“I promise.”
Dr. Petrovsky rose to his feet and walked to a short partition in the back of the hut where her mother slept. He muttered something around the corner, and then headed across the room, past rows of woven frond beds, and through the curtain that served as a door. As he drew the thick shade across the entryway, the room was engulfed in silence and near darkness. Only a faint glow from the sun penetrated the thick woven roof above her head.
Gabi knelt down in the dirt and placed Pelusina on her now vacated “table”. She cooed at the cat and stroked its crusty fur. She snuggled with it, and carried it around the silent hut with her. Gabi tried to occupy her time, but as the minutes passed in eerie silence, she began to feel a knot of loneliness deep inside.
“Mama?”
Silence answered her. Her skin began to crawl as she slowly crept toward the partition wall.
“Mama?” she whispered.
Again there was no response from her mother. Gabi squeezed Pelusina tight against her chest and walked up to the partition. She poked her head around and saw her mother, curled up under an unzipped sleeping bag, with an arm thrown across her eyes to block out the light.
“Mama?”
Without moving a muscle, she replied, “What is it, Gabi?”
Her mother’s voice, though soft and cold, washed away her anxiety. “Mama, when are you going to get up?”
“In a bit.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Dr. Petrovsky went to go get you breakfast.”
“I want you to make me breakfast, Mama.”
Her mom rolled over and curled into a tight ball. Her eyes opened, but stared off at the wall.
“I can’t, honey.”
“Why not?” A pout began to form on Gabi’s lips.
“I’m not feeling well.”
“Awww. I’m sorry, Mama.”
Gabi marched around the corner and knelt next to her mom, then flopped on top of her with both arms outstretched in a giant hug. Her mom shrugged a shoulder free and pushed Gabi backwards, and she rolled off of the edge of the low bed.
“Not now, Gabi,” she growled.
Gabi’s lip quivered. She grabbed Pelusina and scurried back around the corner, sniffing and wiping away a tear. She was about to burst out crying when she heard the door curtain slide to the side, and light flooded in from outside. Gabi caught a flash of dark blue as her eyes struggled to adjust to the light.
“Good morning, sweetie,” called a light, feminine voice. “I’ve missed you.”
“Haruka!” she shouted and bounded up, flinging her arms around her friend’s leg. Warm arms wrapped around her sides, and soothing hands patted her on the back. “I missed you too. I missed you so much!”
“How’s your kitty?”
“Pelusina?” she asked. She backed out of the embrace and proudly held up her stuffed cat. “She missed you too.”
Haruka smiled and gave Pelusina a quick pat on the head. Gabi giggled and rocked as she cradled the cat in her arms.
“Gabi?” her mother called. “Come here, please.”
Gabi looked over her shoulder and saw her mom leaning against the partition wall. Her hair was a disheveled black mess, her eyes seemed puffy, and she wore a thin red robe that ended just past her knees. Gabi complied with the request, marching quietly over to her and giving her a hug. She received a quick pat on the head, and her mom squatted down to be at eye level with her.
“Gabi, can you go make my bed and then play with Pelusina back there for a bit?”
The smile on her face quickly waned. “Aww. Can’t I play with Haruka for a bit?”
“Now, Gabi,” huffed her mother.
Gabi stomped her feet and crossed her arms, but was met with a look that meant she was only one step away from getting in deep trouble. She trudged around the corner behind the partition, dragging her feet in a dramatic show of reluctance. A glance back revealed that her mother was not watching her, but had disappeared on the other side of the wall.
Frustrated, she threw her tiny body on the bed. It was raised only a couple inches off the floor, and was filled primarily with sawdust and sand. Two layers of interwoven palm leaves lay on top, keeping anyone sleeping in it from getting too dirty. Gabi grabbed one corner of the dark blue sleeping bag that her mother had scavenged from one of the sleeper pods and tugged it neatly to one of the corners of the bed. She repeated this process three more times, and then lay her back on the bed, holding Pelusina above her and making the cat fly through the air like a furry superhero.
