by S. H. Jucha
The fit in the fighter’s tiny emergency exit airlock was tight. Both women were squished tight against Franz while he signaled the airlock cycle. His controller was relaying the countdown to him, and it was this SADE technology that saved them. While in the airlock, Franz signaled the controller to exit the bay and depart at max acceleration for the station.
The airlock’s inner door opened into a dimly lit interior, and both women stared at Franz as he took his time extricating himself from the airlock. He stepped into the corridor, sank into a passenger seat, popped up his faceplate, and dragged in huge breaths.
“Uh … Commander,” the pilot hesitatingly began.
“We’re good, Sers,” Franz replied. “We’re on auto-pilot, so to speak.”
“The auto-pilot launched us out of the bay and determined the proper course?” Reiko asked, sinking into a nearby seat. “Sit down, Lieutenant,” she added.
“If we’re going to be technical, I gave the orders and the fighter’s controller followed them.” Franz tapped his temple by way of explanation.
“That would be so great to have one of those,” the pilot enthused.
“And the plan … did it work?” Reiko asked, trying to act casual, but a knot was forming in her stomach.
Franz closed his faceplate, viewed the telemetry in the display, and popped it back open. “The destroyer hit the battleship … perfect placement. Cleaved the wings in two.”
“Yes!” the pilot shouted. “Um … sorry, Commodore.”
“No need, Lieutenant. You set a good course. What about the aftereffect? Did we move the wings far enough?” Reiko asked.
Franz closed his helmet again. His telemetry was unable to define the vector change, at this time, so he commed for Julien and Z, getting both, and Julien linked in Cordelia.
Franz closed the comm, opened his faceplate, and removed his helmet. “Success,” he announced to the women.
The pilot cheered, and Reiko smiled warmly at Franz.
“Pilot, why don’t you check out this fighter’s cockpit? It might be your only chance,” Reiko said.
The lieutenant grinned and hurried up the aisle, and Reiko stood up and came over to Franz to settle herself into his lap. “Too bad about these suits,” she said, staring at Franz with soft eyes. “You’ll just have to settle for a more cursory thank you for now,” she added and kissed him.
* * *
Reiko’s anger at Portland for his fixation on destroying Idona and the Harakens dissipated on the flight back to the station, especially while enjoying Franz’s attentions. However, knowing Portland’s final moments might have gone a long way to relieving her anger.
Anchoring himself to the emergency cabinet with one hand, Admiral Theodore Portland’s stare was fixed on the twinkling lights of Idona Station as they drew slowly closer. A gleeful smile was painted on his face, but his eyes appeared blank. It wouldn’t have surprised observers if they saw the admiral begin to drool. Suddenly, a huge, dark shape loomed out of the void headed directly for him. “No,” was all Portland had time to utter before Reiko’s destroyer slammed its millions of metric tons of mass through him and his battleship’s central fuselage.
-32-
As the battle raged, Alex, Renée, the twins, Cordelia, and her orphan band of children chose to sit around the planning holo-vid. The winking off of the ships’ icons meant little to the younger children, who were preoccupied by Cordelia’s lovely voice as she sang song after song to them. Edmas and Jodlyne would glance at Alex, whose stolid expression would be broken by a small wince when the icons were representative of Haraken fighters. There was no need for the teenagers to look Alex’s way when Shimada’s destroyer was hit and her wing ship exploded. Even Cordelia’s song faltered.
After that loss, Alex slipped Renée off his lap and hurried to the holo-vid, enlarging the image until the admiral’s battleship stood in relief against the stars. He shifted the holo-vid’s viewpoint continually until he recognized the danger to the station from the battleship’s dead hulk. The four destroyers returning to the station confused him until he saw Shimada’s tortured ship turn slowly toward the Guardian and Shimada’s people begin to evacuate.
There were moments of silence as Julien and Z shared their data.
Alex shifted the holo-vid to the myriad ships that were stationed at the staging point and gauged the distance to the station, comparing it to the Guardian’s distance to the station. His groan was heard by the SADEs, who were monitoring his efforts.
Julien, monitoring Reiko’s destroyer, sent
Alex began pacing and the children’s eyes intently followed him. Renée and Cordelia, who moments ago enjoyed a small moment of celebration, now traded worried looks. Inside, Alex wanted to scream for a status, but he knew the SADEs would need time to collect the data.
“Well, children, who’s hungry?” Alex announced swinging his arms wide.
Edmas and Jodlyne whooped in joy.
“We’re save-ed?” Ginny asked when Cordelia picked her up.
