The Golden Crunk of Cringle

  The Golden Crunk of Cringle

  by Ken Rudisill

  Stealing a Legend

  Ben-2

  Separation

  A Friendly Sintarac

  A Lamsis Named Benny

  An Old Acquaintance

  Escape

  A New Level of Crime

  Captives

  Government Employees

  Slaves

  Alliances

  The Other Side of Sid

  Unexpected Company

  Wounds

  Stealing a Legend

  Daneb lay silent in the vent, eyes closed, waiting for the pair to pass. He didn't venture out of the vents often, but they needed food.

  "Where's the boss? I need to ask him about something," Terry, the fat one they called T said.

  "Where do you think he is?" the woman responded.

  Daneb believed it was Jax speaking, but it could be Rebba. He counted their steps as they moved. Six steps would put them at the door, where they'd turn to the right. Terry would take the second left, which led to the lower level.

  "Still? Why is he obsessed with that thing? Is that the real one this time?" The man was more than a little annoyed.

  "He thinks so. You know how he gets. He's obsessed with the GCC..."

  They had rounded the corner and the woman's voice didn't carry well, but Daneb thought he heard her say the GCC. Over the almost three weeks he and his younger sister Pira were hiding on the ship, he'd heard two others mention something was on the lower level. He was tempted to go down, but the only way they knew of was via the stairs Terry's footfalls indicated he was descending.

  With his tool ready, Daneb counted off forty then unscrewed the bolts from the inside of the vent cover. Less than a minute later, the cover was off. He pulled himself free and touched down without a sound. Then he quickly attached two bolts to hold the cover, and put the other two in his pocket along with the tool.

  Daneb crept to the doorway Terry and the woman went through. He wanted to peek, but the hall was too long to hear people at the opposite end. Even a quick look could give him away. Besides, the kitchen was in the opposite direction, and he didn't have long before the heavy but quiet man he called Erie crept over for a snack.

  He slunk out of the room on his soft-soled shoes, down the hall lined with derelict war rooms, around the back of the storage area, and into the kitchen. Since there was only one passage to the lower level, and most people stayed below, it was easy to keep track of the fourteen people onboard. The ship had probably housed five times that number when it was still active military, but criminals ran with small crews.

  Daneb paused outside the kitchen. He believed the room to be empty, but could spare a few seconds to make sure. People made a lot of noise. Even someone reading a book shifted in their seat and breathed heavier while their brains were elsewhere.

  Since the only sound in the kitchen was the slight hum of the refrigeration unit, he traversed the room and entered the large supply closet. He couldn't pilfer any of the limited food in the refrigerator for fear of someone noticing. He took two ration packs from the open box in the front and stuffed them in his shirt. He then pulled two boxes down from the back, and took another two packs from the box below. By the time the crew noticed the unopened box in the back was three-fourths empty, the siblings would be long gone.

  As he returned the last box to its place, he heard the latch on the refrigerator open. Daneb slid the other two packs into his shirt and slunk to the side of the door. He hadn't heard footsteps, which meant it was either Erie or Donavin. He hoped Donavin, since Erie didn't earn the nickname for being quiet.

  There was a crunch, a few scrapes, and the latch on the refrigerator clicked again. Then a chair pulled out, and he knew it was Erie. He was a big person and enjoyed snacking when other people weren't around.

  Daneb took each breath in a controlled fashion, expelling just enough air through his noise to satisfy his need. The low hum of the refrigerator and the constant background noise of the engine covered everything but a few rustles of packaging, and the occasional umm of satisfaction from Erie. Daneb was cool in most situations, but the way the man flexed his massive lips and scratched his crotch were unnerving.

  The chair scraped along the floor again, and something went in the trashcan. Erie never took long to eat.

  Daneb counted to thirty-seven, giving the big man enough time to get to the long corridor before he moved into the kitchen and peaked into the trash. Two sweet wrappers and one fruit peel sat on top. They were supposedly two days from port and the rations in his shirt would last them that long, but he liked options, so made a mental note.

  He made his way carefully back to the vent, but paused with the bolts in his hand. Pira would be starting to worry because she knew how long it took to get to the kitchen and back, but he couldn't tear his thoughts away. He was sure the woman said the GCC. Maybe GCC stood for something besides the legendary Golden Crunk of Crinkle, but he wasn't sure what. He'd heard about it even before they started stowing on ships. Like many legends, it had variations. Some people said it was a goblet that granted those who drunk from it eternal life. Some said it was a horn that granted wishes. He knew neither was true. Some of the other races had amazing tech, but there was no such thing as wish granting objects or eternal life.

  Still, there was something on the lower level. The boss of the ship hadn't been to the upper level in the weeks they'd been onboard, and a couple of his crew had spoken of mutiny. The boss was out of touch, locked in his room obsessing over something.

  The siblings stole food because they had to eat, but they also stole valuables before departing, which allowed them to live on space stations for a short time. They could only carry so much though, and illegal goods, even the valuable ones, paid little in cash.

