Over The Winds

“Is this your sidekick?” the scruffy human ship pilot asked. The statement annoyed Ben and he retorted angrily. 

“I am not her sidekick!”

To the young man’s chagrin the pilot ignored him and addressed Red, his mind already made up.

Red was a red-furred Daedalian female, usually clad in a tank top and shorts, with a khaki safari style coat draped over her shoulders. Her canine ears twitched as she spoke with the pilot. Her authoritative tone echoed from her muzzle as she laid out in no uncertain terms just how perilous the job would be. 

Ben watched and ran a hand through his blonde hair. 

He had come to admire Red, she and him had trekked across the planet’s badlands together. They had faced the dangerous lightning and sand storms as they tracked wildlife that could have easily eaten them. They had guided tourists, lawmen, and hunters across the wastes. They had fought bandits, outlaws, and so much more together. 

Red had become more than a companion to him - more than a friend. She was the older sister he never had. 

By the admission, he realized that he probably was actually her sidekick. Despite his own feats, he could never match her. She had saved his life more times than he cared to admit. 

That particular job was no exception. 

They were on the trail of one of Ben’s longest-held dreams - one that stretched as far back as his boyhood. An shipwreck over a century old from the colonial civil war: a ship said to hold a valuable cargo. This one was different from their previous jobs - this one they were doing for themselves.  

He knew it was going to be dangerous, but what else was new?  

The ship was old - but it was the best they could do on the budget they had. The ship was offwhite with faded red striping, a single gun in the turret. The pilot - callsign ‘Hermes’ - called it his pride and joy. 

“She’s a bit rundown but she’ll fly,” Hermes said as the team took a tour of the exterior, “though I only use her for atmospheric flights.” Hermes slapped the metal exterior, causing a ringing clang. “They say she’s safe for space, but I wouldn’t trust a reentry with all the field repairs.” 

Ben watched the subtle ear twitches of his Daedalian boss as she thought.

“Atmosphere flight will suffice.” she pointed a claw at the turret. “What’s with the gun?”

Hermes puffed himself up. “In case of Sh’ra or pirates. I hate pirates, maybe I’ll get a crack at one sometime. Maybe I’ll even take Captain Kosh down.” 

Ben saw his chance to retaliate for the earlier slight to his ego. 

“With this hunk of junk? Yeah, right.” 

He saw with pride the annoyance of Hermes face, but he also couldn’t help but notice Red’s disapproving gaze. Hermes waved the two aboard. The interior was just as unsightly as the exterior.     

Old leather bench seats, beaten by the desert sun into submission. Odds and ends scattered about. Ben brushed aside a stack of papers and datapads and found a magazine that made him smirk: A scantily clad Rhysellien girl was on the cover, posing suggestively: her soft blue hair laying strategically against her pink skin. 

Red’s ears flattened in annoyance as Ben once again took a cheap shot. 

“Rhysellien girls monthly?”

Hermes stomped back from the cabin and snatched the magazine away. “That’s not mine! Uhh, a customer left it.” He stalked back to the front and stuffed the magazine under his seat. “Besides, Rhyselliens are the pinnacle of beauty!” 

“Can we get airborne?” Red growled commandingly.

“Right,” Hermes grunted as he jumped into the pilot seat and started the engines up.

As the ship lifted off, the radio was piped over to the passenger cabin. It played the ever-annoyingly catchy popsong ‘Love Galaxy.’ Ben watched Red’s muzzle part: At one time, not too long ago, she had hated the song... now she loved it. Now it meant something to her.

It had been when Ben had assisted her escape from a group of criminals: Ben had brought backup in the form of the Sheriff’s office as Red was fighting for her life. When the dust had settled and the fighting stopped, ‘Love Galaxy’ had begun to play on the drive back to civilization and Red begrudgingly declared her new love for that song. 

As the ship soared - engines roaring over the badlands below - Ben thought about that day. 

Red had confided in him something: Something she hadn’t told the officials. They were escorted back to the apartment Red had above her office, and both were finally relaxing - each with a cold beverage in hand.

“There was another Daedalian with those criminals.” 

Ben raised a brow. “Really? I thought they were all Altheatens? And war criminals...” 

Red swiveled an ear back. “No. They were just the hired muscle. Hired by him.”

The way she had spat the word ‘him’ with such hatred, was very informative. 

“You knew him?” Ben asked.

Red’s claws tightened against the glass of her bottle. “All too well.” She tilted the contents down her muzzle. “He took someone from me.” 

Ben blinked, this was a personal detail he had never known about her. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Red’s ears parted. “He’s no longer a problem now.” 

Ben gulped.

Back in the present the ship was shaking from turbulence, as it braved one of Caligula’s famed lightning storms. Lightning crackled outside as if a great battle was being waged around them.

“Buckle up: We’re approaching the caves,” the pilot’s voice said over the intercom.

The two veteran adventurers immediately drew their safety straps across their chests as they sat up, trying to see out of the portholes.

The ‘caves’ were really just the entry point of the huge ship that crash landed there more than a hundred years ago: A gigantic scar in the desert, now filled with all sorts of flora and fauna that did not wish to be disturbed.

“You ready, sidekick?” Red asked, a teasing grin on her muzzle.

Ben scowled back at her. “Oh, ha ha.” 

Red swiveled an ear back. “Are you sure that old navigation beacon is reliable?” 

The human nodded. “I’m confident it's genuine: The last telemetry from its ejection date lined up. These coordinates have got to be where the Mille-Louise went down those years ago.”

The Daedalian growled. “I just hope there’s something left to recover.”  

Ben sighed, he had to admit he had that fear himself. That the ship would be nothing but scrap metal strewn across the surface and melted underground, not treasure that he had always dreamed of. Scap metal can be salvaged though, he thought, and being one of the first in a hundred years to actually find the lost ship will be an interesting feather in my cap too. 

As the ship moved above the scar of the desert, chunks of metal could be seen jutting out, half buried, the metal was long rusted and sandblasted. It was a good sign. 

Hermes’s voice broke over the comm. “Got something coming up: looks like the ship alright. Get ready. I’m going to get you as close as I can get you.” 

Outside the portholes the two treasure hunters could see razorgliders flying about. 

“Oh, hell! Must be a nest of those things!” Ben exclaimed at the flying stingray-like creatures. Razorgliders were so called from the barbs on the ends of their wings. 

“At least it's not mating season,” Red shrugged. “Flares should keep them at bay, it's whatever else is down there I’m worried about.”   

“Like a sandlamprey?” Ben gulped.

“Yeah,” Red replied, her claws tapping the dagger on her thigh made from the tooth of such a creature. 

Ben could feel his heart beating against his chest, it wasn’t just the threat of Caligula’s dangerous animals. It was the tight confines, they could see the broken and blackened hull of the ship. It lay half buried in the shifting sands. Ben already felt the grip of the walls closing in, feeling himself buried and lost in that cavern. 

“Hey,” Red’s voice cut through his thoughts. “You alright?” 

Ben took a breath, she needed him at her side. He needed her. 

“Yes. Your faithful sidekick is ready.” 

He sounded so confident and sardonic, he almost even fooled himself that he wasn’t scared, that he wasn’t claustrophobic. As long as he had Red with him he would make it. 

Red opened the hatch door and the winds blew through her fur and ruffled her long coat. The duo grabbed their rifles and stole their courage. 

“I hope you’re ready to fight for your dream!” Red shouted over the winds.