by S. H. Jucha
“Captain, I don’t get this. If Rules is an empath, how come she was downside?” Jeremy asked.
“Good question, Jeremy, and here’s where the story gets strange. Rules says she has a mother and sister downside and they’re all empaths. But, here’s the tipper. Rules’ father is the governor.”
The crews’ groans were strong and loud at the thought the governor had harbored empaths, breaking the long-standing agreement that prohibited such things. The fact that he’d gone further afield by having an empath bear his children only made his trespass greater.
“Why is Rules wanted for murder, Captain?” a crew member asked.
“Rules killed the governor’s nephew, Dimitri Belosov. He was molesting her, and, according to Rules, he’d been at it for months.”
“Captain, if Rules’ father is the governor, that makes Dimitri her cousin,” Ituau reasoned.
“It does,” Jessie agreed.
“Damn, Captain, I’d have killed that little reject myself,” Ituau ground out harshly.
“How did she do it, Captain?” Nate asked, and the crew groaned at the insensitive question.
“Rules said she pushed him over a balcony railing. He hit headfirst on the patio.”
“Good for her,” Ituau commented. She hadn’t met the girl and didn’t like that she was a powerful empath, but loved the fact that she fought her molester.
“This is supposed to be a teenage girl, right, Captain? How’s she supposed to have gotten the better of an older boy by shoving him over a balcony? That doesn’t sound right,” Nate commented.
A couple of murmurs of chauvinist and misogynist origin followed Nate’s words, but he ignored them.
“You’re thinking she physically pushed him, Nate. She didn’t. According to Rules, she mentally terrorized him to the point that he threw himself over the balcony.”
Jessie watched itchy shivers crawl across the faces of his crew. The thought of that much mental power scared them.
“And she’s aboard now?” Nate asked, wanting confirmation.
“She is, but this story gets more complicated.” Jessie warned. “Station security came down the arm looking for Rules, while I was listening to her story, and I made the decision to hide her.”
Now the crew understood the serious trouble Jessie was in, and, by extent of him being the company owner, it included them. Spacers acted as independent from the JOS, but, in reality, they depended on the station, as every faction of Pyre did, and the head of the JOS was the commandant. If an emergency security condition had been declared and Jessie had evaded security’s lawful search, then he was in jeopardy of arrest and a possible lengthy conviction from the Review Board.
“How did you hide her, Captain?” Jeremy asked.
“Your vac suit, mister, and, by the way, you’re on report for your cabin’s condition. First mate, see that his domicile is properly squared away.”
“Aye, Captain,” Ituau acknowledged, glaring at Jeremy.
“You’re also missing a set of skins, mister,” Jessie added. “I dressed her in my cabin, floated her down to the ingot bay, and hid her in an equipment locker, while Lieutenant Higgins and Sergeant Rodriguez searched the ship. I made Terror stay outside.
The mention of Terror’s name elicited a few growls from the crew, but Nate was chuckling. “I bet that turned Terror red,” he commented.
“Gutsy on Rules’ part,” Ituau said. “I mean she’s a downsider, probably never experienced weightlessness. She makes her way to the JOS, gets out on an arm, puts Button to sleep, gets discovered, and you stick her in a vac suit to hide in a dark hold. That should have scared her to death.”
“I would have thought so too, but she came out smiling,” Jessie replied. “She said she liked the peaceful isolation.”
“That’s a born spacer,” a crew member said quietly.
“I guess this is going to sound like another foolish question, Captain,” Jeremy said, “but why can’t we march into the commandant’s office and call out the governor. An investigation and DNA should prove Rules’ story. I mean if the governor abducted some woman from the JOS, he broke the agreement. Worse, he let his nephew molest his daughter.”
“I appreciate your sense of righteous indignation and desire to demand justice, Jeremy, but I’m sure you noticed not only station security, but a good many plain clothes, security types joining the search.”
“Uh-huh,” Jeremy affirmed.
