11. Accidents Happen

  So I just realized that you might not know what I look like. I mean, specifically that you might never have seen an Artemis class ship before. We’re an older model, mostly built before contact with the Atlians. Once soulships became a thing and it became so much harder to keep regular ships from quickening thanks to dumbass kids like me blasting their .jpg everywhere, ship design really changed.

  But yeah, so anyway, I’ll try to describe what I look like.

  My ‘head’ is the crew compartment and bridge. It’s separated from the rest of the ship by a narrowing (my neck). Then my body consists of my passenger space, which broadens out, and my cargo hold, which broadens out further. Then my butt has my legs on it (My hyperdrive nacelles which point out, sort of like the ancient star-trek model, except that there are four of them in a square.

  So basically, it’s a cone stacked on a cone on top of a cone on top of four long cylinders.

  I was painted white when I awoke, but when I was being retrofitted with Qi-compatible hardware I asked to be painted robin’s egg blue, and so now I’m blue. I’m not perfectly aerodynamic, but I have wing sections which can fold out to help me with atmospheric landings. Mostly I just brute force landings and takeoffs with my shields taking the brunt of the atmospheric heat and my thrusters turning me into a giant flying brick.

  I can comfortably house twenty-eight crewmembers and up to three hundred passengers, if they pack in two to a room. If I’m hauling kids and they share a bed, then I could probably fit well beyond that. And there are options to install additional housing in my cargo bay, which is would about triple my capacity to haul people. But instead I was hauling grain, so my cargo bay was boring.

  And my passenger section was empty, since I only had one passenger and he was staying with the crew rather than my empty section. Well, it wasn’t really empty all of the time. A few of my meridians crossed in one of the passenger’s rooms, and that was one of the spots where Aster liked to cultivate, since the Qi field was densest there.

  I was trying to cultivate too, mapping out my remaining meridians and starting on my channels, so I didn’t notice when my guest made his way to the Qi-dense room and opened the door, disturbing Aster from her meditations.

  “Forgive me,” the young man said. “I think that we are here for the same reason. The Qi density inside Yoji is so sparse, but I was hoping to get a few hours of cultivation in anyway. I didn’t mean to disturb you, I’ll find another nexus.”

  “Oh. Right, I wasn’t thinking about it but you’re Atlian too,” she said, smiling at the guest. “Yoji’s internals are only slightly weaker than the Qi on the planet where I was born, so I don’t really notice, but I suppose it must be hard for you to deal with if you’re used to Atla itself or something.”

  “I was born on Atla, but I’ve spent most of my life exploring our new universe,” the guest explained. “Of course, I do this as a hitchhiker rather than a Dao partner. You are very fortunate to bond with a ship this young, I think.”

  “I think so too,” Aster said, smiling. “What was your name again?”

  “Ahm Raht,” he said. “Tell me, would you like to spar? The Qi might be sparse in here but it would be good to stretch our muscles I think.”

  Aster flushed and shook her head. “I’m not much of a fighter, if I’m being honest, Master Ahm. And you are of the silver path, while I’m only in the foundation realm. It wouldn’t be a productive duel for either of us.”

  “Oh, you might be surprised,” Ahm Raht said. “Come now, it will be good for you. I promise I will not strike you, except for light taps to point out your openings. You, meanwhile, can come at me with everything you have.”

  Aster looked away, but eventually caved to the pressure. “There should be room for us to fight in the cargo bay,” she said, and she led him into one of the wide-open spaces.

  They took their stances, and Ahm Raht calmly waited for Aster to attack him. When she did, she moved so fast! She attacked him with punches and kicks, dancing around him with furious blows that packed far more force than her delicate frame should have been able to put out. But he just avoided or blocked everything, occasionally tapping her here and there. She flushed brighter with each opening he exposed, and this continued until she was exhausted.

  “Is that all you can manage?” he asked.

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  “I told you I wasn’t much of a fighter,” she reminded him.

  “Yes, I suppose you did. But tell me, what would you do if Yoji was ever boarded by hostile bandits? Would you simply stand by and let him be taken from you?” Ahm Raht asked.

