by Troy Osgood
The Wind’s navcomputer would automatically recalculate the next hop, accounting for the normal variables of ion storms and orbits, and take us into wildspace. There was nothing for me to do, not really. But I normally was awake and in the cockpit when hitting the hop point.
That was a ways out and I was getting tired. It had been a weird and stressful day. Probably could use some food.
I left the cockpit and entered the hall. I lightly tapped on Kaylia’s door.
“You up? I was going to make some food.”
No response but I thought I heard some rustling and banging.
Concerned I hit the controls and opened the doors. It was dark, nothing but shadows. I could hear flailing from the bed, a banging as she tossed and turned and hit the metal wall. The lights were turned off by the bedside controls so I hit the manual override. Kaylia was on the bed, the sheets and blanket thrown on the floor and she was thrashing wildly.
It was like she was trapped in a nightmare but worse. She was flailing her arms, like she was attacking something. Tossing back and forth, banging her arms and legs against the wall. I was surprised I hadn’t heard it in the cockpit.
“Kaylia,” I said, quietly at first but repeated it louder.
No response.
I took the couple steps to the bed and stopped. Her fingernails had elongated. They were now claws and they looked sharp. Her face was a mask of rage and pain. Tears flowed down her cheeks, her eyes tightly closed.
This was no normal nightmare and I wasn’t sure what was happening to her but I had to stop it. She looked to be in so much pain.
“Kaylia,” I yelled reaching for her hands.
I managed to grab one and was surprised at how strong she was. For such a small thing, there was strength there. I could barely hold on. The other arm came close and I managed to grab it as well before the claws could connect.
I held her steady and slowly the fit, or whatever it was, stopped but she still shook. Through it all she had made no noise. The shaking stopped.
Her eyes were now open, looking up at me in shock, and more tears fell. She was silently crying.
I sat down on the bed, noticing that her fingernails had shrunken back down to normal size. I gently pulled her up and wrapped the crying girl in a hug. I wasn’t sure what else to do so I let her cry into my shoulder for as long as she needed.
*****
Kaylia calmed down eventually and we went into the galley to make some food. She sat at the table and watched as I attempted to make a well balanced meal.
I’m a single guy. Well balanced was not normally on the menu. I had plenty of ale, true Earth variety, and junk food but not that much for a growing girl. I’d have to stock up when we got to Dynuit. We’d make do until then.
She was now wearing one of my older jackets. Faded and worn, it was big on her but in a way it fit. She seemed to like it.
“Sorry I don’t have anything that fits you,” I said. “When we get to Dynuit, we can see about getting you some real clothes, okay?”
Kaylia nodded and smiled, no trace of the sadness and misery from before.
The whole episode was weird. It wasn’t just crying from the loss of her parents. I’d seen that kind of grief before. This was something else. Grief and rage, a madness to lash out. It kind of scared me to be honest.
And the fingernails turning into claws?
Thesan nails were strong and normally longer than other species. They could be sharpened to a point and used as a weapon. It was a remnant from an earlier time in the Thesan’s evolution, when they were more wild and animalistic. Their nails could not grow into claws. Not like I had seen with Kaylia’s.
I was tempted to ask about that but she was so peaceful at the moment.
We finished eating and I cleared the dishes, putting them into the washer. Grabbing a bottle of ale from the cooler, I turned around. Kaylia was looking at me.
“There’s a vidscreen in the lounge,” I said and pointed that way. “Not many vids to watch though and can’t get anything else well we’re in wildspace. I have cards but don’t know any games that a kid should play.”
She gave me an annoyed look and her fingers started flying. I could guess what she was getting at. Took offense to the kid comment.
“Slow down,” I said. “I don’t speak that,” I added and moved my fingers randomly.
Kaylia laughed. It was silent, but her whole face lit up. Her body and face performed the action of the laugh, eyes sparkling, even with no sound.
It made me smile.
“So here’s a thought,” I said when she finally stopped laughing and looked at me again. “Why don’t you teach me that sign language?”
She nodded. Enthusiastically.
I was probably going to regret this. I’m not a good student.
*****
The time passed quickly. Turns out, I was pretty good at her sign language, parts of it anyways. It was a combination of Tradelan with some Thesan concepts thrown in. I already knew her language, or enough to get by, so that made learning the sign that much easier. There were still some of the Thesan words I missed but I could get the basics of what she was trying to say.
When we weren’t doing that, I taught her the basics of ship control. She learned how to program the navcomputer, work the weapons and the basics of piloting. Kaylia was a quick study, even though she didn’t get a chance to put it to practical use.
This part took longer as she had to ask questions in sign and I had to first interpret what she was getting at then describe it to her. It took a bit to get into a pattern but we got there.
And the hours passed.
Kaylia was smart. Very smart. She picked up on things quickly, grasping concepts that took me months to understand. I was impressed. The kid was also funny and sarcastic.
Surprisingly I was enjoying having her around.
