The Solar Wind

by Laura E. Collins

  “This is so beautiful,” she said as she carefully took it out of the box and opened it. It was empty and slightly tarnished inside.

  “It’s an antique, probably several hundred years old. I thought it was in pretty good shape for its age. Do you like it?”

  “I love it!” She pulled her hair back and put it on. It fell to the perfect length on her chest. “I love that it goes with my earrings, and also that it’s very unique and celestial. Thank you so much.” She gave him long kiss and a hug. “I know who’s picture I can put in it” she teased.

  “Oh really? Whoever it is, he’s a lucky man,” he joked back to her. They laughed heartily, enjoying each other’s company.

  Before landing back in the hangar Ava tried to pry some clues out of Wesley as to what he wanted to do for New Year’s Eve. Orionis was not exactly a celebration destination. Ava believed Wesley had something else planned because the holiday fell on another long weekend. The only clue he had given her was to pack to be out of town for several days. The short workweek went fast. Ava missed having her friends around in between the holidays, but there technically were no holidays in their line of work. As promised, Wesley came for her at six on Friday night to escort her back to the Andromeda.

  Once aboard and the Andromeda safely departed Ava began interrogating everyone until Wesley finally revealed that they would be spending New Year’s Eve on Capri.

  “Their largest hotel has a big party every year with lots of dancing and entertainment. We hear the food isn’t bad either. What do you think?”

  “This is going to be so much fun! I can’t wait. I haven’t been to a New Year’s Eve party in years. The best part is that I will be able to spend it with you.”

  “We were lucky to get reservations for the party and reserve a spot for landing. Their hangars are usually filled to the brim with ships during New Year Holiday because it is such a popular destination.”

  They landed early on New Year’s Eve and everyone slept in late because they knew they would be up late for the party. Naomi took Ava shopping for a few hours while some of the others worked out or ran errands, keeping their senses open for Bryant. None of the crew felt his presence anywhere near them so they continued their plans without interruption. Later, Rowan helped Ava put her hair up in a formal yet fun style for the party. Ava brought a simple mauve hued mid length satiny strapless dress to wear. She always liked how the color complimented her dark hair and that the classic style never seemed out of fashion. She had not worn it in years because she had no occasion for it. Celebrating a new year on Earth only meant it was that much closer to being uninhabitable, not exactly a happy event.

  The festivities commenced with a large parade through the avenues leading up to the hotel where the party was to take place. A great number of Capri’s residents lined up all through the avenues to view the colorful parade. Ava enjoyed the energy, the different light show displays, and music as the parade pounced by. Her friends seemed to be enjoying the parade as well however Ava noticed that they all had watchful eyes. She wondered if they were keeping a look out for their former crew mate. Why is he such a big deal, she thought. After the parade, the people who were lucky enough to have reservations to the party filed inside the hotel, while the rest of the crowd dispersed into the other nearby restaurants and clubs to begin their own celebrations. Ava and her friends were assigned to their own table for the party and hung out there until the appetizers were served. Wesley and Ava walked around the ballroom and looked at all of the decorations. There were even a few ice sculptures. “They are made out of recycled water. As they melt, the water will be collected and re-used again” he explained.

  After dinner Ava and Wesley chatted with Rowan and Justin while Mia, Ash, Naomi and Andre hit the dance floor. Ava never felt she had the coordination to dance, and never learned. Wesley openly admitted he was not a dancer either so they did not venture out. Ava could not believe how graceful Naomi and Andre were at dancing as she observed them. When it came time for the big count down and the champagne toast, they did head out into the dance floor and kissed at the stroke of midnight and the beginning of a hopeful new year.

  The group made their way back to the Andromeda in the wee hours of the morning. Ava, never a night owl, was ready to go to sleep. The next day, Wesley took Ava for some sight-seeing, as many of the businesses were closed for the holiday. They decided to have dinner alone, just the two of them before heading back to the ship. Once back on board they were met by Andre who requested to speak to Wesley alone. Ava excused herself to her quarters to freshen up, wondering what they needed to talk about. Once Ava was out of earshot Andre spoke.

