by M E Wise
Dae drags me beside a very polished vessel. I am momentarily taken back by my own reflection in its port side. I look terrible. I am bruised, mutilated and barely dressed. Dae checks first behind us and ushers me quickly into the side door. Ben spins in the pilot’s seat to face us with a Captain’s cap on. “All aboard he says!”
“When I hit the controls and get us off the pad you will have a few seconds to do whatever you were going to do!” Ben says as plinking switches and lights begin responding as he interacts with them. A command prompt comes up on a screen for access and Ben looks to Dae and she swipes her wrist over it. The screen enters a diagnostic mode and Ben begins hacking the system giving them permission to leave and control over the vehicle. His movements are precise and well-practiced. “And as easy as that-let’s go! Before we are seen or the firewall pings us.” He says hitting the primer. The vessel jerks to a lift and air is pushed out from all directions.
We ascend without so much as a pause or interference. Reaching the third level in this great open expanse I closed my eyes and focused my sharing into the area, searching for a link to Hermes. I can’t believe I am actually anxious to make contact with that collective pest but I am. As we planned, our ship even with the third level I opened my eyes to see a red light come on in the Hermes77. The two technicians fumble about to see if they caused it. Hermes links.
“Reign there have been several days without contact. What is your status?” Hermes directs.
“Prepare for phase jump to the system array. Pluto’s Belt position Kuiper Alpha1!” The link is very organized compared to a natural exchange. After what I’ve been through the change is welcome. “Assessment level is mission critical. Jump at build-no questions!”
“Reign unknown damage will be done to this carrier vessel.” Hermes argues. “You must be at a safe distance.” The ship however is complying with merely seven minutes to get safely away. This sharing although near instantaneous is as taxing as hours of meditative exchange. I brace myself against the bulkhead and Dae tries to steady me.
We reach the airlock above and can still see the hangar beneath quite clearly. There is a great change in their movements below. Maybe Hermes is giving off some signature energy they are scanning. Either way we are only waiting on the green light of the vacuum door above. “Come on! Come On!” Demands Ben. “That’s some trick bro! Can you use it on the deck monitors? Cause those exit lights aren’t changing.”
His anxiety is shared by all. Dae is pacing between windows to see below and above. Armed soldiers in heavy armor begin surrounding the Hermes77 craft. The technicians remain inside; they must be struggling to find how to stop whatever is going on inside. A series of red lights begin spinning in our launch bay. We may have failed to launch.
“Captain of the diplomatic Vessel UB Aries; the Vice Admiral of Science is not scheduled for departure. What is your current course of action?” Came a voice from a small video window to Ben’s left in the observation bay. He immediately spins to his left to only reveal his right side and begins fiddling as if to make the move necessary. “You took the Vice Admiral’s personal transport!” Dae exclaims under a forced whisper.
“He won’t need it again.” I say coldly. Knowing he lay dead somewhere on this ship.
“I repeat! Captain of the UB Aries respond.” Ben stalls. “One moment please!” He gestures to us for some help!
Dae smears her lipstick, dishevels her blouse and roughs up her hair, then slides into camera view. Giggling, “Sorry for the inconvenience officer! We were just getting out for some privacy. The admiral and I!” She says with a wink.
The young officer is visibly distracted. “Ahem, my apologies Doctor. There is a disturbance in the impound hangar, we will release you to a safe distance. However, you will need to remain local for further confirmation.”
“Copy hangar control. Thanks for the heads up.” Squawks Ben cutting his eye hard right without revealing more of himself. “Adjusting for 300 meters off command.”
“We need to be leaving!” Reign asserts as the door opens. A brief jerk pulls our vessel into open space. Reign and Dae look down as the air around Hermes distorts into an hourglass shape before collapsing and disappearing at center! The flash is brilliantly bright. The entire Flagship goes dark. Ships, vessels and some staff begin to float gently out of airlocks that were open upon the incident. Their gravity generator seizes on its centrifugal wheel stops. No doubt everyone inside will be experiencing some unwanted space adaptation syndrome. Except for an unlucky few in immediate proximity I would say most of the ship’s crew will survive to tell one hell of a story.
“Was that you man!” screamed Ben.
I looked at him morosely. He could tell I wasn’t excited by any of this. This was a disaster. We begin to accelerate away from the craft. Under the circumstances we will escape unnoticed. The Flagship Stonewall won’t be leaving that spot for some time. A pulse like that has damaged many major systems. Our only concern is communications leaving the wrecked ship in the form of an S.O.S. But even those will be delayed. Sifting through what caused a simple retired Argonauts craft; or the Hermes77 as I know it to be, to implode will be greatly explored before anyone looks at departure logs. Whoever discovers what happened to the departed Vice Admiral and his lot given the secrecy, will have a lot of work ahead of them too. We may have given ourselves a great deal of latitude to get to safety.
“We have to regroup and relax!” Ben scoffs. “Too much stress can kill you.”
“Any suggestions where the military and any corporate mercs won’t find us in seconds?” Asked Dae.
