by F. E. Arliss
The next hour flew by as Moira sized up Daer’s potential in self-defense. At the end, both women were winded and sweating heavily. “You’re good,” Moira said with a nod of approval. “The Commander would have been pleased. You’re fast and innovative. Now that I’ve got a good idea of your strengths and weaknesses, we can start working on shoring those up. I’ll put you on rotation every day with Tally or me. Ok?” she asked, panting a little.
“Ok,” Daer agreed. Her pool bottom-sitting had stood her in good stead today and she was pleased to see that the practice she did each night seemed to help. Her swim instructor had given her a series of exercises to do to maintain her lung capacity on dry land and they seemed to be working. She was still keen to work on the water world of Gateca and hoped to at least see the darn place someday. It also helped with keeping her lungs working at optimum capacity during these types of workouts. Daer was grateful. Moira Quirke might be twice her age, but she was tough as nails.
Both she and Tally seemed to be dealing with these deaths far better than Daer would have in their shoes. But no one ever really knew what was going on in another person’s mind. So this was probably just a front. Underneath she could see that both were pale and strained with grief.
The three week trip to Renegar flew by. Daer enjoyed the Clyde. For such a beat up looking ship, he was surprisingly agile. She was also shocked to find out that he was heavily reinforced with lightweight ultra-high tech, organic armor and armed to the gills with cannons, laser weapons, and even a cloaking device. She had Tally give her the whole rundown on that system up close and personal. Daer hadn’t seen one before and was keen to know how they ran. This one was an Idolum prototype, so even rarer. Daer didn’t ask how they’d gotten it. It seemed prudent not to.
A day out from Renegar, they were given the coordinates of a large asteroid field that contained several large caves. After surveying the various options, Daer piloted the Clyde gingerly into the largest of the caves. Tally swung into action creating a containment field over the entrance and along the walls, just in case the vaporized matter started eating away at the asteroid itself. Within an hour they were ready to vent the cargo bay and initiate the cleaning protocols.
Everything went like clockwork. After the cargo bay was opened to the cave’s atmosphere, the microbots went to work and a nanite cloud was released into the cavern. It took twelve hours for the cleaning protocol to finish its routine. Daer checked, then double-checked the results. There was no remaining trace of the residue that had leaked from the two breached containers. It was safe to proceed to Renegar.
Chapter Thirteen
Houston We Have a Ghost
When they dropped through the atmosphere of Renegar, Daer was floored by the great swirling orange-ball of a planet. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen. A burning desert of an orb, floating in blue, blue sky. It was so bright it almost seemed to burn her retinas.
Tally Quirke commed the planet and received clearance to breach the atmosphere. They landed on a level plateau that appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. Daer could see no habitat at all.
When the gate lowered and Moira Quirke motioned for her to drive the loader off Clyde’s ramp, she strapped a set of goggles over her eyes and drove down into the slightly swirling orange dust. It was really pretty cool. A new world, a new experience. Daer gave a delighted grin at Moira and gave her a ‘thumbs up’ sign. This job was fun.
Dermott Quirke grinned back. Then turning to his wife said, “She’s a trooper that girl. Works hard, fights hard, cleans the shitter. Now look at her...all excited about some orange dust in the middle of nowhere. It’s kinda sweet.”
Moira turned slightly in her husband’s direction and said, “Yes. I like her too. Plus, Tate’s quite smitten. Have you noticed?”
“Yeah, I saw him ogling her during the hand-to-hand bout with Tally last week. I suspect if she could see him doing that, she’d kick him in the nuts,” the old man said with a smirk.
“She’s good with Tally too. Had her going over the workings of the cloaking device for hours to keep her mind off the loss of you and Tate and Molly and Gavin. It worked a treat, though I do believe she was genuinely interested and learning. It’s nice for Tally to have a friend. Tally is lonely, but, I guess she should be used to it by now,” her mother said with a long sigh and a weak smile in her husband’s general direction. “There is no doubt that Daer has been our savior on this run.”
