Souvenirs From Dead Worlds

Sam switched off the game about fifteen minutes before they arrived and they watched as the shuttle approached the coast and then swept silently over the land. It was too dark to see much more than the dark shapes of trees without turning on the night vision, but they were close enough to their destination that Sam didn’t bother.

The shuttle found a clearing in the trees to land in and Sam let out a steadying breath and stood. He'd deactivated the alert response in his ring during the flight because he didn't feel like being pointlessly shocked in the finger every couple of seconds, but now he adjusted it to a kind of warmer/colder setting. The closer he got, the faster his ring would pulse.

It was pretty hard to see much of anything in the dark, but the one thing they could see when they exited the shuttle were the lights over the city gate. They started off up the hill towards them.

As they made their way up the road towards the city, the guards standing watch over the gates watch their approach with suspicion. In the city they'd just come from the guards had been relaxed and in poorly fitted armour. The guards on this gate stood straight and alert in finely smithed armour that looked to have been specially made for each of the four guards wearing it. The metal chest plates gleamed brightly in the light from the torches that burnt on each side of the gate.

"Hello," Sam said once they got within speaking range. He waited anxiously to see if they would understand.

One of them said something to Sam, gruff and demanding, in a language Sam didn't recognise. He looked like he expected a response.

"Um," Sam said unintelligently. "I don't speak your language. Only this one. Does anyone understand me?"

They looked between each other questioning and then returned blank gazes to Sam. One of them repeated the same words the other had spoken earlier.

"All right.” Sam rubbed at the back of his neck as he considered his options. "What if I just..." Sam started walking towards them and tried to walk past, but one of the shoved him back before the same line was repeated once more.

Sam echoed the words they'd been repeating in his head, making sure he had the phrase memorised, then inclined his head to the guards politely, turned, and started walking away. He had his laser gun with him, as always, but he would only resort to violence as a last resort. There were other options he could try first.

"What now?" Kias asked as they headed back towards the shuttle.

"Now," Sam said as he opened the door to the shuttle and they slipped in, "we go and ask Seba if he knows the language those guys were speaking."

Sam had a hunch, and he hoped it was right. Seba had said he'd been born on another landmass that was many days away be sea. That was about the right distance. Sam had also happened to notice that the guards shared Seba's dark hair, dark eyes, and slightly bronze skin tone, and even had similar facial features to Seba. If they were lucky, Seba would be able to translate for them.

They could have snuck into the city easily enough by exiting the shuttle onto the roof of a building, but that would still have left them unable to communicate with the inhabitants. Though transporting Seba there in the shuttle would be a massive risk, it was still the safest option in Sam's estimation. If he knew the language, anyway.

Before they left, Sam recorded a set of safe coordinates near the city Tristan and his team were in so they could transport there directly if needed. If Seba did prove to be useful, however, they wouldn't be of any use. There were only two seats in the shuttle, and Sam would only let any one of them go without a seat and get battered around during transport if he absolutely had to. Leaving Kias behind was another option, but fuck that.

If Sam had been smart he would have set a transport point before they left, but he wasn't, so they had to take a slightly longer route. By transporting to the meet up point next to the portal and then flying back to their assigned city, they would be able to significantly reduce their travel time.

#

The idea of using the shaky transport thing again made Kias' stomach churn uncomfortably. Though Sam insisted it wouldn't hurt like last time, the memory was still strong in Kias' mind. It had hurt a lot and he hadn't understood what was happening and it had been terrifying.

"You okay?" Sam asked before he initiated the transport.

Kias nodded. "Yes," he said, though he knew that was an obvious lie. Though it wasn't hot in the shuttle, he was sweating and his breathing felt constricted. They had to do this, though. The other team were in danger and they couldn't afford to waste time. "Do it."

The shaking was as violent as it had been the first time and it rattled Kias' head back against his seat and made his whole body vibrate, but it didn't hurt. There was no sudden blossoming, burning pain. Just irritating, uncomfortable shaking. His heart was still hammering hard in his chest and the constant motion of his head was making him feel dizzy, but when the shaking stopped a few moments later Kias found he was more or less okay.

While Kias was still clearing his head, Sam was already preparing for the next leg of their journey by instructing the shuttle to fly back to their city. Sam had told him it would take a while, so Kias took a few moments to just sit back, close his eyes, and calm down.