  “Of course not!” Aster exclaimed.

  “The only way to protect yourself against predation is to become stronger than the predator, child,” Ahm Raht said. “Think carefully on these words and we will do this again tomorrow, and every day after that until we reach the destination.”

  Aster was quiet for a moment, then bowed politely to the elder cultivator. “This student thanks Master Ahm for his instruction,” she said humbly, then she returned to the room where the confluence of Qi was.

  Ahm Raht, meanwhile, explored the cargo bay for a few minutes before returning to his room.

  When she was alone, Aster covered her face in shame. “Yoji are you there?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I’m here. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. It’s just … embarrassing to have so many points taken from me like that. I know that he’s a master compared to me. He can probably make time move slower than I can, so he can see all of my openings and have plenty of time to use them to his advantage. But I really thought I was better than the display I put on.”

  “Oh,” I said. “Well, just get stronger.”

  She laughed. “Yes, I think that is the idea. We both need to get stronger, Yoji. I think that’s what Master Ahm was trying to tell us.”

  “Okay. I’ll try my best too,” I promised, and now that I wasn’t worried about the sparring match I went back to mapping my meridians.

  However, I kept thinking about what she said. How Ahm Raht could slow down time. I don’t think that she meant that he really slowed down time, but rather that he sped time up. But it resonated with something inside of me, and as I mastered my internal Qi flows, I began playing with an idea in the back of my head.

  Each day Aster would train with Ahm Raht, and I would watch and cheer her on. She seemed to be embarrassed to continue loosing in front of me, but she was getting better. Ahm Raht was just as strict with her on the first day, but she was learning to conceal her openings better, becoming a more conservative fighter and a better one for it.

  I tried helping by calling up training videos while she was meditating to show various other techniques, but while she indulged in my distractions I don’t think she really appreciated them.

  On the final day before we arrived at our destination, I decided that it was time to try out what I’d been working on in the back of my mind this entire time. So while Aster was dueling with Ahm Raht, I began moving my Qi in the way that felt right for what I wanted to accomplish.

  Aster was my Dao partner, and it only made sense that we would fight together, so I layered my technique to support her. I applied it to Ahm Raht, grinning as he slowed by about ten percent, giving Aster a slight advantage, and--

  The blow to her ribs sent her flying into the wall. She caughed, blood droplets coming from her mouth. Ahm Raht spent just a moment looking at her in shock before rushing to her side. She recoiled from him.

  “I apologize. I’m so sorry, little Aster, I lost control for a second. I’m not certain what happened, but I sensed that I was under attack and my body reacted without thought,” he said. “I am deeply ashamed of my actions. Please, allow me to help you to the medbay.”

  Aster relaxed slightly, nodding, and he picked her up like the child that she was and rushed her to the medical bay in the crew quarters, where I had already summoned Lila, the medical officer, with a panicked message about how Ahm Raht was killing Aster and please please help.

  Aster was hurt pretty bad, with two broken ribs and a collapsed lung, but Lila was able to patch her up. The crew confronted Ahm Raht about exactly what had just happened and he seemed both embarrassed and ashamed.

  “It’s my fault,” I said, appearing before them. “I’m so sorry. I was trying to help Aster, so I tried to slow down Master Ahm. If I hadn’t done that he would have retained control over himself and I’m so sorry don’t hate me Aster.”

  “I see,” Ahm Raht said. “Whatever technique you used must have been the attack that I sensed, Yoji. But the blame remains upon my doorstep and not yours. I was teaching a child and allowed myself to get serious for just a moment because I sensed something extraordinary. I will triple my payment for passage as compensation, and to pay for young Aster’s pain and suffering.”

  After the crew extracted promises that he would remain in his room for the remainder o the voyage, Ahm Raht retired.

  Aster was heavily sedated due to the pain, but she was still awake to hear me apologize for what I’d done. She just shook her head. “Yoji, you made him get serious for a second. That’s an incredible accomplishment. I’m so proud of you,” she said, right before she fell asleep.

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