“Sir,” interrupted Martine, “The navigation pane is operational.”
I turned to look behind me, where the navigation table sat. Sure enough, several controls and indicators were illuminated.
“Well okay, then. I’ll set us up some waypoints and we can start looking forward to autochef meals and hot coffee.”
Another cheer rang out. I walked over to the table and was joined by Martine. She thumbed a control and the pane lit up, projecting a hologram of the system, out to three astronomical units.
“We were planning to swing past Nsarri and gain a little speed,” she said, “Then head straight for the Jump Gate. With luck, we’d be able to reach Sho’da Nar, the moon of Laz’oh Dar, before we started to starve. There used to be a colony on there before the Betrayal, but we weren’t sure how we would be able to get dirtside without a shuttle. We were kind of hoping you had a plan. Looks like we lucked out putting you in charge.”
“These three coordinates should be a bit closer. The first one, “ I entered the figures into the table’s controls, “is two days away. The rest are within twenty hours of each other. They’re adrift, but Protectorate surveys say they’ve never been hit by salvage crews. With luck, at least one of them should have intact supplies.”
“One of your soldiers mentioned the Jump Gate closing. Is that true?”
I sighed. “It is.”
“How long do we have?”
“I’m not sure. We sent a ship ahead to try and buy us more time, but I’ve no idea of their success. I also have an ally riding escort with us…”
“The Dreaming of Atmosphere?”
“You’ve heard from her?”
“A few hours ago. Tight beamed us a message from nowhere.”
“How are they doing?”
“That Captain is a character, I’ll tell you. They send their love and asked most insistently about you. We told them you were resting and were not to be disturbed. That AI you brought onboard threatened to vent compartments around your cabin if we approached it, just so you know.”
Tac, I texted, is this true?
I would never have actually done followed through with my threat, but they didn’t know. You needed the rest.
I sighed again. “I’m sorry about that. He’s special. Sometimes a little too special.”
“Is it going to be a problem?”
“No, he’ll behave. Are we able to get comms with the Dreaming now?”
“Comms!” she called, “Can we tight beam to the Dreaming of Atmosphere?”
“Should have line-of-sight in one hour and forty-five minutes, First Officer!”
“First Officer?” I said, one eyebrow raised.
“Hope you don’t mind. That Garz’a of yours said it would be a good idea to instil some measure of authority to my position. Just so the chain of command was clear.”
“No, it’s an excellent idea. You’ve more than earned it. I couldn’t have gotten us out of that pinch without your help.”
“The crew thinks otherwise. They adore you now if they didn’t before. You’ve pulled us all out of impossible situations several times over the past few days. How do you do it?” she gave me an intense look.
I shrugged. “I’ve no idea. I surround myself with exceptional people. They’re the real heroes here. People like you and Gannerson. People who step up when they’re needed. People willing to sacrifice themselves to save others.”
“Like those soldiers back at the university?”
“Yes. Like them.”
“People like that, people like Gannerson and me? We get inspired to step up. We don’t just decide to do it, we’re inspired to do it. By people like you.”
I smiled at her. “I guess we all have our role to play.”
She stood up. “I have a lot of work to do. Some of these stations are salvageable, but need to be reformatted.”
“Of course. I’ll leave you to it. I’m going to go in search of food. I haven’t eaten in days.”
I found food in the cargo hold. There was a kind of community set up in a central location. People had pulled crates and containers together to form tables and serving lines. There was even a cooking fire going, baking bread.
I lined up with the others waiting for food and eventually made it to the front of the line. I was given a metal bowl, formed from a piece of hammered out deck plate, and two scoops of a thick vegetable stew. Lastly, someone handed me half a round of bread and a cup of warm tea. It wasn’t much but to me, right then, it looked like a banquet.
I was wiping my bowl out with the bread when Merade found me, sitting on a crate against a bulkhead. She smiled, excused herself from the group she was walking with and came over to me.
“Good to see you out and about,” she said.
“Been a hell of a first day underway.”
“We made it, though.”
“We did.”
“I never thanked you, for saving Alexander.”
“You didn’t need to. I was happy to save him.”
“Nevertheless, thank you.”
I belched loudly, “You’re welcome.”
“You seemed to have gotten half of that stew on your collar.”
“I’m a messy eater. I think this jumpsuit is ruined, anyway.”
I looked myself over for the first time in days. I was a mess. I no longer wore the remnants of my M4 MAEL. Instead, I wore the undergarments of the armour – a standard military jumpsuit. It was once a dull grey, but no longer. One sleeve was missing, I had no idea where I had lost it, and the entire lower half was caked in mud and grime. The upper half was stained with blood, grease, and sweat. I noticed the condition of my hands, then my arms. They were just as filthy as the rest of me.
“I seem to be in dire need of some personal hygiene.”
“I’ll have someone find you some clothes,” said Merade, smiling warmly, “Someone here is bound to want to give the hero of Ambrose Station their clothes as thanks. We have shower stalls set up against the back wall. Warm water, too.”
