The Stars Blue Yonder

by Sandra McDonald

  The handsome chief, who was a few years older than her and considered quite the ladies’ man among the Flight Department, tended to change the rules whenever he wanted to. No one else ever invoked Sunday rules, which required swapping the roles of the rooks and knights, or the Midwatch Option, which meant the bishop could clone himself. Still, their games killed the long stretch of time after midnight, when ship’s dawn was only a dim prospect on the horizon.

  “Mother said there’d be days like this,” Cappaletto said, around a yawn.

  “Days like what?”

  “Stuck for hours on end with a beautiful woman and nary a bed in sight.”

  She grinned. “Are you hitting on me, Chief?”

  “Never!” He held up his fingers boy-scout style. “My heart currently belongs to a beautiful young ensign in the Astronomy Department.”

  “I don’t want to hear about you breaking regulations,” Adryn said.

  “Besides, if anything happened between us, your wife would probably drag me to the infirmary and castrate me. Without painkillers.”

  Adryn grinned. “She sure would.”

  An alarm began to trill on the control panel. Adryn swiveled for a quick glimpse through the observation window. The Eagles were all still, with no sign of movement. Just cold metal and engines down there, waiting to destroy or be destroyed.

  “Alert in bay five,” Cappaletto said. “One of the bots again, I bet. I’ll get it.”

  Adryn rolled her chair back. “No, I’ll get it. Need the exercise. Why don’t you find a deck of cards while I’m gone and I’ll kick your ass at poker?”

  He grinned. “Why don’t I break out a chess set with training wheels on it?”

  She shot him a middle finger on her way down the ladder.

  It took a full sixty seconds to hike across the deck to the flight bay in question. The air smelled like oil and fuel. The only sounds were the echo of her boots and the hum of the air-circulation system. She envied Laura, snug in their bed back in officer berthing. They’d been on opposite schedules for two months now. Adryn had taken an officer exchange slot with the Americanadian Forces precisely to be near her wife, but she was beginning to think she’d see her more if Laura came over to one of the big Team Space ships.

  She was still brooding over the subject when she reached the bay and found three intruders in civilian clothes.

  One of the strangers, a man, had pulled away to a corner bulkhead and was clawing at the metal with his fingernails. Another man, shirtless and sopping wet, was having some kind of convulsion or seizure on the deck. Beside him was an equally drenched pregnant woman in what looked like a bathing suit. She was crying and writhing and clutching her stomach. Adryn was afraid she was in the middle of delivering her baby, or maybe miscarrying it.

  Adryn activated her SOEL. “Chief, get Security down here right away, fully armed. And a medical team.”

  “We need help,” the woman said. “Please! We need doctors.”

  Adryn approached warily. None of them seemed armed, or dangerous in any way. “It’s all right, help’s coming. Are you in pain?”

  “He said the baby wouldn’t make it,” the woman gasped. “Terry? Is he—help him!”

  The man having seizures went abruptly still. Adryn carefully checked the pulse in his neck. When she caught sight of his features, her fingers went numb with surprise. She knew him. Hadn’t seen him since she was a kid, but she’d grown up with the vids her parents had propped up on the mantelpieces and bookcases, and of course there were all the books, movies, and games that had been based on his life. The hero of Burringurrah. Right here on her flight deck.

  Now that Adryn looked closely at the woman, she recognized her as well.

  Bewildered, she asked, “Uncle Terry? Aunt Jodenny?”

  The infirmary on the Confident was a long, low row of cubicles, closed rooms, electronic privacy screens, and uncomfortable furniture in the lounge. Adryn couldn’t sit down for more than ten minutes at a time. She paced the lounge, pestered the nurses for information they didn’t have, and chewed on her fingernails one by one. It was just past oh-six-hundred now but she didn’t feel the urge for breakfast or even sleep. Instead she felt frazzled and empty and worried. She didn’t think she’d be able to sleep even if someone tranquilized her.

