by Arthur Byrne
“Nah, the drones are up one deck. They’re not smart enough to search down here, and the men back there will wake up with such a splitting headache they’ll pack it in.”
They headed away from the mining pod for about twenty minutes, until Sasha stopped at one of the elevators. Nash had always avoided these and asked, “Is it safe?”
“That depends, how good are you at climbing in your gear? It’s a long fall.”
With that, she pried the doors open, reached around, and swung out of sight. Nash poked his head through the door, and there she was climbing down the ladder. Sasha hadn’t been kidding. He couldn’t see the bottom. He was not enthusiastic about following her, but he didn’t want to look like a coward, either, so he swung his gear onto his back and reached around to find the ladder. It didn’t seem very wide.
Sasha was already ten meters below him and moving like a nimble minx. His heart was pounding as he started down the ladder.
Holly said, “Are you all right? Your vitals just went off the chart.”
It almost scared him off the ladder. Nash bear-hugged the ladder and said, “You scared the shit out of me. Now shut up.” Nash continued down the ladder, one step at a time. After a little while, he got his rhythm, and it wasn’t as bad as he thought.
He kept track of the decks for a while and then lost interest. Nash stopped for a little breather but then heard Sasha say, “Only five more meters, and you’re there.”
“Okay, I’m coming.”
When he got to the open door, she grabbed the back of his pack and helped pull him around. “How was it?”
“How far did we go?”
“About eighty decks.”
“Sasha, you don’t know me that well, but your instincts to not tell me how far we were going were right on the mark.”
She laughed. “A bit out of shape, are we?”
“It seems so. I guess you get lean living out here in the wild.”
“Survival of the fittest, they say.”
“Okay, so where are we now?”
“I don’t know why, but the bottom third of the ship is mostly left alone by scavengers, and as far as I can tell the Navereen, too.”
“I’ve never been this far down.”
“Hey, come check this out, you’ll need your air on. How are you fixed?”
“I’ve got five hours.”
“It won’t be that long,” she said and put on her helmet.
Nash followed her through a set of grid-like corridors. It was unlike any place he had been on the ship. They walked for about twenty minutes until she said, “Okay, have you ever been in the gunnery bays?”
“You mean the Magellan’s side guns?”
“Yep.”
“No, I’ve just seen them from the outside.”
“Do you have magnetic boots?”
“Yes.”
“Turn them on because there are quite a few gaping holes, and we don’t want you to drift away.”
“No, I don’t want that either.”
Nash stepped through the door and just looked at the amazing sight. Three stories high, the guns on massive rotating bases towered above them. Massive power cables ran from the base of each gun to what looked like a car battery...for a car the size of the Sphinx. The row of guns stretched further than he could see. All along the deck were the markings of war.
They walked along until they got to a gun that had been taken out by a Navereen ship. It was shoved back, and what was left was a pile of metal wrapped around the ship that had smashed into it. The hole looked out into the dark.
Nash asked, “Do you know if we’re moving?”
“It’s hard to tell by looking. I’ve seen at least three of the eight hundred thrusters are working, but I have no idea about the others. I haven’t found a way into the back command center of the ship, and the only way I saw that cluster that was running was from a hole in one of the gun bays on the other side of the ship.”
“So, we’re heading somewhere. It may sound strange, but I find that comforting.”
“Me too.”
They walked along the gun rows, which stretched for two kilometers. Signs of battle were everywhere, but occasionally there would be a stretch that seemed to have been untouched.
When they got to the end, Sasha said, “Come on, it’s not far from here to my camp.” Five minutes later, she stopped in front of a door. “So, Mr. Nash, do you like movies?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the cinema.”
“Did you, before we left the Mars docks, ever see Cleopatra 9?”
“Are you kidding me? I had the biggest crush on Zalinda Rose, and that scene where she’s seducing the admiral in his private quarters...”
Sasha opened the door and said, “Does any of this look familiar?”
Nash was stunned. It was as if he had walked back into time, was sitting at the Mars Cineplex 20, and had gotten up from the seat and jumped up into Cleopatra 9.
“It seems like an exact replica of the admiral’s quarters. Look, it’s got the pool table, the fireplace, and through there the bedroom. The only thing that’s not quite the same is the bar.”
“What happened at the bar?”
“A girl’s got to get her drink on now and then.”
“Well, then, it’s a good thing we brought some more supplies.” Nash took off his bag and pulled out the three bottles.
“I’ve been away for a while. This place still has hot showers. Make yourself at home while I wash off the scavenger grime.”
He pulled off the tanks and took off his gloves. Nash wished he had brought a second set of clothes, but he never got out of his suit unless he was at his hideaway. He pulled his food supplies out of the bag and set them on the bar. He fired up two pasta alfredo packets and cut up the three apples he’d brought along. He found some crackers and cheese-spread in an MRE and put them with the apples on a plate.
