I “saw” the entire ship, as a sort of wire-diagram outline, like you see when someone is designing a prototype car on a computer—but infused with energy. It positively glowed. Then, the web seemed to double back on itself and fill in the gaps. Now I saw the ship in all its complexity, from the command center—literally in the center of the ship—to the small chamber at the bow where I’d been kept prisoner briefly, to the stern. The ship had four fins—top, bottom, left and right—and a split flipper in the rear, capable of independent up-and-down motion on both the left and right.
The web of energy continued to expand inward and outward at once. Now I saw everyone else on the ship. They appeared as bright sparks anchored here and there, almost like flies caught in the web. No, that’s not right. More like baby spiders inhabiting the same web as their mama. There was the mama, right in the center of the web. That’s right—the same control center where I was floating. The control center that formed the heart of the ship. No, that’s not quite right either. The control center—perhaps nerve center was a more accurate term—was the brains of the ship, the soul, the heart, all rolled into one. I was now part of the ship, part of the gestalt of everyone aboard the ship, part of the web of energy that drove the ship. We were one.
It was incredible.
I sensed the fear in some of the points of light, the anger in several others, and the sheer determination in a few, including Karsh.
I could “see” the two ships that followed us and fired upon us. They were much larger than Galla and almost a half-mile behind, but closing with nearly every evasive maneuver we tried. Turning away from one ship often meant turning toward the other. By now, all three ships were out of the bay, in deep water. The bad guys had made a tactical error by not having one ship guard the mouth of the bay.
Why weren’t they flying overhead, instead of pursuing underwater? Were they afraid of being spotted by coastal radar? Surely they managed to avoid being picked up on the way down from space, so why worry about radar now? Or was there another reason?
I sensed the damage previous shots had done to Galla. Make that “the injuries” to Galla. She was more than merely a ship—so much more. But I didn’t have time to dwell on that fact at the moment. I had a job to do.
I understood how to release the decoys. Next, I looked for offensive weapons. Even if Karsh’s people were pacifists, I wasn’t. I was perfectly willing to blow the bastards out of the water if I could. Just point me to a graviton cannon, a neutron blaster, a quantum torpedo—any sort of alien weapon. I’d be happy to use it.
Unfortunately, if there were any weapon systems aboard, they were cleverly disguised as food storage containers. Shit.
I primed the decoys. [I’m ready, Karsh.]
[Excellent. I knew you could do it. Be ready for my command.]
[I will.]
I concentrated on the eight decoys arrayed around Galla’s equator. When triggered, they would shoot off in different directions, on divergent trajectories, and each would simulate evasive maneuvers. That alone wouldn’t be enough, however. More importantly, the decoys would mimic Galla’s energy, thermal, and audio emissions—even the mental emissions of her crew. The decoys wouldn’t fool the pursuers at short range, but they might at great enough distance. We could only hope we were far enough ahead for this trick to work. After all, the bad guys would have nine targets to keep track of. If we were very lucky, they would be distracted by a few of the decoys long enough for us to slip away.
Another nearby blast rocked Galla. Damn. Too many close misses. Sooner or later one would be right on the money.
[Almost time, Sunrise. Do not release the decoys until I give you the command. A moment too soon and we will lose the element of surprise.]
That struck me as an odd comment. Surely they would be surprised whenever eight additional “Gallas” suddenly appeared. Wouldn’t they? I dismissed the thought that perhaps the other ships were familiar with this maneuver and would be ready for it. I didn’t like the track that train of thought led down.
I shook off the thought. [I’m ready when you are.]
[Good. Ready… …NOW!]
I fired off the decoys and had a split second to notice that they all launched successfully.
Then a starburst exploded inside my head.
* * * *
I awoke with a splitting headache. This getting knocked unconscious shit was getting old. I was surprised to find I still had a death grip on Galla’s walls. I let loose with one hand and put it to my temple. Karsh still floated nearby. [Ow. What happened?]
