by Chad Spencer
“But,” Danae countered, “if the same dairei has been causing trouble since 1487, then who’s to say he can’t come back and cause more trouble? Or who’s to say another one can’t come along and make things even worse? Are we really going to leave the Alliance unprotected?”
Sourly, Rick pointed out, “Are we really going to help them after they turned on us?”
“The dairei could enslave the whole human race!” objected Danae. “Do you want that to happen? We may have the power to save them.”
Jeff thought, ‘I don’t want to deal with this right now.’ He asserted, “Whatever’s happening, we shouldn’t just go running off across the galaxy by ourselves because Eden tells us to. Before we can decide anything, we need more information from Eden, more information about the dairei, and more time to make a plan. And we need to talk to some adults. My dad is a really good person to go to for advice. We need to talk to Governor Connors and Señor Otero too. We gotta be smart about this and they’ll help us do that.”
The others agreed that this was the best way to move forward. Thinking it best to end the discussion, Jeff stood and turned to go. “I need to work on my shuttle pod,” he declared as he strode toward an exit.
Making his way through the Lethbridge Drift, Jeff arrived at a cargo bay that was being used as a shuttle maintenance area. His shuttle sat serenely parked near the cargo bay’s huge external doors as if it was waiting for him. Grabbing his tools from inside his shuttle, Jeff called Arvix on his gridPhone. The robot arrived just as Jeff was removing some of the shuttle’s external plating.
“Arvix,” he instructed, “move those hull plates over there.”
“Yes, Master Jeff,” the automaton promptly obeyed. Arvix moved the hull plates and laid out the tools Jeff would need.
‘He’s a lot better to have around now that he’s got a better brain,’ thought Jeff. ‘He never could have figured out what I needed in advance before. I always had to tell him.’
Jeff plunged his arms into the shuttle’s exposed internals and told Arvix to come and hand him tools. Working steadily, he was able to clean away the buildup of ionized space dust from the modulation ring on the shuttle’s main gravity mirror.
As Arvix handed Jeff a tool, he heard a quiet “a-hem” behind him. Turning, Jeff saw that Harriet was standing nearby. Apprehensively, he greeted, “Uh, hi Harriet. How’s it going?”
“I thought,” she began, “I thought maybe we could talk for a minute.”
“S … sure,” he replied anxiously. ‘I wonder if she’s gonna get mad?’ he thought.
Nervously twisting a lock of her long, red hair, Harriet explained, “I wanted to talk about you and Amanda.”
‘I wonder if I should put up my shield?’ Jeff worried.
Harriet reached behind her back with her right hand and grabbed her left arm, which hung stiffly by her side. “I want to know how you really feel about her and how you really feel about me.” She shifted her stance, crossing her right leg in front of her left. She looked as if any kind of breeze at all could blow her over.
‘I wonder if I can fly fast enough to make an escape?’ speculated Jeff fearfully.
Flailing her left hand, Harriet continued, “I want to know if you’ve already chosen Amanda or what.”
‘Zaret save me,’ Jeff pleaded silently. He felt like he was in front of a firing squad.
Harriet stood awkwardly waiting for his answer. Jeff observed a look of realization pass across her face. Then she said, “Jeff, you look like you’re in front of a firing squad.”
“Er,” he managed to say. “Uuuuuhm,” he added.
Harriet rolled her eyes and sighed. “Jeff,” she said, “one of the reasons I like you so much is because you’re such a nice guy. But sometimes I wish you would stand up for yourself a little more. I mean, you stand up to people you’re not close to. But you don’t like fights with people you care about. Sometimes you just need to fight back even if it hurts the feelings of the people you love. You can’t always get along with people, Jeff. There’s got to be sometimes when you fight. Remember that there’s such a thing as making up afterward.”
Sighing, Harriet added, “I know I had a real temper when we were younger, but I’ve grown up a lot since then. I’ve been through a lot and learned to handle myself pretty well. You don’t need to be terrified that I might explode, you know. And even if I did, you could get mad at me right back.”
‘She’s right,’ thought Jeff. ‘In some ways I may be too nice.’
