Human Starpilots

by F Stephan

  Suddenly, Oddoril and Shanak were next to them. They switched their place with the newcomers and moved on, never looking back.

  “Hey, you, stop,” they heard behind them.

  Boost, run. Shot noise. Jump, roll, pick up garbage, and throw.

  Roll again, backward. Focus on an assailant. Turn, punch. Sonter is left toward the other.

  Oddoril and Shanak accelerate as well. Emergency call for help.

  I take a hit in the stomach. He is fast, way too fast. Nanite. He is also on nanites. Fall back, gain time, turn, and avoid contact. He is trained at combat. I may last longer under nanites.

  Opening. I plunge. That was a feint from him. I shift shape and roll sideways. I rebound on the ground, and my leg connects with his torso, sending him flying.

  Car noise in front. Braking hard. Copters move above us. Shots. Barrage shots. I run to the car.

  The ground car of the academy appeared. Nerm was driving fast. Two copters appeared and moved ahead toward the ghetto. Two marines opened the front and back doors, getting out with guns drawn. They all rushed inside in one fluid movement, deactivating the nanites, and collapsed in the seats. While Brian passed out, he could hear gun shots and street fire outside.

  It all went extremely fast from there; the doctor waited for them at the back entrance. Nilse took Li Bao in a stretcher. His nurse ran a medical checkup on them. They all ate and drank in silence under the gaze of the nurse. Master Reinkel appeared an hour later with a woman in marine uniform. He invited them into his office, where Masters Heikert and Namek and Don Mariano already waited.

  “Boys,” started Master Heikert, “Thank you for your help. Some would say it was a bit reckless.” Brian knew who had said it and forced himself not to look at Sonter’s father, frowning in his seat. “You brought back Li Bao, but Mistress Toq tells me you were quite lucky.”

  “I said a lot more than that. Nanites don’t make you immortal or invincible, you know?” asked the marine captain with a scold. Brian and Sonter cringed under the rebuke. “Why didn’t you call for help?”

  “We wouldn’t have gotten her back. That’s why,” retorted Sonter angrily. Surprisingly, his father grunted in support, holding the glare from the marine captain directly.

  “Please, let’s all remain civilized. This will remain an informal talk. Mistress Toq needs to understand what happened to liaise with local authorities. Both of you are under Federation jurisdiction and not local. We would like you to tell everything you can remember, but I have to tell you this is recorded.”

  “Are we in trouble, sir?” wondered Brian.

  “Legally, no. Let’s be clear that we are not happy with you rushing alone. And even if there were shots in the street and news all around the media, Adheek is very happy with the rescue.”

  Sonter took a deep breath, but before recounting the event, he looked questioningly at his father. “Sonter, we’ve already found the message from my sister to you. And I discussed it with our captain here. You are free to talk.”

  Sonter sighed and recounted all that had happened in the very precise and sharp tone that so annoyed Brian. He knew the story but for one part, the two lines his aunt had sent under secure ping. After he completed his story, the marine captain said, “Once we had secured you, the local forces went into the north dock area with our support. We found the den of the drug runners, but no one was there. Yet we did find quite a load of different nanite drugs and a small processing unit. This will hurt them a lot.” Brian froze. Production of nanites on-planet was one of the very few interdictions from the Federation. “So, on behalf of the Federation, we do thank you for your help.”

  “Last but not least, under the circumstances, you are cleared for your nanites use,” finished Master Heikert. Brian swallowed. Any use, just any use, was monitored.

  53 Mathias

  Mathias waited before the boarding ramp. He tapped rhythmically on the rail. Once, another life ago, he had also been an amateur drum player. But that had been a lifetime before. The call from Don Mariano had reached him late, and he had had to hurry to be there on time, running and sweating profusely. He had never been great at sports, and the last months on-planet had not helped. He strengthened and adjusted again his shirt. The ambassador was a precise man who liked this quality in his team. The sky was dark on this night with heavy clouds, and the air was humid and heavy with the approach of the spring.

  At last, he saw the academy car driving toward them on the runway under the searchlights. It seemed weird and would have been impossible on Earth. The car stopped, and Don Mariano got out with a large case. He walked toward him.

  “Sir?” asked Mathias, and then he saw the stretcher with the pale figure lying on it.

  “She is going back, Mathias. We will not wake her until Earth.”

  “What happened?” the words nearly died in his throat.

  “She drugged herself, Mathias. She went too far, and she can’t accept any more nanites. If she takes a new injection, she dies. Or worse. I did not understand all the explanation from Doctor Nilse.” The ambassador had a bitter laugh. “We’re doing our best, but we remain ignorant savages from the rim trying to emulate our betters. This will change; I can promise you that.” The voice was sure and determined.

  Mathias looked at the stretcher while it was lifted into the shuttle. Don Mariano pointed at it. “Mathias, you have been a good staff. But I know why you applied and what you did before with your blog. This was the reason I selected you in the first place. Bright, dedicated, and a heavy past. Now will be the time to redeem you. You will fly back to Earth with this girl and protect her until she can rebuild herself. You will personally make sure that nothing happens to her and that she finds a new life.” The sudden cold in the ambassador’s voice chilled Mathias. There had been stories on Earth about the Della Vega family. This was a chance, but failure would be fatal.