  “Wesley, we need to depart as soon as possible.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “The holidays have brought many tourists to Capri. It appears that this has also attracted several Space Pirates. As you know because the ITO has really cracked down on them lately they are more desperate than ever. The reports are that a few of them have commandeered some of the ITO ships and are flying around out there assaulting ships left and right. I hacked into the network and I’ve been listening to the transmissions going on between them and the ITO control tower. They are trying to keep the whole thing quiet so as not to alarm anyone. Can you believe that! It’s only a matter of time before one of them is mistakenly granted permission to land in here and then we could have a crisis on our hands. I don’t know about you, but I’ve worked too hard on this ship to see it blown to bits by a bunch of thieving terrorists.”

  “Agreed. When is the next mass launching? If we leave along with several other ships, we’ll have a better chance of slipping out without becoming a target.”

  “Twenty-five minutes.”

  “I have a bad feeling about this,” Naomi added, joining the conversation.

  “What are your thoughts if we stay until tomorrow?” Wesley asked.

  “I have a bad feeling about that too. There’s something else. Bryant is here in the hangar somewhere, I can feel it. He’s probably watching us and wondering why we are back, we never come to Capri for New Years.”

  “Naomi, can you enter us into the queue? I want to make the next launch. Andre, prepare the ship for departure. Once we’re out of the hangar, terminate communications with Capri, activate the shields and arm the assault cannons. We’ll punch it to absolute velocity as soon as we clear Capri’s gravity. We shouldn’t have much to worry about as long as we don’t take more than a few hits.”

  “What should I tell Ava?” Naomi asked.

  “The truth, minus the part about Bryant. Ava’s strong, she’s not going to panic. Naomi, I’d like you to stay with her. I’m going to secure the ship and alert the others. I’ll stay with Ash in the flight deck once we are ready.”

  “Okay. I’ll get her up to the observation deck once I register our departure. I’ll keep the monitors turned off.”

  The crew ran around the ship preparing for a sudden take off. They were used to having quick turn-a-rounds and changes in their flight plans but they were rarely threatened by disgruntled space pirates. The only starships that were allowed to have weaponry were ships belonging to the ITO and individual station police units. Any ship outside of that category that carried weapons did so by their own illegal modifications. The Andromeda was a highly recognized peaceful starship, well known for the transport of all types of cargo. It was for this reason that the captain and crew worried about being attacked. What no-one with security at each of the stations knew about the Andromeda was that it was built with an array of illegal self defense assault weapons for scenarios such as this. The ship’s armor and design concealed the weapons so well, that even the ITO did not know it was armed and what it was capable of in self defense.

  The news of the imminent departure caught Ava off guard, however she understood why they needed to leave and asked if there was anything that she could do to help.

  “We just need you to stay calm Ava. Wesley’s making some adjustments in our flig
ht plan so that we aren’t followed back to Orionis,” Naomi said as the two women walked up to the flight deck. Her PCD beeped, Andre messaging them that they were 2 minutes out from departure. The two women took their seats, awaiting their turn for takeoff. The ship hummed gently as always and glided out of the hangar with ease. Ava noticed a slight change in the sound of the ship once they began to move away from Capri.

  “What was that noise?” She asked.

  “The shields have been activated. They will help to protect us if we are fired upon.”

  “Do you really think that we will be attacked?” Ava’s face displayed her concern for everyone’s safety.

  “It’s possible Ava. We’ve been chased by pirates before, but not like this. They have become more aggressive over the past year. Don’t worry, the Andromeda is tough, and fast. Even if we take a hit we should still be able to outrun any of the smaller ships.” Naomi punched a few buttons on the small console between them. They could now communicate with the flight deck. They could hear Wesley and Ash discussing maneuvers. Andre, Justin, Rowan, and Mia were ready to fire the cannons if necessary.

