by Colin Weldon
“May I come in?” he asked. She hesitated for a moment before throwing her arms around him and hugging him fiercely in the corridor of the ship. Her tears began to flow again. She pulled back her head and holding his face with her hands kissed him gently. With their foreheads touching, Chavel laughed.
“I’ll take that as a yes then,” he said. Carrie sniffed and nodded. She led him into her quarters by her hand. The two stood in the centre of the room and looked around.
“You okay?” he said, “I thought I’d lost you.” Carrie turned and faced him again, running her finger over his face. She nodded.
She had no idea what to say to the young navigator, so she started with an apology.
“I’m so sorry, David,” she said, “I should have told you earlier, but I thought…” she trailed off.
“Hey,” he said touching her face, “Plenty of time for all that. We just escaped our first contact with a killer planet, you have super powers and we’re lost somewhere in the galaxy, but first things first. You need a shower,” he said laughing.
She laughed with him for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime. She slapped him on the arm.
“Hey, you don’t smell too great yourself, hot shot,” she said.
“Yeah, well, fighting an alien robot will do that to a man. Don’t judge,” he said.
“Shut up. No more talking,” she whispered. She smiled at him before taking her hands and undoing the top button of his flight suit. She began softly kissing him as she continued. She closed off her mind to him. She was tired of listening to thoughts and just wanted to be with him. He reciprocated slowly releasing her from her jump suit. Seconds later they stood in the small pile of clothing, before she stood back and took his hand, leading him into the next room where the shower was. She activated it and led him into the steam filled cubical.
“John, I love you, save Carrie!”
Carrie jolted upright in the bed, opening her eyes, and taking a large intake of air. She could feel the familiar pounding of her heart as the image of her mother covered in The Black liquid echoed around her mind. The sheet fell to her waist and left her naked body exposed to the dim lighting of the nearby twin star system. She felt a warm hand on the small of her back.
“You OK?” said Chavel leaning into her.
She looked around at his concerned face and pulled damp hair behind her ears. She placed her hand on his solid chest and smiled.
“Bad dream again,” she said.
Chavel frowned. She wished she could find a way to shut off her brain at night. The nightmares were starting to become second nature and she dreaded going to sleep at night.
“When are you gonna tell me what’s really going on?” Chavel said gently to her while sitting upright.
He raised his hand up to her shoulder. She didn’t answer.
“Come on, Carrie, I think I’ve earned the right to be allowed inside that fortress of yours,” he said.
Carrie smiled. He had already been inside the fortress. Many times. She sighed and flopped back onto the bed covering herself up with the sheets. The sweat that had beaded down her chest was beginning to make her feel cold.
“I have had the same dream over and over again for the last year or so. Every night. The same one. I see my mother entering the cave and discovering The Black. I see her team sink into it. I see it take her and dissolve her skin and bones. I see her scream out to my father, then I wake up,” she said bullet pointing the experience.
“Jesus,” Chavel said.
“Yep,” she replied. She sighed and decided she would lay it bare. What the hell.
“David, there is something else you should know. Don’t freak out,” she said turning her eyes to his.
“Okay?” he replied, “You mean besides the fact that you shoot lightning bolts out of your hands?” he said raising his eyebrows, “Thanks for not electrocuting me by the way. I was a little nervous that the little David down there wasn’t going to make it out,”
Carrie couldn’t help laughing. She raised her hand up and grazed it against his cheek.
“Little David?” she said continuing to laugh.
Chavel shrugged proudly. The laughter subsided while Carrie gathered her thoughts. There was no easy way to put this, so she just came out and said it.
“I am telepathic,” she said looking straight into his eyes.
She waited while Chavel took what she had said on board.
“What do you mean?” he said looking confused.
“I am telepathic,” she replied again while trying to think of a simpler way to put it. “I can hear thoughts. Everyone’s thoughts. Yours, my father’s, everyone on board if I open my mind to them.”
Chavel sat upright. His mouth was open slightly as he was clearly taken aback by it.
“I don’t get it,” he said, “you can read my mind? As in right now, you can tell what I’m thinking?” he said.
“Yep,” Carrie said expecting him to jump out of bed and run out of the room screaming.
She knew he wouldn’t of course, as his mind was telling her that, while his shock was tangible, he wouldn’t leave her. She gave him a moment in silence as his eyes looked around the room trying to process what she had just said.
“Hang on a second,” he said, “You mean this entire time you have known exactly what I was thinking even before we were together?” he said.
“Pretty much, yes,” she said.
Chavel collapsed back onto the bed covering his face with his hands. She suddenly sensed embarrassment from him.
“Oh my God,” he said behind his fingers.
She leaned over and placed a hand on his chest. It really was embarrassment she was sensing.
“Oh my God what?” she said.
“I’m just remembering Tyrell’s lab. All those visits I made trying to get to talk to you. You must have known what I was thinking when I was talking to you,” he said still holding his hands over his face, “Jesus,” he said turning away from her.