  Daneb stood there so long thinking about the lower level, Erie could have sat for a cool fifty count on the far side of the ship and still had time to walk back. Erie had gotten his snack, and although he might come back for another, he wouldn't return for a couple of hours, which was why Daneb felt safe lingering. He knew he shouldn't risk it. If they caught him, they'd catch Pira, and she depended on him. He'd seen a few things on the upper level worth stealing. They could go out the night before porting and round them up, same as they always did.

  The allure of the captain's obsession was strong before, but the mention of the GCC was too much for Daneb to ignore. He returned the screws to his pocket and peeked around the corner.

  The hall was void of people and sounds. The first left, which led back to the engine room, was empty. The stairs at the second left were also empty. An old ratty carpet clung to them in chunks. It was one of the few places on the ship with carpet.

  Daneb slid his hand along the rail, took a single step down, but when someone laughed he returned to the top. He knew they weren't laughing at him, but he checked both directions in the hall nonetheless. He had already been gone too long, and knew Pira would bitch upon his return, but despite that, he descended the steps with silent determination.

  The coil of the stairs wound twice, and ended at a small hall with a door across from it. Positioned directly across from the stairs, it was likely a closet of some sort.

  Someone laughed in the distance. Daneb tried to focus on it, but it was too brief, a ha-ha to a quip or almost funny punch line.

  The short hall led to an intersection, where two passages continued in opposite directions. Doors littered both options. He believed he was in the living quarters. A vent was to his right, next to an open door with a light on. To the left, a pair of closed doors sandwiched another vent. Across from them, an unlit door sat ajar.

  He heard people talking, bu
t wasn't able to make out what was being said. They were definitely to the right, where the open door with the light was.

  Daneb slipped next to the door with the light off and listened. He started a twenty count, which was long enough for a quick listen, but before he completed it, someone entered the hall farther down the right passage. He held his breath and slipped into the room. He clenched his face, fearful someone would call out. In his experience, people screamed quite loud when they spotted stowaways.

  There were two single beds in the room separated by a shared nightstand. In each bed, the covers hid half of a long figure. If they woke, even for a moment, they would see him. There was nowhere to hide and the footsteps continued in his direction.

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  They stopped. Daneb's eyes darted from the door to each of the figures. Someone mumbled something from right outside. Daneb pushed himself as far into the corner as he could. Then he saw a hand and a shoulder in slow motion, followed by a chin and neck. Quinn stepped into the room, unzipped his pants, and pulled out his mostly hard cock.

  "Why won't she just suck it?" the man asked the room in a garbled voice. "I asked nice."

  Quinn was so close Daneb could smell the alcohol on him. The man moved to the figure in the left bed and inserted his penis into their mouth.

  Daneb thought he was done for. Quinn was facing away, but the moment the person in the bed woke, they'd notice Quinn, and then they'd notice him. A dick to the face would certainly wake them.

  Quinn started to pump his hips, and there was no objection from the person in the bed. The sound was strange though. It wasn't liquid or garbled breaths, more of a squeaking.

  Daneb took one tentative breath, careful to control the flow. He turned to face the person on the right bed, who still hadn't stirred. The blanket was at their waist. He noticed mounds on the chest, which meant it was a female, just like the one in the left bed. There were only four women on the ship though, and he believed two of them slept on the upper level. Quinn hadn't come from the upper level, he'd come from down the hall, so was talking about a female there. The numbers didn't add up. Then it hit Daneb. The artificial sound he heard was rubber. When he figured out what it was, the shapes in both beds made sense.

  "You like that right?" Quinn asked the inflatable doll in a serious tone.

  Daneb slipped into the hall. He'd pushed his luck, and come out ok, but wasn't willing to risk further exposure, so returned to his sister.

  *

  "Where have you been?" Pira asked as he crawled over to her.

  "I was getting laid, not that it's any of your concern."

  "You finally find one that would let you be on top?"

  "No," he spat, unable to avoid the taunt. His best friend when he was younger was gay, and she always teased him that he was the same.

  "Just a little bit of this?" She barred her teeth with her mouth open, tilted her head and shook it from side to side.

  Daneb understood the reference. "Just shut up." He pulled a ration pack from his shirt, held it in the slats of lights coming from the vent, and then tossed it at her. "Here."

  "Thanks. You still suck dick though."

  "Shut up," he said, only half-serious.

  It had been a rough four years since they snuck aboard the first ship to escape the genocide on their colony. Pira was a brat sometimes, especially in the beginning, but he would do anything for her. She was all he had. Their parents and everyone else they knew died in the attacks.

  Daneb held each of the other three ration packs to the light, double-checked them, and then let out a long sigh.

  "What?" Pira asked.

  "All of them are broccoli and beef."

  "Seriously, why didn't you check?" she asked annoyed.

  "I just did."

  "Why didn't you check back there dipshit? You were gone for long enough."

  "I ran into Erie."

  Her attitude quickly subsided, replaced by concern. "Did he see you?"

  "No. He just went to the kitchen a little early to get his snack. I was in the supply closet. I didn't hear him until he opened the refrigerator."

  "Are you sure he didn't see you? We're almost at port. We can't get caught now." She put her ration aside, and shifted forward to the edge of the down shaft.