There was a button on the bar, if he remembered correctly from the movie. A twelve-foot screen descended from the ceiling in front of the fireplace and a pop-up screen rose from the bar. He did a search and hit play. There she was, Zalinda as Maggie Flare, caring but tough Ensign on the Cleopatra 9, heading out for the Cybordic Wars.
Nash turned the heat up on the pasta and found a couple of plates. He wondered if Sasha had ever seen the video extras.
In front of the TV, on the floor, was a six-foot diameter replica of the Academy seal. The photo of Tom Stronach, the admiral who died saving Earth in the first alien invasion on Jan 17, 2215, hung right where it did in the movie. Nash twisted it to the right and the floor sunk into a spiral staircase. A cool swoosh hit him in the face. Nash walked down into a 1500-bottle wine cellar. He selected a white wine and returned to the bar, closing the cellar behind him.
Wine wasn’t something he knew about, but in the movie the admiral was a connoisseur, so it seemed reasonable to expect that anyone who went to such lengths to duplicate that scene wouldn’t have cheaped out on the grape juice.
The pasta was done, and he spooned it on the plates. Nash found the corkscrew and opened the wine. Sasha came out of the back in a silk robe, wiping her hair with a towel.
“There aren’t a lot of choices for food,” she said.
“Dinner’s on me.”
Sasha seemed impressed. “Are those real apples?” she asked, with an almost girlish delight.
“Help yourself.”
She looked afraid that they might bite her fingers if she touched them. “I haven’t had a real apple in so long,” she said and took a small bite. “Oh my gawd, that’s good.”
“You mind if I use some of your hot water?”
“Go right ahead, and if you need some clothes, I think the admiral who lived here was closer to your size than the one in the movie.”
Nash headed toward the bedroom and heard her say, “Hey, where did you find wine?”
“Enjoy the pasta. I won’t be long.”
***
Holly kept checking her
earpiece. Misila wasn’t talking much and had said she didn’t feel like drinking. Calvin brought Holly a beer and Misila a bottle of water.
Holly said, “He hasn’t checked in since he told me to shut up.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Almost nine hours.”
“I’m sure he’s fine.”
“I know he’s still alive, and his vitals are all normal, but he won’t talk to me.”
“I don’t know what to tell you.”
Holly tapped a few keys on her computer and then shut it down. “I’m sorry, I’m just a little worried. It’s incredibly dangerous out there. One never knows what’s around the next corner and...”
Misila started to cry.
“Oh god, I’m sorry, I’m sure he’s fine. I was just...”
“It’s not that. It’s PJ.”
“What’s wrong with PJ?”
“I’m pregnant.”
“You are?! When did you find out?”
“This morning.”
“Have you reported it?”
“Yes, PJ went and saw the commander.”
“Surely after all he went through...”
“He said he couldn’t bend the rules, even for PJ.”
“What are you going to do?”
Misila cried some more and then said, “I don’t know, I just wanted to get married, and I thought that since he was in the map corp...”
“You didn’t?”
“Now PJ says he wants me to keep it, and he’s going out into the wild in the morning.”
“You know that he won’t have his tracker working with him. He’ll be on his own.”
Misila cried harder.
“You need to have an abortion. It’s too dangerous out there.”
“I want to, I don’t even like kids, but PJ won’t listen to me.”
“Did you tell him that?”
“Are you crazy? You think he’d marry me if he found out I did that?”
“You’re going to get him killed. It’s too dangerous out there. They send you out with only a week’s worth of supplies; he’ll need to scavenge after that.”
“I know, but there’s nothing I can do.”
“Where is he?”
“Back at his place, getting ready. He told me to stay away, that he didn’t want to see me in the morning.”
“I’m going to go talk to him.”
Holly jumped up and headed for the back door to Hal’s. The door to Tempest’s dressing room was partly open. She stopped and couldn’t believe her eyes. Tempest and Commander Frank Block were on her couch getting all sweaty.
She was pissed but didn’t have time to call Tempest a whore and rushed out the back door.
Her earpiece crackled. “Holly, you there?”
“Nash, where have you been?”
“I’m safe.”
“I’ve got some bad news and some really bad news. What do you want first?”
“Let’s go with the really bad news.”
“Misila is pregnant, and PJ is going to take the forty-five days. He’s going out tomorrow.”
“That’s pretty bad.”
“Are you kidding? He’ll never survive past his rations.”
“Calm down, this is what you do. Go find PJ...”
“I’m headed to his place now.”
“Tell him to head for the duck hole and wait for me. Stress to him not to go down the duck hole, okay?”
“Okay, then what?”
“Then we find him a safe place to hang out for a month-an- a-half.”
“But what about food?”
“I’ll help him get set up. Don’t you worry.”
“I’m so relieved. You really think you can keep him alive for the forty-five days?”
“There are people who’ve stayed alive for ten years out here. I think he can manage six weeks. What’s the bad news?”
“What?”
“You said you had really bad news and...”
“Oh, yeah, it’s about Tempest.”
