The Battle of Castle Nebula (The Cendrillon Cycle Book 1)

by Stephanie Ricker

  Bruno held his breath again.

  The screen turned green, and the doors slid open. Katrin flashed a sunny smile at the guards and stepped through with Bruno all but treading on her heels behind her.

  “I’ll escort you to the sensor array, ma’am,” he said for the benefit of the guards. “If you’ll just follow me.” The doors slid closed.

  “Anywhere, as I’ve evidently just proven. In spite of my better judgment,” Katrin murmured. “Now what?”

  Bruno scanned the corridor on either side of them quickly. “Now I get you to my quarters, which is the tricky part. There are cameras in all of the corridors, and drydock personnel wouldn’t ordinarily be permitted near the crew’s quarters.”

  Katrin straightened up and took a step away from him at mention of the cameras. “Ideas?”

  “Yep. One.”

  “Which is?”

  He gave her his most endearing smile. “Let’s just say it’s a good thing you’re not claustrophobic.”

  The Laika had a triple bulkhead around her outer hull, making her extremely resilient to hull breaches. For an ensign who had been forced to read over ship schematics for the past week while in the company of a certain ship designer, the triple bulkhead was also terribly useful for circumnavigating the ship unseen.

  Bruno opened an access port in an odd corner of the life support section of engineering. Katrin eyed the tiny opening with disfavor.

  “How did you even find this?” she asked.

  “Humphreys has been over every inch of this ship,” Bruno said wearily, “which means I have too. You’d be amazed what tricks the Laika has up her sleeve.” He craned his neck to look up at the walls. “Pretty sure this is hidden from the cameras too, since I caught Humphreys drinking whiskey down here once when he was supposed to be on duty.” He gestured inside at the narrow passageway extending into the darkness. “Ladies first?”

  Katrin snorted. “Not a chance. In you go, Ensign.”

  Bruno ducked his head and stepped inside, flicking on the light on his commlink. “Just be sure to seal that hatch behind you.”

  The clang and hiss of the hatch seal told him she was already on it. “Lead away,” she said, her voice echoing oddly in the tall, narrow space. Bruno had to angle his shoulders as he walked to slide through the passage.

  “My quarters are along the outside of the ship,” he said, trying to avoid getting tangled in his coat as he walked, “and we can come out of the hull right next to them.”

  “It’s like you’ve been planning this,” Katrin said, her voice heavy with suspicion.

  Bruno shrugged. “We all have our little fantasies.” He turned his head in the narrow space to look at her by the light of the flashlight. “I really miss you,” he said. The words came out more vulnerably than he intended.

  Katrin tilted her head, and her tiny smile grew. “I miss you too.”

  Bruno cleared his throat and turned his head to face front again. “Only about ten minutes’ walk left,” he said.

  Katrin groaned.

  They popped out into the hallway near Bruno’s quarters more like twelve minutes later, if Bruno was honest. He swept Katrin inside and locked the door, vowing to scrub the hall camera later if at all possible. He doubted it had caught them, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

  “I really can’t believe that worked,” Katrin said, sounding mildly astonished. She set her case on the small table and looked around his relatively luxurious quarters. Ensigns rated not only their own quarters, but also a wall cooler for food items and a tiny sitting area.

  “Have a little faith in your husband,” Bruno reproached. He came up behind her and kissed the back of her neck. “Now, Dr. Lorengel,” he murmured against her skin, “would be an excellent time to celebrate our success.”

  Katrin hummed in agreement.

  Preoccupied, Bruno didn’t register the peripheral noise of the override chime on his door until it was too late.

  “Really, Ensign, if you’re not going to enjoy your shore leave, you might as well do your job—”

  Bruno froze at the sound of Humphreys’ voice. The designer stood in the open door to the corridor, hand still raised to the override panel.

  “I…sorry, is this a bad time?” Humphreys asked. “I, um, the computer said you had checked in aboard again, and I know I’m not really allowed to be wandering around without an escort, even though I absolutely should be allowed, and your relief had the audacity to get called away on another assignment…” He trailed off.

