Dust

by Jason Hutt

  “No problems with this one,” Max responded. Max then produced a small vial from his pocket and held it out to the Doctor.

  Aldous smiled at the sight of the vial, though instead of looking happy, the expression struck Nick as vaguely menacing. “Excellent, Max. Thank you.”

  Aldous quickly pocketed the vial and then pressed an unseen button on his computer.

  “Payment has been transferred, as usual,” Aldous said, “The next job is a big one. Most of the cargo is in-orbit at Platform Alpha. We should have everything launched within the next two hours. You’ll load up at the platform.”

  Max nodded.

  “Very good then,” Max said, “We’ll be on our way in just a few minutes. What are we carrying anyway?”

  “Something I’ve been working on for the Conglomerate for some time. The results of some weapons research I’ve been conducting.”

  Max raised his eyebrows in mild surprise.

  “Doc, I didn’t think you were still doing work for the Conglomerate.”

  Aldous’ smile faded, his eyes momentarily gained a sharp focus, and he calmly replied, “This is something I owe them, Maxime. I’m just glad to finally have it ready.”

  Max said, “All right, then. We’re going to do a quick inspection of a few things and then be on our way.”

  Aldous nodded and turned back toward the cart. Francis stared at Nick for an extra moment before slowly turning and leaving. Nick exhaled and felt his hand tremble slightly in relief. He opened and closed his fist repeatedly in an effort to regain composure. He finally took his eyes off of the cart as it departed the landing field. Max had opened a panel on the underside of the ship just beneath the cockpit and was inspecting some wire harness connections. Nick walked over behind him, somewhat detached from the moment.

  Without looking away from what he was doing, Max said, “You okay, Nick?”

  “Yeah,” Nick responded, though his voice was unfocused.

  “Don’t let Francis rattle you like that,” Max said. He was satisfied that the connections were tight and he closed the access panel. “Francis isn’t going to beat you to a pulp on sight, though it might be best if you just keep your distance from him. Your apology would’ve gone over well with most reasonable people, but Francis, well, I don’t think his mind’s all there.”

  Nick nodded. He looked over to his left and saw Charlie waving to them from across the pad as he boarded his ship. Nick gave a wave back. While Max checked inside another access panel, Nick stood and watched Charlie’s worn, battered freighter lift off the spaceport pad and then start rapidly climbing towards the upper reaches of Dust’s atmosphere.

  Moments after Charlie’s ship disappeared from view, Nick heard a resounding boom reverberate around him. He quickly scanned the skies for the source and found a large pill-shaped container rocketing towards the sky.

  “Rail launcher?” Nick asked.

  “Yep,” Max responded, “Doc Sinclair had a giant one installed on the other side of the mountain peak.”

  Nick continued to stare at the object until it too disappeared from view. He then turned back to see Max closing up another panel.

  “Why not just load up here?”

  Max frowned as he found a couple of frayed wires.

  “Sinclair’s probably got a heavy payload for us. This’ll save some wear and tear on the engines,” Max said. He pulled a small canister from his belt and sprayed the exposed wiring.

  “What are you checking anyway?” Nick asked.

  “Noticed on the way up that one of the landing pad position indicators was stuck on retracted. Figure it’s either a bad connection or a bad sensor. If this doesn’t fix it, I’ll have to ask Reggie to swap out the sensor.”

  Nick wasn’t listening. He was still looking around, taking it all in. The cargo haulers had long since emptied the Hannah’s hold and disappeared from the landing pad. Three other ships also were being prepped to leave, but other than that, the pad was empty. The spaceport was so large; it would not have been out of place in several other more developed worlds. Yet, according to Max, only the old man and his son lived here.

  “I don’t get it,” Nick said as he continued to stare, “What the heck goes on here?”

  Max walked up to him, wiping grime from his hand on his pants, “I told you, Nick. Doc Sinclair is a bit eccentric. He really goes all in for everything he does. I don’t think moderation is in his vocabulary.”