She was in the co-pilots station, watching the controls and watching what I did as we hopped out of wildspace and into the outer edges of the Dynuit system. I had disconnected the co-pilot’s board so she could hit the buttons and move the controls and not do anything to the ship. She followed my movements as I changed over to the sublight drives for in-system movement, reorientated the ship and started us towards the Dynuit Station.
The Nuit were part of the Planetary Council; like the Terrans, Thesans, Tiat, Dyers and most of the other spacefaring species in the galaxy; but they rarely involved themselves in politics. They like staying neutral and keeping to themselves, relatively. They had two planets out of the seven in the system, only their home being habitable and they had never expanded out of this system. I didn’t know the names of the planets and they didn’t allow much non-Nuit traffic onto the planets themselves. Not Deep Space and not Inner Core. They had copied the Inner Core though and built a station at the edge of their system.
“Kaylia,” I said pointing out the view window at the shadowed object that was in front of the nearest planet. It looked small at this distance. “Do you see that?”
She leaned forward in her seat and looked where I pointed. Turning to me excitedly, she signed.
Is that the station?
“Yep,” I answered.
The station grew as we got closer. At sublight speed it took about thirty minutes and Kaylia was staring at it the whole time. I got the feeling she hadn’t done much space traveling and the Tiat had most likely kept her locked up.
It went from a dark shadow to hundreds of bright spots of light that started to define the shape. Dynuit Station was a long cylinder with a much wider disc shape at the top. The length had four giant solar panels attached to it and widened as it connected to the disc. That was two thicker rings with a thinner connecting ring and some structures built on top. Lots of lights could be seen in the rings. An arm came out of the thinner ring with a relatively smaller structure attached. Ships of different shapes and sizes could be seen coming in and out of that structure, the docking pad. The Nuit Military were housed in the cylinder as we
ll as the buildings on top of the disc. All station operations, housing and shops were in the three rings. The whole station rotated around and orbited the gas planet beneath it.
I put on my headset and keyed the comms.
“Dynuit station this is Nomad’s Wind, Terran registration SE6890, requesting permission to dock.”
I glanced at Kaylia and saw her slump a little in the chair, eyes downcast. She was no longer as excited. I wondered what happened, it was a sudden shift, and was about to ask when station controls came back.
“Nomad’s Wind, you are free to dock at bay 29.”
“Acknowledged control,” I replied and disconnected.
I took the headset off and realized why Kaylia was now sad. There had to be some communication between ship and docking. She was realizing that she could not do that part. It could prevent her from actually flying the Wind, or any ship.
“After we leave Dynuit, remind me to teach you how to automate the ship’s comms to send docking messages,” I said as I brought the ship in closer to the ring.
I didn’t look over but I could see Kaylia smiling again.
I hit a couple of keys and a series of dots and lines appeared on the viewing window. The Wind had connected with the stations docking system and was being guided in towards the berth we had been assigned. I followed the directions on my screen, turning the ship. I kept it at an angle so Kaylia could see all the other ships already docked. There were large freighters, small cruisers, a couple in-system cruisers and even a couple of yachts.
“This is the hard part,” I told her drawing her attention.
The docking bay was an exterior connection, no hanger to fly into and no magbarrier. It was airlock only, meaning the ship had to connect directly to the exterior wall. Once there, the stations own gravity held it in place, but it took a bit of maneuvering to get the connection right.
Bay 29 showed up, between a yacht, of a make and model I didn’t recognize, and a Yourikal Vessels Heavy Freighter. Using the thrusters I slowed the Wind and turned it around so it was facing away from the station. Kaylia stood up, trying to look out the view window to see the station.
“Watch your screen,” I directed and turned on the vidcam at the rear of the ship.
Her monitor at the co-pilots station now showed a view of the Wind’s rear and the rounded exterior of the station’s docking ring, black gasketing around the perimeter. She watched as a door slid open showing a square room and another door beyond. Out of the room a metal rectangle, the same size and shape of the space, extended out with a black rubber gasket around the edge. Magnetic couplers could be seen at the four corners. The circular ring extended as well, a second layer of connection in case the rectangular connecting tube couldn’t get a good seal.
The tricky part was aligning the rear of the ship with the extended gangway, getting the couplers in the right spots so my rear hatch could still open and making sure the gasket fit tightly.
Slowly, with controlled use of the thrusters, I backed the Wind up against the gangway. There was a loud bang and four sharp taps as the couplers engaged with the hull of my ship. Lights flashed green on my control panel and I knew we were lined up correctly.
I turned off most of the power to the Wind and started to get out of the seat.
“Let’s get the cargo unloaded, get paid and do some shopping.”
Kaylia was down the hallway towards the stairs that led to the cargo hold before I was even fully out of the chair.
*****
We stood in the Wind’s cargo hold looking at the metal doors waiting on the signal from Dynuit Docking Control. Kaylia was impatient, she wanted to go and explore the station. She still wore my oversized coat and I’d given her a hat to hide her hair and ears. With the coat and hat, tail still hidden by the coveralls, she really didn’t look Thesan.
Which was good.