  Bruno sighed, letting go of Katrin and conceding defeat. If his career was over, then so be it. “Dr. Humphreys. May I introduce you to my wife?”

  Lies burrowed further into the couch, snuggling her head against Helias’ shoulder. “Mmm. I have no intention of leaving this couch this morning.”

  Helias fiddled with a piece of her blond hair, so much lighter than his and Elsa’s. “Really? Because I was thinking we could mosey over to the bedroom at some point.”

  She laughed. “Don’t you have to go out on the snowfields today?”

  He considered. “Have to, no.” He often ranged far afield over the glaciers, collecting ice core samples, monitoring seismic activity, and studying the creatures that managed to eke out a living on the surface of Anser. He had left a few sample collectors out that would need to be checked soon, and he was cooperating with the local xenobiologist to tag snow geese in order to study the species’ two color morphs.

  “But should?” Lies asked.

  “But should,” he agreed. “However, I am ignoring shoulds today.” He craned his neck to see his wife’s face. “Were you serious earlier, when you talked about leaving the Fleet?” He was careful to keep his tone light.

  He felt her nod more than he saw it.

  “Not just because of me and Elsa, though.” He didn’t frame it as a question. Her family hadn’t kept Lies from taking deep space assignments before. He knew how much she hated to be apart from them, and for all of their occasional squabbles, he knew he was secure in her affections. But he also knew how much she loved to sail.

  Lies hesitated for a moment before replying. “If I’m honest, no, not entirely. I can see where things are headed, between us and the Demesne, and I don’t want to be a part of it. I won’t fight a war for the cendrillon companies.”

  Helias flinched. Even after all these years, any talk of the cendrillon companies was still guaranteed to dredge up unpleasant memories.

  “Now hang on,” she said, sitting up to look at him. “I didn’t mean anything by that, whatever you may be reading into it. I know you and your family don’t see eye to eye—”

  Helias snorted. “Drastic understatement, my dear. They don’t acknowledge me and I don’t acknowledge them, especially not with recent events. I want no part of what they’re doing.” These days more than ever, he had no regrets about cutting ties with his family.

  “But someday you do need to tell Elsa about them,” she urged as she leaned back against his shoulder. As far as Elsa knew, Helias’ family was all deceased.

  “I know.” He grimaced. “I know I do.” So maybe he did have some regrets. A part of him was pained that Elsa would never know an extended family, whatever their history might be with her father. He told himself that Elsa wasn’t ready. If he was truly honest, though, he had to admit that he was probably the unready one.

  “But not yet,” he told his wife, “especially with all of the conflict right now over the cendrillon. I don’t want her to hate me, Lies.”

  “She will not hate you,” Lies said emphatically. “And the longer you wait, the harder it will be to—”

  Lies’ commlink chirped.

  Helias sighed so heavily that he made Lies’ head on his shoulder rise and fall. “Really? You just got back.”

  Lies patted him on the shoulder and got up to retrieve the commlink from the kitchen counter, where it sat next to one of Elsa’s model ships. The model was a tiny sloop, with miniature space sails unfurled, r
eady to take flight. Elsa and Lies had assembled the model together while Helias watched, listening to Elsa’s steady stream of questions about how space sails worked.

  “But how can you get energy from nothing?” Elsa had asked, frowning. “I thought space was a vacuum.”

  “Mostly, yes,” Lies said, “but also no. There are still particles and anti-particles, all bubbling around, popping into existence and destroying each other and popping back out again. Space sails are zero-point energy collectors, and that means that they draw energy from the ground state of these fields in the so-called vacuum of space, using the Casimir effect. The sails use that energy for faster-than-light travel.” She finished with a triumphant expression.

  Elsa gave her a blank look.

  “I think you lost her,” Helias said with a chuckle. “You definitely lost me.”

  Lies went over it again, simplifying it until Elsa had a grasp of the concept. The two of them had finished the model before Lies left for the Wilhelm’s shakedown cruise.

  Helias loved watching the two of them interact. Elsa was how he imagined Lies was when she was a little girl.