[I am sorry, Sunrise, but it was necessary. I felt our pursuers were too close for the decoys to fool them for long. Galla would stand out from the other targets. When you launched the decoys, I commanded Galla to slip into a deep hibernation—which lowered her body temperature—and sink to the bottom of the sea. Just before doing that, I used her to amplify a sort of mental “mickey,” I think you would call it, to the crew. With no one but me conscious aboard Galla, and with her drifting downward while the decoys continued on, I hoped it would improve our odds of being overlooked. It appears I was correct.]
[You could at least warn a guy.] Now I let go with both hands and massaged my temples. [Ow,] I repeated for good measure. I noticed that the two pairs of Azarti in the control center appeared no worse for wear. I commented on that fact to Karsh.
[I regret I was unable to warn you. I was concerned that had I done so, you would have braced yourself against such an “attack” and I might have been unsuccessful. Your mental emanations could not be mimicked by the decoys. Therefore, a pursuer detecting your thought projections would immediately have discerned that this ship was different from all the decoy images. You had to be unconscious for the ruse to work. I was not certain how forceful I needed to be to render you unconscious. I fear I might have been somewhat overzealous.]
[Ya think?] I rubbed my temples again. Still, his explanation confirmed something important I thought I’d figured out.
[I understand. You did what you had to do. So where are we now—just sitting on the bottom of the ocean?]
[Not quite. I waited until the other ships were out of range, and then I revived Galla and located a rocky outcropping to “park” under. We are sufficiently distant from our original course that even were the ships to double back looking for us, we should be out of range.]
[That’s good to hear. So we’re safe for now?]
[It would appear so.]
[Good, because I have a lot of questions.]
[I thought you might. Go ahead.]
[Why did you need me to launch the decoys? It seems to me that anyone on this ship could have done it, from anywhere.]
[True. For that matter, I could have handled that task myself. But you appeared to have the greatest need to do something. The rest of the crew had duties to keep them occupied.]
[Oh.] I was somewhat disappointed. I was half hoping he’d say that I had some special skill that made me perfect for that job—cool under fire, maybe. Not that’d I’d shown off that particular skill earlier.
[Okay, then. Next question: Galla’s sentient, isn’t she?]
[Not in the same way that you or I are. She is more like one of your canines. Over the eons, my species and hers developed a symbiotic relationship. Our two species bond as children and grow up together, live together, play together, and work together. The palashi—Galla’s species—are extremely loyal. The bonding is for life. It is not uncommon for a palashi to die not long after the death of its Azarti partner.]
[Okay, so whose ship is she? Yours?]
[Galla is Allara’s ship. Not all of us are fortunate enough to bond with a palashi. My mate and I took Allara shortly after she was born to visit friends whose palashi had likewise just given birth. We were pleased when Galla chose Allara. No one else can pilot Galla without Allara’s consent.]
[But...I’m confused. You said that friends of yours helped you escape and provided you with this ship.]
[That is
correct. They freed Galla from captivity. She was every bit as much a prisoner as we were.]
[Ah. Okay. That makes sense now. But I don’t understand something else. We may make friends with our dogs, but we don’t live inside them. How do you manage to do that without hurting Galla? She seems to be mostly hollow. Doesn’t she have internal organs—heart, brain, blood, and so on?]
[You have no real parallels on your planet. Perhaps the closest analogue would be your jellyfish. They consist mostly of water, with little seeming to hold them together. Yet they eat, digest, excrete, mate, and perform all the other functions necessary for life. Galla is similar in the sense that she is largely composed of water encased in a tough membrane. Some of her organs are contained within her inner and outer skins. In other cases, her skin is the organ. For example, she absorbs nutrients through her skin, excretes through her skin, sees with her skin—even as we Azarti do—and so on.]
