Space

[Kayle]

Hyperspace whizzed and zipped by Kayle and Query as they hurtled along towards some unknown fixed point that Query had indicated was a flickering glimmer of hope for the preservation of their combined mass sums of knowledge. Having never even left Kuat since being activated, the usually talkative Kayle fell silent, entranced by the whirling streaks of celestial bodies as the tiny craft hurtled ever onward in silence.

 

Sometime later, Kayle was not sure how long; having entered some sort of trance until the ship automatically came streaking out of hyperspace. The celestial streaks silently screeched to a stop, forming up as pinpricks of starlight on the vast empty void of space.

 

Vast. Empty. The TIE Interceptor hummed quietly as the scanners picked up a distant item floating in the darkness; only visible by the shadow it cast over the starry sky behind it.

 

Turning her head to look at Query, she pointed, ”Look Query, it seems that . . .that thing there is where your beacon is coming from. I am an expert in all manner of Imperial creations. Scans do not seem to ID it as anything of Imperial or Kuati make. In fact, on board computers do not seem to register it as anything more than floating space debris of unidentified manufacture. Still,” she tapped the screen in front of her, ”I wonder how long it has been floating there. It certainly does not look like a recent parking job. But still, it just seems odd.” Turning back to look at Query she spoke, her sing-song voice dropping to a more monotone level, ”Why would there be a single life sign aboard?”

[Kayle]

”Well that is quite fascinating is it not Query? It seems that whoever or whatever is aboard is responding. I will admit though that my knowledge of sub-species dialects is quite limited. I would expect a medicinally knowledgeable droid such as yourself might know about what sort of creature would still be living aboard such a derelict of a vessel. Clearly the design is subpar and does not meet Imperial protocols. Do you know what the thing is asking?”

 

Kayle stared out at the floating wreckage as their Interceptor slowly began to drift closer and closer, before shooting a blue-photoceptored glance of questioning back at Query. Carefully, she began to maneuver their ill-gotten Imperial craft closer and closer to the floating hulk, preparing to dock.

 

”Maybe you should check and see. After all, medical droids are supposed to preserve life are they not? I will wait in the ship for the time being just in case whatever is aboard is hostile. Hmmm. . . I bet you wish you still had that little added on weapon of yours. I wonder if you can find something on the ship to protect you. . .just in case.”

 

As the Interceptor gently clanged against what would have been a docking port of the aged vessel they had discovered, Kayle announced yet another discovery, ”I guess docking is not an option. Look at that hole in what I suspect to be the bridge. I bet that the entire ship has been exposed to the vacuum of space. We cannot achieve a vacuum lock of any sort. I suppose it is good that neither of us have to breathe. I have heard of some sort of demonic monster that can survive in space. Deep space Imperial pilots have told stories about it when checking in at the archives.”

 

You know you might be sending him in to die right?

 

. . .yes, but I am just sure he has some life-preserving programming like all the other medical providers I have encountered. Besides, better him than me. The knowledge I have is too important to risk going in there myself. We were lucky to escape from Kuat. . .

 

. . .and you do not know anything about the outside world. . .

 

. . .I suppose that is true, but look I can clearly take care of myself!

 

. . .right, by sacrificing your only friend. . .

 

. . .he should know what he got himself into. I told him that I had to preserve my knowledge for the Empire. There are lots of medical droids. My knowledge is unique. . .I think . . .

 

. . .I bet the demon, if that is what it is, will not like eating droids anyway. . .

 

. . .we are pretty unpalatable it seems. . .

 

. . .Maybe with all the blood in his joints the monster will gnaw him to death though . . .

 

. . .yeah, I do seem to like the one-armed being. He is a good listener. Does not talk too much. . .

 

”Hold on Query. I’ll come with you. That way we will at least have the thing out numbered. Maybe we can scare it away before it eats you.”

 

With an audible electronic sigh, Kayle began to unstrap her 5-point harness as the Interceptor clanged against the hull of the hulk again.

 

”Hmmm . . . I am not sure we want to leave our vessel adrift. I am not sure why you think this place is a good place to repair your arm. I will give you the fact that it is out of the way enough that I do not think the enemy will be looking for us here. We will need to find some sort of tether to tie our ship to this hulk, just in case.”

[Kayle]

Kayle struggled with her harness. Droids such as her were never really designed to fasten and unfasten military grade hardware, even if she did, in theory, know exactly how it works.

