Unlikely Hero Read online

  Jasy shook her head and shuffled out the booth. “I’m not taking anyone anywhere.”

  “Jasy,” his mother said, getting up quickly, “if this wasn’t important, I wouldn’t ask.”

  “Why is it important?”

  The question silenced everyone and Mark looked at her. “It just is,” he said. Jasy left, snorting, and Mark looked at Sally. “Are you off your rocker?”

  “She is your only chance; she can find a captain and get you out of here before anyone notices that you’re gone.”

  “She’ll get us killed!”

  “She’s not dead, is she? She even convinced me to hire her, Mark.” Sally threw her hands up in defeat. “But go on then if you have a better idea.”

  He didn’t and he hated that. He didn’t know another way off the station, but if he had time he would find one. That was the problem - time.

  They all froze when they heard a distant commotion and Jasy went to one of the windows, peeking out between the curtains.

  “It’s the guard.” She scrambled to get her things together, pushing past Mark along the way. “If they find me they’ll kill me.”

  “They’re not looking for you; they’re looking for us.” Mark glanced at the princess and bit his lip. “We need to get you out of here; maybe we can hide somewhere until it’s safe.”

  “Not with the royal guard around,” Jasy said. “They’ll tear everything apart looking for what they want, believe me I know, and I bet if they know your relationship to Sally, it won’t be long until they come here.”

  “Jasy, please,” Sally pleaded. “I’ll give you all the cash I have, but please help them.”

  Jasy stared at Sally, and Mark clenched his fists, reluctantly adding, “Please help us.”

  Jasy sighed as she shoved the last of her things into her bag. “Fine,” she finally conceded. “Grab your gear; we need to get out of here. I already know a back way to the docks we can use to avoid them.”

  “I always thought you had an escape plan,” Sally said.

  “Don’t butter me up,” Jasy said. “I’m pissed I have to leave early.”

  Sally nodded and sighed. “Good luck and, please, be careful.”

  “There is no being careful when you space-hike,” Jasy said. “Taking risks is what you have to do to survive.”

  Mark rolled his eyes and waved a hand at them. “Yes, yes, goodbye, goodbye, can we get out of here, please?”

  Jasy shouldered her pack back quickly. “Come,” she spat at him before leading him upstairs to his mother’s apartment.

  They went to the bathroom just as banging sounded on the front door and demands to open up from a loud voice.

  Jasy slid the window open and indicated to him that they should clamber out and climb down the thick pipe that ran down the side of the building.

  Mark quickly went down and glanced around - it was a dead end, only accessible from the next street. If the guard was busy on the main street, they wouldn’t be searching the smaller streets yet and they just might have a chance.

  *~*~*~*

  Setting Sail

  Jasy didn’t like him; she didn’t like him at all. She had, however, made a promise and she always kept her word. She would get them out of here and then, wherever they landed, they could part ways and the two could make their own way to dark space.

  Jasy left them hiding in an alleyway as she went searching for a space captain willing to assist them. It didn’t take her long to secure passageway for three people using the money she got from Mark. Once she had everything in place and was sure which ship they would board, she returned to get them.

  It wasn’t as simple as walking them directly to the ship; there were guards everywhere. Jasy descended to below the dock and checked for any guards there, but they hadn’t thought that far ahead yet, or were too busy with the raids to spare the manpower.

  Sneakily, they made their way to just below the ship. Jasy pulled herself up first, just high enough that her head poked over the edge. There was a guard with his back to her right in front of her, and she quickly ducked down.

  Mark quietly asked her for a report, but she didn’t answer him. That irritated him and it was visible, for his fists clenched whenever he was irritated - she noticed that straightaway. The girl with him looked worried and hugged herself.

  Jasy whispered, “There’s a guard standing right here.” She pointed above them. “So we can’t go up just yet and the ship is going to leave soon.”

  “I can take him out, give you guys a chance to board the ship,” Mark said quickly and Jasy had to shush him.

  “No, you need to come with, because after we land at wherever this guy goes, you’re on your own.” His fists clenched again, but Jasy ignored him. “I’m checking again, hush now.”

  She reached up and agonizingly slowly pulled her body up so her eyes peeked over the boards. The guard was still there, and she had to hold on and see if he left at all.

  That was when she heard the ship’s thrusters start up. They were doing pre-flight checks. They had less time than she had anticipated. Jasy knew better than to panic in these situations, but if she conveyed this information to Mark and the girl, they might panic and blow their cover.

  Jasy chewed on her lip and lowered herself down. “It’s no good,” she said, keeping her voice low. “We’ll have to take a chance and sneak past. Can you both be really quiet?” Mark and the girl nodded. “So what we’re going to do is, you’ll go first,” she said to the girl. “What’s your name?”

  The girl looked at Mark as though she had forgotten her own name and he answered, “Call her Zara.”

  “Okay, Zara,” Jasy said rolling her eyes, “I’m going to give you a hand up onto the landing platform. Pull yourself up and walk into cargo and find a place to hide, okay?”

  Zara nodded and moved towards Jasy.

  It was as if time slowed down and sped up all at the same time. As Zara pulled herself up, Jasy heard the front engines being tested, which meant pre-flight checks were at least halfway done.