“Personally, I don’t think we’d make it to the commandant’s office before we were intercepted. Then we’d either have to surrender or fight. If we fought, odds are we’d lose, get stunned, and be arrested for harboring a fugitive. But there’s something I haven’t told all of you. I attended the commandant’s security meeting this morning. He told the assembly that security received only a photo and the claim of a crime. The commandant offered not a shred of evidence or one iota of statistic about Rules, not even her last name.”
“Are you saying the commandant is playing footsie with the governor?” Nate asked.
“Make up your own minds after you hear this,” Jessie replied. “When I saw security exit the first ship on the arm, I saw a sniffer in Terror’s hand. The only reason for that is security had Rules’ DNA on file. If she’s a downsider, how did security get that information? Rules said the governor might have authorized his chief of security, Giorgio Sestos, to pass it to one of the other powerful families, who, according to Rules, hates the Andropov family.
“What a nest of creatures!” Nate said, spitting into the recycling chute.
Jeremy eyed his fellow crew members in disbelief of what he was hearing. Some eyes ducked away, embarrassed by the reality crashing in on the young navigator, or they stared back, urging him to accept the captain’s version of the way things were in this world.
“Captain, I think I can speak for the crew that we’re sympathetic to the girl’s story. She’s had a rough go of it, but what are you intending to do with her?” Ituau asked.
“Well, I have an idea, but I thought you should meet Rules before you decide to go along with me. Agreed?” Jessie didn’t expect an enthusiastic response, but the hesitation was palpable.
“I’d like to meet her,” Jeremy piped up. “That’s the least we can do.”
The crew grudgingly agreed with Jeremy, and Jessie went to fetch Aurelia. She was still asleep, and it was necessary to wake her. She woke with a start before she recognized Jessie.
“Come with me, Rules. I need you to meet the crew.”
“Okay, give me a minute to make myself presentable, Captain,” Aurelia replied, brushing hair from her face.
“No, I think you should come as you are,” Jessie replied and led a sleepy, tousled-haired Aurelia around the wheel to the galley.
“Crew, Rules; Rules, crew,” Jessie announced with a flourish.
Jessie worked to keep a smile off his face. The crew had bolted hatches in preparation for meeting a murderer, an empath capable of sending another person to his death with her mind. Instead they were looking at a sixteen year old, who was blinking, smiling shyly at them, and waving her fingers. Aurelia looked like any crew member’s younger sister.
“Hey, I know you,” Ituau said, suddenly. “You were helping the kid out of his wheelchair … the boy was wearing a leg cast. What were you two doing?”
“Yes, that was me,” Aurelia replied, happy to find a friendly face in the crowd. “Toby and I thank you for your assistance. I’m afraid I wasn’t ready for the weight of his cast, and he might have fallen without your help.”
“Okay, you’re welcome, but why were you headed into this arm?” Ituau persisted.
“Oh, Toby was going to teach me freefall. It was his idea. I agreed because he was suffering anxiety about his upcoming BRC operation, and I wanted to help lift his spirits.”
“You stopped to play freefall with a kid in a cast, while you’re running from station security?” Nate asked dubiously.
“Admittedly, it wasn’t a bright de
cision, but Toby needed me.”
“Oh, for the love of Pyre,” Ituau commented. She scooted a crew member off a seat and sat down heavily. “Sweetie, you’re not much of a murderer,” the first mate lamented.
“I didn’t intend to be any kind of a killer,” Aurelia replied, starting to tear up. “I just wanted him to stop.”
Jeremy offered Aurelia a clean handkerchief, and she accepted it with a sad smile.
“I hate to play the role of prosecutor here, Captain, but we only have this girl’s word that she pushed Dimitri Belosov with her mind. What if that’s not true? What if she’s not a bender … a sensitive?” Nate asked.
“Rules, I want you to push, Nate,” Jessie requested, pointing to the second mate.
“I was just saying what if, Captain. I didn’t mean we should test her,” Nate objected.
