Constans drew his hand away quickly. “Perhaps we shouldn’t yet. Let’s walk.”
“Shouldn’t we check the ship’s status?” Uther questioned as they left the sleeping chamber through a hissing door.
“I cannot think yet. Please, let’s walk.”
Walking in silence for as long as he could, Uther tried to distract himself by looking around himself. The ship appeared spotless and clean. The grey, soft ground proved as hard to walk on as he remembered before their sleeping days. He wondered if Constans would ever finish explaining the false gravity to him. He asked about it just before they went to sleep. He remembered waiting near the room where his father had told him to stand, watching the others be put down.
Uther remembered a lot of waiting in his life. Being the younger brother and ever since his second brother’s mysterious death as a child, he always seemed to be waiting for something or waiting on someone. Waiting for his father to notice him. Waiting for Constans to take care of him. Waiting for a reply to the academy to accept him for training. The ship may have been the size of a dwarf star, but to him, it was just a waiting room.
The academy had been his dream for as long as he could remember. Truth be told, there wasn’t much else for a young child of military lineage to do. He had no desire to craft, sing, or pursue art of any kind. He didn’t possess abnormal intelligence either. His friends had all been accepted before he had. His father had hoped that Constans and his other brother would graduate with honors and acquire their own commands. But the tragedy had made it so Uther could apply. A part of him felt wicked for being excited to be entering the academy since he did only due to his brother’s death. But he also felt he deserved the chance to prove himself as a space soldier, a pilot, and maybe even a captain someday with a ship to go explore and conquer.
He needed to talk. Permitting himself this brotherly boon, he asked, “Are you looking for something?”
He noticed Constans’s eyes were roaming over the glossy ship and kept straying to the slim windows. His brother shook his head.
“No. Just realizing this is my command now. Not sure I’m admiral material.”
Uther smiled and punched his brother’s arm. “I’ve always admired you.”
In a second, Constans had his brother in a head lock and ruffled his long, ratty hair.
“Ouch!” Uther cried out and pushed away. “Why do you have to be so manly all the time? Just a slap on the back will do.”
“Why do you have to be such a pansy?” He smiled. “Two sides of a coin, us.”
Uther snickered. “No such thing as coins any more, brother.” His steps slowed as he thought of their childhood. “You always collected old things.”
“Like father, am I?” He laughed at first, but the glee quickly left as they approached a civilian’s deck with a large window. They saw the sister ship not far off, no doubt everyone on board still slept. The silence was again complete and Uther began to shiver.
“We’re probably the only living, conscious things within miles of this nothingness,” he whispered. “I think I hate space. It’s too cold and quiet. Like there’s death everywhere.” The ship felt like a graveyard.
Constans cocked an eyebrow down at his little brother. “What’s this gloomy tone? Ice gotten to your brain?”
“No, I just mean… father’s dead. It’s up to us now.” He breathed in, expanding his lungs to their fullest extent. They’d need exercise later. “Let’s fetch Merlin.”
With solemn faces, the brothers took the rapid lift to the bottom levels of the ship. The whole ship was cold from lack of body heat and constantly running heaters, but the basement was even chillier. The ship emitted it and darkness. Thousands of people lived on it, sleeping really, for years, but the ship finally came alive with them. Soft glows lit the way as Uther led his brother down the cathedral-like halls to where the sacred life form called Merlin had been placed to rest until Camelot came into view.
“Computer, this is Uther Pendragon,” he said in a commanding voice. “Ship status, please.”
A few soft blinking moments later and the ship said in its accented voice: “Ship is stable.” It blinked. “All citizens alive and healthy.” Blinked. “Camelot in range.”
“In range?” Uther cried in joy. He turned to Constans. “We’re that close!”
Constans only smiled.
“Computer, Merlin life-form status report,” he ordered next.
The large glass window before them lit up with sudden bright light. Uther blinked and gazed in. In the center of the white room beyond the glass, floated a large glass tube of blue gel. Inside, the porcelain white body and pale flowing hair of the immortal Merlin life-form floated.
“What was father thinking when he brought those alien lives with us?” Constans asked.