[I see. Okay. I can understand how she swims and the other basic necessities of life, but how can a semi-intelligent water-based being travel between the stars? Doesn’t it dry out? What about radiation and meteors and comets?]
[That, my friend, is a more difficult question. We do not fully understand the workings of our own brains, any more than you humans do—how various chemicals and synaptic firings can translate into consciousness and a sense of self—and even less so the biology of the palashi.
We know enough to be able to make use of our respective talents, but we may never understand how our brains produce those talents. It is enough to know that a palashi can create an energy bubble around itself that warps space and protects it and its passengers from the perils of space. Mostly, anyway, as our present predicament demonstrates.]
I chuckled. [Somehow, I was expecting a more scientific explanation than that, but I guess it’ll do.]
Karsh projected a mental shrug. [I am sorry. I am an engineer by trade, not a biologist.]
[‘Sokay. I probably wouldn’t have understood a more in-depth explanation anyway. Is there some reason we can’t use that energy bubble now? Or isn’t it effective against weapons?]
[Unfortunately, water interferes with a palashi’s ability to create an energy bubble. It works only outside a palashi’s natural environment—in space or in atmosphere. Even so, the energy bubble can only withstand normal background radiation; it is ineffective against energy weapons and intense solar radiation.]
[That’s too bad—it could have come in handy.] I shrugged. [One more thing: I think I figured out the answer to one of my questions, but not a related one. I presume the reason the entire coast isn’t blanketed with military aircraft investigating the arrival of the two newcomers is that the organic forms of the palashi don’t show up well on radar. Whatever smaller cross-sections appeared would seem like meteorites. Fine. If the ships stayed low enough over the sea they should be able to avoid being picked up even now. So why chase us underwater, when they would have the advantage of speed and angle flying overhead?
Karsh hesitated before answering. Oddly, rather than sensing evasion I sensed embarrassment. It was almost as if he owned the puppy that had just piddled on my rug.
[This may sound strange, but palashi are afraid of heights. They suffer from vertigo in atmosphere.]
[Are you kidding me?] I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. [The palashi travel between the stars, but they’re afraid to fly through the air?]
[It is true. Palashi evolved in the sea, as we did. In atmosphere, their equilibrium is severely affected, more so than ours. For reasons we do not yet understand, space travel does not affect them the same way. However, atmospheric travel for any length of time is extremely difficult for them. They can maneuver just long enough to jump from atmosphere to space, or vice versa. But they must return to water as quickly as possible upon re-entry.]
I shook my head in wonder. [That’s...amazing. I guess we all have our weaknesses.]
I shrugged. [Well, that’s all the questions I have for the moment. So now what? Where do we go from here?]
[We should stay where we are for now. After I am satisfied that the Brotherhood is well out of range, we can proceed back toward shore, where we can let you off.]
The Brotherhood? Interesting.
[However, we should not return to the bay from which we departed. The Brotherhood ships might be waiting for us there. We should find another harbor where we can hide while we assist Galla in the process of healing her earlier injuries as well as her new ones.]
[So, no more “repairs” to make, then. Now it’s “healing her injuries.”]
Karsh shrugged again. [I apologize for the deception. I did not think you would have understood or believed me had I tried to explain earlier.]
I thought about that for a moment. [Yeah, you’re probably right. In my younger days, I suppose I was something of an idealist, always looking to save the world. I guess that’s why I became a cop. But reality beat the idealism out of me. If I can’t see, taste, hear, smell, or touch something, I tend not to believe it. I’m not one to take things on faith anymore. Hearing that the ship is organic was one thing; experiencing the whole of Galla was something else entirely. Until I had a chance to “plug into the network,” so to speak, I wouldn’t have believed you—I couldn’t have understood.]
[That is behind us, my friend. Now we must decide how to proceed from here.]
* * * *
We eventually decided on the town of Venture, sixty miles up the coast, bordering a small inlet. It was far enough in the opposite direction from where the Brotherhood ships were last seen chasing our decoys that we hoped they wouldn’t detect Galla during the brief stop to drop me off. Once there, I’d hitchhike back into town. Galla would continue on to deeper water until Keldor helped her finish healing.