She finished her game and curled up with the animal for a moment. She then heard her mother’s voice shriek out clearly from the other side of the wall.
“Gabi’s doing fine, okay? I’m fine too, not that you really care.”
“That’s not fair,” Haruka retorted, her voice ringing sharply through the air. “I was trying to help you.”
“You abandoned me when I needed you the most. How was that helping?”
“Abandoned you? You pushed me away. You wouldn’t let me near. And you say I abandoned you?”
Gabi lifted herself off of the bed and walked to the edge of the partition wall. She squeezed her stuffed companion tight to her chest as she poked her head around the corner. Her mother and Haruka stood in the middle of the clinic floor. Her mother was gesturing wildly as she shouted at Gabi’s friend.
“Oh please. Don’t try playing the saint with me. You gave me nothing. You couldn’t even catch the son of a bitch that did this to us.”
Haruka closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly. “It’s not that easy, Maria. He didn’t just stand around and wait for us to come get him. When he came back to steal food, he could have killed Doctor Petrovsky.”
“But he didn’t,” her mother snarled impatiently. “And you and your lackeys couldn’t find him afterwards, either. God, can’t you do anything right? What are we even doing with you in charge?”
“I know you’re angry, I’m still here for you. Anything you need, I will…”
“It’s too late,” her mother sobbed as her voice dropped. “Just leave me alone.”
Haruka’s shoulders slumped. “Maria, don’t do this.”
“Get the hell out, you bitch!” her mom’s voice shot up an octave as she screamed through her tears.
“Mama, that’s a bad word,” Gabi shouted.
Haruka’s eyes shot open and both women glanced over at Gabi. Her mother had tears flowing down both cheeks, and her eyes were bloodshot. Haruka’s expression twisted, her eyebrows arched upward, and her jaw slacked.
“Get back in bed,” her mother yelled. “Now!”
Gabi’s heart dropped and her lip trembled.
“Maria, don’t yell at her. She didn’t do anything.”
Gabi’s mother turned back to face Haruka. She swung her right hand repeatedly at her, raining blows down on the woman’s arm. Haruka barely flinched, taking only one step back.
“Don’t ever tell me what to do with my daughter. Get out. Get out!”
Haruka’s hand shot up and caught the wrist that was pummeling her. Instantly, her mother began flailing at Haruka with her free wrist, which Haruka caught after the second blow. Her eyes darted between Gabi and her mother. Haruka shook her head, released her grip on Maria’s wrists, and then walked out of the clinic without another word.
Gabi’s mother turned to face her. Tears rolled down her cheeks while a snarl formed on her face. Her finger shot up like an arrow and pointed toward the bed.
“Back to bed. Now. Don’t come out until I tell you to.”
Gabi could not hold back her fear any longer. Her mother was clearly angry with her, and she hadn’t the slightest idea why. She scurried back to the bed and fell face first on it, sobbing uncontrollably. She clutched Pelusina, but the little comfort that the cat gave her was overwhelmed by her mom’s vicious snarl playing over and over in her head as her stomach growled from a missed meal.
Papa, why aren’t you here?
&nbs
p; Darius Owens
Ex-USAF
25 March, Year of Landing, 09:12
Gabriel landing site
A pair of brightly colored birds with four wings dipped and wove through the gray skies above. Darius took a bite of eggs from his ration pouch and washed it down with a swig of coffee. The hot liquid spread a wave of warmth through his core that cut through the crisp chill of the morning. From all around came the din of the tent city that had sprung up on the river side of the massive sleeper ship.
Gabriel’s crew had spent the previous day working with the civilians to organize and erect the camp, as well as distribute the first meals to the families. Darius had done the latter, moving from tent to tent, handing out two meal packets for every person at a given tent, and then moving on as swiftly as he could. It was also a job that he felt he could do without running into Colonel Eriksen.
The last time he had seen Gabriel’s commanding officer, he was beet red and grinding his teeth together so loudly that he was afraid the entire crew pod had heard.
