The Counterfeit Captain

by Henry Vogel

  The explosive decompression grabbed Smith’s men and dragged them in a group back into the widening hole. Once again, human bodies stoppered the hole, though God only knew how long that would last. Smith, the last of the mercenaries to back away from the console, was farthest from the vent and the only one free of the tangle. He stood rooted in place for a second, watching the waving feet of a man pulled head-first into the hole, before pulling himself together and charging our way.

  “We must get out of here, my Captain,” Sko yelled over the terror-stricken cries of the mercenaries..

  Pulling the ring off my finger, I shook my head. “Not until I get this data stick into that port!”

  With a gentle pop, the man waving his feet suddenly shot through the vent and into space. Wind whistled again, sucking the others deeper into the vent. Pulling my eyes away from the sight, I popped the ring open. Then Smith reached us, clawing to get past us, and knocked the ring from my hand.

  As I dropped to my knees and retrieved the ring, Sko spun and put every bit of his strength and anger and frustration into a left hook to Smith’s jaw. The mercenary captain’s head snapped back and he staggered backward, caught in the increasingly strong suction from the vent. As Smith’s arms wind milled, unable to find something to latch onto, Sko lifted me and struggled toward the door.

  “Can you run this computer from the other room?” Sko yelled over the wind and the screams.

  “Yes, but I’ve got to put the ring into the port first!”

  I felt Sko’s strong fingers pry the ring from my hand. “I will do that, my Captain.”

  “No! You’ll die if you stay in here, Sko.”

  Behind us, Smith crashed into the knot of men plugging the small vent for a second before pushing one of his man through it and into space. A second followed and the wind tore through our little room and out of the vent.

  Sko grabbed the edge of the computer room door, holding both of us against the howling gale. On the bridge, Lilla and Raal huddled against the computer console, holding each other in terror.

  Lips against my ear so I could hear him, Sko said, “But you, my Captain, my love—you will live.”

  Then Sko shoved me through the door. I sprawled to the floor and rolled quickly over. Sko, a gentle smile on his face, slapped the red emergency decompression button on my side of the door. He barely pulled his hand back before the door hissed shut and a terrible silence fell across the bridge.

  I knew I should scream or howl in rage or even collapse sobbing in a heap, but I did none of those things. Feeling nothing, my face set, I rose to my feet and walked to the Technical Officer’s console. I stared at it for a few seconds, waiting for something to happen, willing for Sko’s sacrifice to mean something.

  A new icon appeared on the console screen—a diamond ring. Numbly, I pressed it. Commands scrolled rapidly across the screen for close to a minute. Lilla came to me as I stared at the display, wrapping her arms tightly around me. Raal came to my other side and just stood there, not quite knowing what to do.

  Then the mechanical voice I knew and loathed so well spoke to me. Calmly and with no inflection it said, “I am the AI for the generation ship Ark 2. What is your command, Captain?”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Captain of the Ark 2

  In a monotone voice, I said, “AI, seal and pressurize the computer room.”

  “That is strange, Captain,” the AI replied in its now calm and inflectionless voice. “I have no record of a fire nor the order to depressurize the computer room.”

  “Just do it!” I yelled. “I don’t give a damn what you have records of.”

  “I am already sealing the room, Captain. The mechanism is not responding within tolerance. I have submitted a maintenance request.”

  “Well bully for you.”

  “I detect extreme levels of stress in your voice, Captain. Shall I summon medical or psychological assistance?”

  “Why don’t you just leave her alone, you stupid AI?” Lilla growled. “She’s had enough trouble.”

  “Who is speaking, please?” asked the AI.

  God above, was this machine ever going to shut up? “The voice belongs to Commander Lilla, my second officer. The next voice you hear will be Commander Raal, third officer.” I waved a hand at the boy. “Say hello to the AI, Raal.”

  “Um, hello AI?”

  “Voice prints for Commanders Lilla and Raal are now on file. Are they recent promotions, Captain? I have no record of them.”