“Yes, we’re save-ed, little one,” Cordelia said hugging the child. Tears weren’t incorporated into a SADE’s avatar, but that didn’t mean Cordelia’s emotional algorithms were processing smoothly as she smiled at the children, chatted with Ginny, and shared her happiness with Julien.
* * *
The Harakens’ travelers returned to their carriers, which had made for the station — all but fourteen of them. Seven pilots and their fighters were lost. Seven more pilots were headed away from the ecliptic in damaged s
hells, which couldn’t charge the drives sufficiently to return.
Captain Cordova and Mickey were standing by during the battle and lost no time in pursuit of even the first lost traveler, zeroing in on the controller’s signal. Fortunately, every pilot obeyed the standing order to dive below the ecliptic if in danger of losing charge, which foreshortened the collection distance for the Rêveur.
Strangely, the time-honored passenger liner resembled its original derelict appearance when it returned to the station. There was room aboard the Rêveur’s double bays for only three travelers, which necessitated the last four fighters, in some cases just half a ship, to be tethered outboard of the bays by the beams. One young New Terran pilot, comfortable in his environment suit, whose half-ship was tethered with its aft end facing toward the Rêveur’s bow, sat in the aisle of his traveler, staring out at the deep dark and the twinkling lights of Idona Station, never so happy for the view.
* * *
The station celebrated for days following the defeat of Portland’s fleet. Stationers and visitors aboard various liners, freighters, tugs, haulers, and yachts poured back into the bays and docks of Idona from the staging point.
Julien connected Brennan and Reiko to Woo and Chong to share the news — the last of the judicial forces was no more. Woo directed Shimada to round up the able, enemy destroyers and have her squadron accompany them to Mars.
“I want the commodores and captains under arrest aboard your destroyers, Commodore,” Woo stressed. “Put lieutenants in command. And, as for you, Commodore, stay put on Idona. Captain Irving of the Challenge will be promoted to acting commodore to escort the group back to the inner zone.”
Reiko’s confusion must have been evident, wondering what she would do without a ship and what she had done to deserve the loss of her destroyer.
“Remove the sad face, Commodore,” Chong said. “The cruiser, Daedalus, your new command, is on its way to you with a pair of escorts, newly commissioned destroyers. You keep that new experiment of ours safe.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Shimada said excitedly.
Reiko commed her four remaining captains, congratulated Captain Irving on his temporary promotion, and sent them to help rescue the men and women of the damaged destroyers. The senior judiciary officers were grateful for the help, especially when they saw that their rescuers were unaccompanied by Haraken fighters. The specter of the strange fighters would forever haunt the memories of those who fought them.
Commodore Irving communicated to the defeated commodores and captains that Tribune Woo and Space Admiral Chong guaranteed that the death penalty and life sentences were off the table for any convictions. Officers would be tried and the judgments would range from suspended sentences up to twenty-year work terms. Enlisted crew members would be interviewed and either reassigned or dismissed from service, no charges brought. The news relieved much of the anxiety of the defeated personnel.
* * *
Woo and Chong had news for Nikki Fowler.
“You have a tremendous amount of space junk out there that belongs to the military, Station Director Fowler,” Woo said. “Maybe we can make a deal and hire you and your people to process it.”
“That depends, Tribune Woo. What sort of proposal do you have in mind?” Nikki asked. She was enjoying her newfound authority and meant to ensure that her station wasn’t on the wrong end of the stunstik when it came to any deal.
In the end, Nikki received the claimant rights to any warship debris. The smelting stations were anxious to get their hands on the high-grade materials used to build the warships, and Nikki used the proceeds to pay the tug and reclamation captains. A significant portion of the profits was earmarked for transfer to Admiral Chong’s reclamation accounts, but Nikki was ecstatic over the opportunity for the station. She began devising schemes on how the station might be expanded.
* * *
Following the celebrations, stationers got back to work, and an incident occurred that marked a turning point in rebel–militia relationships, which had progressed from a fragile state of truce in the first days to working relationships.
The rebel engineers and techs, who had adopted the militia youths they first saw screwing up the resurfacing of the station’s bulkheads the day the rebels came out, were breaking work for midday meal.
As a habit, the militia youths expected to return to the station’s administration offices for their food. This time, the engineers decided they didn’t wish to wait while the boys traveled halfway around the station when one of the Haraken food dispensaries was near at hand.
Stepping into the meal room, the militia boys stumbled to a halt when the room of rebels stopped eating and stared at them. But one of the quick-witted engineers slapped his fellow rebel’s shoulder and declared in a loud voice, “See. I told you those medical nanites are making us look so pretty we’d stop traffic.” His comment broke the room up in laughter. The two engineers took the moment of levity, linked arms with the militia youths, and headed toward the food dispensers.