  “What will happen to her on Earth, sir?”

  “She is now highly skilled with her training. No one else on our planet has such a background. For that matter, so have you gained unprecedented experience with a year and a half on-planet. She can help prepare future students; she can work in the DataDump, retrieving more useful information. She has a lot of paths in front of her. Actually, there is only one forbidden forever.”

  The bell chimed, and Mathias turned toward the stairs.

  “How will you continue, sir, and the other kids?”

  “Earth will send me a new staff with the return flight. And we will continue to do all we can for them. Don’t miss the shuttle,” said Don Mariano Della Vega softly, and he turned to walk back to the car. No sense in wasting a ride. Mathias boarded the shuttle to begin his long watch.

  A few hours later, Don Mariano met Willfried in his usual café, Telem by the River.

  “So, what’s the news?”

  “They are all very distraught over Li Bao’s departure. We have talked about all details that could have alerted us and didn’t.” The student sighed. “We missed it, sir. We missed it entirely.”

  “We all did. We were under a lot of pressure, and space distance didn’t help. We tracked a dealer back into the Heavyweight. The real question is what we will do to avoid it in the future? Is it linked to your new role?”

  “Yes, I’ve accepted the proposal from Master Reinkel. I will become an Observer. This is very official”. The youth smiled. “I am tasked to check nanites abuse by pilots and crews and look for contraband. I will even receive some training by the marines”.

  “This is good. The Federation requires one observer on Earth to have ships on our own. The last crisis has demonstrated this necessity even more. We hadn’t understood how addictive those nanites are. We thought they were dangerous”.

  “They are. But activating them makes you feel like a god. Look at Brian. From what I understood, no human would have escaped that beast. But he nearly died from it.

  “And what about piloting?”

  “At least, I will be able to pilot a
little as backup in the system.” The student was quiet but certain in his choice.

  “I’m glad that you found your choice. And I can tell you it will help me with Master Puil. I’ll see him tomorrow on the last trade agreement we have established. How will they train you? Anything specific?”

  “I’ll have extra sessions with Doctor Nilse, and I’ll monitor the next injections with his team. I’m a bit scared at that.” Don Mariano felt the tension in his voice but also his steadiness. He would do the work required, no matter how hard. “And you remember Althal, the pilot who brought all of us down?”

  “Yes, I have met her at different events from time to time. She is often around.”

  “She is the local observer, with Mistress Nillimer as backup.” From what the ambassador had seen, that made sense. “She’ll train me directly as shuttle pilot and observer. And I may work directly with Teacher Taloy from the Core Federation, next time she flies through here.”

  “I heard that time, but?”

  “We heard about her at the yearly reunion from the Corporation. She tours the stars, working on nanites addiction. She seems to be a reference on the matter.” His voice betrayed his lack of enthusiasm at the perspective.

  “Althal seemed like she could be a very good trainer from what I’ve seen of her. You may be lucky for that. And the others, how do they feel about this new training?”

  “Many shun me. You imagine how Leopold feels about an official snitch. Sonter is one of the few to see me as a fail-safe, but he has more reasons to believe in me than the others.”

  “I’ll talk to Leopold and maybe to Tasha also. Tasha has a good head on her shoulders. She’ll help you. Brian will come around too, faster than you think.”

  “Thank you, sir. I know this, but it is a bit hard right now.”

  Don Mariano felt he wouldn’t go any further today and stirred the conversation to news of their home. They spent the evening talking about the politics in the newly refunded European Confederation. The idea had been boosted again by the Federation, and the different countries were exploring other ways to work together. When Don Mariano walked back Willfried to the academy, the student showed better spirits.

  54 Brian

  The entire class returned to space, and this time Brian went in the Heavyweight to learn intraspace jumps under Master Kiltan. The teacher was as grumpy as they had found him the first time, now complaining that what they had learned on the station could not be used. If working with the console for space navigation was very different from the traditional shuttle controls, it was very close to the simulator, and Brian didn’t feel unadapted to the new controls.

  The carrier was a hundred-meter-long ovoid carrying thirty crew members. The cargo hold was located all around the midsection with the crew compartment forward and the singularity hosted in the rear. Brian had wondered since his first sight on a spaceship on its shape. With the gravity increasing from zero around the singularity to reach one dot one gee on the bridge, a sphere with the singularity in the middle would seemed more efficiently. Yet the designers had not chosen this design. What had been their reasons? And how could they have created such an improbable gravity layout?