“The D.R.U.I.Ds are wonderful,” Uther breathed in awe. “Because of them, Camelot is no longer just a dream. It will be real.” He said to the computer, “Release Merlin and send him to the bridge.” He turned to leave, but stopped and added, “And check on food supplies,” with a smile.
On the bridge, Constans felt a little more at ease. He sat in his father’s old chair, the general’s seat, faced the screens, and called them all to life. “We’ll need more than just us,” he sighed. “Why don’t you go wake Galois and Igrain?” he said. “I don’t mind your weird friends and they’re terribly useful.”
Smiling, Uther took the lift back down to the cryolevel and ran through the frozen rows to his two best friends. They had gone to the academy together. That was so long ago now. Uther pressed the release button and waited as his friends awakened. How long had it been?
“Computer,” he called to the mic in the wall across from him. “What year is it?”
“I’m sorry, Commander Pendragon,” the voice replied. “General Constantine IV did not allow me to keep notes on the time that passed. My calculations suggest we are somewhere around 412 A.E.II.”
Now it was Uther’s turn to be emotional. “Hundreds of years?” he gasped. “I’m so old…”
Earth II had not been his home. He had never seen it, but his ancestor, the founder of this voyage, had. Constantine came up with the synthetic planet-ship they all slept on. Uther had been born and raised in the ship like his father before him. He had been on missions to passing planets, even saved a civilization. He had lived a full life before all hope faded into the vast cold of space, but even then, Camelot was too far away. They all entered the sleep of centuries. When he laid down in his tube that first time, he thought he’d never wake again. It felt like coming back to life. Somehow, rising from the dead came across as a familiar experience.
The first cryotube hissed and cracked open with a pop. The screens read the temperature slowly rose and the adrenaline administered to the occupants. Really, Uther thought the last thing his tall, strong friend needed was adrenaline. Galois was the strongest, fastest, and smartest student in his year. With the current situation, Uther eagerly waited to have Galois’s quick wit and support by his side. Galois would no doubt find something humorous about being so old.
“Rise and shine, pretty boy,” Uther said as the capsule opened all the way. “I’m old as sin and need some company. Really old.”
“Not as old as I feel,” Galois moaned as the tube released him from the frozen prison. “Thank the gods for that muscle serum.” He stood to his full two-meter height and flexed his muscled limbs. He had always been the tall, handsome one of the two. His glossy black hair had lost none of its shine while he’d slept. “So, you’re roughly one or two-hundred twenty-six years old? That is old.” He made a face at the thought then reached down to help his wife, Igrain, out of her cryotube.
She was shorter than her tall husband, but just as fierce. Her hair hung all the way to her waist, but she wore it shaved on the sides, giving her a primitive look. Her large, sweet brown eyes balanced that out.
“Hi, Igrain,” Uther stammered as she stepped out. “Constans wants you both on the bridge,
” he informed them as they walked and stretched to the lift. “Camelot is in range.”
“Oh,” Igrain gasped as they ascended. “At last. Can you imagine, Galois?” She leapt onto her toes and planted an excited kiss on her smiling husband. She bit her lip, smiling at some secret thought as she put her fingers into his hair. Uther felt his face burn.
“I’m interested to see what the androids have built,” Galois said while his wife teased him.
“Always the cynic,” Uther laughed. “I, on the other hand, cannot wait to see what we have.”
They exited the first lift and took a detour down a hall past another outlook window. Uther motioned for them to look and they all three watched the other ship for a moment.
Galois spoke first, “So, Constans is on the bridge?” The sentence was a question, but his inflection did from it like one. Galois understood. “Damn, it’s been a while. You know, I feel a little gipped that I didn’t dream at all. I thought one was supposed to have crazy cryo-dreams.”
Igrain rolled her eyes playfully, but kept smiling. “I feel giddy,” she said.
Uther led them away from the window, quiet now as his friend and Igrain settled into walking and thinking again. He opened the lift and ushered them inside. They were all three quiet as it went up. Uther liked the silence less and less. Especially with Igrain standing so near him. He wanted to speak to them, but not about death, empty space, or his father. With nothing else to think on, he decided to keep quiet.
