Across a Sea of Stars

by Michael E. Gonzales

  "Proximity to his family."

  Major Selina was taken aback. "You think it's that bad?"

  "Major, the man has given up every reason to live. He is willing himself to death in order to escape the pain of being forever separated from the woman he loves. I think his family might get a response from him, though personally…I doubt it. To be honest with you—I don't think I have ever witnessed a more profound love in my life."

  Kathy Selina sat there contemplating that statement. She was not sure she could get her mind around it.

  "Doctor—is the term profound love a professional diagnosis?"

  "No, Major. It is my observation as a human being. He is dying from the lack of the love of the one person capable of returning it with equal strength. Looking at his brain waves as I have, I can tell you that his desire to reunite with this woman, Tattie, is physically manifested in his brain. No doubt, you've heard it said that we only use ten percent of our brains, the other ninety percent being a mystery? Well, based on what we see inside Captain Salazar's brain, I must conclude that it is the brain, not the heart, that is the seat of love in human beings. Let us send the poor man home."

  "Doctor, I'm afraid that our friends Frick and Frack will never let that happen."

  "In that case, I suggest we put the captain on suicide watch."

  ○O○

  The local time was 16:30. Cris had been asleep since 14:00.

  In his dream, he and Tattie had climbed the peak on the north side of the pass of Narrowdep just in time to watch the sun set, then they turned around and watched the two full moons rise. "Children," Tattie had said, "conceived under the twin full moons are destined for greatness."

  They watched the stars and the moons move relentlessly through the heavens. At midnight below them in every town, village, and hamlet as far as the eye could see, the peoples of Nazer celebrated the ceremony of Lumvelhas with lights and noise and bonfires.

  Tattie took Cris into her arms and he fell into those eyes. They made love to one another; the spark of life illuminated them. Tattie looked into Cris's eyes, then lowered her lips to his ear, "Cris, I shall bear you a son and he will be great among all the peoples of the two stars."

  In his dream, Cris was now removed from himself, he was above, looking down on himself and Tattie, entwined in one another and sleeping. The sun was bringing a pale pink and orange light to the horizon.

  Suddenly he was shouting down at the beautiful image of himself and Tattie, "Wake up! Cris, you must wake up!"

  His eyes popped open, he was in his BOQ, and Major Selina was standing above him. It was her voice that had removed him from paradise. His hollow eyes began to fill with tears.

  ○O○

  "Cris, you have got to eat something," the major pleaded.

  "Litzi drake dazug beteko og et Geldneth Nordthok gustenkao det," Cris mumbled.

  "Cris, I don't understand."

  He closed his wet, red, eyes, and screamed her name. "Tattie!" Then he fell back to sleep. His features relaxed and Major Selina heard him whisper, "Tattie, Am Eka."

  "Oh, Cris—I guess we really are going to lose you. I wish I understood what you're going through. I've never had time, with my career, to fall in love."

  ○O○

  In his delirium, Cris conceived a notion that no doubt was generated in some dark secret recess of his desperate mind. If he could just get an Eagle and fly it into Hohmann crater, despite the wormhole being closed, he would somehow make it back to Tattie. It was 03:40 in the morning when he acted upon this notion.

  ○O○

  The House of Healing in Emer Alda was known to be the finest on all of Nazer. Tattie was in a room near the top floor with a wonderful view outside. There was the repaired causeway that brought her and Cris to the city, beyond the lush green forest. Today, just behind the forest near the rolling hills—it was raining.

  Advisers were out in the hall with Tarnus who was the very image of a strong man suffering incalculable pain.

  "No, Tarnus, there is but one cure for a heart that is truly broken. And as you know your orbrena's Ama is—well, he's gone, Tarnus. The doctors can only hope to prolong her suffering with concoctions that will keep her breathing. How long do you wish to keep her in that state?"

  "I cannot lose her."

  "Tarnus, I am afraid you can, and perhaps you should. She is suffering pitifully. In death, Tarnus, she can be with him forever."

  ○O○

  Tattie had lapsed into a coma. She had brought it on herself. She could no longer face each empty day. The pain in her heart was just too much for her to bear.