  Zara got in without hassle and Jasy turned to Mark. “You’re next,” she said. “Let me check first.”

  “We don’t have time.”

  “Shut it, we have to check first,” Jasy spoke through clenched teeth.

  This boy who thought he knew everything was going to be the reason they got caught, and probably killed. Jasy pulled herself up and checked, but the guard had not moved at all. They were lucky thus far. She lowered herself down and nodded to Mark.

  He took a deep breath and slowly raised himself onto the loading dock of the ship, slipping on.

  A horn sounded and Jasy’s heartbeat picked up. The ship was closing its doors and leaving. There was no time for a last check. As it was, she had to jump to reach the landing and pull herself up. She tumbled into the ship to find Mark looking for Zara. She appeared from behind a large crate and he went to her hurriedly.

  Jasy dusted herself off. “No, really, I’m okay. Please don’t worry about me nearly getting squashed by the doors.” Mark threw her one of his dirty looks and she marched over to him. “Look at me like that again and I’ll smack it right off of your face, do you understand me?”

  Mark snorted. “You could try, little girl.”

  “Jasy. I have a name.”

  “Whatever, I don’t care.”

  Jasy shook her head and went to find herself a corner to set up shop in. She unrolled her sleeping bag and settled on it, staring at the top of the ship.

  *~*~*~*

  When Georgani came walking through the cargo bay with his chest puffed out, Jasy wasn’t surprised. A lot of captains liked to boast how space-hikers would be lost without them. Georgani smiled at each of them and started a long-winded speech about how they were traveling safely and that there were no issues with take-off. There was a smattering of clapping before it died down. He ambled along, shaking the hand of every person like he was some king and they were his loyal little peasants.

  Jasy could
n’t stand it.

  She did however note how he stopped at their little group a little longer than others. He chatted to Mark, shook hands with him several times, and then Mark came to her.

  “Captain has invited us to stay in the front of the ship. He says he can see this is our first time and he’d like to make us a more comfortable.” Mark had a huge smile on his face, as though he had just charmed them into some five planet rated hotel for free.

  Jasy shook her head. “We’re fine here.”

  “You might be.”

  She looked up at him through narrowed eyes. “Be careful what you say here. Mark. I’m not your friend; I’m just getting you to where you have to be.”

  “And if we have an opportunity to be more comfortable we will take it,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Zara put her hand on his arm, but he removed it from her reach and said, “You can stay here,” before gathering their things. “We’re going up front.”

  Jasy grimaced. “Don’t do it, don’t trust any captain that offers you a better deal for nothing.” She stood up. “It’s the first rule. No one does anything for nothing.”

  “Maybe in your world.”

  “You are in my world,” she pointed out, but they were walking away, through the main doors of the cargo bay. Jasy didn’t like it at all.

  She rolled up her sleeping bag and stuffed it into her bag before strapping it to her back. She moved quietly behind some boxes in the cargo bay and silently opened a vent; she crawled into it and pulled it closed behind her.

  *~*~*~*

  It didn’t take Jasy long to navigate through the vents. This wasn’t the first time she had to escape on a ship, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. She eventually found her way to above the main cockpit where Georgani was bragging to his crew.

  “Recognized her the minute I saw her,” he was saying to his first mate. “It wasn’t exactly hard, now was it? Everyone knows what the princess of Antonian looks like.”

  “You reckon she was kidnapped, boss?”

  “I don’t know. She seems comfortable with him. Maybe they’re in love and running away.”

  Jasy fumed and it took all her willpower not to punch the wall of the vent. She had been lied to. She had been foolish enough to believe that idiot Mark and now they were all in danger.

  “What about the other girl?” the first mate asked, the one they boarded with.

  “Dispose of her or lock her up with them,” Georgani said lazily. “I don’t care. Do what you want with her.”

  The laughter that erupted sounded disgusting and Jasy shivered slightly, imagining how the crew interpreted those words. She quickly made her way backwards; she had to find a way off the ship before they found her.

  As she leopard crawled along, she passed over a vent and heard loud banging beneath her.

  “It’s no use, Mark,” came a quiet female voice, and Jasy froze.

  “This is my fault,” Mark said, punching the door again. “And now they’re going to return you to Antonian.”

  “Mark, we tried.”

  Jasy crawled forward to find a way to escape. As she moved she could hear the echoes of their voices and something within her tugged at her. Was it guilt? Was it a sense of responsibility? She tried to ignore it, but the further away she got, the worse the feeling was, until she felt she would puke in the vent if she didn’t do something.

  She groaned softly and crawled back to the opening. She looked down from the low ceiling to see them sitting on the floor, close together. Zara, if that was even her name, was crying softly. Jasy sighed and banged against the vent. They looked up at her and a smile broke out on Zara’s face, and for Mark it was a look of relief. Jasy manoeuvred herself rather awkwardly until she could kick the vent open, worried someone would hear it crash down, but Mark caught it.

  Jasy contorted herself again and said, “Come on, you two, let’s get out of here.” She crawled forward and Zara came in after her. Jasy looked over her shoulder, craning her head. “Stay close and quiet.”

