-BEN-

  Ben watched the Chintari mother verbally eviscerate her son. He had followed them behind the house and was now standing next to Amara and Saya.

  The priestess was boiling, and Ben had to place a steadying hand on her shoulder. He could feel her trembling.

  When she looked at him, he shook his head. Any intervention they made would only worsen things.

  In a way, the Chintari woman was right. This attack was their fault. If they had not landed in the plains, and if Phillip had not brought them here, none of this would have happened.

  The mother slumped to the ground when she was done, and her family crowded around her.

  Ben focused on the young man. Phillip had a faraway look in his eye. His expression reminded Ben of some soldiers he had come across on a mission on a war-torn planet.

  Shellshock.

  It might take him a long time to recover from this, if he ever did.

  Amara touched Ben’s hand. "At least let me help him now," she said.

  Ben nodded and the priestess raced towards Phillip. Ben turned his attention to Saya. They had found the ninja girl lying in the crumbled remains of Phillip's bedroom. Amara had been right. The girl's black shroud had protected her.

  Ben had seen the last vestiges of it disappear when he pulled Saya from the wreckage. The ninja girl continued to sleep. Her injuries from the Freighter had been significant; however, when Ben studied the burn marks on her chest, he found that the wound was healing remarkably well.

  There would be no scar.

  The healing pack had done its work. According to Amara, Saya had actually received two healing packs. Blaze had shot her with one at the time of the injury.

  For a minute, Ben's mind wandered to Blaze. He was sure his partner had survived the explosion. Blaze always found a way to make it through such things. The problem was what state he was in. If Blaze was too injured to move…

  Ben shook his head to clear it.

  Saya was beginning to stir. Her eyes were still closed, but she muttered something, occasionally turned her head from side to side. Ben was glad for that, but he doubted she would be able to journey by herself. He would have to carry her.

  He turned around to see Amara tenderly ushering Phillip towards him. The young chintari man allowed her to lead him, and even relented when she coaxed him to sit in the grass next to Saya.

  Amara looked at Ben. "He's coming with us," she said. He could tell from the quaver in her voice that she was anticipating a disagreement from him. She was right to anticipate that. Ben shook his head.

  "Not a good idea," he said.

  "He just got cast out of his home," Amara protested

  "And we just got cast out of space. Into a foreign planet, filled with foreign threats. We don't have food. We don't have transportation. We don't have shelter. But you want to add another dependent to us. Sure."

  "He knows this place more than us," Amara said. "He's not a dependent. He's an asset."

  "You can't save everyone," Ben said with a firm voice.

  The Priestess met his gaze. "This is our fault," she said. "We need to do what we can to help."

  Ben glanced at Phillip. The young man was crying silently. His eyes were still wide open and he was staring at the ground.

  Something tugged at Ben's heart. He tried to ignore it, but it didn’t go away. Fen would have helped too.

  "Fine," Ben said.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Amara smiled at Ben. "Ben the hero," she said.

  Ben ignored her. He turned and nodded at the approaching Brand. "I don't think he will agree with that," he said

  Brand stooped a few paces away from them. He seemed to be actively trying to not look at Phillip.

  "I hear you saved my family," Brand said to Ben. "I am eternally grateful."

  Ben raised his eyebrows. "Even though we were the ones who brought the threat?"

  Brand nodded. "You still saved them. Either way, I think the threat was going to come eventually. Thank you. Now, if it is not too much, could you please take care of my son?"

  Phillip glanced up but his father was looking away.

  "I know it is a lot to ask-" Brand started.

  "We've already decided that he will come with us," Ben interjected.

  Brand nodded slowly.

  "Thank you," he said. "Thank you for taking care of my son." He paused, then added, "Normally I would have offered you food and transport for your journey. But I'm afraid I have none to spare."

  "That's understandable," Ben replied. "But we actually have one of those figures out."

  Brand's eyebrows raised, but he didn't ask any questions.

  "Okay," he said. He turned to leave but stopped and stared at his son. "We have to leave too," he said to the air. "More troopers may come. If any of you ever wish to find us just remember to follow the wind."

