True Believer
A story about religion, faith, and intergalactic slavery. TW: Slavery
There was no air outside the cargo hold. Tek knew this, but he still rammed his shoulder against the door.
"Won't matter in the end. AI don't need to breathe. But we do. Eh gemrade?" Palitn said. The alien. The lizardy person who Tek would be sold with. A package deal. One flimsy floppy human and a strong tough-skinned Yerma'che. "Pechu will save us if cxe chooses." His accent was something like a mix of a South African drawl and German hard consonants.
Tek tried to fit his fingernail in the crease of a metal panel but only chipped the keratin.
"You're putting your hope in fairy tales." Tek said, sliding to the floor, back up against the cool steel door.
"No tales. Truth."
"Why don't you do something. Pechu wouldn't want you to be sold into slavery would cxe?" Tek said sucking on his bleeding finger.
"If Pechu wants us free cxe will have us free. And what? What would I do? Break my shoulder ramming that door then suffocate?" Palitn hummed a low growl that resonated from his gut. A chuckle in his species’ way. "We are stuck Tek. We must trust in Pechu."
Tek glared at Palitn. "Oh, Pechu! Full of light and grace, save us from—"
"No! No no no. You liquid-shit humans and your doting gods. You do not ask of Pechu. Cxe bestows cxer gifts on you only if cxe pleases to do so."
"And if cxe doesn't?"
"You die. Or in our case, sold." Palitn said it as if dying or being sold into slavery were nothing to concern oneself with. Perhaps to him, they weren't. He was a true believer.
But Tek liked being free, thank you very much. He liked being alive even more.
They were quiet for a long time. Palitn was angry at Tek for having the gall to ask Pechu to save them from a lifetime of intergalactic slavery. Gods in all cultures had their quirks.
Tek just sat, staring around the small space. A fan kicked on and sent out blessed cool air through the cargo hold. At one end of the hold, dozens of boxes lay stacked and tied down with nylon straps. All of them had locks the size of Bibles, hanging off of a steel metal cage inlaid into the plastic crate.
"Look," Tek said. "I'm sorry I disrespected—" but he wasn't able to finish his sentence because gravity had turned upside down.
Palitn and Tek, fell to the ceiling. Tek tried to grip onto the light fixtures but he lost his grip when gravity shifted again. This time down was the rear of the cargo hold.
"Evasive maneuvers," Tek said picking himself up. "They must be getting chased." As if to prove Tek right, the pitter-patter of kinetic-kill bullets hitting the hull pinged through the cargo hold.
Then, the straps on the crates they were stowed with snapped. Tek yelped and dove out of the way of the falling crates. They landed next to Tek’s left foot with a metallic, THUNK!
Again, gravity shifted but this time back to normal. The ship smoothed out and flew on. After Tek stood up and dusted himself off, he saw that one of the crates was busted open. Tek stumbled over to the box. Inside were stacks of folded vac suits and helmets.
"What did I tell you?" Palitn said chuckling like a lion's purr. "Pechu will save us if cxe chooses and cxe has chosen."
Hours passed after the ship ceased its high G maneuvering. In that time Tek and Palitn put on vac suits, just in case, and Tek was trying to pry his way into another crate, having no luck.
"Cxe gives you all this and still you try to fight destiny?" Palitn said, sitting cross-legged, his tail switching back and forth.
"Well, what's your plan? They're bound to come check on us and we need something to protect ourselves." Tek kicked a crate but only succeeded in jamming his pinky toe. He took a seat on the offending crate. "Let me guess…"
"Follow Pechu's path," Palitn said, folding his hands and shutting his eyes.
Palitn sat like that for another three fan on/off cycles, meditating. He didn't respond when Tek tried to start a conversation and didn't even move his eyes when Tek pinched his arm.
Tek fought against sleep, slapping himself, pinching his own arm. He needed to stay awake, to fight back. He didn't have to wait much longer though. The hissing of the airlock cycling shook all the sleep off of Tek.
"Palitn," Tek said hopping to his feet. "Palitn. Wake up, man! They're—"
The door opened. A humanoid robot came through. The orange and blue model, the one that shanghaied Tek and Palitn back in that dive bar on Beta-16.
The robot raised a rail rifle to Tek's head. "Surrender," said the robot.
All those daydreams of fighting back against their captors left Tek’s mind and were replaced with the sensation of his guts liquefying. He raised his hands above his head.
"You too," said the robot. But Palitn didn't move. "Slave," the robot crossed the cargo hold and poked Palitn with the rail rifle. "Surrender."
Nothing. Behind the glass of Palitn's helmet lay nothing. No expression. No fear. Just eyes-closed bliss.
"Make him get up," the robot said, turning to Tek.
Before Tek could process the request Palitn jumped up and ripped the robot's arms from its body. Sparks flew out of the sockets like the finale of a rock concert. Tek saw a flash as Palitn kicked the robot's head clean from its neck. It soared across the cargo hold and crumpled against the wall. The body of the robot collapsed to the floor, sparking and spasming.
"What… Holy shit,” Tek breathed hard and shook out his hands. “What happened to ‘do nothing until Pechu wills it’?" Tek kicked at the remains of the robot.