  He got up from the couch and ambled over to the counter as Lies scrolled on her commlink. Her expression changed as she read the new message, and the shift instantly put Helias on alert. “What is it?” he asked.

  “They’re evacuating Cygnus and the orbital shipyards.”

  “That’ll fix the traffic problem. Should’ve done that years ago. Do they say why?”

  Lies shook her head, ignoring his wisecrack. She knew he made jokes when he was nervous—and when he wasn’t, come to think of it. “Just that there’s some kind of imminent threat to both areas.” Her commlink chimed again, and her eyebrows rose. “And now I’m being called to the Wilhelm. They’re sending a skiff for me in—” She checked the time. “—Four minutes, stars above!”

  Helias held up a hand as Lies flew past him to gather her things. “I think I’ve missed something. You’re being called to the area everyone is supposed to be evacuating from?”

  Lies turned from her preparations to put a hand to his face. “I have to go. They want me to get the Wilhelm away, if I can.”

  Helias fought down rising panic. “Away? Then this is some kind of attack, isn’t it?” She looked away, and he gently grabbed her chin around so she was facing him again. “Why are they calling you in? You’re not a captain.”

  She met his eyes. “Yes, I think it is an attack. No, I’m not a captain, but I’m better, in this case. They need to get the Wilhelm out of the system fast, and her space sails aren’t ready yet. They need a propulsion expert aboard. If this is war, the Demesne will be hunting her, maybe for weeks. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

  Helias struggled to process that. Everything was happening too quickly. “But I thought the Wilhelm was a science vessel without weapons capability. Why would the Demesne attack her?”

  “No weapons capability that anyone was supposed to know about,” Lies corrected. “She’ll be a warship, if she survives this. She already has cannons, and we were prepping for a massive weapons redesign.” At his affronted expression, she looked contrite. “I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone, obviously.”

  He adopted a jocular tone to keep from panicking. “So…just to clarify things here. The Wilhelm is running away to live and fight the Demesne another day? And you along with her?”

  She pulled him close, not fooled in the least by his levity. “Helias, I am so, so sorry,” she said quietly. “But I’ve been working on this ship for almost three years, and I can’t leave her now. I’m being ordered to go—I don’t have a choice.”

  “But if you did, you would still leave,” he said, disbelieving wonderment in his tone. One of the most difficult things for him to deal with in their marriage was that there were things about his wife—important, life-altering things—that he would never understand.

  She swallowed hard. “I’m not sure what I would do.”

  He might not understand her, but he did know her very well. He smiled without humor. “I’m sure. You would go.”

  Someone pounded on the house door, making them both turn to look. The skiff had arrived.

  Unshed tears stood in Lies eyes when she turned back to him. “I do love you,” she whispered. “Truly, I do. And I am sorry, you have to believe that.” She kissed him swiftly. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  She took a step back, but he drew her in again to kiss her deliberately and thoroughly. “I know you do, and I know you will.” He believed it in the moment. He suspected that in the middle of the night, when he lay alone in their bed, it would be a different story. When she was gone, doubts had a way of finding their way in.

  The knocking on the door grew more insistent. “Keep your parka on, she’s coming!” Helias called. He picked up Lies’ bag and parka and walked with her, opening the inner door to the foyer. Before he could open the outer door, Lies stopped him, putting a hand on his chest.

  “Thank you,” she said, her face inscrutable.

  That, he hadn’t expected. “For what?”

  “For your forgiveness, which I know I don’t deserve. For everything.” She hugged him tightly, and he made sure he wasn’t the first one to pull away. Story of their relationship, he thought.

  She opened the outer door, coming face to face with the impatient pilot, who hustled her to the skiff. Helias followed and gave her a hand into the vehicle before tossing her bag inside.

  “Say goodbye to Elsa for me,” Lies said, standing in the door. She was finally taller than he was with the added height of the skiff. “Tell her I’m sorry to leave.”

  He nodded, already dreading that conversation with his daughter. “I will. Come back soon.”