  Ben knew the statement wasn't for him so he said nothing. Brand left.

  Amara sidled over to Ben. She looked curious. "Which of the 2 things have you figured out?" She asked him.

  "Transport," Ben replied.

  -BREAK-

  Ben led the priestess to the round, metallic ship and turned to look at her. She gave him a sideways look.

  "You can't be serious," she said.

  "I'm very serious."

  She sighed. "I read your profile, Ben. You're a fighter with moderate technological knowledge. I don't trust you know what you're doing, especially with foreign tech."

  Ben chuckled softly. "Well that's the thing. This isn't alien tech. It's from the Stellar Authority."

  Amara frowned. "How?"

  "I don't know," Ben replied. "But it's obvious there’s a lot more going on on this planet than local war. This tech is a bit outdated, but I’ve used something like it before. Thankfully it seems to have the same bugs. I've been able to work around it. No one can track us. And no one can control us from a distance."

  "That's great," Amara said cheerily. "Well done, Ben"

  "But..."

  She groaned. "Of course there's a but."

  "But," Ben continued. "The device only has power for one more jump. I'm guessing they were planning to return home after this."

  "What are you saying?"

  "I looked at your map. There’s not enough power to jump to your destination. We can walk but it would take us days to reach any large town. We don't have enough food for that. I say we use the last jump to get us close to a nearby city. The problem is which one to choose."

  Ben unfurled the map for her to look at. "You're the expert," he said. "Where should we go?"

  She studied the map. "I'm not sure. Everything is different now. I don't know which places are safe."

  She pointed at one scribble on the map. "That’s Karnoush. It's a coastal city. It's supposed to be very modern, with friendly people."

  "No."

  Ben and the Priestess turned toward the voice.

  Phillip stood behind them. He still had the faraway look in his eyes, but Ben noticed a determination in the set of his jaw.

  Good for you, Ben thought.

  "We can't go to Karnoush," Phillip said. "The holy war decimated it. Then Kivessa's troops took control there, and set up a base."

  "Kivessa?" Ben echoed.

  "The Blood Queen," Phillip responded. "The dawn troopers work for her."

  "I see," Ben said. He made a mental note to ask more about this Kivessa. If she was anything like her troopers, she would be trouble.

  "We can't go to Karnoush," Phillip repeated. "Or any of the coastal towns. Kivessa had taken over all of them. But we can go here." He came closer to them, and pointed at a mountain range.

  The Priestess frowned. "But there's nothing there," she said.

  "There is," Phillip said. "That's where they are."

  "Who?" Ben asked.

  Phillip swallowed. "The mad gods."

  Ben and Amara exchanged a look, and Phillip continued. "But the mad gods are not the reason to go there. There are some freefolk living in the mountains. Strong people who might want to fight Kivessa. They are called the keepers of the gods, and are some of the most insane people on the planet. The Southern Clans."

  -BREAK-

  It took Ben and Amara a few minutes to get their things ready. The spherical ship was built for just two people with one seat in front of the other. Ben depressed the first seat and helped the Priestess into the second, more posterior, one.

  He then lifted Saya and handed her to the priestess. It was a snug fit, but it worked. Phillip was standing a ways away, staring at his family's house. He had a small pack slung over his shoulder.

  His father walked about the compound, retrieving what he could from the wreckage. Ben could tell from Phillip's posture that he longed to go there and help his father, but Brand didn't look his son's way, and Phillip remained where he stood.

  "Phillip," Ben called out. "It's time."

  Phillip took a deep breath, then turned away from his family. He squeezed into the front seat and Ben found a place next to him.

  Their squeeze was significantly tighter than the Priestess and Saya, but they made it work. Ben pulled out the main controls of the ship; a small control board embedded on the left side. He touched a button and activated the launch sequence.

  The ship's hatch closed and the interior lit up with soft blue lights.

  "Alright," Ben said. "We're taking off in 3, 2, 1."

  The ship shot into the sky.

  Inside, they felt it as a violent rumbling. Ben had opened a viewing panel which used cameras to show their immediate surroundings. Phillip's eyes were glued to it.

  His face fell as they raced away from his home.