Karsh and I said our goodbyes and I swam ashore with my clothes in a waterproof bag slung over my shoulder. My ribs hurt with every stroke, but the shore wasn’t far. As I swam, I called Lola to let her know what happened to me. She said she saw the red underwater glow head out to sea and some bright flashes, but that was it. She waited for me to return, and when I didn’t after a few minutes she got worried.
“I’m fine, Lola. I should be there in an hour or so. I’m sure I can catch a ride. Trucks drive down the highway here day and night.”
“You sure, sugar? I can come get you.”
“Thanks, honey, but it’ll be faster to hitchhike.”
“Only if you catch a ride. What if you end up with your tallywacker waving in the breeze all night?”
I laughed. “I wasn’t planning on sticking that out. I figure my thumb will do just fine. Tell you what, if I don’t get a ride within half an hour, I’ll give you a call.”
She wasn’t happy, but she agreed.
I said I’d give it thirty minutes and I got a ride in twenty-eight. Jessie was a long-haul trucker who liked to talk and didn’t seem particularly curious about why my hair was all wet. I was tired enough that I was happy to lean back and listen. Before I knew it, Jessie was shaking my shoulder.
“Wake up, man, we’re here. This is as close as I get to where you’re goin’.”
I thanked him, we shook hands and I hopped down from the cab. I was only six blocks from Lola’s place. It wasn’t worth bothering her for such a short a ride in the middle of the night, so I hoofed it. The walk was pleasant and it gave me a chance to clear my head. I called ahead and let Lola know I’d be there in a couple of minutes.
A block from Lola’s, I heard a loud squeal behind me.
“All right, Sunrise,” a deep voice barked. “Put your hands behind your head and drop to your knees!”
I glanced over my shoulder in the direction of the voice. For a moment, I was blinded by the car’s headlights. Then the red-and-blue flashing lights caught my eye. Shit! I’d forgotten the cops were still looking for me.
I did as I was instructed, and within seconds one of the bluecoats had handcuffed me, while the other covered me with his service pistol.
“Donatello Sunrise, you’re under arrest for kidnapping.”
The taller of the duo proceeded to read me my rights, while the shorter one stuffed me in the back of the squad car.
Terrific. How was I going to talk my way out of twenty-plus counts of kidnapping?
Chapter Eight
The cops seemed to see me as the second coming of Jack the Ripper, even though no one had died. I guess they thought it was pure luck or just a matter of time.
It was obvious they would have liked nothing better than to take me into the backwoods somewhere and beat the tar out of me and leave me for dead. After all, one of the kidnapped girls was the sister of a fellow cop. But they were under strict orders to bring me in in one piece. I didn’t understand that at first, until we arrived at the precinct house to the glare of strobe lights.
One cop pulled me from the car and both men grasped me firmly by the upper arms and led me to the entrance. We had to push through a throng of media shoving microphones and holo pickups in our faces. They yelled out questions, like: “Mr. Sunrise! Mr. Sunrise! Why did you do it? Why did you kidnap all those women?” and “Do you regret kidnapping those women?” One idiot even yelled out, “What do you think your chances are of escaping the death penalty?”
I hadn’t even been booked yet and they were already planning their coverage of my execution! I looked straight into the idiot’s lens and said, “Pretty good, I think—considering that I’m innocent. I had nothing to do with the disappearances. I was hired to find one of the girls by her father. I found them all and I was trying to return them discreetly. End of story.”
That’s as far as I got before the precinct doors shut behind me, cutting off the media’s access.
Booking didn’t take long. My arraignment was scheduled for the next day. This was a high-profile case and the mayor and chief of police wanted everyone to know that they were moving heaven and earth to make the city safe again. That, and it was an election year.
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