  “Are you sure there is nothing we can do to help?” Ava questioned.

  “No Ava, they have everything under control. Wesley wants us to stay here, out of danger. This part of the ship is well protected.”

  “What do these pirates want, besides stealing cargo?”

  “They want any number of things. These are people who live above the law. They travel around, essentially living on their ships. If they are successful in disabling a ship, they sometimes tow it back to a few remote locations back on Earth or other secret places in the galaxy to refurbish it, or strip it of its parts. Then they use the parts to build new ships or overhaul their own ships so that they are not recognizable. Sometimes the pirates turn over a new leaf and enter into the cargo hauling business, sometimes they go right back out and do it all over again. They hack into the transmissions between legitimate ships and the stations and steal access codes allowing them to land. This is why the stations are very strict about who they let into their hangars.”

  “I’ve never heard about any of this.”

  “Orionis is one of the safest places, they have the strictest outside surveillance of any station in orbit. It turns the pirates off so there is not a lot of activity there. The ITO keeps such crime reports under wraps. They don’t want people to be afraid of space travel. To their credit they have actually done a pretty good job keeping things relatively safe, but they can’t control the entire galaxy. Now that the pirates are hijacking ITO starships, that means that they are collecting weapons. The pirates have become more adept at hacking, cracking codes and jamming transmissions. That’s why Wesley wants our communication with Capri and the other starships terminated, so they can’t track us easily.”

  “If our communication with Capri is terminated, wouldn’t that mean that we are flying blind?”

  “Not exactly, the ships computer falls back on the internal maps and saved coordinates to guide our way back. It just means that we aren’t sending or receiving communications right now.”

  “Isn’t that illegal?”

  “Pretty much. But we have a good reason for it. Capri might give us a hard time the next time we want to come back, but it’s not the end of the world.”

  Ava and Naomi heard Wesley’s voice over the console. “Hang in there you two, we are almost clear of Capri’s gravity.”

  As the ship glided slowly away from Capri, the captain and crew in the flight deck suddenly detected three unidentified ships traveling fast towards the group of starships that had just launched. The new ships opened fire on the first few ships they came near, causing one of them to spiral erratically away from Capri.

  “Looks like we’ve got company. Hang on, we’re going to start some evasive maneuvers.” Wesley’s voice was calm. Ava turned to Naomi with a worried look on her face. “What do we do now?”

  “Hold on Ava, we might be in for a rough ride.”

  The ship lurched forward, struggling to be free of Capri’s gravity field so that it could reach absolute velocity and virtually disappear from the assailants. Ava sensed the ship changing directions, moving up and down and from side to side. She heard the sound of weapons being fired, but not from the Andromeda. She was nervous. Her breathing quickened and she began to sweat. The ship slowed slightly, Naomi explained that they were prepping to make the jump. At that moment, two new pirate ships appeared in front of them, just out of absolute velocity and fired on the Andromeda.

  “We’re hit!” Ash shouted. The ship swerved sharply to the left as he dodged a second assault. Then, Ava felt a sudden jolt and an alarm sounded. Andre fired one of the cannons and obliterated one of the new ships. The hit slowed the Andromeda slightly, allowing the original three ships to catch up and join the fight. They must have recognized the Andromeda as a desirable catch.

  “These pirates are aggressive, they normally don’t work together like this. They must really want this ship,” Naomi commented.

  They could hear the cannons from the Andromeda being fired frequently and feel the ship swerving erratically to avoid being hit again. The two women were thrust side to side and up and down in their seats as they fight continued. It’s a good thing we are strapped in, Ava thought. They could hear the communication from the flight deck. Everyone seemed collected but they could tell things were tense.

  “Hold on, we’re about to make the jump!” Ash said. The ship slowed and just before they transitioned into their new speed, they took another hit. Another alarm sounded and stayed on this time. The ship was now free of the attackers, but it was making sounds Ava had never heard before. She faintly smelled some smoke. This can’t be good she thought. Naomi released her safety belts.