"Are you okay now?" Sam asked after he'd finished messing with the shuttle controls. Kias felt Sam's hand on his shoulder, rubbing soothing circles, and he realised Sam had gotten up at some point. Kias cracked open his eyes and watched as Sam started undoing the buckles that kept Kias secured in his seat.

"Yeah," Kias said after a while. He reached out for a fist full of Sam's shirt and just held on. "I'm fine."

Sam sat down on the floor in front of Kias' seat and rested his chin against Kias' knee. Kias smiled and reached out a hand to run through Sam's short, dark hair. Short compared to Kias', anyway. On Sam's world short hairstyles for men seemed to be popular, but Sam's was just long enough that Kias could rake his fingers through it or grab hold of fistfuls to tug if the desire struck him. Sam leant into the touch as Kias rubbed fingertips against his scalp.

“Are you okay?” Kias asked. “They’re your friends.”

Sam rubbed his face against the palm of Kias’ hand and made a soft sound of affirmation. “Worried, but okay.”

“We’ll save them.”

Sam leant back against the chair so that he could look up at Kias and gave him a small smile. “Yeah. We will.”

#

Sam opened the shuttle door and hopped out before the shuttle had even managed to settle fully to the ground. As the ship was still cloaked, when Kias followed he seemed to appear from nowhere. No matter how many times Sam saw that happened, he couldn't quite get over how very weird it looked.

"Okay, I think this'll be quickest if you wait here," Sam told Kias. He hoped it didn't sound like an insult, but Sam would be able to run all the way to the inn from where they were without stopping, something Kias didn't stand a chance of achieving. "Wait outside of the shuttle."

Kias nodded and then felt behind him to find the location of the shuttle before leaning back against it. "Okay."

Sam smiled and ducked forward to give Kias a quick peck on the lips before turning and running off towards the city gates.

If Sam had been one of the guards situated at the gates that night, he would have been rather suspicious of two guys leaving together in the middle of the night and only one of them returning two hours later, sweaty and panting. He was glad the guards who were there were a hell of a lot more incurious than he was. They accepted his polite nod and greeting, and as soon as Sam was inside the city and around a corner he broke into a run again.

After reaching the inn and thudding noisily up the stairs, Sam couldn't be bothered with unlocking the door to their room and instead just rapped loudly on the door. "Seba, let me in."

Sam heard the floorboards creak, and a moment later heard the click of the lock before the door slid open. Seba stared up at him in confusion, his eyes narrowed warily.

Sam couldn't deny that the situation looked suspect. Sam was back almost two hours later than he'd told Seba he would be, he was sweaty and out of breath, and Kias was nowhere in sight.

"I need your help with something," Sam said. That only made Seba look more concerned, but he finally noticed he was blocking the doorway and stepped aside to let Sam in.

"With what?" Seba asked cautiously. He eyed the bed as though considering sitting down, but ultimately remained standing.

"I need you to translate something, if you can." Sam was attempting not to rush through things too quickly and frighten Seba more, but a lot was riding on this and the clock was ticking. Sam took a few moments to settle his breathing, which was still heavy from all the running, and then he repeated the sentence the guards had kept saying to him to Seba.

Seba blinked a couple of times quickly, and his brow creased. "Well, yes, I do understand it. It means 'state your business'. I don't know where you'd hear that language around here, though."

"You speak it?" Sam asked, and he maybe sounded just a bit too excited because Seba was looking increasingly worried.

"Yes, quite well. It is spoken by the citizens who live in the closest city to the one I was born in. At least half of the travellers we had passing through came from there, so I've spoken it since I was very young."

"Excellent!" Sam said, then grabbed Seba's hand and pulled him towards the door. "Come on."

Sam actually managed to get Seba out of the inn and half way down the road before Seba yanked his arm away and demanded an explanation of where they were going. Part of Sam was pleased with Seba for standing up for himself, but at that moment it was rather inconvenient.

"Some friends of mine are in trouble," Sam explained. "We need someone who speaks that particular language to translate for us. I don't know what kind of danger they may be in or how much time there is to spare, so I really can't explain everything right now."

Or ever, Sam thought but didn't say. It looked like Sam's explanation was good enough, though, because Seba started moving again.

