by H. G Ahedi
“Good morning, Adrian,” said Delta, breaking the silence.
“Good morning. I’m kind of busy.”
Emmeline shot Delta a glance before speaking. “I need your help,” she stated.
Adrian shook his head immediately. “I’m busy. We’ve installed half of the generators, and I have to monitor the robots doing the safety checks.”
“How much more time do you think you’ll need?” Delta asked.
Small talk. That’s never happened before, Adrian thought. “It’s hard and slow,” he replied. “Maybe another forty-eight to seventy-two hours. What do you want?”
“I wanted to know if there was any debris left beyond the perimeter,” Emmeline said.
Adrian looked at Emmeline. “Well, we couldn’t gather everything, but I think we got quite enough. Most of its junk anyway.” As he spoke, his eyes shifted to Delta, who was walking around his console.
“Oh. I see. Did your scans show anything particular?” Emmeline asked.
A continuous beeping noise distracted Adrian.
“Sir, one of the robots stopped responding to our instructions,” another crew member alerted him.
“Excuse me.” Adrian walked across the bridge to help. He glanced behind him, seeing the women standing quietly, unmoving beside his console. Something was off, and he knew it. He turned his attention to the issue at hand. As he looked for the problem, the robot began to respond. “It must be a glitch,” he said and returned to his seat. “Look, Emmeline, I’m busy.”
“That’s okay. Maybe we can do it later. Thanks.”
Adrian watched them leave the bridge. They wanted something; he could feel it. He turned to his console and realized it was unlocked.
Titan, Deck 10, Docking Bay
Adrian couldn’t rest, and nor could he understand why he felt that way. For no apparent reason, he found himself in the docking bay, standing near Astra. He knew Delta was leaving for another job. That wasn’t unusual. Delta staying in one place for too long would have altered the laws of physics. But then again, the girls’ presence on the bridge bothered him. Delta was preparing for launch.
“Is Emmeline going with you?” Adrian asked when he got near enough for her to hear him.
“No. She has plenty to do here. Why?”
“Just a question. Where are you heading?” he asked.
Delta smirked. “Since when are you interested?”
“I’ve always been interested,” he answered and then gulped.
Delta smiled widely. She stepped closer to him. “Adrian, what is it?”
“Do you remember when you used me to gain access to the environmental controls?” he said. “You said you were feeling hot and wanted to adjust the temperature. Instead, you altered the gravity settings during a history tutorial.”
“The history teacher was boring. I wanted to see if she could fly,” Delta replied, stepping closer again. “What is it you really want?”
Adrian cleared his throat. “Four years ago, Professor Jackson’s lecture was being broadcast from Earth to all the colonies. He was using the holo projector technology. You used my access codes and changed his face into a horse.”
Delta laughed. “Oh, that was fun!”
“For you. It scared the hell out of me.”
Delta placed her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. “Do you think I’d still do that?”
“Yes. Psychological studies have shown basic human personality traits never change. Especially the ones that are rewarding and classified as fun or humorous.”
“Oh, dearie.”
“Delta, you’re always up to something.”
Delta touched his face. “And you’re always watching out for me, aren’t you?”
Adrian was dumbfounded.
“Adrian, you’re so nice,” Delta said sweetly. “I hope you know that.”
“I do. I think that’s the problem,” he said, not believing he could be so vocal.
Delta smirked. “I’ll see you soon.” Then she turned and boarded the ship.
Adrian watched Astra take off and cursed himself for not being more assertive.
Titan, Deck 2, Crystal Lab
The hours didn’t seem to pass, even when he had work. Around midday he acted.
Adrian felt a bit uncomfortable, but he stepped into the Crystal Lab, anyway. Everyone looked at him as if he were an alien. That was to be expected; he didn’t often visit the Crystal Lab. He marched ahead and found Emmeline working on a console. A wave of relief rushed over him.
She turned and gave him a warm smile. “Hello. What can I do for you?”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you out.”
Emmeline nodded. “It’s okay. We’re all busy, and it’s not urgent.”
Adrian’s eyes wandered toward the console where Emmeline was analyzing the debris. “Anything?” he asked.
“Not yet.”
The door to Dr. Kent’s office opened, and Dr. Kent stepped out. He paused in the middle of the lab, glaring at Adrian. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. I’m just here to see Emmeline.”
Dr. Kent nodded and left the lab in a hurry.
“If you don’t mind, I really need to finish this,” Emmeline said apologetically.
“No problem,” Adrian replied. “See you later.”
Perimeter
“Are you sure they didn’t detect us?” asked Emmeline for the third time.
Delta frowned. “They didn’t.”
Astra flew along the perimeter, 200,000 kilometers away from Titan.
“Where is it?” Emmeline asked.
“Hold on,” Delta said, as Astra flew ahead and swayed along the border. A couple of minutes passed in tense silence before Delta reduced speed. “There.”
Emmeline leaned forward. The break in the perimeter wasn’t clear, but it could be seen. One of the huge pillars holding the perimeter together had broken off from one side and was hanging from the other. The gap was just big enough for Astra to fly through. Emmeline felt very uncomfortable. It was like she was leaving her home, leaving everything behind. “No one bothered to fix it?”
