by S. H. Jucha
Fiona replied.
Fiona looked behind her at the concerned faces and relayed the message that this was the last shuttle. Her people sat down on their rugs, resigned to their fate. When Fiona announced the shuttle Captain would risk twenty more passengers, the next youngest Librans stepped forward. Fiona’s dearest friend, Patrice, was among them.
“Fiona, I would ask that you take my place,” Patrice said. “Our people need your guidance.”
“You have been the best of friends,” Fiona said, kissing the woman’s forehead. Now go be with your grandchildren. She gently guided her longtime friend past her, down the side of the berm, to follow the nineteen other Librans.
When the final twenty Librans had boarded the Outward Bound, Pia gently pulled on Edouard’s arm to guide him up the ramp. Both were blinded by their own tears so they guided each other back inside the ship, where it was eerily quiet. The last twenty passengers occupied deck space wedged between the legs of those who had seats.
Edouard slid into the pilot’s seat, wiping his eyes, and glanced at his copilot.
“How many?” Miko asked.
“Two hundred forty-eight.”
“What made you stop at 248?” she asked. Miko had wanted to make light of the horrific circumstances, anything to dispel their black mood, but her attempt fell flat. Instead she turned back to her bridge control displays. “Number two engine did not cool off as much as we need, Captain.”
Edouard checked the display and commed the techs, Lyle and Zeke, who jumped back out of the ship and grabbed a coolant sled. They guided the sled back to the engine cowls and began spraying. They started from the outside of the engine cones, circling their spray and working inward.
“I was going to suggest we offload the weaponry, Captain,” Miko said “That was until our plans changed. It looks as if we might be offloading the missiles anyway … at our enemy in maybe a day or two.”
“Let’s worry about that after we gain orbit, Lieutenant,” Edouard replied.
Edouard and Miko stared at the number two engine temperature readout, willing it to drop to safe levels. When it changed from red to yellow, Edouard signaled the techs.
Miko eyed her Captain. The engine temperature had barely cleared the red.
“It’s now or never, Miko,” Edouard told her.
When the gangway ramp slid home and the hatch was closed, Edouard taxied to the far end of the runway. Zeke and Lyle jumped into their seats next to Pia. Both young men were sweating and shaking, and Pia reached for their hands and held them tightly.
Edouard signaled his controller and the oversized shuttle went to full power and hurtled down the runway, engines roaring. The Outward Bound slowly climbed into the sky. Before the shuttle could reach space, both engines threatened to overheat, but Edouard couldn’t afford to cut power. One warning announcement after another emanated from the controller, and Miko dutifully shut each one down. There was nothing to be done. They would make it or they wouldn’t.
* * *
Fiona had always recognized what others needed and had the strength to give it to those in need. To her people, she was the rock they depended on, long before she became Libre’s Elder. The tone of the young shuttle Captain told her she had one more service to perform. As the overburdened shuttle struggled skyward, Fiona requested a comm with the Admiral. The terminal’s controller connected Fiona to Julien, who signaled Alex.
The Admiral’s choked response confirmed Fiona’s thoughts. The survivors and the rescuers, hundreds of thousands of them, were suffering for the few left on the planet.
Fiona smiled at the Admiral’s humor, so quickly rejuvenated by her own tease. There is hope for you, young one, she thought.
Julien signaled when the comm connections were ready. He was relaying to every SADE, who would distribute Fiona’s voice to implants as well as vid screens, which the young required.
The SADEs closed the comms. Over a quarter-million people heard Fiona, and they held onto her message with all the strength they could muster.
-30-
Once the Rêveur’s crew, volunteers, and a few additional passengers had boarded, Julien had confirmed the crew head count. On Alex’s orders, Julien had also confirmed the station’s emptiness then launched their ship to chase the Unser Menschen.
Alex stood on the Rêveur’s bridge with Andrea and Renée, taking stock of their flotilla. Julien’s holo-vid of the Arno system displayed the two freighters, Lange Strecken and Money Maker, followed by the Freedom and the Unser Menschen, making for the far FTL exit. The passenger liners were in hot pursuit and in less than half a day would catch the trailing city-ship.