Thereafter, many of the rebels seized on the jest of being pretty as the excuse to dine with militia personnel. As one rebel engineer put it to a pair of sergeants at morning meal, “With my nanites, I will look even more handsome if I sit next to you common people.”
The militia veterans didn’t have the heart to tell the rebels that they had resembled wasted refugees when they emerged into the outer ring. The medical nanites were of great help to the rebels — but only to return to the land of the living.
Whatever the excuses, the Méridien concept of dining together to prevent isolation due to their implants was serving to heal the generation-old rifts between rebels and UE militia.
-33-
Franz finally got his date. With a smile on his face and a kick in his stride, Franz made his way to pick up Reiko at the temporary station quarters extended to her by Nikki. Her squadron, in the command of Commodore Irving, had left the station days ago. Franz expected Reiko to be wearing her uniform. It was the only clothing she possessed — all she had on her when she was carried from the destroyer.
But as Reiko’s cabin door slid aside, she stepped out to greet Franz wearing sky-blue, thigh-high boots in a soft material and a cream shirt dress that just met the top of the boots. The top was cinched at the waist by an integrated belt, dialed to a blue-green that complemented the boots. Her short hair was styled in soft, spikey curls.
“You’re staring, Commander,” Reiko said self-consciously, trying not to reach up and touch her hair.
“As any man should be, at this moment,” Franz said gallantly, recovering his wits. “I must say, Commodore. It’s a marvelous improvement over your environment suit.”
Reiko’s laughter, recalling the moments she spent in Franz’s lap after they escaped her doomed ship, eased the knot of tension inside her. “You better, approve, Commander. This is the result of two hours of efforts by two militia women, who insisted on helping me. If I didn’t know better, I would say our date is anticipated by the entire station.”
“May I, Reiko?” Franz said, offering his arm.
A small thrill ran through Reiko’s body at the sound of her name on Franz’s lips. She took his arm, grateful for the extra support. High heels would never have been permitted on a warship, and a little extra help keeping her balance in the unfamiliar boots was appreciated.
The couple took a short lift down to the main corridor for the walk to the restaurant Franz chose. Stationers, recognizing the pair, cleared their path, standing respectfully to the side. It made Reiko uncomfortable, but Franz was smiling and nodding, a happy man.
Just short of their destination, two figures blocked their way. For a second, Reiko flashed back to her assault, and her grip on Franz’s arm tightened. But, recognizing the twins, she relaxed. The Haraken escorts slowly and as one lowered their heads and crossed their arms to place palms over hearts.
Reiko was embarrassed that the Méridien honor was being offered to her, and she almost told the t
wins it wasn’t necessary.
Franz recognized Reiko’s hesitation and her moment of discomfort. “Reiko, you were willing to sacrifice yourself to save those on the station, and their loyalty is to the president, who was waiting on the station for the outcome of the battle.”
Despite Reiko’s belief that the honor wasn’t due her, she chose to treat the twins’ offer with the greatest respect. She released Franz’s arm, came to attention, and bowed gently from the waist, in a manner she remembered her great-grandmother doing. The twins immediately adopted their usual cautious stances and flowed around Franz and her like water.
“You know, Franz,” Reiko said, enjoying the opportunity to call the Haraken by his given name, “I’ve wondered about that. If your president is such an important man to you, why let him stay on the station? I mean, if worse came to worse, haul him aboard one of the carriers.”
“You have no idea what that would entail, Reiko,” Franz said, laughing at the idea.
Seated in a quiet corner of the restaurant, where the owner and his staff seemed intent on ensuring the couple received every courtesy, Reiko pursued her question. “Why risk your president?”
“It’s not a question of risking him. He chose to make a statement in this manner, and it was respected. Besides, your suggestion is fraught with danger.”
“Danger … from an unarmed man?”
“Who said he’s unarmed?” Franz replied, thinking of Alex’s twin implants and his abilities to link with his people even down to the nerve and musculature levels. “Besides, you would have to get past the twins, and I know of no one foolish enough to attempt that.”
Reiko let the subject drop. Franz’s comments just added to the mysteries surrounding the Harakens. She had seen the president in more than one skintight outfit, which the Harakens preferred, and there wasn’t a place to hide a weapon. Truth be told, she had to admit that she had looked. Well, maybe not for a weapon. The enigmatic twins were another matter. Quiet and slight did not seem to equate to dangerous, but then again, even the Harakens, save Alex, Renée, and the SADEs, deferred to them in matters of security.