“It’s good to be on Renegar again. It’s nice to have a home world, orange desert though it is,” Dermott said. “I hope Daer takes the Alliance well. Can’t see how we can really hide it from her as the Idolum take possession of the mineral tomorrow. There is no way we can hide it from her unless someone keeps her off the plateau for the entire transfer.”
“Do you mind this Alliance, love?” Moira asked him quietly.
“No, it’s been the best thing for us. It’s good to have a home. It’s good to have family here when we return. I’m ok with it.” After a brief pause, he added, “Actually, I think it’s been only good for us. Now, with the accident, it will be good for you and Tally to have family to come back to. I may be here in spirit, but it’s not the same as having a pair of arms to welcome you home.”
Moira let two big tears run down her face before she wiped them away. “Tally doesn’t believe me. So, yes, it’s good for her to have an extended family and friends to come back to. I like coming home here. I didn’t think I would. But I do. I’m glad Ewan got us tangled up in this.”
Just as Daer whirled the hover-loader in an arc to run it back into the Clyde for the first load, an explosion of assailants packing some of the most advanced weaponry Daer had ever seen, burst over the lip of the steep ravines and surrounded them. She set the hover-loader down quietly and raised her hands in the air. Raising a questioning eyebrow at Moira Quirke, she signaled her ‘what the hell?’ question with a simple look.
Moira looked confused and walked down the ramp of the Clyde with both her hands held aloft as well. Turning to face a flame-haired beauty wielding a small but lethal looking personal laser pistol, she said, “What is it Sasha? Has something happened?”
The redhead jerked visibly in shock, then opened her mouth as though to speak, then closed it again. Lowering her weapon she walked closer to Moira and said, “Moira, are you alright?” In a hesitant, slightly cautious sounding voice.
“Of course I’m not alright, Sasha! I’ve lost my husband and my son. I’ve lost Gavin and Molly. I’m shattered!” Moira wailed and ran into the woman’s arms.
“It’s ok. You’re home now. Let’s get this all figured out,” the redheaded Sasha crooned gently, hugging the slight figure of Moira Quirke in a fiercely protective embrace. Releasing her after a few moments, she asked, “I take it this is Daer Null, the young Assistant Director that you’ve told us about?”
“Yes! She’s been most helpful on this run. Tally, come say hello to Sasha,” Moira demanded, gesturing to her reluctant daughter. Tally had halted at the top of the cargo ramp and was eyeing the variety of weapons leveled at them.
“Something we missed, I take it,” Tally said dryly, waving a trembling hand at the assortment of armaments and alien individuals holding them.
“Well, that’s what we need to figure out,” Sasha said calmly, though she cast a somewhat desperate glance over her shoulder at the tall Vanguardian male that stood tensely behind her. His bewildered face was mirrored in various ways by the others that surrounded the Clyde.
Daer was gawking at the Vanguardian. She’d never seen one in person before. He was tall with broad shoulders and small waist and hips. His slightly elongated limbs made him seem even taller. Brown wiry hair was braided down the back of his neck and continued down the upper part of his back. This Vanguardian had a prosthetic arm that glimmered slightly with what appeared to be the most cutting-edge sensors.
The arm explained his presence here. Daer had read that the Vanguardian species prized honor and perfection.
This warrior’s lack of an arm would have put him in the category where he would become a ‘gift’ or indentured worker, rehomed far from the Vanguardian home world. The Vanguardians were a strange lot. Honorable to a fault, but cold-hearted when it came to what they perceived as ‘flaws’.
Finally, a short, plump older woman burst through the circle of armed men and rushed to Moira Quirke’s side. “Moira!” she cried. “It is so good to see you! Oh my Mother, the Clyde is a ghost ship! Are Dermott,Tate and the others ghosted too?”
A stunned Moira turned to the woman and launched herself into the older woman’s arms crying uncontrollably. All Daer could hear was, “Yes, yes he’s here, Tate too. Though I’ve not seen Gavin or Molly.”