“What about her? Did you two come to blows?”
“I just saw her with another guy.”
Nash was quiet for a moment and then said, “Who?”
“Frank.”
Nash laughed and said, “That’s awesome, the poor bastard deserves her.”
“You’re not mad?”
“Nah, women like her have never been worth a drop of tears. You tell PJ to wait for me, okay?”
“Got it.”
***
Nash returned from the shower wearing a suit.
Sasha had changed into a tight red dress with a slit up the leg that made Nash forget about Tempest.
“I thought I’d wait for you to join me for dinner.”
“You look great.”
“Yes I do,” she said with a sly smile.
Nash sat down next to her at the bar, raised his glass, and said, “To the Cleopatra 9. May she sail long and true.”
It was a line from the movie. Sasha clinked glasses with him and asked, “Seriously, did you have the bottle with you?”
“Yes, that’s what I mostly do when I’m out mapping. I look around a bit, get chased by aliens, and then try to find a woman to chat up.”
Sasha appreciated the sarcasm. “The pasta’s excellent, and I ate almost all the apples. Sorry, I couldn’t help it.”
Nash took one slice of apple and slid the rest her way. “Be my guest.”
“You mind if I turn off the movie?”
“Not at all.”
Sasha reached over the bar and hit the button, and the TV retreated back into the ceiling. She hit another button and a soulful jazz song started to play.
Nash held out his hand.
She took it and they slid around the floor like two people who didn’t have a care in the galaxy. He kissed her, and she kissed back.
When the song ended Nash said, “I want to show you something.”
“If you think one dance is going to get me back into the bedroom.”
“Oh no, I’d never think that a single dance...” He twisted the photo on the wall and the stairs to the wine cellar opened up. “But I’m thinking a few more bottles of wine might.”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
There was a voice, sort of like a buzzing. He didn’t know what it was at first. Nash rolled over and picked up his ear piece.
“Good morning, Holly.”
“I did like you said.”
“What time is it?”
“Oh-seven hundred.”
Sasha snuggled up to him and purred, “Who are you talking to at this hour?
Holly said, “Are you with someone?”
“I made a friend.”
“Oh really?”
Nash detected a level of annoyance from his tracker that he couldn’t explain. “I need you to do me a favor.”
“What?”
“Get a dozen or so apples and give them to PJ to take to the duck hole.”
“Why?”
“I like apples.”
Sasha said, “You’re so sweet.”
“Fine, anything else?”
“You’re aces.”
Holly was gone without another word.
Sasha said, “Let’s go back to sleep, or we could...”
“You have any plans for the day?”
Sasha laughed. “I was thinking I might run down to the mall, maybe meet the girls for lunch, get my nails done, you know, same old same old.”
“How would you like to come with me to help out a friend who’s in a little bit of trouble?”
“An adventure? I love an adventure.”
“My friend has gotten himself kicked out of 37 for forty-five days.”
“Why forty-five days?”
“Because our commander is a power hungry idiot who rules with a tapioca fist. Somebody’s going to kick his ass someday...I hope it’s me.”
“You are much sexier when you’re getting all worked up
than when you’re running from killer drones.”
“You’re much sexier when you’re naked and not holding a sword to my throat.”
“Okay, so what’s the plan?”
“I want to build him a safe house.”
“We could just bring him here.”
“That’s very generous of you, but he’s young, and I think it would be good if he learned how to set something up himself.”
“You think he’s going to get in more trouble?”
“He’s a devout Catholic. It could happen.”
“Sometimes I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“So you’re in?”
“I’m definitely in.”
“Then let’s get suited up and on the move. He’s meeting us at a place called the duck hole.”
“And if he gets there before us?”
“I told him to wait.”
Sasha got a look in her eye and said, “So, if we’re thirty minutes late it wouldn’t be the end of the world.”
Nash grabbed her and she squealed with delight.
***
PJ was checking his gear when Ronnie showed up with an escort. He looked terrified. The guards went to get ready to close the tunnel gates when it was time for PJ and Ronnie to head into the wild. Holly ran up with a bag and handed it to PJ. She whispered into his ear, “Nash wanted these. Be safe,” and she gave him a kiss on the cheek before running back down the tunnel.
Ronnie really looked like he was going to lose it. In a low voice, PJ said, “Listen, I’ve got a plan. We’re going to be fine.”
“I don’t know a damn thing about the wild. I’ve never even fired a gun.”
“I’m serious. Pull yourself together for just a few minutes. When we get outside I’ll clue you in, but you can’t freak out now.”
“Okay, mate. I’m cool.”
The order was given, and the tunnel gate closed behind them. PJ knew Frank would be watching but didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of looking back.
Ronnie stopped fidgeting, pulled on his pack, and stood staring at the door, waiting for it to open. He kept whispering, “I’m good, mate.”
They got through the door, and when PJ heard it close behind them, he said, “Nash is meeting us.”
“No way, he’s out here right now?”