  “But how the heck can he afford to do all this?”

  Max looked around and shrugged. “The man’s services have been in high demand for years. Supposedly, he did a lot of genetics research for the Conglomerate. Came here a wealthy man.”

  “No doubt,” said Nick.

  “Come on,” Max said, “Let’s get going. We’ve got a long day ahead.”

  ***

  “What’s on your mind, Nick?” Max asked as he took a bite of what the food processor called beef stew.

  It tasted fine, Nick thought, but the oatmeal-like texture seemed off. After a couple bites, Nick struggled with eating any more. He put his spoon down after he realized he was just pushing the brown paste around his bowl.

  “Sorry, premium food is not in the budget,” Max said after Nick remained silent for a minute.

  Nick cracked a smile, “It’s not that, although I have to say I don’t think I’ve ever eaten anything like this.”

  Nick’s voice was a bit weary, exhausted from the long day spent loading the cargo and getting underway.

  “I’m sorry, Max.”

  Max didn’t say anything at first; he took a long drink of water from his cup.

  “I’m sorry for what I’ve done and how I’ve acted,” Nick said, staring at the table in front of him, “I’ve had a tough go of it lately. Haven’t been myself.”

  Max nodded as he listened.

  “You did pretty well today once we got going,” Max said, “I appreciate the apology, but that’s not going to make up for what you’ve done.”

  “I understand,” Nick said, reluctantly taking a bite of the brown goo. “How long have you worked for Sinclair anyway?”

  Max thought for a moment. “Just over ten years now.”

  “Man, not sure I could handle his creepiness for so long,” Nick said. Aldous had been polite enough and business-like when they met, but there was still something about him that Nick didn’t like.

  Max chuckled a bit at the remark.

  “I told you Aldous is eccentric, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about. The man’s done a lot for Dust; he’s done a lot for a lot of people in this corner of the galaxy.”

  “Why has he exiled himself on Dust, then? If he’s so magnanimous, why not operate a bit closer to civilization?”

  “Different strokes for different folks, Nick. Not everyone feels comfortable with the hustle and bustle of Earth or the other more established colonies. Besides, operating out here gives him a bit more freedom than he would have under the bright lights of the Conglomerate or the government’s watchful eye.”

  Nick looked at Max skeptically. His experiences with his father taught him that given enough money, ethics were merely a minor inconvenience when it came to the Conglomerate’s scientific progress.

  “Something just feels off about him.”

  Max looked annoyed. He swallowed the bite in his mouth and then slammed his fist on the table.

  “Kid, stop looking for things that aren’t there. Sinclair’s a bit of an oddball. So what? Don’t be so quick to judge.”

  Nick recoiled a bit.

  “Sorry, Max,” Nick said softly, “I’m probably just tired. Mind’s looking for conspiracy theories.”

  “Nick,” Max said, looking into his almost empty bowl, “I owe a lot to that man, more than I can ever really explain. Guess we’re both a bit tired tonight. Why don’t you do a quick walkthrough of the hold? I’ll clean up here.”

  Nick nodded, pushing his bowl toward Max. He stood up and walked towards the galley exit, b
oots clanging off the floor grate with every step. He put a hand on the hatchway and hesitated. He framed his question carefully, not wanting to strike another nerve with Max.

  “Hey, what was in the vial you gave him, anyway?” Nick wondered, “He seemed awfully excited about it.”

  Max didn’t bother to turn around, keeping his back to Nick.

  “He did light up, didn’t he? Think it was some genetic data on some animals, birds or something. Can’t say I really understood what it was. Doc’s been trying to adapt some of the local wildlife, thinks it can help with the terraforming.”

  Nick nodded and walked away. The ship had been configured for night mode, so the hallway lighting was a dim red. Nick had been told that the lighting effect was designed to help his body keep normal rhythms in this artificial environment. It was supposed to be soothing, readying him for sleep. Nick just found it annoying because he could barely see where he was going.

