Star Road

by Matthew Costello

Not very reassuring. There was still some buildup he hadn’t removed.

  But had he removed enough so they could get going again?

  He heard the weakness, the shallowness in his voice. He didn’t want to show panic ... or pain ... and he hated not finishing the job.

  But then he looked down and saw that his left leg—the one taking the brunt of the storm—now glowed white-hot.

  “Oh, no ...”

  ~ * ~

  “Jordan. I have to get more speed,” Annie said.

  Her focus was on the forward view, and she didn’t like what she saw.

  The storm bearing down on them, and so many more bugs.

  Can’t count them ...

  And how many more were hidden behind the cone of light and sparks that surrounded the SRV?

  “If he doesn’t get in here soon,” Jordan said, “he’s dead meat.”

  Annie toggled the mic switch.

  “McGowan. Get into the airlock pronto.”

  No reply.

  “McGowan! What’s going on out there?”

  Still no reply.

  Is he already dead?

  On the monitor, his body looked oddly misshapen as it trailed sparks into the void, like a statue of sand being blown away by swirling winds.

  And then she saw him slump, lurching to one side.

  “Go, Annie. Just go. Don’t wait... for me!”

  ~ * ~

  I’m not being brave...just realistic, he told himself.

  He stared down at his left leg, watching the fabric of his miner’s suit shred and flake away in large chunks.

  And then the blinding pain. The constriction around his upper thigh. Dull... and cold ... numbing.

  “Leg rupture imminent. Zero atmospheres. Prepare for extreme life support.”

  He groaned and slumped to the side, shifting all of his weight onto his right leg.

  “Executing extreme life support measures.”

  He collapsed completely as his left leg suddenly ripped away from him. His head smacked against the hull. Hard enough to jolt his vision. A metal clang rang like a gong inside his helmet.

  His leg rolled away and disappeared over the side of the vehicle.

  “Oh, sweet Jesus!”

  The captain’s voice in his ear ... filled with panic.

  “The vents ... they’re as clear as I could get ‘em,” McGowan said. It struck him as odd that he could think and speak so clearly. He knew about “extreme life support” situations, and he’d always thought—or hoped, anyway—he would remain calm if it ever happened to him.

  You’re doing good.

  “So boost it, Captain. Get the hell—”

  “Get back into the—”

  “There’s no time for that!”

  “But you’ll be ...”

  Before she could finish the thought, McGowan got up into an awkward kneeling position ... so hard to do with just one arm and one leg.

  He supported himself as best he could, struggling to maintain his balance as he stood up ... and then pushed off the SRV.

  And onto the Road.

  ~ * ~

  McGowan didn’t feel the impact when he hit the Road.

  He felt like he was floating. Spinning out of control.

  His only clear thought was: If that Chippie back there in the SRV is getting this, she’ll probably lose her mind.

  He lay there on the Road for what seemed forever. Weird energies surrounded him. And then a strange insectlike head with wide, gnashing metal jaws loomed above him.

  And descended.

  It was about to destroy him.

  And yet, McGowan felt something else ... something more than his imminent death.

  In an instant, he learned things about the Star Road that no human was ever supposed to or probably would ever want to learn.

  ~ * ~

  THREE

  THE DEATH STATIONS

  ~ * ~

  17

  EXIT POINT

  A sudden shriek bubbled up from somewhere deep inside Sinjira.

  Everyone in the SRV turned to look at her, but all she could see and think and feel was the last burst of “experience” she had gotten from McGowan before he hit the Road and the transmission shut off.

  What was it?

  What did it mean?

  Like seeing a vid run at light speed.

  Then gone.

  She had felt his panic and horrible pain when he lost his arm, then his leg. And his sorrow, bringing her to tears, making her tremble when he realized he would have to die.

  So brave. So defiant right up to the end.

  Not at all like me, she thought.

  And then: she couldn’t explain it.

  Not even close.

  She had “experienced” things that she doubted she would ever begin to understand.

  She looked around at the faces staring at her.

  Their eyes. So wide. Staring at her with ... with what?

  Fear?

  Concern?

  Pity?

  They have no fucking clue.

  I was there... with him.

  The images ... the emotions and thoughts that flashed through her mind had been almost too much to handle.