 

it seems something has gotten twisted up in the flight . . .

 

. . . Good job genius. . .

 

. . . I know I am, but even geniuses get caught up in twisted seatbelts sometimes Kayle. You should know that.

 

As she struggled with her harness, Query had already bolted up and out, opening the interior to the void of space. Not that it mattered really, but still, Kayle could not help feeling somewhat exposed as she paused to watch the distant floating stars out the hatch with nothing between she and they but her twisted harness.

 

Whoa….would you look at that. They look so much clearer from up here. . .

 

. . . No wonder ships are so well insulated. I bet those would hurt if you hit one . . . she mumbled to no one but herself; not that her voice could be heard in the void of space, but that really did not matter in that moment of awe inspired wonder in the droid’s central processor; her arms floating limply at her side as she stared unblinkingly upwards, lost in the whirring thought of a droid’s subconscious.

 

Lost that is until the reverberations alongside the hull of the ship continued on and she finally took notice.

 

How long has that been going on?

 

. . . How should I know you idiot, I’ve been watching the stars!

 

Me . . . . Tie. . . .This . . . Off. . .

 

What horrible grammar for a droid in the medical field. I mean seriously!

 

Banging her foot on the floor plant she tried to vocalize, Good. Tie it off. Someone has to stay with the ship!

 

Maybe this was not such a good idea. Alone with a strange droid . . .

 

. . .In the middle of nowhere. . .

 

You’re right! All alone in the middle of nowhere. Who knows what he might do. . .

 

. . .even if he is a good listener, what do we truly know about him. He could be a murderer masquerading as a medical droid. . .

 

. . .You are right. Didn’t he say something before about mind wipes or classified something or another. . .

 

I’ll wait here for you Query. Thank you very much. Find an arm and let’s get somewhere more civilized.

 

I wonder if this ship has an Imperial emergency beacon. . .

[Kayle]

The readout aboard the customized TIE Interceptor spat out a series of letters and figures across the display screen that Kayle sat forward, hoping that perhaps closer to proximity would help her decipher the apparent words flashing across the blue screen.

 

What in the world is this? Where is it coming from? Is this some sort of technical readout?

. . . no. That would be in something I could understand. This does not read like any sort of technical readout associated with imperial technology . . .

. . . right! Something must be trying to communicate with the ship . . .

. . . if that is the case, it most assuredly is not my friend Query. I hope he is ok . . .

. . . maybe I should go and rescue him. . .

. . . sadly, I do not have any sort of weapons training or weapons of war . . .

. . . wait a minute . . .

. . .what if it is this hulk? Maybe the computer system is still operational? . . .

 

Reaching forward, Kayle began typing out on the add-on keyboard, hoping that she could broadcast back to the ship or whatever it was that was trying to communicate in a mutually understandable language, droidspeak.

 

Greetings . . . strange . . . entity. . . I . . . cannot . . . understand . . .you . . .

 

Kayle paused, pondering what to say next. Whoever or whatever was trying to communicate most likely had Query in its clutches. Does it have clutchers? She had to be careful with what she said.

 

. . .ponder ponder . . .

. . .oh! I know!

 

Returning to the keyboard Kayle clacked away again,

 

We . . . come . . . in . . . peace.

 

There, that should do nicely. Clicking the send button, Kayle sat back confident that message would do the trick and if it did not, Kayle had realized that even without any body-based weaponry like Query’s late-modification gun arm, she did sit at the controls of one of the Empire’s most lethal fighter craft . . .

 

. . . and fighter craft had big mean guns!

 

I do hope that Query can make it out alive . . .

. . . This place does not seem at all safe like he guaranteed. . .

. . .Yes, but we have the ship . . .

. . .I suppose we could make an escape if needed; but that would mean possibly leaving Query behind. . .

. . .Yes. . .

. . .What about his Imperial knowledge though? That too would seem important to preserve. . .

. . . Not as important as ours though . . .

. . . Oh. Absolutely. If push comes to shove. . .

[Kayle]

Suddenly the computer screen built into the console of the Interceptor flickered back to life again. Kayle could almost feel the computer whirring as it tried to make sense of the response. Kayle was still excited that the computer registered a response from . . . well, wherever it was that the response was coming from.

 

The ship maybe?

. . . but it looks so, so . . .

. . . lifeless?

. . . Yes, lifeless. How could it still even have power to respond?