He was of course referring to the highly sexual images that would replay over and over in his mind when they would shake hands. It was something she had learned to process from many of the male members of the colonists that she had encountered. It had been a natural male reaction that she knew was mostly instinctual, so she had been able to segment it into normal male behaviour.
“Hey,” she said pulling him back to face her, “I blocked a lot of that out, you have nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t care about that stuff. I knew you had genuine feelings beyond the physical. I would not have allowed you to kiss me otherwise,’ she said, “You don’t have to be telepathic to know a man wants to sleep with you, David.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, Carrie?” he said leaving his fingertips on his chin.
He had begun to sweat a little.
“I didn’t want you to think I was a freak,” she said withdrawing from him and lying back on the sheets.
Chavel leaned in towards her and kissed her gently on the cheek.
“First of all, I think all scientists are freaks. And second of all, I’m into hot scientist freaks,” he said smiling at her.
She frowned and threw a pillow at him striking him squarely in the face.
“Hey,” he said mockingly.
He took the extra pillow and propped up his own leaning against them.
“So, when did you know?” he asked.
“I have always known,” she replied, “Ever since I can remember, I could hear others. It was strongest with my mother. She knew when I was a baby. I would do things that other children would not,” she said.
“Such as?” Chavel said.
“Well… she would be at the dresser in our quarters wondering where an item of clothing was and I would suddenly appear with it. Stuff like that. At first she thought it was a coincidence, but then she would do it on purpose.”
“So you know everything about me?” Chavel said.
“No, it doesn’t work like that,” Carrie replied, seeing
a hint of disappointment in Chavel’s eyes, “I can only sense emotional states and thoughts at a given moment. If you are thinking about your past, then yes, I can look at that, but I cannot access closed memories.”
Chavel shook his head, then frowned.
“You could sense your mother’s death?” he asked.
Carrie’s dream came rushing back.
“Yes,” she said, “Vividly.”
“And that planet thing?” he asked.
“We got up close and personal, yes,” she said recalling the battle with the core of the Targlagdu.
Chavel looked at her and slowly shook his head.
“Doc Brubaker have any thoughts?” he said.
“She thinks it’s some sort of mutation caused either by a natural change in human biology or an interaction with solar radiation while I was still in the womb en route to Mars. In truth, she has no idea,” Carrie replied.
Chavel suddenly, but gently took Carrie by the hand and placed it on his chest. He looked deep into her striking blue eyes.
“Can you hear me?”
Carrie suddenly heard Chavel’s words in her mind. She smiled and nodded. She opened up her thoughts to his and connected with him. The bond became strong.
Yes, she thought.
“I want you to know that I am in love with you” he said leaning over and kissing her gently.
They kissed softly as the power of their connection grew. Carrie entered his mind as their thoughts began to converge in a storm of passion and free flowing ideas and feelings. Tears began to run down Carrie’s face as a wave of euphoria spread across her body. She threw her arms around him forcing him back onto the bed and wrapped her legs around his torso. They merged into one body and mind as they passionately began to make love. For the first time since Carrie could remember, in that moment, she finally knew what happiness could feel like.
5
The Kandinsky
General Charles Escat watched the small vessels on the view screen in front of him. He had ordered a weapons lock on them the moment they had docked and had personally kept a close eye on the ships while they were attached to Earth One. Especially The Unity. He dreamed of blowing it out of the stars with Elstone at the helm. One quick order from his lips and poof!, no more Aron Elstone. The little shit and his silly little followers would no longer present any sort of threat. Arturo had told him that under no circumstances was he to engage with The Unity without explicit orders and Escat’s loyalty was unwavering. As far as he was concerned, Arturo was God. His faith never waned in that God. Still… Poof! He saw rebellion in Elstone’s eyes. He knew a traitor when he saw one and if he ever found out the truth about his daughter, he would have to be taken care of quickly. A father’s insanity for a lost child would be uncontrollable. He watched the blinking running lights on the hull of The Unity and wondered if Elstone was on board yet. The only thing that had stopped him from slitting his throat a year earlier was Arturo’s order. Thoughts of that night at the colonial FTL briefing when Elstone had clocked him across the jaw came rushing back. The pair had been alone and had ‘dropped ranks’ following an argument about food rationing. He had to admit Elstone had a fine right hook on him. Escat had drawn his blade and was about to run him through, but orders were orders, and he had never disobeyed a direct one from the chancellor. He had simply rubbed his jaw and smiled.
“Someday we’ll meet on a proper battlefield, my friend, and you won’t see my eyes. Just my guns,” he had said.
“Here’s hoping,” the defiant Elstone had said. In another life he would have probably been one of his best soldiers instead of a scrappy unkempt little upstart. He knew Stanley would more than likely take care of the problem in deep space during this ridiculous assignment they were about to go on. Following his briefing from Arturo about The Agathon signal earlier in the day, he had known that Elstone was more than likely about to be retired.
Pity, he thought.
