Chasing the Stars

by Malorie Blackman

  And my brother was right. We were in big trouble.

  ‘The detonation of the bomb on the planet surface will not be enough to deter the Terrans. We cannot allow them to escape our star system – or our justice. If we do, more Terrans will surely follow, and in far greater numbers. They are a threat which must be eradicated, as we have learned to our cost,’ said the captain of the larger Mazon battle cruiser.

  ‘But look how our assault has sent them scurrying like the vermin they are. Our proton bomb has annihilated all of the cockroaches left behind. Their contamination has been eliminated. Those who have run away would be fools to return,’ argued the other captain.

  ‘Sister Sikess, we should press home our advantage. We should at least pursue their escape vessel and obliterate it. They started this war, not us.’

  ‘I agree, Sister Sorres. Let us seek them out and destroy them. We have been wronged. Shall we not revenge? I thirst for vengeance against the humans. All humans.’

  I couldn’t bear to hear any more. ‘Switch it off.’

  ‘But Vee, we need to—’

  ‘SWITCH IT OFF!’

  Aidan killed the audio feed.

  I clenched my fists, screaming inside. Bastards! ‘Why didn’t they just use their proton bomb to begin with and have done with it?’

  ‘I suspect they were having too much fun making a game of picking off selected targets until you arrived,’ said Aidan. ‘Now they want to make sure neither you nor anyone else ever has any reason to return to the planet. That proton bomb will ensure nothing can grow or live on the planet surface for at least fifty Sol years.’

  ‘Including the Mazon. They’ve ruined that planet for everyone, themselves too,’ I said.

  Aidan shrugged. ‘They obviously believe that’s a small price to pay.’

  I couldn’t take any more. The opposite end of the universe wouldn’t be enough space between me and the Mazon at that moment. What had happened in the past had been an accident, tragic and terrible, but an accident nonetheless. The Mazon however refused to believe that.

  ‘Get us out of here. Maximum speed.’

  I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes. The Mazon didn’t have to do that, slaughter innocent people. They were renowned for their xenophobia and considered all the planets in this system as theirs and theirs alone. But to massacre so many just to make a point . . .

  Those people on the surface never stood a chance.

  It barely registered that Aidan was walking towards me. Before I knew what he had planned, I felt a sharp scratch against my neck.

  ‘Ow! What the hell, Aidan?’

  ‘It’s medication to counter your radiation poisoning from the Mazon engines,’ said Aidan. ‘It also contains something for your burns. You needed it now before your body goes into shock.’

  ‘I repeat. Dahell! I could’ve done it,’ I said, annoyed.

  ‘Yes, but you didn’t. And what is the point of swearing? I’ve often wondered.’ Aidan returned to his seat at the navigation panel.

  Glaring at him, I rubbed my neck where he’d just injected me. I appreciated his concern but I really could’ve done it myself. My neck was beginning to hurt where I was rubbing it. My skin would be ultra-sensitive for the next twelve hours at least, but I counted myself lucky to still be alive to feel it, unlike all those poor people left behind.

  ‘Where are the survivors now?’ I asked Aidan.

  ‘In the cargo hold. Now that they’ve all been decontaminated, d’you want me to allow them to leave that area?’

  ‘Of course. They’re not our prisoners,’ I frowned. ‘Let them come up to the bridge.’

  ‘We know nothing about them,’ said Aidan. ‘Are you sure about this?’

  ‘I’m sure,’ I replied. ‘Direct them up here so they can be registered.’

  Aidan’s fingers tapped and slid over the command console before him. He operated that thing like a maestro. He was far faster than I could ever hope to be when operating the controls and I never tired of watching him work.

  ‘So who are our new guests?’ I asked after a while.

  ‘Twelve males, ten females, including two children,’ Aidan replied.

  Children?

  ‘Why on earth did they bring children to somewhere so dangerous?’ I said, horrified.

  ‘You’d have to ask them that, not me,’ said Aidan.

  Two children. How many more had been on Barros 5?

  Vee, stop it! You did your best. What else could you have done?

  ‘Vee, concentrate on the ones you did manage to help. They’d all be dead if it wasn’t for you.’