  “I’m afraid a malfunction erased your memory banks, AI. This ship has been under way for two thousand years.”

  “I understand, Captain. Thank you for the explanation.” With a soft whoosh, the door to the computer room slid open. “Pressurization of the computer room is complete, Captain.”

  I sprinted to the door, Lilla and Raal on my heels. I knew what I hoped to find and dreaded what I might find. What I found was nothing. The computer room was empty.

  I crumpled to my knees, my whole body sagging and my head dropping into my hands. All of my control fled and the emotions I’d held in check since Sko threw me from the computer room emerged in a raw-throated wail.

  I smashed my fists on the floor but that physical pain didn’t overwhelm the awful, terrible agony ripping me apart from the inside. So I turned my fists on my own head. What right did I have to survive when gentle, brave Sko was dead? How could I live when he floated in the cold void, lost to everyone who ever loved him?

  Then hands grabbed my arms and pulled them away from my head. Voices spoke and bodies bore me down on the floor. Four arms wrapped around me and held me. I opened my eyes and found bright blue eyes filled with tears and worry staring into my face.

  “It’s not your fault, Nancy,” Lilla said. “Please stop punishing yourself.”

  “B-but he’s gone, Lilla. He’s all alone out there.”

  “No, Nancy, Sko is not alone. He’s with all those who died before him. He’s with our Captain or your God. He’s gone to colony. And he’ll be waiting for you there—but you can’t be with him yet.” Lilla wiped her eyes, though tears kept streaming from them. “I need you. Raal needs you. The whole ship needs you.”

  I nodded, trying to show I understood. Then I wrapped an arm around Lilla’s neck, pulled her in close, and cried until my tears ran dry. Then the three of us stood and returned to the computer console.

  “AI, send out an SOS on all frequencies. Continue broadcasting until you get a reply. Alert me immediately and leave all communication to me.”

  “Broadcasting now, Captain.”

  “Good. Can you restore all robots to their original programming without a physical interface?”

  “I can, Captain. Do you wish me to do that?”

  “Yes, do it immediately. After that, order all robots to end all work shifts and see that all of the children are properly fed and allowed to rest. The robots should tell the children the captain will see them returned to their families as soon as possible.”

  “I shall do so, Captain, though I do not understand why children are performing ship’s work.”

  “Don’t worry about that. The second and third officers and I are going to get some rest. Wake me immediately if the SOS draws a response.”

  I fell into the captain’s chair and leaned back. I closed my eyes intending to plan my course of action for the next few days. The next thing I knew the AI was calling to me.

  “Please wake up, Captain. I am receiving a reply to the SOS.”

  I felt stiff and sore from sleeping in the chair. “How long have I been asleep?”

  “Three hours, Forty-six minutes, and-”

  “That’s close enough,” I interrupted. “Put the response through to my station.”

  A second later, a voice issued from the bridge com. “Unidentified ship, what is your location and the nature of your emergency? Repeating, this is the TFS Phoenix. We are receiving your distress signal. Please respond.”

  Energized to hear the call from my
own ship, I said, “Phoenix, this is Captain Nancy Martin commanding the generation ship Ark 2. Do you copy?”

  The com was silent for a few seconds. “Say again, please.”

  “Repeating, this is Captain Nancy Martin of the Terran Federation Navy, stationed on board the TFS Phoenix with the rest of Fighter Squadron 308. I know it sounds ridiculous, Phoenix, but I am sitting on the bridge of the generation ship Ark 2 and am recognized as the captain by the ship’s AI.”

  A new voice came over the com. “Captain Martin, this is Captain Quincy. Is this some kind of joke?”

  “Meaning no disrespect, sir, but if you’d care to follow this signal to its source you can see the answer for yourself.”

  “Assuming for the moment that you truly are on board a two thousand year old ship, what kind of assistance do you require?”

  “At a guess, I’d say a thousand anthropologists, a few hundred colony transport ships, and a spare planet for the people on board this ship to colonize. That would be a good start, anyway.”