. . . I don’t know. You did send out a signal did you not?

. . . well, that is true.

 

In the vast silence of space, Kayle pondered the blipping computer screen as it whirred and clacked trying to make sense of the strange signal it had received.

 

I wonder if Query is alright . . .

. . . He does have an ability for getting into trouble and frying secondary systems . . .

. . . That he does!

. . . I wonder if I can send a signal out to him and see if he is alright?

. . . Do medical droids have radio receivers?

. . . we are about to find out!

 

Kayle leaned forward and just as she was about to key up a message to broadcast back on any and all frequency and system the ship’s computer could find, the computer blinked again and began to spit out an array of coordinates and hyperspace routes to the planets specified in the message.

 

Kayle’s fingers hovered just above the keyboard. ”Well, that is something isn’t it? I do believe that I recognize some of these from Imperial archives.”

 

Returning to her task at hand with new zeal, Kayle clacked away sending a new message, one that was entirely different from her initial idea, echoing silently across the myriad of invisible waves and rays in the cold of space.

 

’Query can you hear me?

Something is trying to communicate with our ship. It seems to know something about Coruscant. I think I may have discovered an attack plan. I think I remember something about Coruscant being attacked by monsters while we were fleeing Kuat. Maybe you should come back to the ship. We can leave, blow this foreign abomination up, and be on our way to a sanctioned Imperial stronghold.”

 

 

“Just launch yourself out one of the gaping holes and I’ll pick you up.” she added to the end before hitting SEND.

 

Then, pulling her harness tight once again, Kayle fired up the engines of the ship and with little experience, but the guidance of luck, managed to nudge the ship away from the derelict vessel and about in a wide circle to face the once powerful gunship; its own guns now pointed at where Query had disappeared a short time before.

 

Now to turn these things on . . .

 

Kayle pushed the clearly marked red firing button aboard the controls. Nothing happened.

 

Must not be on . . .

. . . Did you plug it in?

. . . Wait; is that something that must be done? Where would I even begin to look for such a thing?

. . . Under the console maybe?

[Kayle]

Kayle strained against her five-point harness trying to see if she could find with her photoceptor eyes.

 

”Gah! Who designed this contraption anyway?

 

What a dumb place for a button!!”

 

Kayle struggled and struggled completely unaware of her drifting ship or the goings on outside the hull of her ship or the hulk they had discovered. In that moment, Kayle was solely focused on trying to find a button or switch that she clearly knew had to be under the console. Straining against her harness, Kayle finally sat up, slamming herself back into her seat in the weightlessness, reaching forward with her arm, she began to feel beneath the console. Her fingers clicked and clacked against the smooth surface, finding nothing.

 

Look. There is Query!

. . . What is that hulk of a thing with him?

. . . Oh goodness! They must be fighting!

. . . Does Query have some secret programming for hand to hand combat? I really doubt it . . .

. . . Yes, and he only has one arm . . .

. . . Poor fellow is probably doomed. That hulking thing looks like it was designed for combat . . .

. . . Yeah . . . Maybe during some long forgotten land based war before they invented deep space cold fusion . . .

. . . You are right. There is no way Query could survive against such a barbaric piece of, what is that thing?

. . . I do not know. Too bad Query will probably die before he can tell us . . .

. . . Definitely not Imperial . . .

. . . Definitely not!

 

And in that moment, Kayle, without thinking, flicked the switch alongside the big red firing button, as if she had been flying ships like this her entire life. The computer chimed signaling that the safety had been released.

 

If Kayle could have smiled in that moment, she would not have. Instead, mentally she set herself about the grim task that she knew lay before her. Looking from the firing button to the floating bodies drifting away from the craft, she knew what she had to do.

 

Alas poor Query, I knew him well.

 

With that, Kayle depressed the button and held it, a rain of green blaster cannon fire pouring forth from the belly of her commandeered Imperial craft. With no engines or thrusters engaged, each blast sent the ship tilting and backing through space, unknown to Kayle. The green arcs of plasma and energy arced forth wildly spraying towards the ship and the duo of droids floating freely in space.

[Kayle]

Oh my goodness! That raider is shooting at me! Kayle’s advanced mechanized mind whirred with shock and concern for the preservation of herself and compartmentalized knowledge. Even as the ship rocked in the zero gravity of deep space with the glancing blow from the strange being’s blast, Kayle was already scrambling to try and pull herself free from the pilot’s seat. Self-preservation was the guiding force in the moment, even as the five-point harness held her firmly in place.