Palitn contorted his face in what could have been a smile and picked up the rail rifle. "That was Pechu's will."
"I don't understand," Tek said.
Palitn handed Tek the rail rifle. "Of course, you don't."
"But you just sat there the whole time, with your strength you could get us to the bridge! Why’d you wait to kill it? Why wait to help us escape?"
"I was making sure it was what Pechu wanted of me.” Palitn shrugged in a very human way. “The AI gave me an opening, a sign from Pechu certainly."
"Well… Is it Pechu's will to escape? Like get to the bridge?" Tek gestured to the open airlock with the gun. With Palitn’s strength, Tek’s appropriated rail rifle, and a little luck they could chew through the robot crew like they were slabs of yeast-beef and be on the bridge before a distress signal could reach anywhere.
Palitn pondered. "I will need to meditate on this." Palitn closed his eyes and at once, sat down, crossing his legs.
"You've got to be kidding me," Tek said. "I'm leaving now. With or without you." Tek moved to the door, grumbling under his breath. But when he got a step away from crossing the threshold an alarm sounded and the door slammed shut. Tek stood, unblinking at the thick steel door. Shaking. He was that close to freedom.
"Human Tek. I've had an epiphany,” Palitn said, “Pechu wants us to stay put."
"Thank you Palitn."
"You're ever so welcome."
After one fan cycle Tek's resolve was broken. He started to believe in Pechu. If it would get him away from a life of slavery, Tek would believe in the Anus Monster of Flerangia-5 or piskies or Jesus or whatever. But seeing as Tek and Palitn's lives were beholden to Pechu, Pechu it was.
After five fan cycles of devout belief in Pechu, Tek was back to cynical atheism. Pacing around while Palitn meditated.
After fifteen more fan cycles, Tek was meditating with Palitn again, delirious and desperate.
Then after a bit of sleep Tek once again was himself: pacing around in a panic that is. He didn't know what to believe anymore.
His parents were Satanists which essentially meant they were secular humanists with a flair for the dramatic.
His grandma was a devout Catholic.
His grandpa was a member of a surfing cult for most of Tek’s life. Shortly before his death Tek’s grandpa left the cult and became a follower of the Church of, I Don't Man (which was a real brick and mortar church with a million followers and growing).
Tek never connected with any of them. He always just sat with his not-knowing and prospered. That is until now, stuck in a hopeless situation. Now he sort of understood the religious mindset. The universe is big and scary and doesn’t give a damn about anything. It was comforting thinking that there was something above pulling the strings, even if just for a few fan cycles.
But Tek couldn’t be sure. He couldn’t let go and allow religion to take him.
They couldn't be far from their destination and back in his old hopeless ways, Tek tried to prepare himself for a life of servitude.
Tek woke to more pitter patter of kinetic-kill bullets hitting the hull. Then a shockwave pounded through his chest.
Palitn didn't move. He sat statue still, hands folded in his lap.
At this point Tek just hoped he would die. That this whole ordeal would be done with. Living didn't matter anymore. Every breath was torture. Every moment: suffering. Tek’s only wish, only request of whatever god or universal energy or whatever, was to die a quick death. Tek sat and waited to get his wish. And he nearly got it.
Two more shockwaves rippled through the ship. A shearing metal sound filled Tek’s ears, and he thought he saw the walls crunching like an aluminum can collapsing in on itself.
A fourth shockwave hit and Tek saw nothing but black.
At first, he thought he was dead. All noise stopped in an instant and Tek sighed. Would this be so bad? Endless void?
But then he noticed a blinking green light in front of his face. It was Palitn's suit light, blinking to indicate the oxygen pump was turned on. Tek tried to breathe but found only stuffy air. He turned on his oxygen pump. Tek was, unfortunately, alive, in the vacuum of space. The slave ship he was on: now a patch of floating scrap.
Soon Tek was able to discern the shape of Palitn out of the inky void. Tek opened a radio channel to Palitn.
"Are you happy now? Is Pechu happy? Is this Pechu's will? We're going to die out here because some fictional sky being decided it would be fun to watch us slowly asphyxiate? Ha!" It wasn't funny but at that moment only laughter seemed appropriate. The universe was a harsh place. It had never cared about the little bags of thinking meat running around inside it.
"You know," Palitn said at last, "I can understand your frustration. You think if Pechu is there, why does cxe make these things happen? What possesses Pechu to do these awful things? What makes cxer do good things? What makes cxer do bad things? The answer is..." Palitn paused long enough for Tek to say something.
"What? What's the answer?"
"That's it. That's the answer. Nothing at all. We do not think to know of why Pechu acts as cxe does." Palitn laughed but not like his low rolling chuckle before. No. This laugh was a cackle full of joy and mirth in its alien way. "But I do have one answer," Palitn pointed. Tek could scarcely see the movement through the darkness. "Pechu has smiled upon us today."
Tek followed Palitn’s finger in the void. A Coalition Navy Cruiser shone beams of light down on them. Tek could feel the uncanny pull of a tractor beam and the ship slowly got closer and closer, bigger and bigger.
"Pechu be praised," Tek said.