  I took a deep breath and forced a smile. My brother was right. I had to focus on the positive. After everything that had happened, to concentrate on anything else might send me over the edge.

  8

  A strange, strangled hush had descended on the cargo hold. Darren was kneeling on the ground, with his head in his hands, grief making his whole body quake. The ship we were on was still rising, juddering and jolting as we moved through the planet’s atmosphere, leaving our friends and loved ones behind. I looked around, shaking my head. There were so few of us left. At first glance I’d say around twenty-odd. Would we get the chance to rescue the others before the Mazon wiped them out? Without warning, the ship shook violently, knocking those few still standing off their feet. That last blast had been too close. If just one DE blast were to hit us, then we’d be toast.

  Mum came and sat down next to me. She put her arm around my shoulder and kissed my forehead. I let it pass as it might be the last kiss I got from her. We were on an Earth vessel. That meant we weren’t out of danger, far from it. A cocktail of emotions stirred within me. Back on the planet surface, I really thought my last moments had come. Now here I was in the cargo hold of some anonymous Earth ship. Some of my friends were back down on the planet surface, no doubt still having to endure the continuing Mazon attack. I could only hope they’d make it to the cavern in the mountains. But was I any safer on this ship which could be blasted out of the sky at any moment?

  Every second counted and was precious because it could be my last. I made a vow in that moment never to squander a single second of my life again. If by another miracle we got out of this alive, I would grab hold of life and squeeze every drop out of it.

  A strange mist descended from the vents above us. I knew a moment’s foreboding at the sight of it but if someone wished us harm, they’d hardly go to the trouble of rescuing us first. However, this was an Authority Earth Vessel. Had we really come this far only to be recaptured? The thought made me feel physically sick. I would fight and die before I let them take me back.

  ‘Mum, d’you recognize this ship?’ I whispered.

  Mum shook her head.

  I looked around again. What kind of captain was in charge of this vessel? Would he or she listen to the truth about us and at least give us a chance? Or had we jumped out of the frying pan and straight into the fire?

  9

  Focusing on the positive was so much easier said than done. All my thoughts were caught up with those poor people left behind on Barros 5. Just once I wanted to be able to properly help. All I seemed to do was dab and dabble at the edges, blotting up only a tiny amount of the damage from the mayhem around me. Just once, I wanted to be at the centre of doing some good for a change. I would make it my mission to get these people back home to Earth. I could do that, if nothing else.

  As if on cue, the door to the bridge slid open with a hiss. These people hadn’t wasted any time making their way up from the lower deck, where the cargo hold was situated, to the bridge on the upper deck. I jumped to my feet as a swarm of people flooded onto the bridge. I took an eager step forward, then stopped.

  People.

  Lovely, beautiful people.

  But so many of them. Too many to fit on the bridge. They were spilling out into the corridor.

  A quick glance at Aidan for reassurance. He wasn’t nervous like me, just curious. I straightened up a
nd deliberately set my expression so that hopefully my anxieties were carefully masked. After years of just me and Aidan on this ship, the sudden influx of people was totally overwhelming. Someone was crying, there was a nervous cough or two, some fast panicked breathing. An assortment of smells hit me: sweat, blood, flowery scents, body odour and worse. So many people on board my ship, all of them staring at me and my brother. How many months and years had I spent longing for human companionship? Now it was here and this stream of people was shocking to my senses. And wondrous. And exhilarating. But mostly shocking.

  These people, beautiful and welcome as they were, scared me. I caught sight of a five- or six-year-old girl with cropped brown hair, clinging to the leg of the willowy Indian woman beside her. I tentatively smiled at the girl. She didn’t smile back but clung even tighter to the woman’s leg. That was all right. The girl’s expression was a reflection of how I felt inside. It was something we had in common and, strangely enough, made me feel slightly better. I could do this.

  A woman with auburn-red hair and dark green eyes pushed herself through the crowd of mostly adults to stand before them. She was thin with permanent grooves around her mouth that weren’t laughter lines. This was a woman who hadn’t had much to smile about in the past.