“They probably don’t know about this one,” replied Delta. “They found a few last year and fixed them.”
Emmeline gulped.
Delta positioned the ship to face the perimeter. “I’d prefer it if you kept this between us.”
Emmeline nodded.
“Masking Astra’s shields.”
“How are we doing this?”
“Easy. The one thing no one knows about Astra is that she can mask her signature,” Delta explained. “I installed the technology a couple of years ago. In this case, when we go through the shields of the perimeter, the computer should think we’re the robots working on the perimeter. That’s why I needed the shield modulation frequency from Adrian’s console.”
“That was clever,” said Emmeline.
Delta shook her head. “I don’t think so. Adrian can see right through me. I would have preferred someone else. I think he suspects something, but the holo projector should do its job. If he thinks you’re not with me, he shouldn’t have a cause for concern.”
Emmeline’s face turned grim. “I hope so.”
“What about Titan’s scanners?” Delta asked.
“I programmed my holo projection to mask Astra’s signature,” replied Emmeline. “The computer should ignore Astra’s movements. If someone looks, we’ll just look like a stray asteroid. But no one can break my codes. Not on Titan.”
“Smart,” Delta said. “Ready?”
Emmeline’s heart skipped a beat. “Yes.”
Astra slowly flew through the shields and nearer to the gap. Delta eased the ship into the opening. Emmeline was amazed as she stared up at the mesh of hundreds of hefty metal rods.
Delta’s fingers ran quickly across the console. “Adjusting heading.”
Emmeline looked ahead and spotted something they hadn’t been able to see from the other side. One of the inner pil
lars had suffered the same fate as the outer one and was hanging right in the middle of their flight path. Emmeline began a scan of the pillar. “Its structural integrity is very weak. This one could fall at any time.”
“It’s going to be close,” Delta said.
Astra decelerated. Delta adjusted their course, and the ship dipped below the huge pillar. An alarm went off. Emmeline jumped.
“Proximity alert. Proximity alert.”
“Don’t worry,” said Delta.
Emmeline moved forward. “It’s too close . . .”
“They’re holding,” Delta replied calmly. Aware that there was another pillar right in front of them, Delta slowly turned Astra. Another alarm went off, and then there was a loud dragging noise. The girls looked at each other.
“What happened?” asked Emmeline.
“We can do this,” Delta replied without answering.
The dragging noise turned into a groan.
“Oh no.” Emmeline looked at her screen. “Delta . . .”
“Just a few more seconds.”
Astra squeezed through the two pillars and glided ahead.
“Check the pillar,” Delta ordered.
Emmeline’s fingers ran across the keyboard. “I think it’s okay.”
Delta nodded curtly. “That was close. I hope it holds when we return.”
The rest of the ride was smooth. Soon, Astra emerged on the other side of the perimeter. Both women stared at the space ahead, then at each other.
“This is it,” Delta said.
Emmeline gulped. She’d never been beyond the perimeter. She felt like she was abandoning everything she knew. Her heart was beating fast. She didn’t know if it was excitement or fear. She turned to Delta and said, “Let’s do this and return home as soon as possible.”
Titan, Deck 1, Bridge
Even after seeing Emmeline, Adrian felt there was something wrong on Titan. He actually visited every section, including engineering to check. He knew it was illogical, but he couldn’t let go.
When Adrian seemed gloomy later, Evan teased him, saying that he was just missing Delta. But Adrian knew that today, that was not the case. It was the fact that he knew her too well. He’d gone out of his way and read the details of Delta’s job. She was supposed to head toward the Vesta colony, pick up a passenger, then travel to Earth. He’d also checked her flight plan. Everything looked normal. The last time he’d checked, Titan’s sensors had detected that Astra was heading for the colony.
Adrian again wondered what he was doing and why he was so worried about a woman who didn’t care about him. She’d left, and she would always leave. He should let her go. But something about tonight bothered him. Something was off, and he was worried Delta could be in danger. But from what?
Titan, Deck 4, argon’s quarters
Argon sat in the dark in his quarters, enjoying the silence. Selina was asleep, and his mom was resting in her room. He tried to focus on work, but he couldn’t. Along with Micah, Clio, and Bryon, he had spent most of his day running battle stimulations. It had been an exciting experience. He had hardly seen Emmeline all day and was looking forward to spending time with her. But he’d was disappointed. Annoyingly, and unusually, she didn’t want to spend time with him or play hover ball.
The door to Argon’s quarters opened, and his sister walked in, marched over to the window, and stared at the cosmos.
He stood up. “Selina?”
She didn’t reply, remaining motionless. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought she was sleepwalking.
Argon came to kneel beside her. “Selina?”
She remained speechless.
“Darling, what is it?”
Suddenly, her features constricted as if angry, and she turned toward him. “I hate you!”
Argon was shocked. “What? Why?”
“You’re going to leave all of us! You’re just going to leave!” Selina screamed and ran out of the room.