“But wait,” Igrain said as they exited the lift and marched down the clean hall to the bridge. “That means your father is dead. Uther, I’m so sorry.” Her eyes showed she meant it. She had worked closely with General Constantine IV and knew him almost as well as Uther had. They had met under his command while she interned with his father. She had been just as lovely then as she was now.
“Yes, well, I haven’t seen him in hundreds of years.” He tried to laugh it off. “Constans is more upset than I am. Does that make me a bad person?”
Galois shook his head. “Nah, just more of a bastard.”
Uther laughed and Igrain shook her head hopelessly. Her husband played a bit of a callous joker as well.
“Good to see you,” Igrain said to Constans as they entered. She embraced him and winked at Uther over his shoulder. “Commander fits you well, I see.” She smoothed out his white uniform and saluted him.
“Thank you,” Constans said with more strength than he possessed. “I hope to make him proud.”
Galois took the seat just behind Constans, the second in command’s seat, smirked at Uther and put his feet up on the command board. “So, what’s the first thing we do, cap?” He swiveled around to look at Constans. “Let’s get some food.” He leaned forward and ordered the computer to wake a kitchen droid and bring him something made of meat. Uther wasn’t surprised at this first action. They used to joke about how Galois ate all the time. And never anything like a vegetable.
Igrain sat at the radar and pulled a map up of the star system they were now sailing through. One of the moons, Lothian, orbited closest to them. “Vortigern is there too,” she said. “I see his ship. Have you contacted the others?”
Uther shook his head. “We were waiting for Merlin for that.”
“No need,” said the smooth, alien voice of the white being. Merlin, immortal and smooth faced, walked onto the bridge. “Permission to come aboard the bridge?” he addressed Constans, who nodded. “I am here. I sense Mab from the other ship. She has been awake for some time now. What delayed my waking?”
“Nothing,” Uther said in the human’s defense. “I woke you just moments after I woke.”
Merlin frowned and stood next to Uther, looking down his long nose. “Mab has been awake for some time. Vortigern too, I assume. You must contact them.”
The air suddenly grew tense as Constans leaned forward and sent a communication inquiry to the twin ship. Uther leaned up against his brother’s chair to listen with the others. Only static answered.
“Well,” Galois sighed with a broad, manly smile. “Who cares how long they have been awake anyway? What’s more important is how long I’ve been waiting for my food!” He looked over his wife’s shoulder at the screen. “We should wake our daughter. Morgause would want to see Camelot. May I, commander?” he asked Constans, who nodded.
Merlin touched Uther’s arm gently to get his attention. “If Vortigern was awake for so long without contacting us, there are things we must assume.”
The com-unit buzzed and crackled. “What’s that D.R.U.I.D saying about me?” came Vortigern’s gruff, angry voice over the unit. “But never mind, Mab has told me of General Constantine’s death.” His voice fell to a melancholy hum. “I’m sorry, boys. I knew your father most of my life and there wasn’t another man like him.”
“Thank you, sir,” Constans replied in a mature tone. Uther smiled. Only he knew his brother’s grown-up-voice. He wouldn’t have been able to spot it if he hadn’t known his brother better though. Uther slung his leg onto the large arm rest of the commander’s chair and crossed his arms.
“Do you know it’s been years since I’ve heard you speak and I can still spot your manly tones?” he said softly.
Constans quickly slapped Uther across the side of his face playfully and pushed him from the seat with a groan. At first, the gesture hurt a little hurt, but when he looked up, Constans grinned playfully as he addressed Vortigern again.
“Merlin wishes to address you, sir,” he said. “If that is acceptable, I will put him on the screen for you and Mab to speak.”
In answer, Vortigern’s stern, black-bearded face appeared on the large screen before them. Igrain quickly closed the star charts to give a clear view of his presence as two moons had just been hovering in his nostrils. Behind him lurked Mab. A strange lifeform like Merlin, only female, she had an off-putting presence. Her skin shimmered a pale color that bordered on purple and her eyes were pure black, unlike Merlin’s all blue ones. Her hair faded white like Merlin’s, but she loomed exceptionally taller and far more imposing.
