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Authors: Cecil Castellucci
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empty.
“Humans,” his superior said.
They kept me there for three days. When I was finally free, the Imperium ships and troops were gone.
I went to reclaim my bin and put away my things. The underguts were practically empty. I knew not to bother looking for Heckleck, but before I went to sleep, I took a walk around the now quiet living area. Those who had not been recruited were looting the now abandoned living spaces. Some were moving into and taking over the empty larger bins.
I took nothing. But I did note who looted and who didn’t. I made a mental note to tell Heckleck that I would not deal with them.
After a few days of wandering the station, which before seemed empty but was now practically soulless, it became clear that those Minor Species who were considered undesirables were gone. And none of the Minor Species whose planets were known to be collaborating with the Imperium had been taken for hard labor. I had never concerned myself with who or what was running things, but it didn’t take much observing to know that what the Imperium were doing was best for some but not for all. The Imperium had established a hierarchy of which species were not civilized enough to their mind to merit status.
With Heckleck in hiding, and the station so empty, my thoughts turned to my mother and Bitty. I missed them and hated that they were dead. I realized that even though being stuck on the Yertina Feray felt like a kind of hell, that I had been lucky to be stranded here and to be alive. That was already more than my mother and Bitty would ever have.
Sometimes I dreamt they were alive and in pain and calling to me. When I awoke, my resolve to avenge them doubled. It was the only way I could answer their cries.
Somehow I knew that Heckleck had been right to hide and that I had been spared, and it was due to Tournour’s intervention.
I resented that it was time to tuck into small places and keep a low profile.
Now I would owe Tournour another favor that I couldn’t repay not only because the favor had been too big but because he had left with the Imperium ships.
The Imperium wanted a sympathetic infrastructure running all of the planets and stations under their jurisdiction, so there was a shift of personnel as the old planetary delegates that ran the station under the League of Worlds were removed and the Yertina Feray awaited Imperium-installed delegates to run the station. For now, except for the gutter dwellers, some low-ranking aliens to keep the station up and running, a few of the Imperium Guard, and those who had made a home here, the Yertina Feray was a ghost town. What was surprising was that Tournour, who was not in charge of anything, had been called to leave.
Since there was no infrastructure to accommodate them during this time, most ships that approached the station were turned away from docking. Travel, which was already tightly restricted, became nearly impossible. Word came down that from now on in order to leave the station or to travel in Imperium space, a travel pass was required. Even currency would not get you anywhere without a pass. Everyone was stuck. The station seemed to be in hibernation.
It was during this quiet time that Heckleck reemerged, knocking on my bin as though he had never been away.
There were rumblings in the underguts and above levels about what was going on but no certainty, and it infused a diet of steady fear in everyone. I was learning that uncertainty was bad for business. People were more conservative when they were afraid, and hungry. Even the most civilized started to become a little feral. I could see that Heckleck’s and my way of living could not survive an empty station.
“Shall we go gather ourselves a meal from the arboretum? Thado is sure to have too many edibles on his hands,” Heckleck said.
I nodded. I knew better than to ask where he’d been as we walked to the arboretum.
We made our way up level by level. Every door was closed. Every store was
“Humans,” his superior said.
They kept me there for three days. When I was finally free, the Imperium ships and troops were gone.
I went to reclaim my bin and put away my things. The underguts were practically empty. I knew not to bother looking for Heckleck, but before I went to sleep, I took a walk around the now quiet living area. Those who had not been recruited were looting the now abandoned living spaces. Some were moving into and taking over the empty larger bins.
I took nothing. But I did note who looted and who didn’t. I made a mental note to tell Heckleck that I would not deal with them.
After a few days of wandering the station, which before seemed empty but was now practically soulless, it became clear that those Minor Species who were considered undesirables were gone. And none of the Minor Species whose planets were known to be collaborating with the Imperium had been taken for hard labor. I had never concerned myself with who or what was running things, but it didn’t take much observing to know that what the Imperium were doing was best for some but not for all. The Imperium had established a hierarchy of which species were not civilized enough to their mind to merit status.
With Heckleck in hiding, and the station so empty, my thoughts turned to my mother and Bitty. I missed them and hated that they were dead. I realized that even though being stuck on the Yertina Feray felt like a kind of hell, that I had been lucky to be stranded here and to be alive. That was already more than my mother and Bitty would ever have.
Sometimes I dreamt they were alive and in pain and calling to me. When I awoke, my resolve to avenge them doubled. It was the only way I could answer their cries.
Somehow I knew that Heckleck had been right to hide and that I had been spared, and it was due to Tournour’s intervention.
I resented that it was time to tuck into small places and keep a low profile.
Now I would owe Tournour another favor that I couldn’t repay not only because the favor had been too big but because he had left with the Imperium ships.
The Imperium wanted a sympathetic infrastructure running all of the planets and stations under their jurisdiction, so there was a shift of personnel as the old planetary delegates that ran the station under the League of Worlds were removed and the Yertina Feray awaited Imperium-installed delegates to run the station. For now, except for the gutter dwellers, some low-ranking aliens to keep the station up and running, a few of the Imperium Guard, and those who had made a home here, the Yertina Feray was a ghost town. What was surprising was that Tournour, who was not in charge of anything, had been called to leave.
Since there was no infrastructure to accommodate them during this time, most ships that approached the station were turned away from docking. Travel, which was already tightly restricted, became nearly impossible. Word came down that from now on in order to leave the station or to travel in Imperium space, a travel pass was required. Even currency would not get you anywhere without a pass. Everyone was stuck. The station seemed to be in hibernation.
It was during this quiet time that Heckleck reemerged, knocking on my bin as though he had never been away.
There were rumblings in the underguts and above levels about what was going on but no certainty, and it infused a diet of steady fear in everyone. I was learning that uncertainty was bad for business. People were more conservative when they were afraid, and hungry. Even the most civilized started to become a little feral. I could see that Heckleck’s and my way of living could not survive an empty station.
“Shall we go gather ourselves a meal from the arboretum? Thado is sure to have too many edibles on his hands,” Heckleck said.
I nodded. I knew better than to ask where he’d been as we walked to the arboretum.
We made our way up level by level. Every door was closed. Every store was
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