A technicality, he thought. I’m staking my career on a technicality. Maybe even my life.
Darius flicked three dashes of hot sauce from the miniature bottle included in the ration onto his eggs and took another bite. His gaze shifted to the bridge, high atop the bow of the ship. He calculated the odds that the colonel would be on the bridge at that moment, reviewing the situation from his command chair.
Has he even set foot on Demeter yet?
He finished his breakfast, stowed the waste in the outer pouch, and methodically rolled it up, as he had done dozens of times over the course of their journey. He found a waste collection point near the base of the ship and threw the trash into the large metal bin. Darius leaned on the bin and looked back at the camp. He could make out crew members in their blue flight suits making their way through the camp, giving orders to the civilians. Many men and women followed them and began to form in a large semicircle at the end of camp.
Darius nearly jumped out of his skin as a hand slapped down on his shoulder. He turned to face a grim-looking Captain Quinn, accompanied by Sergeant Marks. A quick glance revealed the grip of a Taser protruding from the holster on each man’s belt.
“You need to come with me. Colonel Eriksen wants to see you.”
Darius felt his heart jump in his chest. The palms of his hands began to moisten, and he had to remind himself to take a deep breath. Without a word, Darius nodded, and fell in behind Quinn. Marks brought up the rear, and a few minutes later, the three men marched around the stern of Gabriel and onto the wide loading ramp. Distant mechanical echoes from within the belly of the ship confirmed that her unload process had begun.
At the top of the ramp stood Colonel Eriksen. His square jaw seemed to unlock, shift, and lock again as he saw Darius approach. He dismissed two airmen who had been taking orders from him just seconds earlier. Eriksen folded his hands behind his back and walked swiftly down the ramp to meet them.
“Thank you, Captain, Sergeant,” he nodded to Quinn and Marks. “Go help with the civilian duty assignment.”
The men saluted and jogged off toward the gathering crowd at the camp. Darius wanted to give a sigh of relief, but he dared not to do so in front of the colonel. Instead, he took in a deep breath through his nose, and spoke with in a soft, measured tone.
“You wanted to see me, Colonel?”
Eriksen bobbed his head. There was an uncomfortable pause as he glared at Darius. His skin began to tingle, and he bit his tongue to keep from breaking the silence by speaking out of turn.
“I’ve thought about what you said during your little spat of… insubordination,” Eriksen said. The lack of inflection in his voice stunned Darius, and a shiver went down his spine. “Trust me, I thought a lot about it. I even thought about sending Captain Quinn down to the camp yesterday to drag your ass up here and lock you in a sleeper berth for it. I didn’t even care if all the colonists saw it.”
“T-thank you for not doing that, Colonel.”
“Shut up. I’m not done,” Eriksen growled. He tugged at his cuffs and cleared his throat, and the eerily calm voice returned. “I will acknowledge that I have ordered you to do some rather unpleasant things recently, but that doesn’t make up for questioning my authority in front of the crew. I see another problem here, and that problem is that you’re completely right about your tour having expired. Now, I could stop gap you, but then we’d get into legal proceedings, and then you might just incite the rest of the crew with your nonsense, and the whole damn thing would fall apart.”
“The whole what, sir?”
Eriksen paused for a moment and his eyes narrowed. His gaze then moved to the tent city, and he began to pace slowly. “That’s the last time you have to call me sir, Mr. Owens. I’m giving you what you want, for the sake of the colony.”
“What I want, sir?”
“Yes. You’re relieved of your duties. I’m giving you a general discharge as of now. There are two conditions, though. Violate either one and so help me I’ll make you wish you hadn’t left Earth.”
That’s not what I want, Colonel, and you know it.
Darius nodded and asked, “What are the conditions?”
“First, you never mention to anyone, not even a civilian, that the crew’s tour of duty has expired. We need the crew intact. Second, you stay out of all colonial affairs. You do not speak to me unless I seek you out, and you do not interfere with how the colony is set up and run. You find yourself a job, you keep your head down, and you stick to it. Do you understand, Mr. Owens?”