“Don’t hurt him, Rules,” Jessie cautioned, and watched the crew clear space around the second mate, as if Rules’ power might splash on them.
Nate had a look of horror on his face, and his hands were held up in protest. Then before he could utter another word, his hands dropped to his side, and his face took on a relaxed appearance. His eyes softened, and he gazed adoringly at Jessie.
“Okay, that’s creeping me out,” Ituau commented.
“Enough, Rules,” Jessie said.
Aurelia was focusing her power and failed to register Jessie’s request. Jeremy, who was standing next to her, touched her arm to gain her attention. The contact snapped Aurelia out of her efforts, and she crowded next to Jessie.
“A might skittish,” Ituau commented, watching Aurelia tuck close to Jessie and hold his arm.
Nate looked like he was going to be sick due to the emotions swirling in his mind about his captain.
Jessie glanced at Aurelia and nodded toward Nate. She held onto Jessie’s arm, while she broadcast her power again.
A few moments later, Nate released the food counter and straightened up, declaring, “That’s much better.”
The crew laughed, but it was strained.
“Do any others require a further demonstration?” inquired Jessie, the hint of a smile on his face.
After gazing around, Ituau said, “I think we’re all good here, Captain. How about you, Nate? You good?” Ituau asked. She couldn’t keep the smirk off her face, and Nate glared back at her. “I think we’re back to the part where you explain your plan, Captain,” Ituau added.
“I can’t remember a more potentially explosive political event in my lifetime,” Jessie replied. “The circumstances of Rules and her family will seriously disrupt the domes and possibly expose the commandant as a downsider crony. I’m thinking that, as long as Rules is aboard and we’re docked at the station, all of us are vulnerable. Security will not stop searching the JOS and the ships on the arms until they’ve found her. So, we’ve got to get her away.”
“To a mining site?” Ituau asked.
“Not just any mining site,” Jessie replied. “The Annie’s next assignment is to explore Triton. We park her out there until I can meet with Harbour, and see if she can hide Rules until we figure out how to expose what’s happened downside at the governor’s house.”
At the mention of Harbour’s name, Aurelia brightened considerably
“Captain, if the Spryte heads out to Triton, it’s going to look suspicious,” Jeremy said.
“That it would, Jeremy, which is why we won’t be going out there. We’ve a hold full of rare metal ingots, which have to be delivered to the processing station,” Jessie said.
“And Pearl will be delivering tanks there about the same time. Brilliant, Captain,” Ituau declared.
“I intend to transfer Rules to the Pearl and then to the Annie,” Jessie said. “We’ll return to the JOS for some extended downtime, which would be our normal schedule.”
* * *
Jessie Cinders owned three ships, the Marianne, the Spryte, and the Pearl. His mentor, Captain Corbin Rose, had willed him the Marianne, which the crew affectionately called the Annie, and the Pearl, although the Pearl wasn’t the ship’s registered name. Rose became disgusted with the number of construction issues delaying the tanker’s delivery, and he changed the name to the Unruly Pearl, but her present captain and crew refused to call the ship by that name. As for the Spryte, Jessie ordered that ship with the profits he generated from owning his first two ships.
Much of the metal and frozen gases that built the JOS, the terminal arms, and the domes below came from an asteroid belt sunward of Pyre. Recently miners had explored Minist, the first of three moons that circled Pyre, and they’d discovered that the pickings were slim.
However, Triton was Pyre’s third moon. It was massive and farthest afield from the planet. Its size and possibly dense structure kept it swinging around Pyre, the two bodies attracting each other and inducing a subtle wobble in Pyre’s orbit of its star, Crimsa. Triton was in a locked position, one side constantly facing Pyre, and that side had a deep crater. It was thought by geologists that the moon had been struck by an asteroid, and the debris had pummeled the planet, creating Pyre’s volcanic activity.