  "He didn't see me. He ate his snack. I waited, and then came back when he was done. I forgot to check the packs, sorry. I'll go back out tomorrow and get more."

  "No, it's fine."

  Pira wasn't allergic to anything in the broccoli and beef pack. It just reminded her of home since their mother used to make it all the time. She cried the first time she ate a broccoli and beef ration, which almost got them caught, so Daneb avoided them.

  "Are you sure?" he asked. "I can go back out. It's not a big deal."

  "If I get really hungry tomorrow I'll eat it."

  Each time they left the vents there was a chance someone would spot them. Some ships were worse than others were, but the current one wasn't bad. The crew was limited, and there was a down shaft for them to dangle their feet over. There was a vent to Daneb's left, and one behind Pira on the right, so they had a decent amount of light too. Since they were near the engine it was overly warm, but they could speak at an almost normal volume without worrying someone would overhear them.

  When Pira finished her ration, she extended the empty package to him. He tried to take it but she wouldn't let go. Instead, she leaned in close.

  "So did you find something good?" The dappled light coming through the slits behind her gave her face a strange shape and made her look crazed.

  "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

  She stared at him in the way she did, digging for his secrets. Somehow, she always landed near the truth. "You did."

  "I didn't actually find anything." He looked away, ran his eyes along the metal rivets, counting them.

  "It's that good?" she asked excited. "How long do you think we'll be able to stay at the next station?"

  "We can't stay there. That place is for criminals."

  "We're criminals."

  "Not like that. Those people are different." He meant it. He was also trying to get her to drop it. He didn't want to think about the GCC anymore than he already did.

  "More than the time we sold that oxygen pacer to the race fanatic?"

  There wasn't anything to do when they were in the vents besides talk, think, sleep, or dream. He wasn't sleepy, and knew she wouldn't relent. He didn't cherish the truth the way his sister did, but he didn't like keeping secrets from her. One of the last things his mother said before they snuck onto the ship, leaving her behind, was you're a team.

  "I think the boss has the GCC."

  "The Golden Crunk of Crinkle? No fu-cking way," she said, drawing the F and U out as if they were a separate syllable. "That thing doesn't really exist."

  "You don't know that. How many crazy things have we seen in the past four years?"

  They'd seen and done a lot of crazy stuff.

  "Did you actually see it?"

  "No. Terry was talking to one of the women about it. They said the boss has the GCC."

  "That could mean anything."

  "Really? What else could that stand for?"

  "Genital control copulation."

  "That isn't a thing."

  "Going Crazy Cause-"

  "You're just making shit up."

  "My big brother is an idiot. How am I supposed to know what it stands for? It could stand for anything." She crossed her legs.

  Daneb knew he was lost no matter which way the conversation went. He didn't need his sister to goad him, which wasn't what she was doing. He couldn't think of anything else GCC stood for either. It was a legend, a myth, something kids talked about after school. That was what his father had said when Daneb asked about it. He'd heard adults speak about it in private since though, both criminals and civilians. He was privy to lots of private conversations whil
e they stowed on ships. He'd only heard it mentioned a couple of times, but still, he'd heard it mentioned.

  There was also the fact that they hadn't found any big-ticket items on the upper level. They wouldn't be able to stay on the space station long with the few things they'd seen, even if they managed to get all of them. They had gotten on the wrong ship, and were heading to a dangerous station. Their options were to stay at the criminal station, continue on the criminal ship they were on, or find another criminal ship to take them back to sanctioned space. None of their options were good, but he'd take a station over a ship any day, which meant they needed money to live.

  By the next afternoon Pira's stomach was rumbling. He offered her one of the two remaining ration packs, but she demurred. He couldn't have her stomach grumbling when they went to retrieve their targeted goods.

  "I'll go back out later to get you something different."

  "I'll be ok."

  "No, you won't."

  Pira didn't have a response, which was unusual for her. She was fifteen, and the idea that she still couldn't eat a certain type of meal because it reminded her of home seemed childish, but he accepted it. She had only eaten one other broccoli and beef ration in the past four years, and that was after three days without food. She'd cried in silence the entire the time, tears streaming into her food. It was downright painful to watch. They hadn't had a choice then, but they had a choice now.

  "Maybe you can help me figure out how to get to the lower level vents."

  "I keep telling you, right here," she swung her heel back and forth without striking the wall, indicating the shaft between them.

  "Even if it is, we don't know if there's a decent exit from this shaft."

  "It all has to be connected," she said in a condescending tone.

  "I know that, but I didn't see any vents near the stairs. There are two vents in that other hall, but it's too risky."

  "We can just climb back up this way."

  "No way. It could be five meters. You'd never make it." He realized immediately, even before she scrunched her eyes at him, that he'd said the wrong thing.

  Since they were kids, his little sister had tried to be better than him at everything. She was better at school and their parents liked her better because she was a little kiss ass. She had more friends than he did, and though she was four years his junior, she seemed to know as much about the world. She also had an edge to her, would never back down from a challenge, even an unintended one. That left them with only one option, so after the food run that night they didn't head straight back to the vents.