“I think you’re going to have to start getting familiar with ship talk, Ma’am. It’s not a back wall, it’s an aft bulkhead,” I said, returning her smile as I climbed down off the crate. She took my eating equipment from me and shooed me in the direction of the showers. I practically skipped down there.
There’s something about that first shower after an operation. It’s almost as if the water washes away the darkness that infects you, the gloom of violence and terror left behind after a close brush with death. The water was barely above lukewarm, but I enjoyed it regardless. I stood within the converted shipping container as a pipe opened above me dribbling warm water over my head, thinking this was the best thing to ever happen to me. When I was finished, I found Alexander waiting for me with clean clothes outside. I dried myself off and put them on. They were a decent fit, simple but comfortable. I could tell they had been handmade.
I felt cleaner than I ever had, but in reality, I still needed several hours of soaking and hard scrubbing to be truly clean. It didn’t matter, no one here was ever truly clean, we were brothers and sisters in dirt.
I thanked Alex and asked him how he was doing.
“I’m sad, and excited both.”
“Why sad?”
“I’ve left my home behind. I know it got crazy living down there in the end, but for most of my life I lived on Ambrose Station.”
“Where you ever in one of the forced labour groups?”
“Couple of times. We were usually gone a couple of months at a time. They let us have extra stuff if we behaved ourselves.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Technology, tools. Sometimes food and medicine. That was the most valuable, medicine.”
“Things are about to change.”
“That’s the exciting part. If the rest of the galaxy is as fantastic as I’ve been led to believe…wow.”
“It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Where we’re headed, there’s strife. We’re on what
’s called the frontier here, but Eridani is an Inner System. Old blood, old feuds. I hope things settle down before we arrive, but I doubt they will. Things that happen in Inner Systems tend to affect the frontiers eventually. This frontier? It’s about to end. Chances are, once they shut down the Jump Gate, they will never open it again.”
“Do you know what will happen with us?” he indicated all the civilians around us.
“Not really. You’ll probably get resettled somewhere. The Protectorate will find someplace for you to live.”
“Not me. I think I want to join the Protectorate. Be a soldier like you and Naga Team.”
I smiled at him. “I’m not really Protectorate. I just got roped into this.”
“What are you talking about? You’re everything the Protectorate stands for!”
I stopped walking. “I was once a soldier, some bad stuff happened to me. Sooner or later, you got to stop fighting. The mind needs time to heal as much as the body. More so than the body. I reached that point some time ago. I can’t keep this up forever.”
“What will you do?”
“I have another life, on a ship very dear to me and my family. I have loved ones who I want to spend my days with. Just flying about the galaxy, doing the odd job and taking it easy.”
“That does sound good, but I’m not ready to retire just yet.”
I laughed. “Who said anything about retiring?”
“I don’t think you’re ready either. That’s just the tiredness of the last few days talking.”
“Is it?”
“You’re like me.”
I laughed again. “I am?”
“You’re like my brothers and my father. You have to be doing something to help, especially when you can do something. That’s the real reason you’re here. Because you have to be.”
“You’re probably right. More than you know, actually.”
“So what do you say? Put in a good word for me with the Protectorate?”
“I’ve got no problem with that. You’re a natural leader, Alex. The Protectorate would be lucky to have you.”
“Thanks. For everything. For saving my life”
I smiled, shook his hand, and left.
It was time to catch up with Maxine.
17.
“How are you, my boy?” said Max, when we had gained line-of-sight with the Dreaming. I was on the bridge, seated in the command chair. The others had respectfully left the command mezzanine to give me some privacy.
“I’m doing well. Missing you guys like crazy. How is everyone?”
“Sick of being cooked alive, but otherwise high-spirited.”
“Cooked alive?”
“Stealth drive only hides optical, have had to shut off most emissions ports for days. Been slowly building heat inside here like never before.”
“Won’t be long now til you can turn off the stealth systems. Vent some of that heat.”
“The Gate is due to close in a week. We’re going to miss it by a few days, though. I’m really hoping that Garner has been a sweetheart and talked them into keeping open for a little while longer.”
“Me too. We’re still a ways out, though. We need to stop for food in two days. We’ll be a week behind you, at least.”
“I’ll make sure they keep it open for you. Even if I have to take over the Jump Station to do it.”
“I believe you. Thanks for paying the station a visit. You really saved our lives back there in that battle.”
“Couldn’t let you have all the glory, Crege says. That man needs a raise.”
“That was some impressive shooting. Who was it? You?”
“Mel, actually. The crazy cat is gifted, to say the least.”
“Mel? The Votus?”
“Yeah, his real name is too long. I just call him Mel.”
I laughed.
“Someone here wants to say hi,” she said, “I’ll leave you two alone. I love you, Donny.”
“Love you too, Max. Tell the others I said hey.”
There was silence for a moment, then another voice came on the line.
“Seth?” said Zoe.
I laughed, unable to hold back my emotions. “Hey, baby.”