  The pilot spoke up. “Gotta close the door, ma’am, we’re out of time.”

  Lies nodded, swiping her sleeve across her eyes.

  Helias waved to her with his biggest smile. She managed one in return, keeping her gaze on him as long as possible as the door slid closed.

  The skiff took off in a whirl of snow, blowing Helias’ shaggy hair in his eyes. That was the only reason they were filled with tears, he was sure.

  “What were you thinking, bringing a civilian onboard?” Captain Volkova demanded.

  Mentally cursing Humphreys for not keeping his mouth shut, Bruno didn’t answer the question immediately. Volkova stood behind the desk in her office, which was smaller than Bruno would’ve imagined. The small space only made Volkova look more intimidating. He wished she would sit down and berate him from there. As it was, standing eye to eye, he had difficulty evading her scrutinizing glare. Another dismal landscape picture like the ones in the conference room hung on the wall behind her. He stood at attention, fixing his gaze on the painting of grey, snowy fields to avoid meeting her eyes. Everything had fallen apart so quickly. He didn’t even know where Katrin was now. He hadn’t had a chance to tell her much more than a quick “I love you” before he was escorted to wait in the captain’s office. She had looked scared when he left, a sight he had rarely seen.

  He set his mouth in a grim line. At least she wasn’t on the planet. That fact made facing the captain’s ire bearable.

  He was saved from responding to Volkova by the commline’s buzz, interrupting the tense conversation in the captain’s office.

  “Captain,” Lieutenant Anfortas’ voice broke in.

  “What?” Volkova snapped.

  Taken aback, the lieutenant stammered a reply. “Those, uh, the ore barges made much better time than we anticipated. The yard controller says that we need to clear out of drydock in the next few minutes to make room for their arrival.”

  Volkova was still looking at Bruno, who resolutely did not squirm under her gaze. “Did they finish with the aft shield emitters?” she asked Anfortas.

  “Yes, ma’am, just did.”

  “Then prepare to take us out of the docks and resume orbit around Atthis.” She terminated the line before the lieutenant could res
pond and raised her eyebrows expectantly at Bruno.

  “What will happen to my wife?” he asked, still staring at the landscape.

  Volkova sighed, some of her anger dissolving. “There will be some sort of reprimand on her record, should she attempt to work on a Fleet vessel again,” she said. “It won’t mean much, though. Obviously she colluded with you in the breach of regulations, but there’s nothing a Fleet tribunal can do to her.”

  Bruno’s main concern wasn’t about regulations, breached or otherwise. “If I may ask, where is she now?”

  “She’s being shuttled back to Atthis as we speak.”

  Bruno’s eyes snapped to Volkova’s face. “What? No!”

  She raised an eyebrow at him, icy cold again. He knew he’d made a mistake. “No? Do you find yourself in a position to make demands, Ensign?”

  “I’m not convinced the planet is safe,” he said, fighting to keep the panic out of his voice. “That’s why I brought her on board.”

  Volkova looked sharply at him. “Do you know of a threat to the planet? If so, why didn’t you report it?”

  Remembering Katrin’s theory about how much the captain knew, he regarded her levelly. “Do you know of a threat to the planet, Captain?”

  Volkova narrowed her eyes. “What are you implying, Ensign?”

  He couldn’t divulge how Katrin had heard her information—information that was unsubstantiated anyway. And he had no proof that Volkova was aware of an imminent attack on the planet. He looked away.

  What could he tell her about his reasons? That he had a bad feeling about the situation? The Fleet hardly looked favorably on intuition and flights of fancy. “I don’t have anything solid. Nothing concrete enough to report,” he said finally. “I was uneasy with her on the planet.”

  “Uneasy enough to break regulations and jeopardize your Fleet career?” she asked with a healthy dose of skepticism.

  He gestured helplessly. “Yes.”

  The captain made a frustrated noise. “You’re not giving me much to work with here, Lorengel. I know you’ve been a good officer with an impeccable record thus far, which will help your case. But it would help a whole lot more if you could offer me some kind of justifiable reason for your actions.”