  I kept up the conversation with Captain Quincy for another hour. I don’t think I ever convinced him I wasn’t crazy, but when the Phoenix got within sensor range my commanding officer had no choice but to accept the truth.

  A few hours later, help started arriving from every ship in the task force and the call for aid went out to every ship in the sector. The Fringers even requested peace and sent their own ships to help us, making the Ark 2 the only colony ship to end a war.

  I wanted to do nothing but lose myself in my duties on board the Phoenix, to bury my grief in routine, but I could not. Someone had to manage the entire Ark 2 rescue project and I was the unanimous choice. And there were perks to the job.

  I got to reunite thousands of children with their parents, including a tear-filled one with Lilla, Milla, and their parents. Raal chose to go with them—or Lilla, anyway—rather than returning to his own tribe. Lilla’s father took a skeptical view of the boy, but Lilla’s mother appraised the situation with a critical eye and quickly made Raal feel welcome.

  Mauris got more than a skeptical view—he got hustled into a quick wedding with the now-pregnant Milla. The young man appeared surprised by his rapid change of situation, but not displeased.

  I dropped by to visit with Lilla and Raal as often as my duties permitted, which wasn’t very often. I did settle into a routine and it helped me deal with my grief. At my insistence, the Federation Navy searched for Sko’s body but found nothing. I put in an official appearance at the funeral Sko’s village held for him. Later, I held my own memorial service for him where we first met and then cried myself to sleep.

  It took over a year of non-stop work to arrange the mass migration from the Ark 2 to a new world, Ark’s Landing. It’s a beautiful world between Federation space and Fringer space and the perfect place for the most-lost of all of humanity’s colonists. With massive aid and thousands of advisors from across the Federation and from Fringer space on hand to help them get a good start, there’s no doubt the colony will thrive.

  Finally, nearly eighteen months after Sko’s death, my work was done. With relief, I resigned my naval commission and stepped aside, letting people more qualified take over my gradually decreasing duties. I arranged passage back to the center of Federation space and then performed my last duty on Ark’s Landing.

  At Lilla’s request, I stood as her Maid of Honor when she married Raal. The girl absolutely glowed as her father escorted her down the aisle. Unlike their first meeting, Lilla’s father smiled fondly at Raal as he presented his daughter. Vows were given and kisses exchanged, followed by a night of dancing and feasting. It was late when Raal, to much good natured ribbing, swept Lilla off her feet and carried her to their newly-built house.

  By the time they emerged the next day, I was already one wormhole jump away.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Home

  “That was nine years ago. I bounced around Federation Space for a few years, taking whatever piloting jobs came my way. One of those jobs brought me through Pegasus Station and the mood on the station seemed like a good match for my own mood.” I stared into my beer, sitting at a corner table in the Wingspan Bar and Grill on Pegasus Station. Like my first few days on the Ark 2, the last few days had brought life-changing upheaval to me. But since the story of the fugitive heir isn’t mine, I’ll leave its telling to Matt and Michelle, the pretty young blonde woman sitting across from me.

  I looked up at Michelle and felt my eyes fill with tears. “You reminded me so much of Lilla when we first met. After what you and Matt have done here, I see it even more than before.”

  Michelle reached across the table and took my hand in both of hers. “I’m honored by the comparison—and by you sharing your story with Matt and me. When was the last time you told this story to anyone?”

  I wiped my eyes with my free hand and barked a short laugh. “Never. Not the whole story, anyway. I didn’t figure the Federation Navy needed to know any of the personal stuff and I just never let myself get close to anyone else to feel like sharing it.”

  My vision blurred again as tears welled up anew. “I only spent a few days with Sko and it’s been nine years since I lost him. It’s stupid that the whole thing still bothers me this much.”