  In her dreams, Tattie was always with Cris, they were inseparable. She and Cris were swimming in the pond by the rocky hill again. It was night, but the water was aglow with the light of two full moons. She swam up, and holding him tight, kissed him. Tattie never felt the warmth of their love in her dreams. However, the light at the point where her breasts touched his chest started to glow—and at that moment, Cris parted from her.

  "What is wrong, Am Eka?" she asked.

  Cris smiled and said, "Nothing, darling, it's just not time yet."

  "Time? What time?"

  "I love you, Tattie. Do not leave Nazer yet, the time is approaching, quickly."

  "Cris, I can't breathe without you, I must go on to the center of all things, I will find you there, I know it."

  "No, Tattie, it is not time yet."

  Her dream faded away.

  Chapter 33

  Go into the Light

  By 03:48, Cris was up and in his flight suit. He noticed he was a little wobbly, unsteady on his feet, and he felt weak and a little nauseous. Nevertheless, he was ready to put his plan into action. The first thing was to evade the ever-present eye of the AVA, but the tiny, blue light was, oddly, not illuminated. The sensor was off.

  Cris peeked out into the dimly lit hall. To his right, down the corridor was another sensor. Its light, too, was off. To his left, was the nurse's station about four meters away. There was one person present, Cris's large nurse. The man was reading something on the station's monitor. Cris knew he'd have to get past him to get out of the hospital area.

  Staying crouched and keeping to the shadows, he moved toward the station. Cris tried to emulate Tattie's movements when she wished to move silently. He did a fair enough job and reached the station without attracting attention to himself. Cris remained in a crouch with his back up against the nurses' station below the lip of the counter top. He moved quietly around and toward the hall that led to the elevators.

  Behind the station was a faux garden full of plastic bushes, trees and flowers that would block him from sight as he headed for the elevators. Cris crept quietly alongside the synthetic jungle just as the bell to the elevator pinged, and Cris scooted quickly to his left to hide among the simulated foliage. Here, he noted several bullet holes in the side of the wall of the nurse's station, hidden evidence of the battle that had once been fought here.

  Out of the elevator, a doctor making his rounds exited and headed toward him, he had his face buried in an E-pad. Halfway to Cris, he stopped and entered a room on Cris's left. Cris rose up and casually made his way toward the elevator, catching it just in time by thrusting his arm between the two halves of the closing door.

  At ground level, he walked down the path that would lead him out of dome number two and on toward the hanger dome. He had been walking about forty minutes when a white science jeep stopped next to him and a voice said, "Can I give you a lift?" Cris maintained his calm despite being very nervous. "Yeah, I'm headed to seventeen."

  "You were going to walk the whole way?"

  "I'm new here; I guess I thought I could walk it."

  "Are you okay? You look ill—"

  "I just left my doctor; he's got me handled."

  "Wow, your doctor saw you at this hour? You got a great doctor!"

  "He just happened to have rounds on the night I got sick."

  "So, you felt sick, saw your docto
r, and then decided to walk all the way to seventeen, where squadrons seven and eight are located?"

  "Yeah, ain't that a kick? CO wants to see me. I told her I was ill, but she insisted."

  "You must mean Major Selina. I've met her, she's a tough cookie."

  "Yeah, you're right." Damn this guy is nosy, Cris thought. But he was quiet now and they were almost there.

  "Just drop me off by the elevators over there," Cris asked.

  "Sure thing."

  "Thank you."

  "No problem, Captain Salazar."

  Cris paused, and slowly looked back at the man behind the wheel. "You know who I am?"

  "Sure, but you don't appear to remember me. Ken Duval, with the US Lunar Mapping Section—you saved my life once."

  "Oh, yeah. Three of you were in a crushed LPC."

  "Look, Cris, I don't know what you're up to," Ken said, "and you're clearly up to something, but you look like hell. Are you all right?"

  "No, no…I'm not. But I will be in a couple of hours. Say—Ken—can you keep this little trip under your hat?"

  "I owe you my life, Cris. Of course I can."

  "Thanks." Cris shook the hand Ken offered.