  She wasn’t alone in the lounge. Lieutenant Commander Will Endicott from Security was there, conducting one conversation after another on his SOEL. She’d met him a few times, but didn’t know much about him—tall, intense, nearly bald. A security guard was standing in the doorway, ready to be called upon. Myell was in a room down the passage, guarded by a petty officer who wouldn’t let Adryn past the hatch.

  Uncle Terry, missing fifteen years, arriving on her doorstep.

  Now, when they needed him most.

  She didn’t know what to think about it.

  Eventually a commander showed up, and like her he wore a Team Space uniform instead of an Americanadian one.

  “Noel Haines,” he said, shaking her hand. He had thin blond hair, a small forehead, and a crooked way of twisting his mouth that almost, but not quite, looked like a smile. “Let’s go on down to the doctors’ lounge and talk there.”

  She followed him reluctantly. By craning her head she could see the exam room where a cluster of doctors, including Adryn’s wife, were working on Jodenny Scott. Laura had been called in because of her background in high-risk obstetrics. Laura had looked surprised to see Adryn in the lounge but there’d been no time to talk then, and there hadn’t been any since.

  The doctors’ lounge was small and sparsely furnished, and smelled like old coffee. There was a real aquarium on the corner table. The water looked dirty and Adryn wasn’t sure the two goldfish floating inside were even alive. Commander Haines sat down on an uncomfortable-looking green sofa and said, “Tell me why you think one of those men is your uncle.”

  Adryn ignored his gesture to sit beside him. She automatically clasped her hands behind her back. “I don’t think it. I know it. He’s my father’s brother. She’s his wife. I’ve grown up looking at their vids, wondering what happened to them after they disappeared.”

  “You only met Commander Scott once, when you were a child,” Haines said. “She visited your family’s farm.”

  That certainly wasn’t in any records that Adryn knew about. Jodenny Scott’s trip to the farm, all those years ago, had been a secret. Fraternization had been a big risk back then, as it still was.

  Carefully she asked, “What department did you say you worked for, sir?”

  Again, that twist of the mouth almost like a smile.

  “Research and Development, Department Fifteen,” he said.

  She nodded. “Alcheringa geeks.”

  “That’s what they call us,” he agreed. “Commander Scott and Chief Myell have been missing for fifteen years. Now they show up during your watch. Any inkling why?”

  “I don’t think they planned it,” Adryn said. One of the not-quite-dead fish in the tank swam toward the surface, looking maybe for food or rescue.

  “Do you know who the third man is?”

  “No. I didn’t recognize him.” She did know that Security had been forced to tranquilize him to get him out of the bay. He was somewhere nearby, probably strapped to a gurney.

  Adryn wasn’t surprised that the three of them were under heavy guard. Hero of Burringurrah or not, Myell and the other two had materialized out of nowhere onto a secure flight deck. Explanations would be demanded. She’d put a ping in to Legal Services over on the Melbourne but hadn’t received a return call. The situation was going to be complicated by the fact that Myell and Jodenny were Team Space personnel, inactive roster of course, on the flagship of the Americanadian military forces, in a joint operation at war with the Roon.

  Her head hurt just thinking about the possibilities.

  She asked Haines, “Do you know who the third man is, Commander?”

  “I have an idea, but his embedded dog tag is missing. It
looks like it was dug out by a knife, years ago. There’s a scar. But your aunt and uncle’s tags are confirmed. Even the archaic chip model is authentic.”

  “What’s going to happen to them?”

  “Depends on where they’ve been and what they can tell us.”

  “They have rights,” she said.

  “They’re also security risks,” Haines said.

  “How?”

  “There are still parts of the Burringurrah mission that are classified,” Haines said, which of course she already knew. “You don’t have the necessary clearance. When and if it becomes necessary for you to need to know, Lieutenant, I’m sure you’ll be briefed.”

  The fish in the tank were beseeching Adryn with their sad, bulging eyes. “What about Admiral Nam, sir? Has he been briefed?”

  Haines’s gaze narrowed. “I’m sure the news is working its way to all the fleet admirals.”

  Maybe he wasn’t as smart as he thought he was.