Argon stood in shock. Selina never behaved this way. Maybe something was wrong with her. He followed her, wondering what he could do to set her mind at ease. To his surprise, she was sound asleep in her bed. He stood there, trying to determine what was a dream and what was reality.
Titan, Deck 1, Bridge
Adrian stretched his back. He couldn’t find any communications or frequencies from the battle, but he wasn’t ready to give up just yet.
Argon came to stand beside him. “Hey.”
“Can’t sleep?” said Adrian.
“No,” replied Argon, looking at the viewscreen.
“Is Freedom repaired?” Adrian asked.
“Yep. Ready to go.”
“What about Raven?” said Adrian teasingly.
Argon rolled his eyes. “The repairs were nearly complete. Then the Orias . . .”
“I know.”
“Anyway, I was just wondering, have you seen Emmeline?”
Bells rang in Adrian’s head. “Yes. In the lab.”
“When?”
“In the morning. Why? You haven’t seen her?”
“Oh, I saw her. In the lab.”
Adrian relaxed. “Good.”
“Yeah,” Argon said, his voice unsure.
Adrian knew he was going to regret it, but he asked anyway. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s just a feeling. Something’s off.”
“What do you mean?”
“First, it was Emmeline. She didn’t feel like herself.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“Then it was Selina.”
Adrian listened as Argon described the incident. “I think she should have a medical checkup,” he suggested when Argon was done. “Maybe she was sleepwalking.”
Argon looked worried. “Why would I leave Titan? My family or her?”
“Argon, don’t worry,” Adrian said. “She’s just a kid. Kids say things.”
Argon managed a smile. “I’ll speak to my mother.”
“You should.”
Argon left, and Adrian sat wordlessly. He had been trying to ignore his instincts, but he couldn’t any longer. He had a distinct feeling that Argon shared his concerns. Something wasn’t right.
The Rogue Planet
Astra
The entire day was uneventful, and Delta was bored. Astra was on autopilot, and Emmeline was busy working. It made sense for her to finish her work so that when she returned to Titan, she could upload it to Titan’s computers. Although creating a holo projection of herself had been a good idea, it had limited programming capacity.
Emmeline was happy they’d gotten out undetected, but now the challenge was to find the device and get back in. A loud beep startled her, and Delta quickly checked the sensors. For a second, Emmeline thought that the patrol ships had tracked them down.
“We’re here,” said Delta.
Fear took over Emmeline. She’d wanted to find this device for a long time, but now that she was here, she wasn’t so sure.
Astra came to a halt, and Emmeline felt silence engulf her as the engines died out. They’d left their home behind, and now she understood how vacant space felt. With no other life around, they were alone, surrounded by white specks. It was barren. Lifeless. Daunting.
Emmeline began looking for the planet. It wasn’t in visual range, but she assumed it must be nearby. Her fingers danced on the console, moving faster and faster. “Oh, really?” she muttered and checked again. She sighed and sat back on her chair, looking at the stars.
“Well?” Delta asked.
“Nothing. See for yourself.”
Without a word, Delta started checking. After a few minutes, she shook her head. “Damn.”
“It was worth a try.”
They sat silently together, watching the stars. Astra floated in dead space, and the sun’s yellow glow fell over the cargo ship.
Delta leaned forward and admired the view. “It is beautiful.”
“Let’s go back,” Emmeline suggested unhappily. It was no use.
�
��I thought we had something . . .”
“Let’s go . . .” Emmeline’s voice trailed away. Without missing a beat, she turned to the console and fired Astra’s engines.
“What are you doing?” Delta asked.
Emmeline didn’t reply.
“W-what are you doing?” Delta repeated.
“Trust me, will you?”
Astra turned gradually to face the sun and then stopped. Emmeline left the cockpit. She returned with the plaque and placed it on the dashboard. “When the plaque came to life, the first thing it showed was the sun. Then the star chart appeared. Let’s hope this works.”
They waited. Nothing happened.
Delta eyed her.
Emmeline sighed. “I guess . . .”
Suddenly, the plaque came to life. A glittering yellow light emerged from it. It left the plaque and spread over the dashboard, then began to scatter throughout the compartment.
“Emmeline,” Delta said, getting up from her chair and moving away. “What’s happening?”
“I d-don’t know,” Emmeline replied as she moved away too.
The yellow light became brighter and soon engulfed the cabin. The plaque rose as if lifted by an invisible hand. It floated effortlessly and started rotating, at first slowly, then picking up speed. It spun faster and faster.
“Did your grandpa tell you about this?” Delta asked.
“No! No!” Emmeline yelled.
“Should we do something?”
Astra rocked.
The plaque was still spinning, and a bright flash blinded them. Emmeline scrunched her eyes shut. She thought she would feel warm, but she didn’t. Suddenly, it turned dark. When she opened her eyes, she saw that a beam from the plaque broke through Astra’s shields. It was like a short burst of light in space, disappearing into the distance. Then there was a big burst of light, and a bright spherical opening appeared. At its center, a collection of gases moved anticlockwise. The plaque fell back on the dashboard and became silent.
“What the hell is that?” asked Delta as Emmeline rushed back to her seat.