  Thankfully, the living quarters section of the Hannah were fairly small so it only took Nick a minute to reach the cargo hold hatchway. Nick was sure that Reggie could have done this or maybe Max could have done it from the cockpit based on sensor data, but he sensed Max was looking for a nice way to end the conversation. Knowing that you were spending the next three days locked up in a glorified tin can with only one other person and one old maintenance robot meant you needed to be able to give the other person space when they needed it.

  Nick walked between row after row of giant rectangular shipping containers. The crates came up to his waist and were longer than he was tall. Nick’s curiosity was peaked, but he saw no quick way to take a look at what was inside. He guessed that Max would probably not appreciate him poking his nose into the containers, creepy doctor or no creepy doctor.

  All told, there were roughly one hundred containers locked up in the hold. Faint red track lighting allowed Nick to see as he wandered up and down the rows. Green lock indicators at the ends of each container told him they were being held tightly in place. The only thing that caught Nick’s eye in the inspection was an open access panel. Max or Reggie probably forgot to close it while looking into something or other.

  Nick closed it with a louder than expected clang. He stood there and listened as the sound echoed throughout the chamber. Then finally, the hold was again silent.

  Then, Nick heard a thud from the nearest stack of containers. The hair on his neck stood on end as he quickly activated his flashlight. There was nothing to see in the compartment; nothing moved under the gaze of his flashlight beam.

  Great, Nick thought, now I’m hearing things. The hair stood up on the back of his neck as the fact that he was all alone in the dark cargo hold took hold of him. Surrounded by mysterious black containers, stacked so high that they created a bit of a maze, he realized he could no longer see the exit. His heart started beating a bit faster.

  Nick took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. Nothing like getting a good case of the willies, Nick thought.

  “If this is how I am on the first night,” Nick said to himself, “By the end of this trip, I’ll be huddled in the corner of my quarters, hiding under a blanket.”

  Nick chided himself for being a little scared and started to walk back. Despite his efforts, his pace heading out was noticeably quicker.

  Chapter 6

  Nick lazily pushed the leftover maple syrup and brown sugar flavored oatmeal around his bowl. At least for this meal, the food’s consistency and texture were right, but he was pretty sure that the maple syrup and brown sugar were never derived from a tree or plant. It didn’t help that the remnants in his bowl had long since grown cold. The thick, sugary food paste stared back at him, testing his fortitude. The food was winning.

  He dropped his spoon in the bowl with a noisy clank and looked up at the movie playing on the monitor. He couldn’t remember the name nor did he know what was going on. It was merely noise in the background. Nick’s eyes became heavy as he listened to the rhythmic thud-thud-thud of Max’s feet on the treadmill.

  A moment later his head jerked up and his eyes snapped open. Nick cleared his throat and sat up on the bench. The lounge of the Hannah was fairly well equipped, with a solid library of programs, movies, music, and games as well as the treadmill and some resistive exercise equipment. Still, there were only so many shows he could watch before he felt the urge to get up and do something. Anything.

  If this was how bored he was on their first full day in transit, then he was going to be pulling his hair out by day four. Max’s footsteps suddenly stopped and Nick looked up to see him wipe the sweat off his face with a towel before taking a seat on the other end of the couch.

  “So, do you get used to the boredom?” Nick asked.

  Max shook his head with a bit of disdain.

  “How can you sit here and claim to be bored when you’re watching one of the greatest movies of all time?”

  “This?” Nick said with a nod of his head towards the monitor.

  “Yes, this!” Max said, “That’s Farely Lane. She’s one of the best actresses of all time, not to mention one of the most beautiful. Plus this is Valhalla Reborn! It won best picture in ’48. This movie is about your damn home planet! How can you not like this movie?”

  “That was five years before I was born,” Nick commented, “Can’t say I’ve ever seen it.”

  Max’s face took on a pained expression and he said, “How can you have been raised on Valhalla and never seen this movie? I would’ve expected someone raised there to have a better cultural background.”