  “With all due respect,” Adryn said, “the news better find him soon. I may not know the exact details of what my aunt and uncle were doing on their last duty assignment, but I know the admiral was involved. He told me so, the day I graduated from the academy. He also told me he holds himself personally responsible. I guarantee you that the minute he finds out, he’s going to be on a birdie over here. And if he finds out they’ve been mistreated in any way, someone’s going to pay for it. Sir.”

  A muscle twitched in Haines’s check. “I’ll consider your advice carefully, Lieutenant. You’re dismissed.”

  Adryn returned to the lounge. Commander Endicott had stepped out somewhere. Ten minutes later he returned.

  “You can see him,” Endicott said. “Try to get as much out of him as you can. He’s not very talkative.”

  Adryn went down to Myell’s room and stepped inside. He was sitting on a stool as far as possible from the flat exam table. Someone had given him dry scrubs to wear but they were thin and not much protection against the cool air. His face was dry but his eyes were rimmed red.

  “Damn it, Homer,” he was saying. “Show yourself!”

  She asked, “Who’s Homer?”

  His gaze swerved her way. “Do you know what’s happening? To my wife?”

  “I don’t know.” Adryn felt suddenly unsure, and cold despite her uniform sweater. “Can I get you something? Are you hungry?”

  He shook his head. His gaze was on the bulkhead, where colorful medical posters outlined the symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases. “The kids. Were they with us? Two kids.”

  “I didn’t see any kids. Just you, Commander Scott, and the other man. Do you know who I am?”

  He blinked and focused on her for a moment. His voice didn’t shift out of its flatness. “The nurse told me. Adryn Myell Ling. Last time I saw you, you were, what? Ten years old? You’re all grown up.”

  Her turn to nod.

  “I’m a pilot,” she added, as if he couldn’t decipher the insignia on her uniform. She mentally kicked herself. “You’ve been missing for fifteen years.”

  He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. There were goosebumps on his forearms. Adryn opened the medical cabinet and searched through the shelves until she found a thin white blanket. She shook it out and put it around his shoulders. He held on to the edges with minimal effort.

  “What ship is this?” he asked, and she had the distinct impression that his curiosity was a desperate last resort against something else.

  “The Confident. It’s ACF—Americanadian Forces. They don’t dress for dinner and they don’t have beer. Kind of uncivilized, if you ask me.”

  He nodded. Not really listening to her. Or listening harder to something she couldn’t hear, something beyond their little room.

  Adryn sat on the edge of the exam table and swung her feet against the base of it. “I guess there are more exciting ways to interrupt a mid-watch but you’ve won the award for best so far. Dad’s going to burst when he hears you’re back. And Mom. And Jake, and TJ. Teren, Junior. He was born after you disappeared.”

  The hatch clicked open and Myell stood up so quickly the blanket fluttered to the floor. Dr. Cho entered, his large face shadowed with fatigue. Laura was with him, and she gave Adryn a very brief nod.

  “Chief Myell,” Cho said. “I’m taking care of your wife. She’s doing fine now, as is the baby.”

  Myell gazed at him soundlessly, then started to topple over.

  Adryn and Cho caught him before he could hit the floor. He hadn’t totally fainted away, but they manhandled him to the table and Laura got smelling salts out of the cabinet. One whiff made him shake his head and gasp sharply. Cho elevated the foot of the bed and took his pulse.

  “There, now. Better?”

  Myell asked, “Not damaged? Really?”

  “She was in premature labor, but her water didn’t break,” Laura said. “We convinced her uterus to hang in there for a while longer. The baby has a good chance of survival if delivered right now, but the closer we get to full term the better off. All the fetal scans came back normal.”

  Myell covered his eyes with his left hand. Adryn patted his arm but didn’t know what to say. Laura, ever practical, retrieved the fallen blanket and eased it over him. Cho scanned the vital-statistics display over the bed and asked, “How are you feeling? Light-headed, nauseous?”

  “I’m fine. I want to see them.”

  “In a moment,” Cho said. “Let’s see your blood pressure come up.”

  “If you don’t take me to my wife, I guarantee my blood pressure will come up, Doc.”