“Green Acres!” Ben belts out. “It’s the place for me!” He sings loudly and badly.
“The Halfer Haven?” says Dae with a half-smile.
“You can wear a hood Doctor, if you’re worried about fitting in.” Ben jokes. “We have a variety of great hoods in all sizes, color and even one size fits all!” He chokes with laughter.
A light fills the inside of the ship behind revealing a very posh setup. There are two cabins at the back side with private showers and a large open circular room just off the cockpit. There is a full bar and a half circle sofa; also a series of book shelves with movies, books and photos of space and some random ship and planet sculptures. “Make yourselves at home. It’s a two-day trip even without bouncing around to avoid detection.” Ben says spiritedly. “Now where is that black box?” He says as he begins popping open panels and pulling up carpets searching wildly. “Here it is!” A loud pop and some ripping of cables reveals it. “Out you go!” He bids it farewell as he sends it into the waste port and ejects it into space. “We wouldn’t want someone to find us before I give this baby a new paint job and make it my own. Home sweet, drifting Home!”
I look down to my hands that are covered in dry blood. My arms are also caked with the wear of my suffering. My makeshift splint is dirty with muck from the maintenance ducts. I realize I have made the entire exodus in the medical gown and some tightly fitting undergarments. My legs lose their strength and I collapse. I see Dae hurry to my side before I lose consciousness.
The Garden is so peaceful. The fragrance of so many fill my sinuses. Their sharing: voluminous.
Rolling over I see Dae under a blanket in a chair next to where I lay. She was watching over me still. I know so much about her but want to know so much more. I dare not think of linking with her to find out. Humans, even myself value privacy above a great many things. Some part of me longs to take my time learning about her even though I feel sensations lingering from her that aren’t my own. This is all new to me. Human contact causing human reactions it would seem. Maybe it was something more. I know I feel something around her, it could be from the things we have been through together or the deep sharing I may have spoiled. She may remind me of someone I had seen in a movie. It does feel like a movie when she is near me. I series of frozen scenes, blurred and captivating.
We must be on auto-pilot because the rot
ation sends a light pouring through a porthole every few minutes lighting her from behind and slowly tracing her form. She is beautiful by every meaning of the word.
“You’re awake.” She says with a relaxed smile. “You’ve been out for nearly seventy hours. I was getting concerned.”
“I have a habit of that apparently.” I spoke softly. She seemed confused but understood all the same.
“I’m Sara. Dae is my middle name.” She exclaimed. “Doctor Sara Dae O’Shea.” She stressed Doctor and waved her hand playfully. “Is it just Reign?”
“Names are not of short supply where I am from. You could have a name no one ever had for there being so few to share it. I am from Mor’h; so Reign Mor’h maybe.” I said as I admired her greatly. I wonder if she is aware.
“Yes it could rain more. I love the rain.” She said with a strange smile. I was stumped. “It was a joke silly!” She laughed heartily.
I laughed slightly at myself. “What should I call you then?” There were so many words to describe her. We’ve briefly had this discussion but I could live through it a thousand times.
“Call me Dae.” She beamed. “My father said I brought the light of day to him every day with my smile. I prefer Dae.”
“A source of light is life to most things.” I said as I groaned to sit up. She sat up as well and leaned forward to help me. “You have been my light through this dark period. Thank you.”
She seemed shocked at this statement. “You have a very unusual way of expressing yourself. You said from Mor’h; is that a colony? I haven’t heard of it.” But I know that she knows more.
I stood in the tight cabin space and leaned into the porthole facing away from the sun. “There.” I pointed. She stood very close to see. Her darkly-lit red hair was in my face. The craft had rotated again and my finger was aimed at the sun. She laughed out loud. “Really now!” She mocked and slightly slapped my chest. “The sun. Is that a joke about light?” She bugged her eyes.
Embarrassment was too easy with her. I felt my cheeks flush and had no idea what to say next. “No.” I corrected. “Several stars away from here.”
“Stars!” She paused with a smile that slowly went straight faced.
“Stars?” I nodded to answer and locked eyes with her. “But…”
“Half human. Half something else. All alien.” My eyes fell to the ground. I felt a great sadness.
“Don’t. Don’t think my empathy is so shallow because of all the apathy they showed you.” She lifted my chin. “You are so much more. I know this. Fearsome. Whole. New! Amazing.” She said excitedly. “And handsome.” She leaned in and kissed me hard. The first kiss I had ever had. My arms went straight to my sides and she comically brought them to hold her waist. Another kiss and I embraced her firmly and felt complete. We held each other barreling through space, spiraling with the light of this milky way playing shadowed transitions with each pass. The suddenness, most likely an accelerated effect of the spoiled sharing. Those feelings though now slip between us and they are real. They feel aged.
I don’t know what I believe of fate and the universes held tongue but I can believe in this.
“Ahem.” Came a fake cough from a familiar noise maker. “We are approaching Green Acres.” Ben stood still watching far longer than necessary. “What? Is this awkward?”