  "Good luck, Captain, I honestly wish you every success."

  Cris waited until the jeep had driven out of the dome, then took the elevator up to the second floor. Here, now, was his next obstacle. Separating him from the flight deck where he counted five Eagles parked, was a wall with several glass partitions and a metal hatch.

  If he opened the door, a sensor would tell the duty officer that the door was opened and then every camera on the deck would turn on him. He'd be identified, and security would be sent for him. "Well, Cris, old boy, now you have to be as quick as Tattie."

  The door was automatically locked when there was no atmosphere on the flight deck, but the exterior bay doors were closed and the O2 sensor was green. He pushed the bar across the door's face, and it opened. He started running toward the Eagle that was closest to the hanger doors. He paused only a second when he noticed the ship was designated Eagle one. He climbed under and found the bottom hatch open and the ladder extended. In very little time, he was inside the ship with the hatches secured and prepping the main engines for start.

  ○O○

  Major Selina was sound asleep when her COMde went off.

  "Major Selina," she said tapping the chip in her temple to answer the call.

  "Ma'am, we have a lariat advance situation—rogue Eagle—I say again, rogue Eagle."

  ○O○

  Thirty minutes later, Major Selina was approaching dome seventeen. The regular entrance was closed due to the obvious risk to life, so she had to enter through the emergency exit. Fortunately, the low lunar gravity made climbing the stairs easy.

  Once in the control room, she walked straight up to Master Sergeant Alistair at the control panel.

  "What's happening, Chuck?"

  "Ma'am—ah, it's Cris."

  "What?"

  "He's inside Eagle one and prepping for flight. He's asked me to open the bay doors, says he's going back to Tattie—even if it kills him."

  "Patch me through, Chuck."

  Chuck pressed a button and nodded up at her.

  "Cris, this is Major Selina—talk to me. Please."

  "Hello, Kathy. Open the bay doors, will you?" Cris said calmly.

  "You know I can't do that, Cris. Tell me what you think you're doing."

  "Kathy, I've got it figured out. There's residual wormhole activity inside the crater. If I fly an Eagle in there, I'll be sent back to her."

  "Cris, there's nothing in what used to be Hohmann Crater. It's just a big, deep hole. Cris, the doctors want to send you home. Come out of there, and you can go home."

  "Kathy, I'm trying to go home!" Cris began to sound anxious and upset. "I've got to get home; won't you please help me go home?”

  "Ma'am," Chuck said, "the computer has overridden his control of the Eagle. His engines are down and will stay down. Shall I send in the assault team?"

  "No. Patch me through to the assault team leader."

  Chuck did so and nodded again at her.

  "Apache, this is Mother Bird actual. Over."

  "Mother Bird, this is Apache Leader. Over."

  "Apache Leader, that man in the Eagle is a decorated hero, he's ill. You will exercise due diligence, but you will bring Captain Salazar out alive. Do you understand?"

  "Mother Bird this is Apache Leader, roger. Over.”

  "This is Mother Bird, alright then—execute. Out.”

  ○O○

  Tarnus was sleeping in a chair in the dining room of the House of Healing when a nurse and Capek came trotting up to him. "Tarnus," Capek said, rousing him from his deep slumber, "Tattie is awake!"

  The three of them ran to her room.

  "Teaoh Tarnus?" Tattie said weakly.

  "I am with you my un genite." She was so weak. Tarnus's eyes filled, he understood this was perhaps the last draw of the bow before the release.

  "Teaoh—take me to the pond."

  "What pond, child?"

  "North of O'Arway Nifren."

  "Where?"

  "She means Galdo Heirya." Capek said, "the pond where she likes to swim."

  "Tattie," Tarnus took her hand, "are you sure? It will be dark before we get there."

  "Please, Teaoh, please. It is now time."

  Tarnus told the doctor of Tattie's wishes. He nodded, and said, "Yes, I think you know—she wishes to die where she has a fond memory of Cris. The pond is perhaps the nearest place, and she knows her time is upon her. Go, and be swift, Tarnus."