  Cho was not intimidated. But he helped Myell sit up, and a few moments later walked him down the hall with a security tech as escort. Adryn didn’t go with them. She felt suddenly drained, and in need of a lie-down and blanket herself.

  Laura cupped the back of her neck. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m fine,” Adryn said. “Just a little, you know, surprised. By the returning-from-the dead thing, or wherever they’ve been for fifteen years and not aged a single day.”

  “Your dad will be happy,” Laura said.

  Adryn supposed he would. She wondered how long it would take for the news to reach him in prison. She certainly wasn’t going to be the one to break five years of silence and tell him.

  “Let’s go,” Laura said. “I’ll buy you some coffee and you can tell me all about your long-lost uncle.”

  Adryn steered her into the doctors’ lounge and toward the dirty aquarium. “First we’ve got some goldfish to rescue.”

  Jodenny wasn’t sure what drugs they’d given her but she felt perfectly relaxed and warm, and maybe a little hungry. She was in a private infirmary room, with pleasantly beeping machines monitoring her and Junior. The lights were down and a thoughtful nurse had put a pillow under her knees to ease the strain on her back. She was content to gaze at the swirly pattern on the overhead, circles and curls ever so entrancing, and when someone came through the door she dragged her attention away with great reluctance.

  One look at Myell’s face brought back all her fear and misery.

  “Kay,” he said, and then they were clutching each other so hard Jodenny thought she heard something crack in her shoulder. She didn’t care. Myell was cold and trembling. He smelled like sweat. His voice stuttered against her neck with words she didn’t understand. She rubbed his back and wet his shirt with her tears, and finally he eased her back against her pillows.

  “You’re okay?” he asked, brushing her hair back from her face. “Not in pain?”

  “Not in pain, not in labor,” she replied. “But that Roon said—”

  “It was wrong,” Myell said firmly. “Thank god.”

  Jodenny touched his forehead and kissed him. She never wanted to let him out of her sight again. She wished she were a witch, able to wield magic and reshape the universe.

  Maybe if she kissed him hard enough she could bind him to her forever.

  “Do you know where we are?” he asked, sitting as clo
se to her as possible on the narrow mattress.

  She hooked one of her bare legs over his, and tugged the blanket so that it was covering both of them. His arm went around her shoulders and she leaned into him with all her weight.

  “ACF ship, fifteen years forward,” he sounded very tired. “I don’t know why. Every other time I’ve jumped, it’s been to somewhere where you are. Every single time. But now you’re with me and I don’t know what happened to Kyle and Twig. If they’re alive or if the eddy reset and wiped them away—”

  She put her hand on his chest, feeling for the rhythm of his heartbeat. “Sssh. It’s going to work out. We’ll find them somehow. Have you seen Sam?”

  “No. But I saw my niece,” he said. “Adryn. You met her on Mary River, remember? She’s a sub-lieutenant now.”

  Jodenny cast her memory back to a little girl playing baseball on Colby Myell’s farm. “She became American?”

  “No, Team Space. She’s on foreign exchange, I think. She might have tried to tell me. I wasn’t listening very well. Her last name is Ling now.”

  “That’s the doctor’s name, too,” Jodenny said.

  He didn’t answer. His breathing was regular but a little raspy. She hoped he wasn’t coming down with a cold. Between dousings in the river and under the waterfall, maybe he’d swallowed too much water or had it go down the wrong way. She’d have to keep an eye on him. Junior kicked, as if echoing the sentiment, and Jodenny put both hands on her belly. It was as impossible as a dream, but here she was with her husband and unborn daughter, something she couldn’t have imagined a day or two ago.

  And Sam Osherman was here, too. She wasn’t sure how that fit into the dream. They were far from Providence, not only in space but also in time. Kyle and Twig were stranded somewhere in space-time, or had ceased to exist altogether. And unless the parameters had changed, in less than a day the ouroboros would come to take Myell away again.

  She supposed it was selfish, but she suddenly wished for another dose of the happy drugs.

  Another hour passed. Jodenny dozed off and on. Myell snored against her shoulder. Dr. Ling and Dr. Cho returned together, checked the monitors, and then to Jodenny’s relief and surprise said she could be discharged.