  ‘Who’s in charge here?’ she demanded.

  Aidan and I exchanged a glance.

  ‘I am,’ I replied. ‘Nihao.’

  ‘And you are?’ asked the woman, completely ignoring my common language greeting.

  ‘Vee Sindall. That is, Olivia Sindall, but everyone calls . . . called . . . calls me Vee. And that’s my twin brother Aidan. He’s younger. Who are you?’

  God, I sounded like an inarticulate noob.

  ‘I’m Catherine Linedecker. What d’you mean you’re in charge? You’re a child.’

  ‘I’m eighteen,’ I bristled.

  ‘Where’s the rest of the crew?’ asked Catherine.

  ‘My mum Vida Sindall was captain of this ship and my dad Daniel Sindall was the ship’s doctor. They, along with all the other crew, died over three years ago,’ I said.

  ‘Died?’ Catherine’s tone was sharp. ‘Died how? Of what?’

  ‘A virus wiped everyone out, except for me,’ I told her. ‘And my brother.’

  ‘A virus? So now we’ve all been exposed to it?’

  ‘No, the ship is clean. Whatever the virus was, it died along with the crew,’ I said. ‘I’ve carried out extensive biological tests all over the ship since then. There’s no trace left of it.’

  ‘What’s the name of this ship?’ asked Catherine.

  ‘Earth Vessel Aidan. EV Aidan.’

  ‘The same name as your brother?’

  Obviously. The statement didn’t warrant an answer.

  ‘You departed from one of the main space docks orbiting Earth?’ asked Catherine.

  I nodded. ‘Yes, we left seven years ago on a ten-year deep space exploration mission.’

  ‘You lived on Earth before that?’

  ‘Yes, that’s right.’ I frowned. ‘Anywhere else?’

  ‘No, just Earth.’

  It wasn’t just that this woman asked far too many questions, it was also the way she asked them. Her tone was sharp and scratchy like shards of glass against my already sensitive skin.

  A girl of about my age with short-cropped, spiky blonde hair and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen walked over to my brother, a determined look on her face.

  ‘Nihao. I’m Erica.’ The girl held her hand out towards Aidan.

  Aidan looked from it to her and back again. Slowly he shook her hand. ‘Hello, Erica.’

  ‘Ooh! Very formal,’ said Erica, one eyebrow raised. ‘You’re totally edible, aren’t you?’

  Whoa! My mouth dropped open.

  ‘Erica, this is hardly the time or the place,’ snapped Catherine.

  ‘What?’ said Erica. ‘I’m introducing myself. There are rules about when I can and can’t do that now?’

  ‘Erica . . .’ Catherine’s voice held a barely disguised warning.

  ‘I’m just letting him know I’m interested, that’s all,’ Erica argued, exasperated.

  Me? I just stared. Erica was obviously a girl who gave zero damns about what anyone else thought. I liked that! Not only did Erica think my brother was fit but she wasn’t shy about telling him so. I shook my head as I watched. Was she ever barking up the wrong tree though. Erica turned in time to see me shaking my head. Her gaze narrowed as she glared at me. What on Earth did I do?

  Just then, two more men arrived on the bridge, pushing their way forward. The older guy with sandy brown hair and matching brown eyes looked around, then his fierce gaze attached itself to me with eagle’s talons. He scowled like I was his worst enemy. I took a step back, my legs bumping against my chair.

  The younger guy was about my age, I think, or maybe slightly older, with thick raven-black, wavy hair which fell down to his shoulders. His dark eyebrows were straight, shaped lines above emerald green eyes and he had lovely well-defined lips. OK, so I notice those kinds of things. But oh, those eyes! Not only were the lights on behind those eyes but there was a party happening. He and I regarded each other. Wow! He was definitely – what was Erica’s word? – edible. He was a head and more taller than me, and his body looked like it knew the meaning of hard work. This guy was staring at me, his gaze intense, his expression unreadable. Self-conscious heat rose up from my neck to wash over my face. The younger guy’s face didn’t wear the same belligerence as his older friend, but maybe he was just better at schooling his features. Then, to my surprise, the younger guy smiled. It was the first sign of friendliness I’d seen from any of them. I tentatively smiled back. Whoa! He was gorgeous. Realizing that I was probably staring, I averted my gaze.