“Oh my god…” I could hear her weeping and laughing.
“How are you holding it together?”
“I’ve missed you, so much.”
“I’ve missed you, too. Things have been pretty crazy. A lot has happened.”
“Are you okay? Ormund has been telling us what happened, but I want to know how you are.”
“I’m doing okay. Better. I did it, Zoe. I got them out.”
“The refugees? I know. I’m so proud of you.”
“A little bit longer now, but Martine tells me there’s no more Ghantri within range to catch us if they suspected us of being the enemy. I can’t believe it, but we actually did it.”
She laughed some more, and the signal started to lose clarity.
“Zoe, I have to go. We’re starting to get out of range again. I’ll see you soon, in Eridani. I love you.
“I love you, too.”
When the signal cut out, I just sat there for several minutes. A bittersweet feeling came over me, then. I hadn’t dared think I had succeeded until I told her, but now that I had, I knew that I was right. There was nothing left but to get to the Jump Gate now. A short stop for supplies, then a home run straight to the Jump Gate and safety. I had done what the entire Protectorate had been unable to do, saved the refugees from Gossamer System.
I remembered the people who had died getting us to where we were, the heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. Eric, sweet Eric. Rhondel, Masters, Gunther and Carro. Triptych. The hundreds who stayed behind at Ambrose University. I thought about Artemis and wondered for the first time if she were okay. She was as much a pawn in this ordeal as I was. I knew that now. I could not blame her for those deaths any more than I can blame myself. I hoped I would see her again, some day.
Kekkin, Renthal, Harris, Geko, and Rego found me there, sitting quietly at the command console. I was smiling sadly, reminiscing. I didn’t have to tell them what I was thinking, I could see they were thinking the same things. They gathered around, taking seats in the mezzanine. Kekkin grunted and inclined his head in my direction.
“Oh shit, sorry,” said Geko, rushing over to me carrying a cup. I took it, peering inside.
“What is this?”
“Human found one of the civilians had some whisky.”
Renthal smiled proudly. “Traded my sidearm for a bottle. Old Naga Team tradition, when we finished an op.”
“Naga-zak, you would honour us by offering the toast,” said Kekkin.
“A toast, huh? What can I say that will honour those that aren’t with us today? Thank you? Hardly seems appropriate. We will remember you. Without your sacrifice, we know that today’s outcome would be vastly different. We went into the demon’s home and found not darkness and despair, but light and life. We found courage and brotherhood. We found hope.”
“To hope,” said the others. We drank our liquor, raising our cups to the deck head.
Our luck held, two days later we boarded the hulk of the Protectorate supply ship Sanctuary of Morning. We found an abundant supply of autochef materials and ground forces ration packs. We salvaged as many of the machines and materials as we could. With rationing, we would have more than enough supplies to last until we reached the Jump Gate.
When, days later, the Jump Gate did no close we had hopes that we would make it. One last communication with the Dreaming before she shifted, and we were on our own for another eight days. Each day that the Gate remained open was another day that we gave thanks to whatever powers controlled our fate.
When the final day approached, we had held a short ceremony in the cargo hold. We gave thanks for everyone’s cooperation in getting us as far as we had. We remembered those that were no longer with us, and we celebrated our freedom.
As many people as we could fit into the bridge wat
ched as we made our final approach to the event horizon. We wept with joy as we shifted, we hugged and cheered and danced.
A chapter in my life, in all our lives, was over. The frontier on this side of the galaxy had ended, and we had made it out. What we did with our lives from then on was a gift.
18.
An honour guard of Protectorate ships and civilian news crews accompanied our arrival in Eridani System. We exited the Jump Gate at the sedate pace of seven hundred metres per second, our shift captured by hundreds of cameras and holo-recorders. It seemed Maxine, or Garner, had talked our arrival up to the Protectorate brass and the news had leaked. I was never one for the spotlight, I had that opportunity years ago after the Push. I hadn’t wanted it then, that hadn’t changed. I was well and truly in the limelight now, though. There was no hiding it.
They let us drift in-system for half an hour, getting well clear of the event horizon before they shut down the Gate. It winked out, a bright flash and a curtain of sparks and lightning before going dark forever.
The crew and our passengers were jubilant. Spirits had been high since escaping Ambrose Station, since our supply run on the Sanctuary of Morning.
We were hailed by the lead Protectorate vessel, a Leviathan Class warship called Sentinel of the Stars. Their Captain invited us to proceed to the Protectorate Fleet Headquarters, all formal and proper. The station was several days away, but after a brief discussion with Merade and the rest of the refugee leaders, we agreed this would be a better place to end our journey than the Gossamer Jump Station. I accepted the invitation on behalf of the crew, then the Captain added his own congratulations to our arrival. The formality of his verbiage told me to expect some sort of fanfare on berthing, but I had not expected the level of pomp and ceremony awaiting us. After we secured the ship alongside, the crew decided that it would be proper to allow me to step off first, along with Naga Team.
Frontier's End: A Seth Donovan Novel Page 10