“My condolences, commander,” she boomed in a deep, operatic feminine tone.
Before Constans could answer, Merlin demanded, “Why, when you awakened, did you not signal our ship? How long have you been awake and approaching Camelot?”
Vortigern arched a thick, black eyebrow. “You will address me as sir, D.R.U.I.D.” He put his fingertips together and looked over them sternly into the screen. “You need more discipline over your alien, Constans. Your father would be ashamed.”
The jab had the desired effect and meek Constans was struck mute.
“Answer the question,” Uther stepped in. “How long have you been awake? Did you speak to my father before he died?” He subconsciously rubbed his chin, intimidated by Vortigern’s trim beard. His stubble still long and no doubt haggard looking. They should have cleaned up.
“Sadly, no,” Vortigern said, relaxing into his chair. Behind him, Mab didn’t move. “We only awoke a few days ago to see space pirates from Lothian, the moon, making away with crystalloid fuel. It seems to be abundant on the planet or the moon, I couldn’t tell which.”
“You have not scanned the planet for life then?” Merlin asked, hardly daunted by Vortigern.
Something in Vortigern’s manner changed then. He lowered his face, snickered, and shook his head. “Boys!” he declared and shot up from his chair. “I feel bad leaving you over there all alone. Why don’t I come over and make sure everything is just fine and we can talk?”
“No,” Merlin said right away. Constans and Uther looked to him. “The general left instructions. Constans is a smart man; he knows what to do.”
A smile spread Vortigern’s face. “You boys don’t know about the D.R.U.I.Ds, do you?” He stood up. “I’ll be right over. Open the wave transporter.”
Merlin spun onto Constans just as the door opened and Galois reentered with his daughter Morgause and her betrothed Lot.
“Sir, I cannot a
dvise this,” Merlin said. A note of panic tainting in his smooth voice. “Something in Vortigern is not computing. It is not written that he should come here.”
“What does that mean? That it is not written?” Constans asked. “I know Vortigern; he’s like an uncle to me.”
Uther watched the family reunion of Igrain and her daughter. Because of the chryosleep, Igrain and young Morgause looked to be the same age. Really, Igrain, like Uther and Galois, were far older than they appeared. Lot stood apart, not affectionately by Morgause like Uther thought he should. Instead, his arms were crossed and he watched out the window at the little moon Lothian. Uther had known ever since the children’s academy days that Lot would be the one to rule a people someday. His eyes were drawn back to Morgause and he realized how much she resembled her mother.
He let his eyes rest on Igrain. She was simple to look at. Average height, soft but toned build, gentle but spirited. He remembered one day in the academy when she had failed an exam. He had caught her weeping in a hallway and in order to make sure he didn’t tell anyone, Igrain had challenged him to a fist fight to prove her strength. Uther didn’t want to fight, so he asked her out to lunch instead. She had said no.
“You will need more men,” Merlin advised Constans. “If Vortigern is allowed on this ship, tragedy will follow. It is not written!”
“Merlin!” Constans barked at last. He stood up and paced to escape the agitated D.R.U.I.D. “Why don’t you want him over here? What about you will he tell me that scares you so? And what isn’t written?”
Uther’s thoughts of Igrain were blown from his mind as he witnessed his soft-spoken brother shouting. In the silence that followed, it seemed astral winds could be heard.
“I’ll go to the wave-room and welcome him,” Igrain said. She stood up and prepared to leave, but Constans waved her back.
“I’ll go. No need for this scare. We know Vortigern.” He eyed Merlin and turned to leave when the door to the bridge slid open and Vortigern and Mab stood in his way.
“I let myself in,” Vortigern smiled. “Your father and I have key cards to each ship.” When he saw that both Constans and Uther looked confused, his face simpered. “What, he didn’t give it to you? Oh, that’s strange. Constans, come with me and I’ll make you a copy of mine.”
A New Home: A Sci-Fi Arthurian Retelling (The Camelot Project Book 1) Page 2