  Zara nodded and passed the message to Mark, who was also in the vent now.

  Jasy led them as quickly and as quietly as she could, searching for a way out. Eventually she stopped, having found what she hoped for, and whispered, “Here.”

  She peered around the sides of the vent as far as she could see, didn’t see anyone, and carefully scrunched herself up and kicked this gate open as well. Dropping down to the floor, Jasy quickly looked around.

  “There’s no one,” she whispered loudly. “Quickly, drop down.”

  She helped Zara and waited while Mark dropped in. Before he could ask what they were doing here, she made her way to the first escape pod and undid the control panel for the door. She fiddled with the wires.

  “Keep guard,” she murmured as she worked.

  Zara stood off to one side, checking down a side corridor, and Mark stood to the other, craning his neck to look down his corridor, which started straight but then curved a bit.

  “Go faster,” he whispered, his foot tapping the floor.

  Jasy frowned, a wire held in her mouth, but didn’t say anything. She took the wire out of her mouth and exposed the end before touching it to the motherboard of the control panel. There was a spark and the door opened.

  “Get in.”

  She went to the cockpit and jumped into the seat just as a loudspeaker boomed.

  There are three stowaways out of the cargo bay and in my ship. Turn yourselves in and I’ll think about letting you live, Georgani commanded.

  Jasy snorted, “I don’t think so.”

  She fist bumped a large red button and lights started flashing. The doors sealed shut and all the escape pods launched one after another.

  “Why’d you launch them all?” Mark yelled as their pod prepared to be ejected.

  “So he doesn’t know which one to hit!” she yelled back. “Let me do this, I got this.”

  Zara put her hand on Mark’s arm and they both sat back as Jasy navigated them through the mine field of escape pods moving away from the ship, mostly on autopilot, and towards the planet below.

  *~*~*~*

  The Thalian Sity

  Mark woke up with his head pounding. He looked around and wondered where he was. He wasn’t in his room at the royal palace. No, he was in a space craft. No, wrong again; he realised he was in an escape pod. It came flooding back to him. The reason he was here was because of her and because he needed to protect her. He glanced to his left and saw her laying there, her head hanging forward. No! She couldn’t be dead.

  He brushed the hair out of her face and whispered her name, “Elkelizabeth.”

  “She’s not dead.”

  Jasy’s voice coming from the open hatch at the back of the pod startled him and he reached for his blaster, only to remember that it had been taken off of him when they were captured on the ship.

  Sticking her head into the pod, Jasy said, “Entering the atmosphere was insane. It took all my willpower not to pass out myself.”

  “But you managed it,” he said.

  He was mildly impressed, but wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing it. He unstrapped and knelt by the princess, checking her pulse.

  “Still don’t trust me, eh?” Jasy asked, sitting on the edge of the door and kicking her legs lightly against the metal.

  The noise was irritating and stoked Mark’s ire. He shook his head. “Don’t be offended. I don’t trust anyone.”

  “Except her,” she pointed out and Mark bit his lip to keep from snapping at her.

  She was such a, he paused mid-thought, trying to find the words, “Petulant child.” He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but it came out anyway.

  Jasy snorted. “You’re a fine one to talk. She’ll wake up. Come get something to eat.’’

  Mark scowled and carefully undid the buckles of the princess’ harness and laid her down gently before going outside. They had landed in some kind of forest, the noises around them were wild and cree
py, and Mark could feel his frustration mounting.

  Jasy had a fire going just outside of the pod and stoked it when he walked over. Above the fire was some sort of animal with a stick pushed through it; she rotated it over the low flames.

  “Where’d you learn to hunt?” Mark asked, sitting by the fire and warming his hands.

  “I’m sure I’ve told you I’ve had to take care of myself a lot. If I haven’t, then I’m sure you have figured that out for yourself.” She didn’t look at him, as though the thought of taking care of herself was something to be ashamed of.

  Mark sighed and looked around. “This is just great.”

  “It could be worse.”

  “How?” he asked. “How could this possibly be worse?”

  “We could still be on Georgani’s ship.” She encouraged the fire more and turned the stick again. “And then we’d all be screwed. You and I would probably get the death penalty and she would have to go back to royal lockdown.”

  Jasy knew and Mark wasn’t happy about that. He didn’t comment, hoping the subject would be dropped, but Jasy had other plans.

  “So why didn’t you just tell me you were eloping with a royal?” she asked, taking the meat off the stick and placing it on a cloth she had rolled out next to her.

  Mark watched her. “I’m not eloping with her.”

  “Then what are you doing?”

  The question was quiet but firm; she wanted to know and Mark didn’t want to tell her. It wasn’t safe to trust her. It wasn’t safe to trust anybody with what he knew. Right now he needed to return to his primary mission of getting Lizzie out of here.

  “Well, congratulations.” He didn’t mean to be sarcastic, but he was so frustrated. “We’re stranded in the middle of nowhere for who knows how long instead of getting to dark space. Great choice of captain,” he scoffed, and looked down at his shoes.

  “One,” she said simply.

  “One what?” His irritation was evident in his voice and he mentally tried to calm himself.