The older woman looked at the redhead and said, “It’s ok girl. The ship’s a ghost, as are Dermott and Tate. Bring the survivors and have a guard placed at the mouth of the ship. We’ve got a lot of explaining to do. To them as well,” she said, motioning at a puzzled Tally and a confounded Daer. “Let’s all go get a cup of tea and get this sorted.” Turning she guided Moira Quirke towards the far side of the plateau and passing a dumbfounded Daer, said to her, “Well, don’t just sit there girl, get a move on. They’re going to need you.”
Daer jumped out of the hover-lifter and followed the older woman. Glancing back over her shoulder she could see Tally being aided by a slender young Vanguardian girl.
Finally, seated in front of a soothing fountain inside a huge cavern that had been cloaked from the outside. Daer waited patiently to see what the fuss was all about. Sipping the cup of tea she’d been given, she squeezed a trepidatious Tally’s hand. Moira was in an intense conversation with the older woman, Sasha, and the tall Vanguardian male that had stood behind the redhead on the plateau. They’d been joined by a blue android and seemed deep in some complex discussions.
“What’s going on?” Tally asked anxiously. “What is the big deal? Dad and Tate are dead. What could be worse than that?” she asked with a sob.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily anything worse,” Daer said quietly. “It’s just something they don’t understand. It will all be fine,” she reassured the shattered woman. Tally might be older than Daer, but she wasn’t more mature. Shitty husbands and in-laws helped harden a person up, Daer thought with an inner snort. At least the assholes in Daer’s earlier life had been good for something.
Finally the group approached Daer and Tally. Moira Quirke hurried to her daughter and hugged her tightly. Glancing over at Daer with an imploring look, Moira silently asked for her support. Whatever was going on was going to be a bombshell, Daer thought. She nodded to Moira, giving her unspoken solidarity.
The redheaded Sasha started the conversation. “As Tally and Moira know, I’m Sasha Kelty, Captain of that sexy sloop over their,” she said, waving at a low-slung vessel decked with all the latest gear and sporting quite a lot of improvements that Daer couldn’t even identify. Clearly it was some sort of experimental prototype.
I’m also the Queen of Renegar and most importantly, friends to all who honor the Alliance. I’ll get to that bit in a minute,” she said, with a slight smile at Daer’s questioning look.
“Right now we have to address the accident aboard the Clyde and its repercussions. Which appear to be a bit more than any of you had originally understood. When you called in to receive clearance, Tally, we stood at the mouth of the cavern awaiting the Clyde’s arrival. All we saw was a swirl of dust, and then the hover-lifter appeared out of nowhere, with Daer piloting,” Sasha said calmly and clearly, then paused.
“What?” Tally asked, confusion marring her face. She looked at her mother, whose face mirrored the same calm as Sasha Kelty’s. “What?” she almost shrieked. Daer just sat quietly. Something was not quite right here.
“I believe your Mother told you that she’d seen your father and brother in the ship after the accident?” Sasha asked Tally gently.
“Yeah, it’s just wishful thinking. I think that’s normal,” Tally replied indignantly. “All people want to think their loved ones live on,” she added defensively.
“Yes. I suppose that may be true,” Sasha agreed smoothly. “However, your mother isn’t really the ‘head in the sand’ type, is she?” Sasha inquired of Tally with one eyebrow lifted meaningfully.
“Noooo. No! You can’t mean that you think this ghost of Dad and Tate stuff is real too!” Tally wailed. “Are you all losing your nut?”
The older woman, Dolores Kelty, stepped forward and took Tally gently by the shoulders. “When the Clyde landed, none of us saw him. We didn’t see anything until the ramp opened and the hover-lifter came down and completed a turn in the dust. Clyde is invisible to us,” she stated matter-of-factly. “You don’t want to believe it, because you can see him. However, to the rest of us, he’s just not visible from the outside.”