  Even now, she remained shaken, immobile.

  Drawing her legs up so they pressed tightly against her chest, she covered her mouth with both hands. Eyes wide as she tried to absorb what she—and McGowan—had been through.

  Together.

  Then, despite all eyes on her, she started sobbing.

  ~ * ~

  No time for regrets, Annie thought.

  McGowan knew the odds... that the worse could happen. And in the end, he had jumped. He made a choice.

  The SRV started gaining speed. She could see by the readouts that it was halting—sporadic—but moving. And the heat levels started to drop.

  McGowan had done what he’d set out to do.

  He saved us.

  She thought of what happened when his body hit the Road ... and the Road Bugs swept over him.

  She hoped he was dead before they got there.

  “He did what he had to do,” Jordan said, echoing her thoughts.

  Annie nodded, keeping her eyes fixed on the fast-approaching portal. She worried about what might be going on with her passengers. The fear. The panic.

  But right now, she had more important things to attend to.

  She turned on the link to the cabin.

  “We’re approaching the Nakai System Portal. Please ... everyone into your seats ... fasten harnesses.”

  She looked straight ahead.

  We have the speed we need, but will it hold steady for the Nakai Portal?

  The palms of her hands were sweaty.

  That didn’t usually happen. But now? Who knew?

  McGowan died to get us out of here... so don’t muck it up now.

  They came closer and closer to the portal. Its display of light and seething energy on the screen were as fascinating as ever.

  But Annie could only wonder if in spite of McGowan’s sacrifice, they might not make it after all.

  There wasn’t much room for error. If they hit the portal at the wrong speed—or the wrong vector—then ...

  She blocked such thoughts from her mind.

  “Steady as she goes,” Jordan said, his voice calm and steady, cutting like a knife through her unsettled thoughts.

  Good old Jordan.

  So much more than just a gunner.

  Focus... this is where you earn your pay.

  The nose of the SRV hit the portal with a slamming jolt that tested the vehicle’s framework.

  The relative shortening of physical reality hit harder this time. A wave of roadsickness swept over Annie. Something that never happened to her.

  As her hands flicked over the controls—boosting, adjusting—that old, familiar detachment settled over her.

  “It’s gon
na be all right,” she said, not caring if she spoke her thoughts out loud. She didn’t glance at Jordan; he wouldn’t have reacted anyway.

  And then they were through the portal.

  ~ * ~

  Traveling at blinding speed, SRV-66 burst through the portal and angled down toward a long, narrow stretch of landing ramp. Bright sunlight with an odd blue glow filled the cabin with a weird, shadowless light.

  Annie let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.

  The landing gear dropped into place, and the SRV touched down on the ramp with a heavy thud that shook every bolt in the vehicle.

  We made it.

  She finally took a moment to look over at Jordan.

  Surprised to see the faint trace of a smile.

  “Closer than I’d like,” she said as she pressed the button on the commlink. “Not much of a ramp.” Then—all business, “Nakai Control Tower, this is SRV-66, requesting an emergency landing plan at the terminal.”

  “Nakai,” Jordan said. He squinted and leaned forward, looking out the front window at the alien world.

  Annie nodded.

  “New to me. Never been here before,” Jordan added.

  The scene outside wasn’t inviting.

  The way station was all but lost in a distant blue haze that wrapped the world like dense smog. Only this smog wasn’t from any industry. The immediate landscape was a stark desert with little evidence of vegetation, other than some small, scraggly growths that looked more like carved rock than trees.

  No other signs of life at all.

  “Not much reason to come here.” Annie glanced at him. “We’re off the usual grid.”

  “But alive.”

  “Yeah.”

  ~ * ~

  Ruth fought to maintain her composure in front of the other passengers. She had been afraid that she was— that all of them were going to die.

  Die on the Road.

  Wouldn’t a true Seeker want that?

  Maybe... but not with so many secrets still to learn.

  Gage walked back from the gun turret to get ready for the landing

  He fell into his seat without saying a word. The Chippie, still curled up, had at least stopped crying.

  If she had still been connected to McGowan ... what did she see? Ruth wondered.

  She was mortified that a part of her wished she had been chipped when he fell.