“The Dynuit are a tribal society,” I explained as we waited. “An old custom from their pre-space days was the exchange of gifts. One tribe visiting another would bring a gift and get a gift in return. They still do that today.”
A green light flashed on the display and I hit the button. The doors slid to the side and revealed the gray colored interior of the gangway and two aliens, Nuits. They stood my height with a slight stooped posture. Their legs were short with a long body and very long arms. One was gray, the other more black. Both were bald and wore matching uniforms. Their eyes were dark pits of black, almost hidden in their flat faces. No noses, just two angled slits below the eyes.
The one in back held a rifle of a manufacture I didn’t recognize. His eyes searched the hold of the ship behind me. The other held a datapad and looked more official, some chips of something on it’s uniform probably signifying rank.
“Welcome to Dynuit Station,” the one in front said in heavily accented Tradelan looking at the datapad. “Your cargo has been cleared,” it said and looked up into my hold with a little bit of surprise.
The three crates stood out as the only things in the hold.
“Slow day,” I said.
The Nuit made a gesture that I assumed was a shrug. It was a movement of the shoulders anyways. He could have been giving me their equivalent of the finger for all I knew.
“Your cargo can be unloaded into the secure storage just outside the doors, Bay 29,” he said pointing behind him towards the rest of the docking bay. “We have dockhands available for a small fee.”
“I’m good thanks.”
The Nuit made the same gesture. The one with the weapon studied Kaylia and me. I didn’t like the attention he paid Kaylia but had to admit she looked a little suspicious in the oversized jacket and hat. He looked from her to me. I gave him a look that I hoped was just enough ‘back off, mind your own business’ but not aggressive and threatening enough to cause an issue.
“As you wish,” the lead Nuit said and looked right at me. “Welcome to Dynuit Station.”
“Thank you,” I replied, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a couple credchips that I placed into the Nuit’s open and waiting hand.
He glanced at the chips, nodded, and turned. The other followed with one last glance at Kaylia and me.
“Enjoy your stay.”
The airlock door swished shut behind them.
I turned to go get the maglifter when Kaylia tugged at my sleeve. I looked down at her hands and she moved them through a series of gestures.
You bribed him?
I laughed as I led her to where the maglifter was stored.
“Remember how I said one tribe gave gifts to the other?”
She nodded.
“That was our gift.”
Kaylia thought about it for a minute and then signed something in reply.
What about their gift to us?
“They let us land at their station.”
She thought about it some more. Just another example of how sheltered I was finding her upbringing to be. I didn’t think Kaylia had learned much about the way the world really worked while living on Turesa.
That is not how it should work.
“No kiddo, it’s not,” I agreed. “Now come on. I’ll teach you to use the maglifter.”
*****
The gangway doors opened to a large space. Pushing the maglifter Kaylia stepped out and stopped, her head turning every which way. I smiled as I stepped up next to her. It was a common sight for me, but could see how it would be amazing for her.
Bright metal with track lighting built in stretched in both directions for a good distance. The docking ring was so big that you could barely make out the curving at the far ends. Doors like the ones we had passed were spaced along the outer edge, each with large writing above them in a variety of languages from Tradelan and Nuit to more obscure but common ones. Different sizes. Some for cargo, sized like ours and bigger for larger freighters, and small personal doors. I saw Pierd, Tiat and even Dyer. The walls curved up, the top half of the ring, the bottom curve hidden by the floor we were on. Lines of
light along the metal floor formed and controlled traffic patterns, directing people where to go.
The ring itself was not that wide, about forty feet to the doors to the wall. Across from us was writing that matched that above our door. Our designated storage. Doors faced doors as the airlocks opened onto the travel ring and across from the corresponding storage rooms that took up most of the space inside the docking bay.
There was so much incoming and outgoing shipping happening at this station, and similar, across the galaxy and between so many varied beings with different languages, monetary needs and morals that systems had been developed to handle it. You offloaded into a designated locker and got a code. Once payment had been made, you gave the code to the buyer and both parties inputted acknowledgment to the stations Dock Control. The shipper could no longer access the storage, only the person taking possession of the cargo. For outgoing it worked the same way just in reverse.
It helped protect both parties and insured one got paid and the other got their product.
There were ways to cheat the system of course and there were still a lot of illegal and back alley deals, but the system helped a lot.
It also sped up the process as the system could be set up to do automatic payments once all the cargo was scanned and put into the storage unit. Since each crate was scantagged, it worked pretty well and the cargo’s recipient didn’t ever need to physically meet with the freight hauler.
A lot different then dealing with asteroids like CU145792 out in Deep Space.
Once all three crates were in storage, I was technically free to leave the station. Normally I would have gone looking for another delivery but this time was different.
I ended up taking the maglifter from Kaylia, she was spending too much time looking around.
Couldn’t blame her.
The ring was crowded.
Beings of all shapes and sizes roamed the hall. It was an orderly chaos. Maglifters moved crates and other containers. Hovercrafts moved people from one end to the other. I stopped to let one pass and had to grab Kaylia by the collar and pull her along.