“Captain, what’s our ship’s status?” Alex asked.
“All three Daggers are secure, Admiral. We’ve accounted for all crew members, no major injuries to report. Terese and Geneviève, with the help of some crew, are managing the cabin assignments. Engineer Levinson is handling supply stowage.”
“Julien, what’s the status of the mother ship?”
“The number of silver ships having exited the craft is fifty-two and appears to be holding steady. In the past four hours, no more fighters have exited the ship. Three have vectored off to take up patrols on the outer system. The mother ship has not reduced its velocity.”
“So if they come for the flotill
a without slowing down, they’ll catch the Unser Menschen 2.6 days from the FTL exit,” Alex said. “Captain, I think this is the time to get your ship in order. Flight bays and Daggers readied; crew and passengers fed and rested.”
“I’ll be in my cabin if you need me, Captain,” Alex said as if he hadn’t received Renée’s question. “Once you have the ship tidied up, get some food and rest yourself.”
Together, Alex and Renée walked back to their cabin. Passengers in the corridors moved aside, nodding their head in honor, some touching his shoulder as he passed. Many sent him the honored phrase, “Fortune to you, Admiral.”
Renée helped Alex out of his uniform, which had taken on a life of its own. She was unsure whether to throw it in the cleanser or find the nearest airlock. In the end, she thought she would give the cleanser a try or two.
Alex climbed into the refresher, but later, Renée found him sitting on the refresher’s bench, the fog of cleanser partially obscuring him. His arms rested on his thighs and his head hung low. She stripped out of her ship uniform and stepped into the refresher with him. Taking a cleansing cloth, she began to wipe him down, softly, carefully, as a mother would a child. The fact that he never moved, never made a sound, told her how badly he had been wounded by his failure to lift every Libran from the planet.
When Renée finished, Alex dried himself. She brought him his lounging robe and led him to bed. He started to object, but she hushed him and pulled him down onto the bed, urging him onto his side. Then she backed into a spoon position up against his front and pulled his arm over her. For a long while, Alex lay quiet and unmoving. Renée sent a message to Julien to block Alex’s incoming comms, and told Andrea the Admiral was unavailable unless it was an emergency. She waited and waited, quiet, barely breathing and not moving, hoping the stillness would help. She felt Alex shudder, grow quiet again, and finally, breathing deeply, fall asleep. Only then did her tears begin silently flowing.
* * *
Alex woke with a start. He scanned the room and recognized his own cabin. Checking his chronometer, he was shocked to discover he had slept for an entire day.
“Before the Admiral starts stomping around in his very large Admiral boots,” Renée said with intensity, “he should know that I ordered his isolation. And, kindly note, Ser, that this time you were given no injections. You slept for a day because you required it.”
Alex drew breath to object, but Renée wasn’t finished. “The Admiral should also note that there was nothing to be done. Most of us have spent the day sleeping, eating, and doing light work because nothing … could … be … done.”
Alex got a grip on his emotions and held his hands up in surrender.
Renée came over to sit beside him on the bed, kissing him on the cheek. “Better now?” she asked.
“Better now,” Alex said.
“Then come. Get your lazy self out of bed, and let’s feed you. We should be able to find six or seven people to carry the trays,” she said and jumped up to pad into the salon.
Alex grabbed a quick refresher and donned a clean uniform, feeling much better than he had a day ago. He commed Julien for an update and received the SADE’s apology that he wasn’t allowed to communicate until the Admiral had eaten—something about a threat of water on his crystals. Alex shook his head slowly. Despite Julien’s attempt to lighten the mood, his thoughts lingered on the elders of Libre.
“Food is here,” Renée sent to him as the main cabin door chimed in his implant.
Alex stepped into the salon as Terese, Geneviève, and a young girl, about twelve years of age, brought food and drink trays, laying them out on the table. Terese and Geneviève came up to Alex and gave him a long, warm hug, eschewing their traditional greeting. Not a word was said.