“Blue will explain it to us using the scientific information he’s processed. Be quiet now dear, and listen.” With that she shoved Tally aside and squeezing her ample self into the space next to her, looped both arms around the girl and turned to face the blue android expectantly.
The android nodded a greeting to Daer and then, being known to all the others, began. “As I’ve synthesized the materials list that the Clyde was carrying during the accident, I have been able to complete a hypothesis of what may have happened,” he began in a somewhat feminine voice. He was wearing a velvet blazer in a vivid hue of puce and a purple tie, so Daer supposed ‘he’ could be a ‘she’ or a gay ‘he’? Did androids come in sexes? Geez woman, pull yourself together, she added with a mental shake.
“In layman’s terms,” he continued with a meaningfully superior glance at Sasha, who simply smiled slightly back at him, “the Idolum algae you were hauling, when exposed to the new mineral ores from Gem 8, synthesized to create a new kind of organic fusion. That fusion did indeed kill Commander Quirke, Tate Quirke, Gavin Doyle and Molly Cole. When it was vented into the atmosphere surrounding the Clyde in the interior of the asteroid, the substance had a sufficient amount of time, though seriously diluted, to coat the exterior surfaces of the Clyde.”
“Since Clyde had been reinforced with an organic compound of Soclaued armor and then coated with another organic compound used in the application of Idolum cloaking technologies, the Clyde was ripe for reaction with this synthesized compound,” the blue man continued, pausing for dramatic effect. He should be an actor, Daer thought to herself with an inward sigh.
“The Clyde is now virtually invisible. Unlike the cloaking device, his exterior coating is now infused with this new formulation, and it can not be turned on and off. His ‘invisible’ status is permanent. Clyde is basically now a ghost ship,” he concluded with a flourish of one pale blue wrist.
With a slight bow at the waist to his audience, he added, “I will let Dolores fill you in on the rest of the sensation.”
Great! Daer thought. What was coming was even more sensational than an invisible ship. Oh dear Mother help them!
The older woman stood up. Nodding at Daer and smiling kindly at all of them, she began, “I’m Dolores Kelty, Sasha’s gran. I’m also a follower of the Mothers of Universal Oneness, a highly skilled sect of priestesses that believe we are all connected spiritually through the ethers of the galaxies. Yeah, I know, sounds a little kooky. But in actuality, it’s anything but kooky. It helped Sasha blow rock to smithereens and has helped the two of us communicate with each other over vast distances.”
Continuing, the older woman smiled gently at Tally Quirke and said, “Your dad and brother are spiritually connected to you and your mum and the Clyde. They didn’t want to leave you behind on your own. So while you may believe them dead, they are not. Their spirits are with you aboard the Clyde. Your mother has seen them. We have seen the incredible and virtually unexplainable transformation of the Clyde into an invisible, but actual, ship. Your brother and your father are dead. Just not spiritually. They are with you aboard the Clyde.”
The older woman sat a
nd then said, “Just take a few hours to absorb that thought. We can talk later about the rest. Caja will show you each to a place of rest here in the cavern. When you feel up to it, come down. We have more to discuss. Especially you, young lady,” she said, nodding at Daer. Daer rose and followed the tall Vanguardian, her mind whirling.
Great! Just great! A ghost ship. A ghost crew. And there was more to go! Awesome! When the big Vanguardian warrior’s back stopped in front of her and he gestured to a down-filled pallet in a cubby hole on the high, third-tier of the cavern, Daer didn’t hesitate. She threw herself onto the mat, pulled the slightly dusty, but still clean coverlet over her head and was fast asleep in minutes.
Chapter Fourteen
Alien Avalanche
Daer transferred the cargo from the Clyde onto a large carrier platform that was brought out from an enormous cavern along the far side of the plateau. She used the hover-loader while Tally kept tabs on the inventory list and Moira unstrapped the containers one at a time. Working smoothly in unison, the three of them had the load off the Clyde within a couple of hours.