 

Finger still depressed on the button, the slowly arcing ship spat a rain of blaster fire out into the void of space until the energy fizzled out with a silent crackle in the distance. This continued until Kayle subconsciously pulled her hand back and clawed at the harness with no success. The droid’s mind began to evaluate the situation. Nothing seemed damage, even as she tried to comprehend what had happened. Her ship looped slowly end over end in a silent slow motion tumble backwards away from the wreckage and fellow droids.

 

What do I do now? I can’t go back.

. . . What about Query?

. . . I bet he wishes he still had a gun. He is clearly combat oriented. He’ll be fine.

. . . He did help us escape.

. . . Yes, he may be useful in future situations.

. . . And he is a good talker. He doesn’t seem to blab. Security is important.

. . . That it is. I need to preserve the knowledge in my mind.

. . . And he is an Imperial droid.

. . . No wonder I like him.

. . . He does seem to have that stand-offish factor that they talk about in the holodramas.

. . . Maybe it is a prerequisite that doctors are all attractive on some level?

. . . Gotta be it. I’m no geneticist, but ships can be attractive, why can’t droids?

. . . Sigh… We better go rescue him.

 

Shaking her head so as to rattle the hypothetical bolts back into place, Kayle righted her slightly angled self and grabbed the controls of the Interceptor. Gently, she began to nudge it out of its cartwheeling spin and in a lengthy arc brought the ship around towards the duo that now seemed to be drifting apart.

 

Keying the comms, Kayle looked from Query to the still open hatch above her.

 

”Query can you hear me? Maybe, if you can get into the ship, we should get out of here.

. . . Like, uh…NOW. Get in Query before that thing kills us both! For the Empire!

 

Drifting forward, Kayle hoped to bring the ship towards Query, dividing he and the strange clearly hostile suit, before she jerked the console as an echoing thump reverberated through the hull of the small craft. She had struck something, or someone, but what or who?!

 

((Left it open for ya’ll to take it as you will who or what got hit.))

[Kayle]

If Kayle could have gasped, which would have meant she needed to breath, which meant that surviving in the open to space void of atmosphere cockpit of the TIE fighter was not happening, she still would have. She felt a mixture of horror and condescension as she saw that the thing that she had bumped had been her travelling partner, Query. He really ought to have stayed in his pristine medical facility. Space is no place for a 2-1B.

 

Still, with a few deft flicks of the controls and the tiniest of microbursts from the TIE's twin engines, she was able to nudge the ship around and match the tumbling Query's speed. The thought that the other being was still floating somewhere in her blindspot was something that she was completely oblivious too. For Kayle, the fact that Query now climbed down into the ship behind her was a feat worthy of praise. Best droid on the market. a hundred plus years running. Yes that is me.

 

New coordinates? Where oh silly comrade of mine could you have gotten new coordinates? There is nothing out here. Oh! Maybe you found them on the ship. Sorry to say, for a medical expert you do seem rather forgetful. Maybe you just did not realize until faced with the threat of death from that grotesque amalgamation of antiquified technology. That must be it. Alrighty, well as soon as you get strapped in you one-armed wonder we will be off!

 

Now...how does one turn the hyperdrive on in this thing again? Even as she spoke 'aloud' to herself, her words were lost in the vacuum of space. Then, with a flash, the console before her lit up flashing a new set of coordinates. MECHIS III

 

Oh! Kayle jumped as much as her twisted, yet somehow still secure, 5-point harness would allow her; causing her body to twitch rather oddly for a moment. She recognized the coordinates and the planet. It was no Imperial World, but decidedly a safe harbor for the information she now possessed. Maybe we can get you a new arm there too. Silly medical droid.

 

Now . . . . her fingers hoovered over the console, one of these launches us to hyperspace.

 

Picking a button seemingly at random, a duo of missiles fizzled out wide, their particalized jet trails of moisture leaving swirling poops as they rocketted into the emptiness of space. Not that one.

 

What about this one. . . Kayle palm came to rest gently on the final button that needed depressing to propel them forward into hyperspace; the open hatch above them not even a faint memory in her mind. . .

 

 

 

((Gonna leave us another post in case TRS-E113 wants to hop in, latch on, stick a tracker, something. Then we will blast to hyperspace.))