The guards didn't seem to find Sam leading a second teenage boy hastily out of the city gates to be anything more than an idle amusement, and Sam wondered how many murders people got away with around there. How many teenage boys could Sam have led away before it occurred to someone that his behaviour was suspicious? Sam didn't intend to find out. He had as many as he needed.

Kias stepped out of the shadows as they approached, startling Seba so badly he jolted and almost tripped. Sam pulled Seba along until they reached Kias, then spun him around so that he faced the opposite direction. "Stay right here and don't turn around," Sam instructed firmly. Yeah, not creepy at all.

Sam patted Kias on the shoulder as he passed. "Make sure Seba keeps his back to the shuttle, please."

The shuttle was still cloaked, but seeing Sam disappear and appear again from nowhere would probably be almost as freaky as seeing the shuttle itself. When Sam re-emerged from the shuttle a few moments later with a roll of bandages in hand, he was pleased to find that Seba had obeyed him. Though it was dark and Sam couldn't see much, he also couldn't help but notice Seba's straight backed posture and firmly clenched fists.

"Don't turn around," Sam said, and though Seba must have heard him approach he still jumped at Sam's voice. "I'm going to wrap something around your eyes."

"Why?" Seba asked, his voice shaking slightly. He did as Sam instructed, though, and didn't move as Sam unwound part of the bandage and started wrapping it around his head to obstruct his vision.

"Because I'm not the son of a merchant, Seba," Sam said, and Seba shivered. "It's important for secrecy. Don't worry, you won't be hurt."

Not by Sam, anyway, and not if Sam could help it. Really, safety wasn't Sam's to promise. He'd even admitted to Seba that he had no idea what they'd be walking into. Seba didn't question him again, though.

Sam took Seba's arm and led him towards the shuttle, carefully feeling out the disguised entrance and angling Seba towards it. "Step up."

Seba did as he was told and then almost back peddled right out of the shuttle when the soft grass under his feet suddenly became firm, hard metal. "It's okay," Sam repeated, and physically hauled Seba into the shuttle.

Sam led Seba over to one of the seats, then took Seba's hand and directed it to the armrest.

"There's a chair here," Sam said as he helped Seba feel out the shape of it. "Sit down."

As Sam set the autopilot's flight path he kept one eye on Seba, and the second Seba reached up to touch his blindfold Sam slapped his hand away. "Don't touch that."

Seba sank back into his seat, chastised. "Sorry." He looked terrified and Sam hoped that terror would translate into obedience, but a moment later Seba spoke up again. "We're inside... aren't we? How are we inside?"

The shuttle lurched slightly when Sam activated the autopilot and the shuttle took off, eliciting a surprised squeak from Seba.

"Magic," Sam said simply which, hell, why not at this point?

Kias came and stood beside Sam, leaning against him. Sam nuzzled against Kias' cheek before kissing it and wrapping an arm around Kias' waist.

Seba didn't look impressed by Sam's answer. "It's not magic," Seba insisted firmly.

Sam couldn't help but grin slightly. He was feeling pretty high off all the adrenaline coursing through his system. "I don't know, seems pretty magic to me. If you sit tight for a while, things are about to get even more magical."

"I'd rather they didn't," Seba murmured in the direction of his lap.

"Think of it as an adventure," Sam said. "A new thing to learn. My gift to you."

"Thanks," Seba said, and the sarcasm was so rich in his voice that Sam couldn't help but laugh.

"You're welcome."

#

Keeping Seba calm and distracted for over an hour while the shuttle soared over the ocean was no easy task. Seba could surely hear the soft hum of the engine and feel the slight vibration of the shuttle in flight. So Sam distracted him by teaching him new words.

When Sam tested Seba's recall of the phrases he'd just been taught the first time, Seba failed miserably. It was this failure that seemed to fuel him, though. Sam repeated them again and again told Seba what they meant, and this time it stuck. On the next round of phrases, Seba was as good as ever.

It was that kind of passion for learning and achievement that could have gotten Seba far on Sam's world. Hell, it would probably have done so on Seba's own world, too, given the right opportunities and a lack of impending death.

"There's going to be a bit of a bump in a moment," Sam warned Seba an hour later as the shuttle descended to land. Despite the warning, Seba let out a startled cry when a shudder went through the shuttle as it touched the ground.

Sam sighed and exchanged a weary look with Kias before taking Seba's hand and pulling him out of the seat. "Come on."