“General, the tracking beacon is ready for deployment,” said a young man dressed in a dark jumpsuit.
“Understood,” replied Escat, “Do it quietly,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” the young man replied, moving away from the general. He looked back at The Unity and smiled. A small proviso that the chancellor had allowed the general, was complete autonomy when it came to defending Earth One from the threat of insurrection. In such circumstances, lethal force was to be employed with extreme prejudice. The Kandinsky outgunned The Unity ten to one and while the small ship was faster and more manoeuvrable all he needed was one clean shot from one of the enormous pulse cannons mounted onto its hull ... and poof! Elstone was a hot head and the general planned on using that to his advantage very soon.
“See you on the battlefield, my friend,” he said to the view screen.
The Unity
The procedure for dealing with the dead in the colony was simple. Due to the risk of infection, bodies were disposed of quickly by assigning them to deep space through an airlock. Aron’s wife, Jennifer, had suffered a postpartum haemorrhage after the birth of their baby girl. While the child had been born healthy, he had been told that there had been complications and she had been whisked away to isolation for observation. He had only held her tiny fingers for a few seconds before she had been bundled up and removed from the surgical chambers. He had been allowed to say a brief goodbye to his dying wife before she too was isolated. The next morning there had been a small service outside the main airlock before her body had been blown out into nothingness. A few days later he had simply been told that the child had not survived and that due to genetic illness, the body had to be incinerated. He owed India his life after that. She stood guard over him for nearly six maddening months as he pleaded with her to let him airlock himself. She had to stun him a few times with a pulse gun to stop him from doing it. Emerging from the darkness had taken its toll on their friendship and while deep down he harboured some resentment towards her for not letting him choose to die, he was forever in her debt.
He had called his daughter Maya and for one brief moment he had known what happiness was. The only thing he had to remind him of her, was a tiny ankle bracelet, which sat neatly on a small locker in his quarters on board The Unity. He sat on the edge of his bunk and twirled it round his fingers. It helped him think.
“The Agathon,” he whispered to himself, “You hear that Maya? She’s out there. Bet you didn’t see that one coming, ay?” He looked out the small porthole.
“He’s here to kill me you know,” he said softly, “Maybe I should let him, then we can finally meet face to face.”
A chime rang indicating someone was at the door.
“Come,” he said placing the bracelet back on the locker.
The door opened and India stepped into the room.
“Sorry for interrupting, sir, but we’re locked up here, ready to go. Our passenger is on the flight deck,” she said. He smiled at her.
“Sir, no disrespect, but what the fuck is he doing on my flight deck?” she said.
Aron stood and walked over to the woman placing a hand on her shoulder.
“I needed help controlling you,” he said.
“Not funny,” she replied, “You don’t actually think we’re going to make contact with The Agathon, do you?”
Aron took a deep breath in.
“I really hope so. Just remember what we talked about when he makes his move. Stay sharp,” he said.
He opened up the locker and pulled out a bottle.
“Have a seat,” he said slapping his bunk. She raised an eyebrow and walked gracefully over to him sitting on the bed next to him. He took a metal cup sitting on the locker and poured a glass of clear liquid.
“What’s this?” India said taking the cup as he handed it to her.
“A little something one of the boys cooked up. Careful, I think Ollie uses it to clean the engine manifolds,” he said.
India smiled.
“What should we toast to?” she said softly looking into
his eyes. Aron took another metal container and poured himself a glass.
“To Maya,” he said after a moment. India looked at the ground.
“To Maya,” she replied taking the cup and downing the liquid all in one. Aron took a sip and felt his throat explode as the powerful liquor ran into his mouth. India coughed.
“Jesus,” she said wiping her mouth.
“Yeah,” replied Aron through a splutter, “Okay, let’s do this thing.”
She nodded as he led her out of his quarters and into the hallways of The Unity.
“He’s a barrel of laughs this one,” she said as they strolled through the corridors. The Unity was a simple ship. Aron had given the crew a bit of creative freedom with the interior design instructing them to try and liven up the exposed conduits and meters of exposed pipework along the walls. Oliver Jones fancied himself an artist and had welded sheet metal in varying shapes and sizes along the bulkheads giving them some character. It had become somewhat of a competition among the crews of the other ships, but Aron had to admit that he had done a fantastic job. The Unity had become a work of art. The crew of just under one hundred scurried about the halls doing various things. They saluted him as he passed and smiled. Most looked tired after a long haul of mining and were looking forward to some R&R, but they never complained.
They made their way through the ship towards the flight deck checking in with the crew as they went. When they arrived at the main entrance to the cockpit, Aron stopped and turned to India.
“Be calm,” he said looking at her.
“Always,” she said smiling.
He pressed the control panel and entered the code releasing the door mechanism. It swung open and they stepped inside. Hector Stanley was sitting neatly in India’s flight chair and pressing some buttons on the control panel.
“Ahem,” she said getting his attention. He stood ominously and rounded the chair staring at both of them. Aron could feel the tension mounting as the pair faced off.