  The carrier was much more welcoming than the station, with hand-painted walls crafted over the long cruises. Despite its age, it felt new. The quarters for the students, stuck along the cargo hold, were cramped with bunks and very small desks. But the common areas made up for it all with large couches, games, foods, drinks, and everything students could desire. Yet the mood in the ship had been somber after a week of marine intervention and inquiries to find out drug runners among them. The crews changed very regularly, and often they included crews from intersystem flight, giving them a break from the long-haul voyages. But they also sometimes brought their own problems with them. This had been the case in the Happynews, and the ship would not fly for a while until a crew could be found. Master Namek had raged for hours at the loss and stripped the captain and the pilot of all ranks for the guild before turning them to Federation Justice.

  Soon, they were working, shift by shift, on the bridge to help the crew and manage the different jumps. They were not allowed in environmental or engineering, where two students, third years, labored quietly.

  After six weeks, Kiltan called Brian into his small quarters.

  “Can you tell me what is happening to you, Brian?” In the close one-to-one settings, the voice was less harsh and rasping, simpler.

  “I always feel weird with the jumps, very uneasy, sir.”

  “At times, you manage them without problems. At others, you go completely astray and miss your target. Your captain is getting annoyed. ”Sometimes I feel trapped by this pattern in hyperspace. I try to get out. I try to escape the trap, but it doesn’t work. There’s something I miss here, and you don’t know how much I feel imprisoned by this.”

  Kiltan pondered for a long time on this. “Have you read again the Handbook?”

  “I’ve read it a hundred times at least.” Brian despaired to find a solution. “The first line is clear. ‘Hyperspace flight is structured along the weakest line of transit.’ Everything else is a repetition of this. Vector for entry, vector for exit, duration. If there’s a weak line, there must surely be other lines. But I cannot reach them.”

  “You will continue to follow your mates in the return to the station, and when we can, we will have a conference with Master Heikert.”

  “Yes, sir.” Brian would now sit and watch without acting. Yet could they really take the risk of having him blunder in hyperspace? He went back to his room, eyes downcast.

  55 Don Mariano

  Don Mariano had thought for a long time before placing the call, but the reports he’d had were bothering him. His window for connection was short, just the few days when the Heavyweight was docked at Zopol. He had waited till the last day before acting. Finally, he activated the link he had been provided by the academy.

  Five minutes later, Emily’s hologram appeared in the room.

  “Good day, ambassador. How are you?”

  “Well and you?”

  “A bit tired. The last weeks have been intense. Where are you?”

  “In the middle of the southern desert in the city of Vulan.”

  “Where they prepare this coffee we drink often?”

  “Yes, you have a good memory. I wanted to see if their agriculture was more efficient than ours. False lead apparently. They have the best weather conditions on the planet, something like the Nile with Ancient Egyptian when it fed half Europe.”

  “Really?”

  “Oh yes, the travel is worth the sight, if you want to look at the bright side. The entrance of the valley was blasted by a fusion weapon more than ten millennia ago. It is a sapphire door in the mountain which opens to fields up fields. No dust storm, no tornadoes. The mountains shield the place. It is an amazing sight, especially here. But no secrets to help us”.

  “You will find what you’re looking for, sir. At least, eventually. What can I do to help you?”

  “I wanted to talk to you.”

  “Obviously.” Sometimes, Emily would not play into convoluted talks.

  “About Brian.”

  “Oh. Him.” She sighed and sat on her bed. “Go on”.

  “What is happening to him?”

  “He’s the best of us in navigation. He’s very good with shuttle and nanites integration. He is now back on track on theory.” She paused and hesitated before continuing. “But one time out of two, he leads the ship astray in intrasystem hyperspace.”

  “Can you help him?”

  She shook her head. “For once, I cannot. Piloting a ship through hyperspace is something very personal. No one does it exactly the same way, and Brian lives through it differently than I. Oddoril has tried to help him as well, but it doesn’t work.”

  “Is it that hard?”

  “Those jumps require less precision on the approach vector and speed than intersystem jumps, and they’re easy to control
from the copilot seat. This is why they have us do most of the work. But with Brian, it just doesn’t work.”

  “So, what’s next?”

  “He’s proving his worth in navigation and has had long talks with Master Heikert. We’ll see on the next trip if it helps him.”

  “Thank you for your honesty, Emily. Let me know if I can do anything to help.”

  “I will, sir. Now, to bed.”

  He smiled. “Get some rest. See you soon.”

  He cut the transmission and pondered the words from his pupil. A long time later, during the night, he linked with Master Reinkel to confirm the situation. He already had a hard time finding solutions for Earth on this world, and now he had to face the difficulties of Brian on top of everything else. There were now two candidates that would not make it, and a third was in balance.

  56 Brian

  The last months had gone by in a blur. They were now back on Adheek to prepare for the year’s last round of exams. Shanak had suggested they take an evening break by the lake in one of the quieter areas. It would be nice to meet his friend, and Brian crossed the city with delight at the idea of a good, simple evening.

  He found his friend where he had said he would be, near the lakeshore, on the west side of the entertainment center, with a table commanding a good view of the night shows. It was summer, and the weather was excellent.

  “Hello, Shanak, how are you?”

  “Welcome, my honored friend. Your ancestors are with us tonight at this table. How is your health?” Brian had forgotten the traditional greetings.