The shuttle had never uncloaked, so the moment everyone was outside Sam began unwrapping Seba's blindfold. After Sam was done he was left with a handful of bandages which he handed to Seba. "Keep hold of these."

Seba took the bandages obediently and then spun around to face the cloaked shuttle. He blinked into the darkness but, of course, could see nothing.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Seba turned instead to stare up the hill, towards the only visible non-astrological light. He didn't wait for Sam's instruction or permission before he started making his way determinedly up the hill towards the city gates. He paused once they reached the road and squinted his eyes in the direction of the city. "That's not..." he said, trailing off. "What is this?"

"We travelled a long way," Sam said. "We've come to another city in which the dominant language is one you speak and I do not."

Seba fidgeted his hands and Sam noticed that he'd begun to wind up the bandages into a tight roll. The bandages were of a kind designed to cling to itself, making the task rather easy. Also, of course, presenting Seba with medical technology well beyond what had been developed on this world, but Seba was too distracted by other things to notice.

"This is stupid," Seba declared finally, and Sam almost laughed. Seba was usually very sensible and mature, so calling a fact of reality stupid wasn't exactly consistent with his general attitude. Or perhaps it was. Maybe someone who was less sensible and mature would have accepted Sam's explanation that it was all 'magic'.

Though Seba was obviously disturbed by everything that had happened and was happening still, to his credit he only lingered a few moments longer before he started towards the city again. Somewhere along the way, he finished rolling the bandages and tucked them into the band of his pants.

The real test began when they got into visual range of the stiff, severe looking guards. Seba passed this test by only hesitating slightly before he continued to walk on towards them.

The next part of the test came once they were in speaking range of the guards, and the closest called out that same sentence to them. He was looking at Sam, recognition in his eyes. Seba looked to Sam for instructions and Sam floundered, having somehow forgotten during everything that had happened to come up with something to tell these guys. What was his business, anyway? What kind of business would be acceptable business? He should have spoken to Seba about these things beforehand.

Seeing no answers forthcoming from Sam, Seba turned back to the guard and spoke in what Sam assumed was the same language the guards had been speaking. What he was saying, Sam didn't know. He could have been telling them to kill Sam and Kias because they were sorcerers who kidnapped children for all Sam knew. This was why he preferred not to rely on others to run things.

The guard Seba had spoken to said something back in the same hard, angry sounding language they'd been speaking. Seba responded calmly, though Sam knew him well enough by now to notice the mechanical stiffness that Seba always developed when he was nervous.

The guards looked between each other, muttered a few things back and forth, but ultimately stepped back, allowing them passage.

"What did you tell them?" Sam asked Seba after they were into the city, out of earshot of the guards. Not that the guards would have been able to understand what they were saying anyway, but they made Sam uncomfortable so he would rather be clear of them. He was glad he hadn't been the one assigned to this city. Sam assumed Tristan's team was lucky enough to be assigned here because Tristan vaguely resembled the city's inhabitants. He looked a bit like the guards, anyway, though he had a wider face and slightly darker skin.

"I told them you were a merchant," Seba said as they continued down the street. "They were suspicious because you were there earlier, but I told them you are camped not far from here and had to go back and get a translator when you realised you couldn't communicate with the guards. I said you have come personally to speak with someone you have business with in this city, and that it is an urgent matter that cannot wait for morning."

Sam grinned and slapped a hand on Seba's shoulder. "I knew I liked you."

While translating what Seba had told him to Kias, Sam held his arm out and slowly turned, taking note of the changes in the pulse his ring sent through his finger as he pointed it in different directions. Seba was looking at him like he was mad. Seba's job was over for now, though, so Sam opted to ignore him in favour of navigating and talking to Kias.

"They're somewhere in this direction," Sam said to Kias decisively, pointing, and then began walking in the direction he'd indicated. "Buildings make this a lot more difficult, though."

Though he'd never had to track someone down this way while on an assignment, they had done several training activities to teach them the skills. Of course, all of these had been conducted on their own world rather than a world anything like the ones they'd actually be required to use the skill in, so it was only moderately helpful.

Buildings here were low, mostly one story, and didn't run in any kind of logical rows. Sam was tempted to simply go over the top of them for a more direct route, but neither Kias nor Seba was in the kind of physical condition that would allow them to climb that much in any kind of expedient manner, so he didn't bother. He needed both of them with him.

