Chapter Twenty-Six

" W e have help inbound," Ter said. "The pirates are fleeing."

"Thank God or Divashi or whoever is responsible," Dante said. "Regi, are you there?" Dante asked even as he hurried toward what he thought was the temple.

Vk's voice came over the radio. "Dante, is that a planet?"

"Obviously not," Ter said with disdain. "You have too many fat cells that have settled between the synapses of your brain. The readings indicate that is a ship, and it only possesses radial symmetry, not the spherical shape of any natural planetary body."

"A planet-sized ship, and from here it looks round," Vk said.

When Regi's voice came through the radio, a relief so complete it stole the strength from his legs washed through Dante. "It's a Retav ship, dedicated to the God of retribution," he explained.

"Don't you think you should have mentioned that the Kowri people possessed something that large?" Ter's voice had a sharp edge to it, a clipped tone, which was ironic because he hadn't shown that much caution around the many Kowri who had called for his imprisonment or execution. He wondered how large the ship was.

"I've never seen the Retav ship," Regi said. "Few Kowri ever do."

"Look, we can discuss the Kowri habit of hiding huge pieces of technology later," Dante said. "Regi, where are you and how do we rendezvous?" As much as Dante found pleasure in hearing Regi's voice, he wouldn't feel safe until they were standing side-by-side where any bad luck of the gods would strike them equally.

"I'm afraid I am unable to reach you right now," Regi said.

The hair on the back of Dante's neck stood on end. "Why?" he asked, fear making him drawl the word out to unnatural lengths.

"That didn't translate, so whatever strange thing you did with your mouth, you asymmetrical abomination, don't do it again," Ter snapped. Someone was in a bad mood.

Dante rested his hand against the nearest wall and closed his eyes. Right, no drawling. "Why can't you meet me?" Dante asked. "Are you on the ship with Vk? Is there a problem over there?"

Regi was silent for several minutes, so Vk answered. "He is in a small fighter that is damaged and without fuel. He is drifting toward untrackable space."

Fear clawed at Dante's chest, and his heart beat fast enough to be painful. "Why ‘untrackable'?"

"Because our sensors do not extend toward infinity," Vk said, and she was almost as terse as Ter. "If he continues on his current trajectory, in an hour he will be outside our ability to track him."

"Are rescue ships enroute?" Dante prayed with a fervor he had not possessed in many years.

"Technically, yes," Vk said. There was a long pause and then a click and another long pause filled with the faint mutterings of colorful, scatological curses from Ter.

"What is going on?" No one answered Dante.

After another click, Vk's voice returned. "There are many stranded fighters between our ship and Regi, and rescuers are charged with retrieving the first pilot they encounter in order to maximize the number of runs they can make before refueling and the number of lives they can save," she explained. An uncharitable part of Dante wanted to yell that she needed to convince them to change their damn plans, even though the Kowri were taking a logical stance. He couldn't let Regi die—he couldn't. Logic be damned, he only knew what his heart felt.

"Ter, navigate me to the nearest ship capable of rescue maneuvers," Dante said. So many Kowri were working on internal repairs that he was sure there were ships going unused.

"You have no experience with Kowri technology or flight training. If you attempt to rescue him, you shall both die in the silence of space," Ter snapped. He must have been upset because he didn't even come up with one insult despite the stupid plan.

"The gods will have to help out once I'm in the ship," Dante said.

"I order you to abandon this idiotic plan," Regi said. "If the Lord of Retribution has chosen to involve himself, that means that this situation will have his full attention until he achieves revenge, and he does not care who or what must burn in his quest to achieve it."

"I'm pretty sure you described Divashi," Dante pointed out, "so I'm not sure the situation has changed." Dante gave a two-fingered salute to the air. "Lord Retav, it's nice to meet you. I have no trouble helping you find a little retribution if it's the pirates you want to burn. Heck, I'll bring the match and the marshmallows, but if you do not help me get Regi back, I'll set fire to the whole world, including you."

Vk asked in a tiny voice, "Regi, have you and Dante bonded when I was distracted by other matters?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Regi said, "but I am suspicious of certain reactions."

"Well fuck," Ter said.

Dante ignored them. When he reached the first junction with a major corridor, he caught the arm of a passing Kowri "Where do the rescue ships launch from?"

"The launching bays," the Kowri said before jerking his arm free and hurrying away as fast as he could thunk in the gravity boots.

A Kowri that had been behind him stopped. "Caliginous deck. We are going there now. Follow us." Before Dante could answer, the Kowri hurried past. Dante followed.

Unlike most parts of the Kowri ship, the launching bays and the deck the bays were in lacked any decoration. The plain gray walls appeared more human-built than Kowri, and if it weren't for corridors large enough that a fighter jet would fit down them, Dante wouldn't have guessed he was on a Kowri ship at all. The Kowri he was following entered a huge door with a frame lit with the same glow as the force field generator he'd used during the rescue. The Kowri inside all had their helmets off... unless they were settling into the cockpit of squat ships with wings that looked too stubby to fly. It was as if the Kowri had modeled them after beetles.

Dante unfastened his helmet and said, "I need a ship or I need someone to retrieve Regi a'Divashi."

Everyone stared at him for a moment before most returned to their tasks. No one even asked for Regi's current location.

"Damn it, someone needs to get Regi. Your big old Retav ship is here, so I know there are plenty of pilots. I need one person to prioritize Regi a'Divashi!" A few more Kowri glanced his way, but none seemed inclined to help.

Dante looked toward the ceiling. "Retav, the fact you're here probably has something to do with those no-account pirates who'd steal flowers off their mommas' graves, and that means you're on the same side as Divashi, and that means you need to get Regi back here because he's been putting his life on the line for you gods!" He shook a finger in the air, and around him Kowri grew fluffy and gasped and made it clear they did not approve.