Triton’s distance and unknown composition had kept mining ships at bay. If the moon proved to be an aggregate of common compounds, it could be an economic bust for a captain, if he or she owned a single ship. Jessie’s three-ship company allowed him to take the risk. While he would still be financially impacted, if the moon proved to be a bust, he could absorb the loss. But if the moon was a rich composition of rare minerals and frozen gasses, he and his people would reap tremendous rewards, and Pyre would have a springboard to the outer planets.
Jessie sat in his captain’s chair with Ituau and Jeremy at bridge consoles. Aurelia stood behind Jessie’s chair, her hands resting on the top. The crew had quickly learned not to approach Aurelia too close. The only person she was comfortable with in her sphere was the captain.
“Commandant Strattleford,” Jessie said genially over Spryte’s bridge comm. “Have you found your wayward downsider?”
“If you’re asking if we found the heinous murderess, Captain Cinders, the answer is no.”
“Well, Commandant, as your one-day moratorium on ships sailing from the arms is closing in fifteen minutes, I was giving you a heads-up that the Spryte will be launching immediately afterwards.”
“I’m sorry, Captain Cinders. I’ve only just informed the terminal managers that I’ve extended the emergency order for another day.”
“I understood that all the ships in dock have been searched.”
“They have, Captain. In fact, I’ve come to understand that you might be a witness yourself.”
“Then you understand wrong, Commandant. Lieutenant Higgins detected the presence of the girl coming aboard, visiting my stateroom, and leaving by the same route. And, I’m sure you recall that I was present at your meeting during the time. By the way, have you received more details about the girl or the crime?”
“Only her DNA profile, as you well know, Captain. I’ve imposed the additional hold on the ships, while we search the terminal arms again.”
“Commandant, I have a theory for you, if I may?” Jessie asked politely.
“Any information would be valuable, Captain,” Emerson replied. He didn’t believe Jessie could add anything, but he was willing to placate the man.
“This is stitching together several odd pieces of information, but it might help you in your search and what you could be dealing with instead of what you might have been told. First, a downsider, who’s supposedly never been topside, escapes the domes, makes her way through the JOS, and visits a terminal arm. Pretty accomplished for a newbie. Second, my crewman on duty swears he was put to sleep; we ran a drug test and he’s clean. Third, my navigator’s skins are missing.”
“Excuse me, Captain, I thought it was reported that the girl only visited your cabin.”
“That’s correct, Commandant. Jeremy complained to me that he hadn’t received satisfaction when he complained to a store
owner about a faulty seal on a new pair of skins, and I told him to leave them in my cabin and I would contact the vendor.
“I see. Proceed with your theory, Captain.”
“My last point is that security was monitoring this arm from stationside, saw the girl transit the ring to this arm, but didn’t see her exit again. Still, your security team with a sniffer in hand couldn’t find her out here.”
“Your point, Captain?”
“Doesn’t this seem to be much more complicated than a wayward young girl who panicked about a killing and fled? The girls’ ability to evade your security is much too sophisticated and smacks of help aboard the JOS. If that’s the case, the death of Dimitri Belosov might have been a long-planned and well-supported strike against the Andropov family. Have you considered that the other families are making a strategic move against the governor?”
Jessie didn’t receive a reply for a couple of minutes, and he returned Ituau’s grin, who was lauding his twist on the story proffered the commandant. “Well, only trying to help, Commandant, I must get my ship underway.”
“I just told you, Captain,” Emerson said, his voice rising, “all ships are on hold for another day.”
“Yes, that’s what you said, Commandant, but I’m sure you’re about to reconsider that order. I’m running a mining concern, and unless you’re prepared to put up the coin to pay my dock fees, my crews’ wages, and my lost company profits, I do need to get my ship to the processing station.”
“You know we have no need to accommodate your loss of income due to an emergency alert, Captain.”
“Commandant, consider two things. No one believes a search for a missing teenager to be a valid reason for a station-wide alert and a freeze of our ships. Now, in five minutes, I’ll be contacting every captain on the terminal arms and proposing that we boycott the station for the unnecessary hardship you imposed on us.”