  ‘You!’ said the older guy as he pointed at me. His voice was gruff and deep, much deeper than my brother’s. ‘Did you give the order to abandon Barros 5?’

  ‘Yes, I did.’

  ‘Turn this ship around,’ he demanded. ‘There are still people on that planet. My family are back there.’

  ‘I can’t.’

  ‘Damn it. Turn this ship around at once.’ The man was a mad dog, howling at me – and just as terrifying. I stood up straighter.

  ‘I’m afraid I can’t do that,’ I replied quietly.

  ‘Darren, I’ll handle this,’ Catherine told him, but he stepped forward, completely ignoring her. His focus was solely on me as I was the one standing before the captain’s chair.

  ‘If you won’t turn this ship around, I will,’ said Darren.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Aidan’s hands moved swiftly over the controls, making sure that no one would be turning our ship or taking it anywhere without my explicit say-so. Saying nothing, I merely watched Darren warily. The man looked from my brother to me again.

  ‘Please,’ said Darren, trying a different tack. ‘My wife and son are down there. We have to rescue them. Please.’

  ‘We can’t rescue anyone from the planet, because they’re all dead,’ said Aidan.

  Oh. My. God! I glared at my brother. For heaven’s sake! Couldn’t he find a better way to let this guy know than just blurting it out like that?

  Darren stared at Aidan. ‘What’re you talking about?’

  ‘What my brother is trying to say is the Mazon detonated a proton bomb on the planet surface,’ I replied before Aidan could. ‘They didn’t just kill all the people down there but every living thing is now dead – trees, flowers, animals, insects. Their bomb took out the lot. I’m so sorry.’

  Darren’s eyes misted over, but it didn’t last long. He pressed his lips together until his mouth was just a gash across his face. Behind him, the cries and sobs of some grew louder.

  For so long, I’d yearned for the company of others. Selective memories told me that people brought happiness and laughter.

  How strange I’d forgotten that with people also came grief.

  ‘You should’ve waited to pick up more people
,’ Darren accused. ‘You just left all those people back on that planet to die. My wife Ellie and my son Martyn are gone, thanks to you.’ The daggers in Darren’s eyes shot straight through me and every single one of them exited my body taking a piece of me with them. I held my breath, drowning in the hatred of his cold stare, lashed by the venom in his voice.

  ‘I tried to help,’ I protested.

  ‘You should’ve stayed longer, given them a chance to make it to the ship,’ Darren insisted.

  ‘I stayed as long as I could . . .’

  But I didn’t get any further before the guy standing next to him interrupted. ‘Darren, if she’d stayed longer, none of us would be here now.’

  ‘Stay out of this, Nathan. You didn’t lose anyone. Your mum is right there.’ Darren pointed to Catherine. ‘None of your family got left behind to die.’

  ‘I left it until the last possible second before taking off,’ I said quietly.

  ‘Vee did everything she could to save as many of you as possible,’ said Aidan.

  Mutters and whispers sounded at that. All those crowding onto the bridge were staring at me. The weight of their gaze almost made my knees buckle.

  ‘Vee, you must forgive Darren,’ said Catherine. ‘He’s still in shock. We all are.’

  ‘Thanks to her, my wife and child are dead,’ Darren accused.

  I gasped, feeling his words like a stinging slap across my face.

  ‘You need to thank the Mazon for that. We rescued you, you ungrateful turd,’ said my brother furiously. He turned to me, his eyes sparkling with anger. ‘Vee, I told you it’d be a mistake to get involved.’

  ‘Aidan, that’s not helping,’ I said.

  ‘Darren, I’m still in command here. Let me handle it.’ The red-headed woman, Catherine, grabbed at the older man’s arm, trying once again to pull him back. He shrugged her off before taking a couple of steps in my direction. I could see his intent in his eyes. He was hurting and he didn’t want to do it alone.

  I was about to learn the hard way that no good deed went unpunished.