Just as the pulse of Sam's ring was starting to become desperately insistent, they rounded a corner and the street widened. Now that they were close he slowed his pace, paying careful attention to fluctuations in the pulsing of his ring as he gradually continued down the street.

As he walked past a building, the pulsing receded slightly. Sam took a couple of steps backwards and almost bumped into Kias and Seba who quickly got out of the way. Sam pointed the ring in the direction of the building, then smiled as the pulsing sped up to a point that it was almost one continuous pulse.

Sam pushed open the door and cautiously entered the building.

It was dark inside the room with only a single small lantern illuminating it. Of course, that was more than most places had this time of night. It wasn't a house, but it didn't appear to be a shop either. There was a big, heavy looking desk with books and rolls of paper on it, a couple of shelves storing more books and rolls of paper, and a large wooden chest. Beside the desk was a doorway with a set of stairs on the other side leading down into darkness.

"What is this place?" Sam asked Seba. Seba looked pale enough that he appeared to have an idea of where they were and didn't like it.

"The prison," Seba whispered almost inaudibly. He grabbed hold of a handful of Sam's sleeve. "We should get out of here."

Sam ignored Seba in favour of holding the hand his ring was on out again and spinning around until he found the right direction. For a moment he thought it was leading him towards the stairs — it had been what Sam had expected — but as soon as he passed the chest the pulsing of his ring began to slow. Sam turned and directed his ring at the chest and groaned when the pulse sped up to about as fast as it got.

"Great," Sam muttered to himself. He kicked the chest. "What's this for?"

"Items confiscated from prisoners," Seba told him, which was exactly what Sam had expected and hadn't wanted to hear. "We should leave. Now. These guys are kind of..." Seba paused and made a face. "Well, you don't want to be in their prisons, anyway."

"Well I'm pretty sure this is where my friends are, so I'm not going to just leave because it's scary or dangerous or whatever." Sam started towards the stairs.

Just as Sam reached the stairs he heard the clunk of someone walking up them coming from below, and he quickly backed away. A few moments later the glow of a lantern rounded the corner further down the stairs and then the man carrying it became visible, illuminated behind the lantern. Sam took a few more steps away from the stairwell, giving the man room as he came up.

Once the man had reached the top of the stairs, his armour clinking noisily, it was Sam he addressed his angry inquiry to. Sam didn't understand a word the man said. He shot Seba a questioning look.

"Um... he wants to know what you want. Why you're here." Seba was leaning on the wall next to the stairwell, appearing uncomfortable with his proximity to the prison guard but too frightened to move.

"Tell him I think some of my friends are here and I want to know why."

Seba opened his mouth to relay what Sam had said to the guard, but before he could speak the guard cut in.

"I speak," the guard said in the same language Sam had been speaking to Seba. "You want to know your friends. Yes?"

This guard wasn't like the guards on the gate. Those guards had been young and fit and disciplined. This man was on the later end of middle ages and had rust on the edges of his armour.

"Yes," Sam replied. "My friends. I think they have have been arrested, though I don't know why. I'd like to see them."

The guard scoffed. "No. No, impossible. You can't see."

Sam sighed. If he had to, he could probably take this man without his gun... but what if there were more guards down there? A lot more guards? If Sam got caught as well, they were all pretty thoroughly fucked.

"Okay," Sam said. "What if I just describe them to you and you tell me if you've seen them? There's a man who looks a bit like your people, a guy with pale skin and light hair, a guy with really dark skin and dark hair, and a woman with dark hair and skin a bit lighter than mine."

The guard suddenly looked even angrier and his hand strayed to the pommel of his sword. "You are friends with?"

"Uhh..." Sam instinctively took a step back and it was matched with a step forward from the guard. "Well, I don't know about friends, I mean..."

"Stop," the guard told Sam, which only prompted Sam to take another step back, and then another. "Stop!" the guard repeated and Sam heard the hiss of the guard's sword being drawn and saw the flash of the metal in the lantern light and he was out of there. He shoved Kias out of the door in front of himself and then ran, making sure Kias stayed with him as they did. The guard tried to follow for a while, but he was old and his armour was heavy, so getting away wasn't too challenging.

"Seba," Kias gasped as soon as Sam allowed him to stop running. "Where is he?"