Withdrawing his arm from the guts of the shuttle pod, Jeff handed Arvix his tools and turned toward Harriet. Arvix immediately waved a photonic cleaner over Jeff’s hands and arms to remove the grime from them. Jeff gazed at his hands as Arvix cleaned them, giving himself time to think.
‘It’s time for me to be blunt,’ Jeff instructed himself. But he wasn’t quite sure what to say.
At last, when he could drag the silence out no further, Jeff muttered, “When my mom died, my dad was angry a lot. He said it’s normal when someone you love dies like that. I don’t really understand it much but …”
Sighing, Jeff continued, “Dad kept it bottled up and we never talked about it until we were living on planet Akio. But when we did, I realized that I spent a lot of time when I was little trying not to make him angrier. Now that you’re here telling me I’m too nice, I guess that’s where that comes from. It’s funny; I’m ok with getting mad at people I don’t care much about. Like I could really strangle that Tiffany girl sometimes.”
Nodding, Harriet agreed, “We all want to strangle Tiffany sometimes. But don’t be too hard on her, Jeff. She had a hard time growing up too. There are good reasons why she’s like she is.”
Jeff just shrugged. So Harriet asked, “What about us?”
Not sure how to answer, Jeff said, “Relationships happen fast in this colony. Everybody says I should choose a girl now before they’re all taken.”
He paused and thoughtfully gazed at her. “I’m lucky enough to have two girls interested in me.”
“I’m a lot more than interested in you Jeff.”
“But … but you were a lot more than interested in that Leo guy too.”
Jeff heard Harriet mutter something about “that jarking Tiffany” under her breath. Then she stated tightly, “Leo’s dead. I never stopped loving you, Jeff. I just thought I’d never see you again.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Me too. That’s why Amanda’s my girlfriend now.”
“So you’re saying I should move on?”
“I just started going out with Amanda. You and I have a history. But that was three years ago. My family just found out I have korei. It was hard, Harriet, really hard. Porsche wouldn’t even get near Danae or me for a while. She made Denise move in with her and Dad instead of being with Danae. That was real hard on both of them.”
Jeff stared momentarily into the distance, looking at nothing in particular. “Dad’s doing his best to be understanding. He knows that Danae and I really need him right now and he’s trying hard to be there for us. I never realized how great a dad he is. After my mother died … he wasn’t really there for me. Akio’s mother kind of took over for both Dad and Mom. I really understand now why he was the way he was. He lost so much when she died. There were times when he was a jerk to me, mostly after he met Porsche. But this time he’s sticking by me.”
Pausing, he drew a deep breath and let it out very slowly. “I guess that doesn’t have anything to do with you and me. But somehow it does. I can only handle so much right now, Harriet. I can’t give you any kind of answer–not about marriage. I just can’t. Do you really need one right now this minute?”
She shook her head. “No, Jeff. I don’t. I can wait as long as I want to. There’ll always be someone around who will want me. But what about you?”
Scratching his head vigorously, Jeff growled, “I don’t know. I just can’t think about it now. But I’m with Amanda now. To tell you the truth, Harriet, I really am starting to see a future for Am
anda and me.”
“So you’re saying I should move on?”
“I’m not saying Amanda and I are getting married. But I think … it’s probably best for you to not wait around for me.”
Jeff could clearly see the hurt in Harriet’s face. He wanted to make it better for her. But there was really nothing he could say.
“I guess …” Harriet finally responded, “… that I’ve become the girl from yesterday.” Tears flowed down her face.
‘What can I say?’ wondered Jeff helplessly. ‘What can I do?’
“Jeff, I want you to know that no matter what, I’ll always think of you as my best friend in the entire universe.”
“Th … thanks, Harriet. I want to stay friends.”
“Once I thought that you and me and Akio would last forever. It would always be the three of us. But the universe took you both away. And now you have someone new. But it’s ok, Jeff. It’s ok. I finally realize that real life is that way. Nothing stays the same. Sometimes, no matter how much you love someone, you have to move on.”
Very, very sadly, Jeff told her, “I never wanted to hurt you, Harriet. You’ve got to believe that. It was memories of you that kept me going when I was marooned alone on planet Akio for a year. I always thought it would be you and me. But everything’s different now. And I just can’t see a way to go back.”