Terese introduced the young girl. “Admiral, I would like you to meet Eloise Haraken, the great-granddaughter of—”
“Fiona Haraken,” Alex finished. He stepped toward the young girl and stopped, his emotions warring within him. Alex wanted to greet her, but he felt embarrassed to be in her presence. Fiona was still on Libre.
Eloise did not perceive Alex’s hesitation. Instead she followed her Elder’s solemn advice and stepped forward to render honor to her people’s protector. “Protector” … it was a new word her great-grandmother had taught her. The word had spread among the people quickly, for they had no single word with which to suitably describe the Admiral. “The giant New Terran Leader” seemed inappropriate.
When the Admiral accepted her honor, Eloise asked, “May I, too, greet the Admiral?” When he nodded and smiled at her, Eloise threw her arms around the Admiral’s waist, as far as she could reach, and held him tightly, hoping he would feel her embrace despite her limited strength. When Eloise stepped back, she found everyone hiding smiles behind hands, except the Admiral, who was smiling openly at her.
“Was my greeting poorly rendered?” Eloise asked with consternation.
“No, young one,” Renée said. “That greeting is offered as an endearment among New Terrans.”
“Oh,” Eloise said brightly. “Then it was most appropriate for my people’s protector.” She dipped her head in acknowledgment and flitted from the cabin.
“Oh, black space,” Alex moaned on hearing Eloise’s announcement. He grabbed the sides of his head as if in pain, and the women broke out in laughter and clapped their hands.
* * *
After his meal, Alex joined Andrea on the bridge to study Julien’s holo-vid display. While he had slept, the players had begun changing positions. Although the freighters had the greatest head start, the rest of flotilla was closing on them, and the liners had passed the Unser Menschen. The unfortunate news was the aliens.
“Julien, could you give the Admiral the latest stats on our enemy?” Andrea requested
“While the Admiral slept the day away, I diligently monitored the aliens,” Julien began.
The comment created a war of images between Alex and Julien. Crystals melted to goo, a large baby with the Admiral’s face snored away, and many more images were fired back and forth.
“If you two could exhibit a little maturity,” Andrea interrupted, having had the opportunity to witness the image fight.
“There is little to report, Admiral,” said Julien, more than happy to have his friend back. “The silver ship count hasn’t changed. More fighters have vectored off to patrol, and the number surrounding the mother ship is down to forty-three, with nine on patrol. Velocity of the mother ship is still at maximum.”
“And Libre?” Alex asked.
“It will be another forty-seven hours until the swarm reaches Libre, Admiral.”
Alex took a deep breath and blew it out. “Captain, what’s the status of the Outward Bound?”
Andrea swallowed before she delivered the news. “Admiral, the shuttle has had a problem. One of their engines nearly red-lined and they had to shut it down before they reached maximum velocity.” The look Alex gave her almost made Andrea wince. “Julien, project the timeline for the Admiral.”
This time, the holo-vid added the Outward Bound. Alex realized they had been hiding it from him until he had seen the wider scope of events. Julien rolled the holo-vid’s display from the launch of the Rêveur until this moment, tracking the rear half of the flotilla. Alex carefully watched the changing distances of the key players—the Unser Menschen, the Rêveur, the Outward Bound, and the mother ship. At first, the shuttle quickly increased its distance from Libre, closing on the city-ship. Then its velocity plateaued and the Rêveur pulled ahead, the shuttle gaining only minimally on the trailing city-ship.
“What’s their present
status, Captain?” Alex requested.
“The techs are working on it, Admiral. They say it’s the cooling system.”
“Yes, Sir,” Andrea returned, delivering a quick salute. She had a couple thoughts, but the look on Alex’s face didn’t appear to welcome any questions.
-31-
It cost the Rêveur eleven hours to return to the Outward Bound. Julien reversed the ship to come parallel to the shuttle, and as velocities were matched, both ships shut down their main engines. Julien subsumed the shuttle’s controller and, with the shuttle’s maneuvering jets, merged the two ships. Immediately he returned the Rêveur to full power to chase the Unser Menschen.
