Chapter 8: Spacefold

The Silver Bullet docked with the battleship. Etzli wasn't permitted to debark. The troops kept her strapped to her chair. Her view of the endless star field was replaced with the dull plating of the shuttle bay bulkheads.

The deck's lighting suddenly shifted from "day" light to an alarming mix of blue and red. Klaxons echoed through the shuttle bay. The troops dropped into the nearest chairs.

Sucking in breaths through her nostrils, Etzli stared over at the Royal Guard as he strapped himself into a seat across the aisle.

He saw her worried expression and shook his head. "Perfectly normal. They're just letting us know they're about to fold space. You ever done a spacefold jump before?"

Etzli shook her head.

"Nothing to it," he said. "Lasts less than a fraction of a second. You might feel a little woozy after the first jump, but you'll get used to it pretty quick."

The Royal Guard seemed extra chatty, even buoyant, now they were heading out. Etzli wondered if he felt nervous wandering so far away from his homeworld. She was about to find out what that felt like.

A countdown echoed through the bay.

Etzli didn't know what to expect. She slammed her boots against the floor, bracing herself, and white-knuckled the arm rests.

The countdown ended.

The ship made its first spacefold jump.

It lasted much longer than a fraction of a second.

Etzli fought against her chains as the ship disappeared around her, leaving her stranded in space.

Unable to breathe, she tried to reach for her throat, but she no longer had hands, or arms. Or a body.

The stars disappeared. Darkness fell, complete and endless.

Light exploded into flaring shards as Etzli was ripped apart. Her atoms popped like the cheap stitching on a rag doll. Her entire existence melted away into the universe.

As deaths go, this one hurt like hell.

***

But it didn't hurt half as bad as being sewn back together again over a raging fire.

The monster inside Etzli shrieked with pain. Its voice sounded like hers. Distantly, Etzli felt sympathy for the creature.

And then she appeared back in her chair, strapped to her arm rests. She was slick with cold sweat. A migraine hammered through her skull like a wild storm.

The Royal Guard stared at her, trying his best not to look alarmed. "Hey, kid. You okay?"

With the gag on, Etzli saw no point in answering.

The battleship prepared to make its next jump. The countdown resumed.

Now that she knew what she was in for, Etzli closed her eyes, trembling. This was gonna hurt.

The countdown ended and spacetime collapsed in on itself around Etzli. She had just enough time to suffocate in deep space before she was disassembled.

***

Once again, being reassembled was much more painful. Etzli imagined a cosmic needle stabbing through her very existence, then pulling the delicate thread of her consciousness taut as it could go.

The monster shrieked, weaker this time.

As soon as the ship finished reassembling around her, she drew in a deep, shaking breath through her nostrils. Something inside clicked painfully.

Horror gripped Etzli as she realized she'd been put together wrong somehow. Her organs shifted to make room for something that hadn't been there before.

Looking panicked, the Royal Guard fumbled with his restraints. "Kid? Hey, kid, look at me!"

It took almost all of Etzli's strength to lift her gaze and meet the Royal Guard's eyes.

"Cripes!" he exhaled, looking terrified, "What is happening to you?"

The countdown resumed.

"We have to stop the jump," he told his troops. "Someone get on the horn and tell the bridge to pause the damn countdown!"

Etzli sagged in her chair.

The Royal Guard unclasped his restraints, and jumped to his feet. "Hold on, kid!"

The countdown ended and, once again, the ships left Etzli to die in deep space again, before she was caught in the thunderclap of collapsing reality.

***

Blinking out and back into existence didn't do Etzli's sanity any favors. She wavered between wanting to scream or laugh. Both options made about as much sense.

The Royal Guard and his troops were all over her. They fought to cut the straps from her wrists. Etzli thought they looked more red than normal--though it wasn't the lighting, which seemed to be back to normal.

They yanked the gag off Etzli.

Coughing, she asked, "Are we there yet?"

The Royal Guard laughed a little too shrilly. "Not yet, kiddo."

"We got about another 40 jumps to go," one of the troops added.

The Royal Guard glared at him. "Shut up. Why'd you tell her that for?"

Etzli muttered, "I think the next one's gonna finish me off for good."

"Not an option." The Royal Guard reached out his armored hand to one of the troops. "Pass the anesthetic."

"Please don't hit me with a stick," Etzli said.

"Nah, this is the real stuff."

"You lied to me?" she asked weakly.

"What's wrong with her?" one of the troops asked. "Why are her eyes bleeding?"

Gritting his teeth, the Royal Guard said, "Open her mouth. I gotta put three drops under her tongue."

The troops held her down.

The Royal Guard squeezed the eye dropper. "Ah, hell!"

One of the troops blurted, "I thought you said three drops. That was five, six drops easy!"

"Shut up, it's fine!"

"Who keeps doing that?" she asked dreamily, as the drops took swift effect. "Who keeps ripping us apart? Is it the same one who’s stitching us back togeth..."

She passed out.

***

Etzli woke up on a table in a small, windowless room. She was soaked through, like she'd just been yanked out of a pool. She didn't know why.

A medic examined Etzli. There were no outward signs the medic was mechanical; it looked as human as anyone else.

"You're a robot," Etzli slurred.

The robot inclined its head, emulating interest. "What gave me away?"

"Lemon," she murmured, still in the process of clawing her way back to full consciousness.

"Pardon?"

"You smell like lemon cleaner. I've only met a few robots, but they always smell like they've just been wiped down with lemon cleaner." Etzli thought about it. "Sometimes, they smell like oranges."

"That is odd," the robot said. "I don't recall ever having been 'wiped down' with anything. Be that as it may, you fortunately look worse than you actually are."

"Gee, thanks." Etzli groaned as she sat up. The robot placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"You suffered a subconjunctival hemorrhage. Scared the dickens out of your escort. He anesthetized you and shoved you in a stasis freezer for most of the trip, which may have been an overreaction."

"It wasn't. Think I owe him my life." Etzli rubbed her temples.

"Hmph. Well, the hemorrhage should resolve on its own within a week or so. Until then, your eyes will appear a bit reddish." The robot held up a compact mirror.

With a gasp, Etzli peered into her gruesomely bloody eyes. She looked like a rage daemon with a hangover. "A 'bit reddish?' Damn, dude!"

The robot snapped its compact shut. "Applying a warm compress may speed things up. Regardless, you're healthy enough to proceed."

Etzli frowned. "Proceed with what?"

"That's not for me to say, madam. Good day." The robot exited the room.

Alone, Etzli took her time climbing off the table. She was sore all over.

If Etzli had made it to the Royal Homeworld, she had no way of telling.

She looked around: just four blank walls and a chair on either side of the water-stained table.

Pulling out a chair, Etzli sat with her back to the door.

While instinct may have urged Etzli to put a solid wall behind her, she was angry enough--and hurt enough, scared enough--to wanna make it easier for anyone walking through that door to kiss her ass.

When the door opened and someone entered, Etzli didn't bother looking up.

"Is this seat taken?" the good-natured voice asked, as if this were a social call.

Etzli lifted her gaze. She gasped.

The battle-scarred duster. The shining pistol strapped to each hip. The metal Avant Star clipped to his vest.

They'd sent an Outranger to interrogate her.