Wanderer

Chapter 4-3

There was silence for a few seconds, then a loud metallic clang. A few metallic screeches followed, then a curse from Tarkus was cut off by a huge boom which she felt as much as heard.

Kaira was out from between the two crates and several steps away before she caught up with herself, her body having reacted on instinct. Cursing herself silently she dropped into a crouch again and crept back to the crates. She had no idea exactly where Tarkus was, but sprinting around the cargo bay was a sure way to attract his attention.

She struggled to work out what exactly might be happening, but she couldn't for the life of her. Then the grumbling and the cursing started again. From what Kaira could hear Tarkus was questioning the parentage of the cargo loaders who had, in his words, dragged something on board without paying the slightest attention to the warning labels it contained.

There was near silence for a couple of minutes, just the occasional scrape and shuffle telling her Tarkus hadn’t moved away, then he was muttering again.

“Well I'm sure as hell not cleaning that up,” she heard him say. “Not at the moment.”

Then she heard his footsteps. She risked easing towards the back of the gap between the two crates. When she was sure he was returning using the same route she moved out of the back of the small gap and edged to the side, leaving only her right eye and right side of her face in any way visible.

Tarkus passed her once again without looking. This time she noticed he had a full backpack. She didn't think he’d had that to begin with, or maybe it had simply been empty.

Tarkus passed out of sight. Kaira listened as his footsteps grew fainter. Then came the sound of the door being opened and clanging shut again. Moments later the cargo bay was plunged into darkness once more.

Kaira still had the torch in hand, but at some point she must have turned it off, not that she remembered doing so. She moved to turn it on, then decided against it. She thought Tarkus had no idea she was there… but maybe it was a test. He might be lurking outside the door, waiting to see a light indicating someone was aboard. Or maybe he was even still in the bay.

She listened for several minutes, not hearing anything and finally switched on the torch. She kept its light as dim as she could by covering it with her hand, then crept towards the door leading into the rest of the ship with her heart in her mouth. She struggled to imagine Tarkus going to all this trouble just to try and ambush a stowaway, especially considering the weapon he’d been carrying, but she needed to be sure he was gone.

She neared the door and confirmed the space in front of it was empty. Then she checked some of the nearer crates and containers, but there was no one there either. Tarkus really had left. It seemed she was still undetected.

She started to head back to her hiding place, but curiosity drove her to investigate what Tarkus had been doing. Not far from the two crates she’d hidden between she found one of the large metallic containers was now standing open. It was slightly taller than she was and a good metre on each side.

It had been packed fairly full but now whatever had been inside was spilling out across the floor. That must be what Tarkus had been talking about when he said he wasn't going to clean it up now.

Kaira moved closer, wondering just what it was that Tarkus had come looking for. She drew within a few feet of the pile before the dim fragment of torchlight was enough to make out the contents of the container. Then for long moments she just stood there staring, shaking her head in disbelief.

Finally she smiled as she started to believe it might be true. Right there, spilling out on the floor in front of her, were hundreds and hundreds of food bars. The exact same type of food bars she’d paid so much for.

Assuming these ones weren’t faulty this could be the answer to her problems. And she thought it was damn unlikely a trader like Tarkus would be conned in the same way a desperate would-be stowaway had.

There was only one way to know. She reached down and pulled one out of the pile, held it in her hands for long moments, then pulled open the packaging.

She half expected to see the same grey dust she’d found in her own bars, but instead she saw a solid bar. That was how they should look! She waited excitedly for the reaction to start… but it just lay there, inert and useless.

Dammit! Was there something more they needed? Maybe these bars weren’t the same and needed water or something else to start the reaction. If that was the case they would be as useless to her as the ones she’d paid for.

She gripped the bar in her hands, fighting the urge to throw it across the cargo hold. Only the fear of losing sight of it and Tarkus stumbling across it held her back. She stood there holding the bar, fighting down the urge to fling it away.

Then, after what seemed like a long, long time, she heard a faint hissing. At the same time she realised the bar in her hand seemed to be vibrating. She lifted it closer and examined it closely before a huge smile spread across her face. The reaction was starting! It wasn’t going as quickly as she’d expected, but it was definitely happening!

Less than a minute later she was holding a bar which had grown to at least six times its original volume. More than that, she could almost feel the water held within it. The reaction seemed to have worked. The question now was whether it was truly edible.

There was only one way to find out. She took a small, tentative bite. Then another, much larger one. The taste wasn’t wonderful but it was tolerable, and she could feel the water within the bar easing the intense thirst she’d been feeling. The problem of water, and food, was solved, and without her risking herself by leaving the cargo hold.

Kaira looked down at the pile of food bars. She just needed a few to survive the trip, not enough to even make a slight dent in the pile. But… it would be stealing. Up until now all she had done was stow away. She hadn't taken anything from Tarkus.

Of course, stowing away was an executionable offence, one that was considered more serious than stealing by most people, but she didn't see it that way. Stealing would be a step beyond what she had done so far.

She stood looking at the pile, wrestling with her conscience. Eventually she sighed. Principles were all very well, but not dying of thirst had to take precedence. As she gathered up the bars she needed she promised herself she would repay Tarkus if she ever could. She knew it was hugely unlikely, but she made that commitment anyway.

She ended up taking enough bars for three a day, and three spares. It didn't even make a slight dent in the pile but she was fighting guilt all the way back to her hiding place.

She was still tired, so now she no longer had hunger and thirst keeping her awake she settled back down within the covers. She didn't even notice the smell any more. All she knew was that she was warm, not hungry, not thirsty, and as close to safe as she could be right then. She turned out the torch and relaxed in the warm darkness. In less than a minute she was fast asleep.