  “Stay here Ava, I’m going to check things out.” Ava watched helplessly as Naomi left, not sure what she should, or could do at the moment.

  Ava waited a few moments and then released her safety belts. She did not want to stay in the observation deck by herself. She made her way quickly into the flight deck. Ash was piloting the ship while Wesley ran diagnostics on the many computers in the deck and communicated the damage to Andre and the others who had now left their defensive positions with the cannons to attend to the repairs. Their conversation seemed calm. Wesley looked up as Ava entered the room, he motioned for her to come in and take his empty seat next to Ash. “Are you Okay Ava? I’m sorry about all of that. We haven’t been attacked by pirates in a long time.”

  “I’m okay. Are you okay? Is the ship . . .?”

  “We’re going to be fine Ava. We have a little damage but it’s not too bad. It could have been worse.”

  The smell of smoke gradually faded away and the alarms stopped. Ava felt her breathing gradually return to normal. She watched as the crew members poked their heads in occasionally to report damage that was repaired and what still needed to be repaired. What concerned them the most was an air leak in the oxygen garden from one of the hits at the rear of the ship. Ava waited with Ash while Wesley went to check it out. He decided that even though they could probably make it back to Orionis without any trouble, he didn’t want to risk it. With the seal not intact, sudden pressure changes in the ship with velocity adjustments could potentially cause the clear glass oxygen chamber to burst, killing everyone aboard. Wesley believed the safest thing would be to stop and patch up the leak.

  “Ash, how far are we from E.S. #1?” Wesley asked.

  “Not far at all, we can be there in approximately half an hour.”

  “I think that’s our safest bet right now; to land and seal the oxygen chamber.”

  “Sounds like a plan, I’ll change the trajectory,” Ash replied.

  “What does all of that mean?” Ava asked.

  “We’re going to make a pit stop on E.S. #1 to make some temporary repairs, it stands for Experimental Station Number One. It was the first free floating space station Earth ever attempted. They couldn’t get the gra
vity stabilizers just right and the station was unable to maintain orbit. It basically started to float further and further away into space. Eventually it was abandoned and forgotten about, but we know where it is. The nuclear core is somewhat functional and the airlocks are still tight. We’ve landed there before, out of curiosity about eight months ago. It’s a little cold, and the air is a little thin, but we won’t be there very long, then we’ll be back on our way to Orionis.”

  “Are you sure that’s safe?”

  “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

  “What about the pirates?”

  “We left the pirates way behind us in Capri. We changed our course and ceased communications with Capri and the ITO, it’s unlikely any of them would follow us out here. We are no-where near Orionis. We’ve never encountered any other ships out this far. I doubt the pirates would make this abandoned space station their home. It’s too far out to reasonably travel back and forth to and it has no water supply. It was virtually stripped of all of its desirable parts to be used on future space stations. It’s a shell, nothing more. I doubt it will be functional at all after another year.”

  “There aren’t going to be any aliens inhabiting it right?” Ava said jokingly, trying to lighten things up.

  Wesley laughed and smiled at her. “I doubt it.”

  The crew busied themselves gathering the necessary equipment they would need to repair the oxygen chamber as they prepared to land in the empty hangar of E.S. #1. Landing on an abandoned dark experimental station frightened Ava however the nonchalant attitude of her friends comforted her. They seemed to think it was no big deal. Naomi retrieved Ava to sit with her back in the observation deck so that Wesley could assist Ash with the landing. Naomi turned the monitors back on so that they could watch their approach to this dark, lifeless station. Ava could not help but reflect upon the frailty of human life in the desolate cold darkness of outer space as the Andromeda moved closer and closer to the dark shape of the old station before them. Space migration and leaving Earth, what a delicate operation, Ava thought. She had not felt this way since she first stepped foot on The Solar Wind, it made her nervous. She trusted her friends, they were experienced space travelers and she believed they knew what they were doing.