language deciphering. It can learn speech patterns then upload the algorithm into a chip I have, and with the excessive inquiries,” he flicked his eyes at Harlow, “it was able to finish a lot quicker.”
Simone popped her head through the hatch in the floor on the other side of Adira. “So, you can, like, read our minds??” She asked indignantly, giving the other a bewildered look.
“That’s so weird!”
“What a creepy thing to do!”
Leo pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a heavy exhale. “It doesn’t work like that.” He muttered. “Who’d want to read a bunch of girl brains anyway?”
That turned out to be the wrong thing to say as the three erupted into furious chatter. Leo gave them a sour face, realizing they were blocking his only path out.
“Would you shut it?! It analyzes speech patterns, not your freaky ideas!” He argued back, in complete disbelief he was being subjected to this treatment. Then again, he didn’t necessarily need all three alive…
“Aren’t there spaceship mechanics? Can’t you just get one of them to fix this thing?” Harlow asked, moving their topic of conversation on.
“Yes, but now I’m a fugitive of the Galactic Alliance and can’t just stroll into town when most inhabited planets in the surrounding galaxies are part of the coalition.” He answered in a strained tone, walking back for the exit. “Now move.”
Adira narrowed her eyes. “You could stand to be nicer, saying please won’t kill you, Leo.” She said, giving him an unimpressed look. Leo’s eye twitched.
“So,” Simone began, “you’re saying that if you get caught, a bunch of people like the ones who invaded our planet are going to come after you?” She clarified, giving him a suspicious look.
“More, likely. Especially after…” Leo cut himself off, glancing away when he realized he didn’t want to talk about it.
“When you were flying?? That was crazy! How’d you do that?!” Harlow demanded, waving her hands enthusiastically from where she was laying on the floor above.
“Move.” Leo demanded, his voice much less amused.
“No fair! You wouldn’t tell me anything when we were coming here! You just kept giving me one-word answers!” She whined, sticking out her lower lip in a pout. Leo felt his teeth grinding together.
“Move, or I’ll make you.” He warned. Harlow and Simone were about to object when Adira sat up and pulled them aside, concluding this wasn’t a hill she wished to die on. The two younger girls saw their sister’s warning expression and followed along without a word as Leo climbed up the ladder and shut the hatch. He turned to march down the hallway but was stopped when Adira spoke up.
“Someone important gave you that necklace, didn’t they?” She asked wistfully. Leo paused and glanced over his shoulder at her, then used a finger to pull a silver chain from beneath his collar until a glowing white pendant was removed. The three girls stared in amazement at the sight.
“My eldest brother did, before he died.” He responded calmly, admiring the jewelry fondly. “It’s an ancient art called Magik that’s been outlawed for generations. He learned about it after breaking into our father’s study a dozen times and reading about it.”
Adira felt a pang in her heart at the news of a deceased sibling. She glanced down at her sisters, understanding she was willing to do anything to ensure their safety and how devastating it would be to lose them.
“Magic??” Harlow asked excitedly, her eyes sparkling with glee. “Magic is real??”
Leo regarded the youngest hesitantly as he tucked the pendant below the collar of his uniform once more. “It’s probably not what you’re imagining.” He assured her.
“So, you ARE reading our minds!!” Simone accused, pointing her finger dramatically at the young man. Leo glowered at her and brushed past the sisters on his way to the bridge.
“Are witches real? And wizards?? Do you have a magic wand? Or a spell cauldron? Can you fly on a broomstick??” Harlow grilled, skipping after him and swinging her arms. Leo let out a consternated low growl in his throat as he ignored her.
The shuttle they stole was substantially smaller than he was accustomed to which left very little chance for him to be left alone with his thoughts. Leo strode through the hallways with the two younger sisters trailing after him like shadows. It reminded him of his own nosey little sister, so he tolerated it. Tyra’s well-being weighed heavily on his mind, but right now his first priority was finding his father since the man was likely already searching the universe for his children.
Assuming everyone left was still alive, that is.
“So, like, where do you even get a warped box, or whatever it is.” Simone asked, watching as a closet door swooshed open to reveal neatly folded fabrics.
“A warp core,” Leo corrected her, “is very expensive and hard to come by on planets like this. And if we do find one, they’re probably going to charge a fortune.” He added, annoyance obvious in his tone. He unfurled some of the fabric to reveal different sized cloaks. “Put these on.”
Simone and Harlow stared at the offered items, then reluctantly accepted them as Adira rounded the corner.
“Umm, Excuse me? What do you think you’re doing?” Adira demanded, marching up to the group.
“My face is too recognizable, you three are going to need to cover for me.” Leo replied, slipping a plain tunic over his low-profile composite armor along with a pair of drawstring pants. He threw on his own cloak to complete the look.
“So, we’re your bait?” Adira asked, her tone low and dangerous.
“You’re small, nonthreatening, and seem easy to trip so I can make a quicker escape.” Leo explained with a sly grin, tossing a cloak at the eldest sister. Adira caught it and gave him a warning glance, silently conveying she wouldn’t go down without a fight. Regardless, she slipped the cloak on knowing if she wanted to get off this planet and someday help her people, she’d need to pitch in.