More than you understand. He nodded. “Understood. Am I to understand that job assignments are being made right now?”
“Correct. Now if you please,” Eriksen swept his hand toward the gathered colonists. “Go make yourself useful.”
Darius turned away from the ship and jogged toward the crowd. Colorful insults came to mind as he replayed the colonel’s words in his head, followed by a slew of comments that he briefly wished that he had said to his former CO.
Sweeping me under the rug, aren’t you, Colonel? He reached the end of the crowd and waited as Marks, Quinn, Garza, and Smith interviewed colonists and assigned them tasks. Fine with me. I’m done playing your games. It’s time to build a new world, and I’m ready to do my part.
Anonymity was something he hoped the crowd would give him, though it was only a matter of a couple minutes before he found himself answering questions about what he did on the ship. It didn’t take longer than the second such question to figure out that he needed a new wardrobe if he was going to shed his former life; the blue flight suit made the colonists believe that he was part of the crew, and even telling a little white lie about the crew giving him the uniform because his original clothes were torn up just didn’t sit well with Darius.
After receiving a somewhat merciful assignment of unloading camp supplies from Airman Garza, Darius stole away into the cargo pods of the ship, seeking the textiles pod. He knew that a store of durable civilian clothes would be stored within, and though it was a little on the early side for anyone to be distributing the contents of the neatly stacked crated from that pod, Darius procured a pair of jeans and a shirt that would make him look the part of a civilian. This was the guise that both he and Eriksen wanted. Though procured under distasteful circumstances, the new threads made Darius feel a little more at ease with his new position.
This feeling passed quickly as Captain Quinn approached him only a few short seconds after Darius stepped back into the lower gallery. His heart raced, wondering if the captain had seen him taking colonial assets for himself without permission.
“We need to talk, Lieutenant,” Quinn spoke, his brow furrowed.
Shit.
“Yes, Captain?”
Quinn took him by the elbow and gently steered him a few pods deeper into the belly, looking over his shoulder every few seconds, as if they were being followed. When they came to their destination, the captain locked his gaze with Darius
, and his expression took on grave concern.
“Look, whatever it is between you and Eriksen, you’ve got to stop it.”
“What?” Darius retorted, almost fumbling over the single word.
“I know this has something to do with his decision to land on this side of the river, but you’ve got to stop it. Just let him be for a while, and everything will be okay.”
Oh, it goes so much deeper than you think, Captain.
“Doesn’t it bug you what he’s done? I mean, think of the Operational Guidelines. What part of it says that the commanding officer of any ship may deviate from an accepted landing site?”
“Section five, subsection seven, article A,” the confident reply came back.
“Article A?” Darius almost choked. “Article A deals with cases of crew mutiny.”
A scowl hardened on Quinn’s face. “Convenient. He had one. Not a big one, but by a legal technicality you gave him that right.”
“That wasn’t mutiny. That was me asking a question,” Darius growled. “Besides, that was after he changed course, and you know it. Besides, why should you care?”
“I don’t want you to do anything that will fuck up Brandon’s chances when the time comes.”
“When the time comes for what? Eriksen’s going to have to thaw him out, then he’s going to have to figure out what to do with him. If he’s got any brains at all, he’s going to let him go. Maybe not buck wild, but some job close by in the colony.”
“That’s the idea,” Quinn nodded. “But after the little outburst between you two, I’m not sure I can trust that. At least not if you keep riling him up. I swear, since we came into the atmo, he’s turned red and that damn vein in his forehead keeps popping out every time he talks to you. So will you knock it off so he can calm down and think straight?”
Darius’s upper lip twitched for a moment, but he sighed and relented. “Fine, whatever. I’m done with him anyway. Find me something to do outside these damn walls, and you’ll never have to worry about me crossing paths with him again.”
Project Columbus: Omnibus Page 58