We both just stared at him. He bowed out of the room in his typical fashion. We too separated but very slowly. I now had a stake in this game being played. I knew something I didn’t know before. I relaxed and could sense her heartbeat. Confirming the attraction certainly explained a lot but I have no experience in these things beyond old movies and books, and now her. Hopefully she is patient.
We straightened our flight path and leveled out. All of us stood in the cockpit and gawked as several large bodies of rock were interconnected with cable and modules; old wreckage modified into living spaces. Lights lit several hanging bulb-like areas that were massive and full of what seem like foliage. Tiny faces filled tiny windows and grew as we approached. “Welcome to Green Acres terrain dwellers and star walkers!” Ben added. A series of light flashes followed by coded light flashes in the electric lights of the cabin had Ben sending flashes back. A string of lights wrapped around cables streamed a long path in reply around to our docking port. The hidden haven was busy with movement and welcoming all at once.
“These are good people.” Ben said with pride. “We can trade, rest and repair here for our next move.”
“Our next move?” I asked surprised. I wasn’t expecting Ben to continue ahead with us. Even still he could change his mind.
“Yes ours!” Ben Itou docked our ship while talking like it was second nature. “I’m on a mission now. For personal reasons. And maybe you left an impression!” He cut his eyes at me and grinned.
“Fair enough.” I replied and Dae took my hand. I wasn’t alone anymore.
I am alive. I am able. I am hopeful.
Reign Chapter 11
Falling Quietly into Cracks
“Lo’Don? Where does it all come from?” I asked eagerly.
Wan Sah carries a questioning look that is only noticeable after long hours of contact with Lo’Mor’h. Instead of having a child explain further she links. A series of experiences, both real and dream fill the sharing. Words spoken and read come forth like a fluid blackboard. “You wish to know more about life Reign.”
“Uh, I guess so Wan Sah.” I fumbled around on the shore of the Livewell Sea across from the great tower far away. “Where does it come from? Where does it go?”
“That is two questions Reign.” Her head ticked to look at me. “Would you like two answers?”
I stared long into her large and haloed eyes. Her color rippled slightly in the light and I had this strange feeling she couldn’t give me an answer. I linked to her sharing. She wasn’t very open to it. I was only six and maybe that had something to do with it. “No, Lo’Don. I will grow to know it.” Grow was equal to learn. I need to grow.
“Young roots find their hold as they grow Reign. The sun will teach your truth to you.” She fixed her eyes on the tower afar and closed them, soaking up the sunlight. The sun filled our days. The days filled the calendar. The calendar was my history. It was simple really. Grow to learn. Learn to grow. Once grown, know more. The feeling was so strong that I couldn’t help but inherit the knowledge. I stared more at the tower in the distance across the sea.
“Mister, Mister,” tugged a young Halfer girl on my jumpsuit pant leg. She was completely human save for two enlarged and haloed eyes. A living doll! Still she was here as an orphan.
“Yes miss!” I answered naturally as if I had spoken with children my entire life.
“Here!” She hands me a fully bloomed rose, smiles largely and runs fast down a corridor away from me. I gave the flower to Dae next to me holding my hand.
“Thank you Mr. Mister!” She said and flashed her bright eyes over the rose as she smelled it.
It was our second day among the Halfers. They were something special. Very whole for a group with such an unsuitable name. This colony was reminiscent of many Earth time periods where people of difference were isolated by force or local prejudice. Whether it was a disease they had no part in choosing, some unwanted birth rite, or an altered class like the Halfers; very few passes were given without some fight. People persevered even in the not so welcoming emptiness of space.
Most of the occupants of this defiant little city were outcasts after years of abuse and misuse. The oldest of them have served as guides and even surrogate family to the lucky few who were sent here as children before the hard judgment of a bigoted reality could break their spirit. Lucky, because their families had the forethought to contact a safe place for Halfers through the internet or friends of friends helped them discover a Green Acre pamphlet. Still, they usually arrived as cargo on some cheap ore ship’s extra delivery manifest. The proprietor of their relocation was often a complete mystery. Was it someone
who wanted them safe or someone who wanted them isolated?
To say they were all they had would be an understatement. They have learned to live very well without having much to strive for. I find them remarkable and indicative of what I had dreamed man to be at its best and sadly also the greatest evidence for their culpability to crime. To be fair, the Mor’h had two very distinct classes but on every surface I could know them, they held their mutual success higher than the individual. Maybe this was the goal of Green Acres. However, this Halfer condition became what it is because the Mor’h irresponsibly tested something at the expense of generations of individuals and their families. I didn’t however find the population bitter, the opposite would be truer.
The older Halfers had many questions for me. I couldn’t answer all of them. Nor would I even try. Ben arranged a tour of the greater parts of the Acreage as they happily called their synthetic yet richly alive locality. They had huge globed gardens made from recovered fuel tankers. From outside they were seen like little slices of planets displayed to some celestial collector but they were the hard work of the people here. This ability to grow from nothing seemed like a trait they gained from the Mor’h genes but humanity also had a solid grip on nature. I was eager to learn their methods.