“Well,” Harriet continued, “I want you to know I’m sorry. I haven’t been very nice to Amanda and probably not to you either. So I’m really sorry. I won’t do that any more.” She turned, as if to leave but then stopped. Looking back to Jeff, Harriet said, “You need to do what’s best for you, Jeff. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”
Impressed by her kindness, Jeff was about to reply when his gridPhone rang. He pulled it from his pocket, touched an icon. Irritated at being interrupted, he barked, “Hello” at the video feed that appeared.
Akio’s face looked taut as he said, “Jeff, I think you should get on your shuttle’s comm system and look at a message that’s coming into the colony. It’s from your dad.”
Scrambling into the shuttle with Harriet close behind, Jeff activated the comm system and scanned all frequencies. Radio traffic was dead silent except for one channel. He pulled up the video.
“It’s definitely a wormhole,” Kent’s voice declared. The video pulled in on a pulsating blue sphere of indeterminate size. “It’s not one of the fragments from the wormhole collapse. Those are invisible. You can clearly see this one, so it has to be generated by a hypergate or a gateship.” The sphere’s pulsating slowed visibly. “It’s reached full size for a ship to pass through and it looks like it’s stabilizing. If something’s coming, it will come soon.”
Jeff slammed his hand on the comm panel to broadcast. “Dad,” he cautioned. “Where are you? You should get away from that until we can get some fighters out there. We don’t know who that might be.”
“He can’t hear you, Jeff,” Akio explained. “At least, not yet. That broadcast is coming from outside this star system. His transmission is half an hour or so old.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” agreed Jeff. “He went out there for another load of water. If we take your fighter, how fast can we get to him?”
“We can be there in seven hours,” replied Akio. “He’s not that far outside the system.”
From the main viewscreen, Kent’s voice announced, “I was right! A ship is coming through.”
A large golden sphere emerged from the wormhole. It seemed to pause a moment as if taking stock of its surroundings. Then it vectored directly toward the Porsche’s Haven.
“It’s coming right at us,” Kent stated warily. “I don’t like that much. It’s made no attempt to contact us. Dirk, fire up the engines and get us out of here–full speed.”
In the background, Jeff heard Dirk respond, “Accelerating away.” The video feed shook slightly as the ship rumbled into motion. Jeff heard Mamsen Black, the communications officer on the Porsche’s Haven, exclaim, “It’s coming after us!”
It was true. The spherical ship was clearly getting closer to the Porsche’s Haven.
“Akio!” shouted Jeff. “We’ve got to get out there now! I’m coming to the Hiryu as fast as I can.”
“Don’t bother,” Akio shot back. “I’ll send Kasumi for you.”
Abruptly, Kasumi appeared out of nowhere. “Are you both going?” she asked.
“Yes!” exclaimed Harriet.
The next thing Jeff knew, he was surrounded by blackness and feeling like he was falling in every direction at once. He appeared abruptly on the bridge of the Hiryu. Akio nodded a greeting and told him, “I sent Sebastian to pick up Amanda and Danae.”
He barely finished speaking when Sebastian appeared with the two girls. Surprisingly, Tiffany was with them.
“I told you I don’t want to go!” Tiffany hissed at Sebastian. Unflinchingly, Sebastian shot back, “If there’s going to be a fight, we need everyone to help. Captain’s orders.”
Tiffany rounded on Akio with white-hot electric sparks dancing up her arms from her hands.
“KANGAROO!” screamed Hugh, pointing.
Screaming, Tiffany declared, “THAT WON’T WORK AGAIN, HUGH!”
A kangaroo popped out from behind one of the gunners’ seats, leaped through the air, and landed in front of a dumbfounded Tiffany. It grabbed her neck with its tiny arms and planted a huge kiss on her lips.
With eyes as wide as saucers, Tiffany froze. Jeff was speechless until Harriet said, “Hugh, please stop. Your illusion is a good distraction, but what we need is to get going as soon as possible.”
Tiffany glared at Hugh with death in her eyes. Anticipating what was coming, Jeff cast his shield around Hugh just as Tiffany tossed a bolt of lightning at him. Hugh teleported from the bridge.