  What might she have seen and learned, experiencing someone else’s death?

  Then she turned to Gage. “Where are we?” A tremor in her voice.

  But it was Nahara who turned and said, “Secondary Way Station is my guess.”

  She looked back and forth between him and Gage.

  “What system?”

  “Have to ask the captain that.”

  She preferred to talk with Gage. Somehow he exuded strength she found ... comforting.

  Nahara made her feel all the more scared.

  “Don’t you think we should turn back?” she asked Gage.

  A faint smile played across his lips.

  “Not very likely.”

  “The way I see it,” Rodriguez piped in, “McGowan sacrificed himself so we could go on.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Ruth masked her anger as best she could. “Just like that? You write off the life of a man?”

  “One life to save the rest of us?” Rodriguez’s expression was flat. Emotionless. “Seems fair to me.”

  “He knew the risks,” Gage said. “It was ... a sacrifice. Best to remember him that way.”

  “What’s the matter, Seeker?” Nahara’s voice was low ... and ice cold. “Losing some of your zeal to find the Builders?”

  “It’s not that, but I—without the troop ship—we may be in more danger than we can handle.”

  She saw Gage smile at that.

  Yes, she definitely felt better around him. Still...

  “Does anyone else think we should turn back? Get some help from the World Council before we go any farther?”

  She turned to the Chippie. An unlikely ally.

  Sinjira stared at her for a heartbeat or two. Eyes unblinking. Then she looked away.

  Faintly, Sinjira said: “After what I’ve seen ... I don’t care either way.”

  “You’re all right with going on? Just so you can make more chips?”

  Sinjira shook her head slowly from side to side as if she had heard this all before.

  “You recorded a man dying, and you—you’re going to sell that?”

  Her eyes refocused on Ruth. “It may be pain they like, but it also may be their pleasure. Don’t forget that.”

  Frustrated—and outnumbered—Ruth looked away to stare out the side window, watching as the landscape flew by in a blue blur.

  There’s no going back now...

  No help coming.

  She had wanted to be on the Road.

  And now, here she was.

  ~ * ~

  The station remained silent.

  “The ion storm might’ve knocked out the commlink.”

  Biting her lower lip, Annie nodded.

  “Not sure. Looks ... okay ... no?”

  All systems checked out. But there still could be all kinds of shorts and glitches, giving a false reading. She toggled the switch a few times. The monitor showed she was broadcasting.

  “Control tower. Do you read me?”

  Nothing.

  She looked at Jordan. His face pale in the wash of the blue light. Ghostly. Then she checked the radar for the immediate area.

  Nothing.

  “This ain’t right,” she said. “There’s no traffic anywhere.”

  Jordan shook his head.

  “Not good.”

  “We’ll have to raw dog it,” Annie said.

  Jordan smiled. “Do you even know what that means?”

  “Sure I do,” she said. Now smiling as well. Then, she shook her head. “No,” and Jordan laughed.

  She laughed, too. After such tension, it felt good to laugh.

  She was still smiling as she steered the SRV along the winding roads and ramps leading up to the way station terminal.

  “I don’t like it,” she said as they approached the small service area. “No one out. Not even a ground crew.”

  “Pretty damn quiet.”

  She looked out at the deserted station.

  Dust devils swirled along the tarmac, like a ghost town from one of the many ancient Western movies she used to watch as a kid.

  Powering down the engines, she rolled SRV-66 into the terminal.

  “So, we’ll have to de-ionize and recalibrate on our own.”

  “Done it before,” Jordan said. “No biggie.”

  “No big deal when you’re in a service bay, anyway.”

  Annie shuddered at the memory of McGowan, but she was sure Jordan could handle it.

  But not before they checked out the station.

  ~ * ~

  This is bad... really bad.

  The thought kept circling in Nahara’s mind.

  When the cockpit door opened, and first Captain Scott and then the gunner, Jordan, came down, the only thought in his paranoid mind was: Maybe they’re on to me.

  Captain Scott looked at the passengers—but especially me, Nahara thought—taking them all in at a glance.

  Evaluating them.

  “Where are we?” Rodriguez asked.

  “Well, Doc, after what we just went through, we’re lucky to be on solid ground.”