But one older male with gray streaks in his stripes stood up. He'd been in a fighter with the canopy open and he said, "My ship has refused to engage until this moment. I will seek this exalted in need. Where is he?"

"I have no idea but I do know who is tracking his trajectory." Dante touched his earpiece. "Ter, do you have the data?"

"Do you have so little faith in my competency that you believe I would lose one of the few officers capable of any logic?" he snapped, his voice shrill even through the radio.

"Just get this new guy the data so we can go after Regi."

"I would be the new individual of which he speaks," the gray-streaked Kowri said after tapping his own radio. He asked Dante, "Are you the one called Dante a'Texas?"

"Dante a'Texas or Dante a'Divashi, it's still a little bit of a debate. But feel free to call me Dante."

The Kowri's eyes grew large. "Being claimed by more than one god is a promise of far too much of the gods' first blessing and a difficult position."

"And if we ever find my home planet, my position will be difficult because the whole Texas part means that my people are not going to appreciate me putting Divashi at the same level as their god, but maybe we can worry about that later." This didn't seem the right time for a philosophical debate on the first commandment.

The gray-streaked Kowri spoke. "I am Cidbe a'Gavd," he introduced himself. "I've established a radio connection. There is room for an observer if you wish to fly with me."

"Hell, yes," Dante said. He rushed past the staring Kowri. He had made a scene, not that he much cared. If Regi came back safe, Dante could worry about ruffled feathers later.

"I am ashamed to say that too many of our fighters were unprepared for the engagement. We have not seen combat in many generations," Cidbe said. "Can I assume that this battle means we're likely to see more engagements?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Dante said. "The pirates have been stealing dops, and Divashi is more than a little angry."

"Stealing from the gods indicates insanity."

Dante had the strong feeling that he was not being hyperbolic. "Most non-Kowri don't believe in gods. They assume that because their gods are imaginary your gods are the same. The only thing they fear is Kowri technology."

Cidbe touched a control and a ladder appeared. "Even so, Kowri technology was more than able to defeat them."

Dante climbed. From the doorway, the ship had seemed small, but now, it seemed two or three times larger than a jet.

Ter's voice came through the radio, "The pirates don't care about Kowri technology or they wouldn't be inside the empire. They will overwhelm your larger ships with numbers. Do not get arrogant and assume that your superior technology means anything when you are so arrogant that you refuse to make logical preparations and you hesitate in the middle of battle."

Dante sighed. "Ter's people believe bluntness is a virtue."

"Perhaps I should relay technical information." Vk's voice was tinny on the radio, but Dante could still hear the sharp edge. No doubt she was worried.

Dante settled into the seat in the narrow nose of the fighter before Cidbe lowered the canopy. "Helmets secure," he said, and Dante double- checked his own. "Launching now." The ship slid forward toward a gaping hole at the far end of the room, Kowri ducking to run under the stubby wings to get to their own craft. A fighter came from the left and vanished into the darkness.

There was something viscerally terrifying about heading into the shadows, and Dante's butthole tightened, but he clamped down on any words that tried to escape. He wouldn't back down. He would make sure Cidbe found Regi, and he would not be ruled by his fears.

Their ship reached the tube, and instead of following the others, the fighter dropped straight down. Dante screamed, and then the ship fired the engine, and he was pressed back into his seat. It was like the worst roller coaster he had ever been on. Dante barely managed to avoid throwing up as they flew past the rolling edge of the giant ship.

They dodged a debris field and out toward the stars. Dante ignored the voices as Ter and Vk guided Cidbe toward Regi's ship or as other Kowri called out locations as they towed ships back to safety. He had developed a case of car sickness that rivaled anything he'd suffered when he'd been six and his father had the grand plan of driving an RV across the country. He focused on not letting his insides out through his mouth. "I am receiving a signal," Cidbe said, "but it is alien in nature. Is Regi a'Divashi another outsider exalted?"

"No. He's Kowri. He left the Empire a long time ago because he pledged himself to Poque, but he's one of yours," Dante answered. He swallowed bile as his stomach tried to revolt.

"Odd. This signal is not Kowri in nature." He must have transferred the signal to Dante's radio because Dante was now listening to ‘Johnny B Goode' by Chuck Berry. Why was he hearing Chuck Berry? Dante's brain went off-line.

"The translator says that is a huuman language," Ter said, "but the trajectory is from deeper in Kowri space. Do huumans have exploratory ships?"

Dante still found no words in his head. His whole brain was full of static. They didn't have exploratory ships. They didn't have ships that could reach past Uranus where the deep space station was being built. All Earth signals would be coming from Earth's solar system.

"I have located Regi a'Divashi's ship," Cidbe said.

"Earth," Dante whispered.

"What about Earth?" Regi asked. The words didn't filter through the static the first time Regi asked, so he asked again. Louder.

"That's a signal from Earth. If it's coming from Kowri space, then Earth is inside Kowri space." Dante felt like his brain was full of cotton fuzz.

"If huumans have infiltrated the Empire, the gods will not be pleased," Cidbe said.

"But..." Dante had no idea what to say. He closed his mouth, and after a few seconds, Ter insulted him or insulted someone. It was sound flowing over him, but he couldn't understand it.

"Earth is inside Kowri space," Dante whispered.

"No doubt it is some passing huuman ship that has wandered into unknown territory. Kowri space is inhabited only by Kowri," Cidbe said with confidence. Space was black, the gods loved the Kowri, and only Kowri lived inside the borders of the Empire. Dante hadn't known Kowri long, but he knew they held those last two beliefs without a speck of doubt.

But it wasn't true... or the last part wasn't, anyway.

"Earth is inside Kowri space," Dante repeated. His brain was stuck in a loop.