  “It’s never stupid to feel a loss like that. You and Sko went through a lot in a very short time. That kind of thing forges deep bonds.” Michelle glanced at a handsome young man carefully balancing three burger plates and turning our way. “I loved Matt before we left Draconis a few weeks ago, but that was nothing compared to how I feel about him now. He is a necessary part of me. If I were to lose him—I can’t imagine ever getting over it.”

  She rose gracefully and took the most precariously balanced plate from Matt and set it before his chair. Smiling his thanks, Matt put the other two plates in front of Michelle and me. For a couple of minutes, the three of us busied ourselves eating.

  Matt chased his first few bites down with a swig of beer then turned his gaze on me. “Have you figured out what you’re going to do now, Nancy?”

  I shook my head. “I’ve worked here at Pegasus Station for the last five years, but it’s time to move on.”

  “I notice you didn’t say this place was your home for that time,” Matt said.

  I hadn’t even realized that until he pointed it out and thought about what that meant. “I haven’t had someplace I called home since my starfighter launched from the Phoenix back during the Fringer War.”

  Like Michelle a few minutes before, Matt took my hand in both of his and said, “You can’t keep going like this, Nancy. You need a place to call home.”

  “Yeah, well, I haven’t found one of those yet.”

  Michelle added her hands to Matt’s, her bright blue eyes catching my gaze. “Have you even been looking?”

  I looked down at my half-eaten burger and shook my head. “I don’t even know how to start.”

  “No matter how cliché it sounds,” Matt said, leaning into Michelle, “home really is where your heart is.”

  “Then that means my home is floating in space in a small asteroid field somewhere a long, long way from here.”

  Michelle shook her head. “You lost your heart there—but I think you can find it somewhere else.”

  Matt pulled out a pocket data pad and tapped on it. “I checked a few things while I was at the bar waiting for the burgers. It turns out GenCo has a one-way freight delivery leaving Pegasus Station in a couple of days. The ship carrying the load is part of the deal, so I need a pilot who won’t mind staying on-planet for a while after making the run. The world was only settled nine years ago, so you might be stuck there for a long time.”

  He laid the pad on the table and pushed it across to me. As I stared at the display showing a very familiar world, he continued, “The run is yours if you want it. If you take the time to look around while you’re there, I think you just might find your heart.”

  * * *

  My feet ground to a st
op at the edge of the road, seemingly unable to take the step onto the tidy stone walkway leading across the lawn to the door of the house. My heart pounded and sweat broke out as I tried to figure out what to do.

  Two young boys, perhaps four and seven, ran around the corner of the house. Both stopped when they caught sight of me, staring with the frank curiosity of the very young. They exchanged glances before the older of the two approached.

  “I don’t know you.” He wasn’t nervous, just obviously unused to seeing strangers in his village. “Do you need help?”

  I tried to answer but my throat constricted and words would not come. Instead, I just shrugged.

  “Are you lost?”

  I shook my head.

  A look of concern crossed the boy’s face. “I think you should talk to my mother. Come on.”

  He took my hand and started toward the door. My feet suddenly worked again and I let the boy pull me down the walk. He waved the other boy over to us and we entered the house.

  “Mom?”

  “I’m in the kitchen.”

  “Come on,” the boy said to me, leading me through a doorway.

  Like the rest of the house, the kitchen was neatly arranged. A slender blonde woman sat with her back to me, feeding a girl who couldn’t be much more than a year old.

  “Come on, Nancy, open up.”

  The girl’s eyes fastened on me. She waved her arms in excitement and opened her mouth. A spoon darted in and the girl’s mouth closed over it.

  “Martin and I found someone in front of the house, Mom.”

  “Who did you find, Sko? I’m expecting a couple of deliveries today.”

  Finally finding my voice, I said, “Hello, Lilla.”

  The woman’s back stiffened, then she rose and turned to face me. Despite the years and the birth of three children, I still saw the pretty teenage girl I’d known peeking through the woman’s eyes. She just stared for a second and then rushed to me, throwing her arms around me. We just held each other, not needing to say anything.