  Capek altered one of the seats on the Meerlow into a bed, loaded Tattie into it, and then the three of them headed for the ruins of Galdo Heirya. Capek landed in the same place he had landed their last visit to this idyllic spot. He turned on bright navigation lights so they could see, but Tattie asked that they be extinguished.

  Tarnus and Capek carried Tattie gently to the water's edge and, at her request, gently eased her into the waters of the natural spring. She was wearing the loose-fitting bedclothes provided by the healers. They were white in color, making it easier to see her in the dark water.

  Like an angel, she floated effortlessly out onto the waters, on her back, looking up into the vast expanse of stars.

  Tarnus followed her line of sight and he, too, looked upward into the heavens.

  Capek now also looked up. "What is it, brother, what do you see?"

  "She's wondering which of those stars Cris's Earth rotates around."

  Tarnus and Capek moved a short distance away. Tarnus's eyes returned to follow Tattie. Capek continued to gaze up at the stars. "She is wondering," Capek said, "which one to go to."

  "What do you mean?" Tarnus asked.

  "Once her spirit is free of her body, she will undoubtedly search every star in the galaxy looking for Cris, and I believe their love is such that she will find him immediately. I told Cris once that I wished I could cry."

  "And what did he tell you?"

  "He said I did not have to make tears to feel sorrow. Tarnus, I feel terrible sorrow just now. We have paid a very high price for this new freedom…Epney, Cris, and now Tattie…not to mention the uncounted dead across the system. How could one man have caused all this pain?"

  When they looked down into the pool again, Tattie was no place to be seen. Tarnus threw himself into the water and started diving, looking for her.

  His lungs straining for another breath, Tarnus returned to the surface after a particularly deep dive. Before he could take that breath, he heard Capek's voice call his name. He turned to see his gleaming brother holding Tattie's dripping wet bedclothes draped across his arms. Tarnus swam to the shore and pulled himself from the water. He slowly approached Capek and took the thing from him. He stood there silent, his eyes overflowing with tears. Capek put a hand on his shoulder, and Tarnus's great chest heaved as he wept unashamedly.

  The burst of light came as a sile
nt explosion. At first the beam, as big around as the pool, shot straight up into the air, vanishing into space, then it began to widen and, unbelievably, to brighten, until it seemed the entire sky had turned white and still the light grew, and became brighter yet…

  ○O○

  Six hundred kilometers above the Earth, the Sagan Quantum Space Telescope detected a burst of light at a location one point five million light years away. What remained unexplained was that it appeared to manifest itself to them at a speed far greater than the speed of light. Such a thing was simply not possible. The decision was made to recalibrate the telescope immediately.

  ○O○

  Apache Leader and his team of fifteen assault troops approached the Eagle slowly, well dispersed from two oblique directions. Their S-2 indicated the target was without power inside the Eagle, so he could not see to his rear. They were also told the target was unarmed, but Apache Leader knew that in the Eagle's survival kit was a 9 mm pistol and ammunition. They silently approached, weapons hot, muzzles up. There was no apparent movement inside the Eagle. They watched the portholes and the canopy. When Apache Leader gave the signal, Major Selina would open the Eagle's airlock from the control room.

  "Mother Bird, this is Apache Leader. Open it."

  "Apache Leader, this is Mother Bird. The airlock will open in five, four, three, two—"

  The airlock door burst open and there sat the silhouette of Captain Salazar in his flight suit. One arm leaning against the bulkhead with his head resting against it, he appeared to be asleep.

  Apache Leader advanced slowly toward the ship. "Captain Salazar? Sir, would you come with us please, this is all over now, sir. Captain?"

  As Apache Leader recorded it in his after-action report—the light seemed to grow out of the captain's chest, then instantly became blinding, brighter than any flash grenade he had ever used. As a matter of fact, no one on the assault team ever remembered seeing a brighter burst of light. A couple of the men who were closest said they felt the light penetrate their bodies.

  In the control room, everyone turned away from the windows. Major Selina thought, as did most, that a bomb had detonated. The light was so bright that it penetrated the metal walls of the dome, and caused people in several neighboring domes to cover their eyes.