“STOP!” Jeff screamed. “My family is out there with a ship coming at them! They might be in real trouble! If you can help, you’re going to!”
Tiffany pulled back, and then glared at Jeff. Before Jeff could react, Tiffany nailed him with a blast of lightning. Jeff was knocked down, but otherwise unfazed.
“That won’t work!” he yelled furiously, jumping to his feet. “I’ve got lightning too!” He zapped Tiffany with a small bolt, jolting her a bit but not hurting her.
Akio interrupted with, “If you two are done, I just thought I’d let you know that we’re already under way.”
“WHAT?” screeched Tiffany.
“I cast off while you were throwing your tantrum,” hissed Akio. “And now you’re going to control yourself. You’re on my ship and on my ship, people follow my orders and I say we’re all going out to help Jeff’s family.”
Jeff noticed that the room was growing dark–especially around Akio and Tiffany. The color drained from Tiffany’s face and Jeff could see that she was shaking slightly.
“I’m the Captain here,” Akio growled in an unnaturally deep voice that seemed to come from everywhere. “When I say fight, you fight. When I say eat, you eat. When I say sleep, you sleep.”
By now the darkness was so thick that Jeff could hardly see across the bridge. Tiffany was clearly cowed, but still trying to put up a defiant front. Stiffly, she asserted, “I’m, hungry. I want a meal.”
Akio pointed aft. “Go tell Ikko. Eat and get some rest. There may be a fight when we get there. Get ready.”
With as much bravado as she could manage, Tiffany stomped from the room. As soon as she was gone, Akio fell into the pilot’s chair like a rag doll. The darkness rapidly dispersed from the room.
Stunned, Hugh asked, “How … how did you do that? That’s the first time I’ve ever seen anybody stand up to her like that.”
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Akio mumbled, “I can’t have her acting like that on my ship. It’s dangerous for everyone on board.” Then slumping in his chair even further, Akio heaved a huge sigh.
Jeff observed that Nuraiyana was acting as the computer and communications officer. “Is there anything new from Dad
?” he asked her.
“They’re still on the run,” Nuraiyana answered. “Before you got here, the Captain ordered me to call Señor Otero and have him bring the Libertad so its fighters would be available as well. He just signaled that they’re about thirty minutes from getting under way.”
Touching the control panel in front of her, Nuraiyana displayed the video feed from the Porsche’s Haven. Jeff was shocked to see that the golden ship was ominously close.
“Do you want to send them a message?” offered Nuraiyana.
Nodding, Jeff moved to the comm panel. “Dad,” he called out. “We’re on our way in Akio’s fighter. The Libertad is coming too. Just stay away from that ship until we get there. Transmission ends.”
Behind him, Jeff heard Kenji ask, “Can they do that? Can they avoid that ship until we get there to help them?”
Nuraiyana’s large, sad eyes settled on Jeff. Slowly, she shook her head.
“What’s going to happen to them when that ship catches up to them?” Jeff asked, even though he knew that no one could answer.
As if in reply, Kent yelled from the main viewscreen, “It’s scanning us. The golden ship is scanning us.”
Nuraiyana announced, “We’re getting another transmission. It’s from the golden ship.”
An image appeared on the viewscreen that was so stunning that Jeff nearly fell over. Four crab men stood placidly looking out at them. They spoke to each other in sounds that could only be described as hissing and clicking. One of the crab men stood before the viewscreen, gazing into it. In a belabored voice, it half-whispered, “Chaff Poomahn.”
The one thing that every human being recognizes no matter how badly it is pronounced is his own name. And Jeff knew that the crab man had just spoken his.
“He … he’s saying my name,” Jeff stammered.
Again, the crab man called out, “Chaff Poomahn. Neeeeed whew.”
Harriet asked, “Did … did he just say he needs you, Jeff?”
Numbly, Jeff turned to Nuraiyana. “Send a video transmission to them,” he directed. Nuraiyana glanced back at Akio, who nodded his permission.
Standing before the viewscreen, Jeff called out, “I … I’m Jeff Bowman. I’m coming to you as fast as I can. Please leave the other ship alone. I’ll come willingly if you’ll just leave them alone. Jeff Bowman out.”