  Nick laughed. “This isn’t really the kind of culture that’s valued there.”

  Max rolled his eyes. “I should’ve guessed that the high and mighty of Valhalla would think a movie was beneath them. I’m sure you’ve enjoyed a night at the symphony while sipping on tea in a real china cup made from naturally-grown tea leaves.”

  Max was more right than Nick cared to admit. Valhalla was a wealthy world; its citizens expected to be among the cultural elite. Most performances there were live action plays, symphonies, or other similar events; a movie would be considered too mundane.

  “How can you not have watched a movie about the settling of your own homeworld, anyway?” Max asked.

  Nick shrugged.

  “I guess they didn’t think this was accurate enough to teach in our history class,” Nick said with a hint of sarcasm.

  Max shook his head and said, “You don’t know what you’re missing, Nick. I guess you have some catching up to do on the movie library then.”

  Nick tried to change the subject.

  “Where are you from, Max?”

  Max’s eyes were glued to Farely as she glided across the screen, “Churchill. Lived there until I got my first job as a maintenance tech for Conglomerate Fleet Services at the ripe old age of 18.”

  Churchill was not a world that Nick was familiar with. He had heard of it, believed it was mostly an industrial world, but that was all that stuck out in Nick’s head.

  “Can’t say I know it very well.”

  “Not surprised,” Max replied, “It’s probably not significant enough to be covered in your geography lessons.”

  Nick had a hard time figuring out if Max’s disdain was real or not.

  “Didn’t mean to offend. When I get control of the curriculum, I promise we’ll add it to the first week of Colonial Astronomy.”

  “Be sure to mention my name,” Max said with a smile.

  “Why’d you leave?” Nick asked.

  “I’ve always wanted to be a pilot. To be at the controls, flying through the stars, that was my dream. I even signed on with Central Exploration for a while; wanted to be a planetary scout.”

  “I take it that dream didn’t go far.”

  “Their budget was cut and I was laid off; some bean counters decided we’d done enough galactic exploration. I got lucky and found a job with a shipping company; worked for them for about ten years. That was where I met my ex.”

  The words hung
in the air for a moment, before Nick realized what Max had said. Max continued to impassively stare at the screen. He didn’t look away as Farely tended to some ill colonists. Nick wrestled a moment with whether to turn the conversation elsewhere. In the end though, he realized they would be spending a lot of time together over the next few months. If they couldn’t talk about each other, what would they talk about?

  “What happened with her?” Nick asked.

  Max hesitated; this time he did look away from the screen. For an instant, pain flashed across his face, but was quickly replaced with a neutral expression.

  “Our daughter died,” Max finally said, looking at Nick, “Things weren’t the same between us after that. Shortly after our little girl’s death, I bought the Hannah and started doing runs out here. I told you kid, everybody out here is running from something.”

  “I’m sorry,” Nick said. He knew he had nothing to be sorry for, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  “Don’t be,” Max said earnestly. Max tried to act as though the memory hadn’t gotten to him, but clearly it had. He stood up from the couch.

  “Losing her was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through.”

  Max returned his gaze to the screen, but Nick could see his eyes had glossed over a bit.

  “I think I’ll go get cleaned up,” Max said and left the room.

  ***

  Nick awoke from a nap with a start as he heard a bang come from the corridor. He was up in an instant and quickly poked his head out of the hatchway. There, he saw Max, toolbox in hand, crouched down in front of an access panel that he was unfastening.

  “What’s going on?” Nick asked somewhat groggily.

  “CO2 levels are higher than normal,” Max said matter-of-factly, “I’m going to take apart one of the air scrubbers and see if I can figure out what’s wrong.”

  “Shouldn’t the, uh, ship be able to tell you where the problem is?” Nick asked as he stepped into the hallway.

  Max shot him a look that said don’t be an idiot.

  “Of course, genius, but I’m not getting anything useful out of the computer. Means we’ve either got a scrubber problem, a sensor problem, or any of a dozen other possible problems.”