Johannes considered it. “Excellent advice, Corporal Tieff. Thank you.”
* * *
Venture
Captain Bettina Yrden judiciously applied breaking thrusters, and Venture came to a relative halt fifty kilometres away from Haida Gwaii, which continued her slow advance towards the Catastrophe Plan Alpha rendezvous point.
From there, the station could jump at will. In the mean time, the steel-workers continued to improve her hull strength such that the jump, when it came, would cause less peril.
Owen waited impatiently. They had picked up the distress beacon from FTL-1’s Catastrophe Core. Sharon might have survived. He had wanted to go with a shuttle immediately, but Bettina had denied him.
“If they’re there, they are safe for the moment. We need to co-ordinate our efforts. And your father is in charge of that.”
“Then I want to go over to Haida Gwaii with those passengers bound for there.” He didn’t expect her to agree, but she nodded.
“Anton, relieve Owen. Owen, go.”
On the shuttle bay dock he met Larry and Sandra Clement, who would make the trip over, as well some of the passengers that they’d acquired while operating as a transient hotel. The farmers and Mr Richardson would get transferred to Kobe Maru, and taken – along with what survivors she could carry – to Liberty.
* * *
“Sandra, Larry,” came a voice Larry recognized.
“Karen.” He and Sandra turned to greet her and her husband, Gerry – their friends from the training facility on Earth. “I thought you were going to Kobe Maru.”
Gerry nodded. “We are.” He pointed. “We’re taking that shuttle. Where are you going?”
“Sandra and I have jobs waiting for us on Haida Gwaii. She has an ag dome. So,” he smiled, “we’ll be farming before you are.”
“But no walking in the hot sun swinging a scythe, I’ll bet.” Gerry referred to an incident during training back on Earth.
“No, it doesn’t seem like it.”
Karen came over, and hugged first Sandra and them him. “Thank you. We owe you our lives.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“We were going to stay to make sure we had everything important. It would have taken us at least another ten minutes. Many of those who waited didn’t make it.”
Sandra laughed “You can name your first baby after him – if it’s a boy.”
A pilot none of them recognized walked over. “All bound for Kobe Maru and Liberty, follow me.”
“We’d better get aboard, too,” a young man their age said.
Larry remembered him from the crew deck. Another Yrden.
“Larry Clement,” Larry said, holding out his hand.
“Owen Yrden.”
“And this is my wife, Sandra.”
Owen looked at her with interest. “How old are you?”
“Almost nineteen,” Sandra answered.
“And you?” he asked Larry.
“Same.”
“And you’re married?”
“Larry’s Dad suggested it,” Sandra said. “As husband and wife, we met the requirements better. Otherwise, I might not have gotten off Earth – neither of us would have, actually.”
She went on to tell of their speedy passage through the initiation course for emigrating farmers. Had they not worked together, they wouldn’t have made it up on the last shuttle.
Larry wondered that Owen found it so interesting.
“None of your parents had any objections?”
“No,” Larry said. “In fact, they conspired together to get us married and away.”
“Even at eighteen?”
“Dad says I’m a man, now. And I think I’ve proved it.”
Sandra smiled up at him.
“He has,” she said, and related a few details of their escape, where Larry had stayed to save her when a display had fallen on her during the evacuation, trapping he. Then he had risked himself to save Mr Richardson, who would have died without that aid.
She finished with, “What a man does defines him, not his age.”
Owen nodded. “Thank you, Sandra. I needed to hear that. Come on, time to board our shuttle.
Larry wondered what Owen had meant by that, but he had already begun walking. He and Sandra followed him.
They climbed on board their shuttle, past the woman who had led them to the acceleration lounge that first day. Angela something. She smiled, and directed them to seats in the front row – probably due to them all being Family or otherhires. They would get off first. The other passengers, who didn’t work for the Families, would probably have to go through Haida Gwaii’s security.
“Hi, Wen. You taking her across?” Angela asked.
Larry looked up, recognizing the man as the one who had aided them all out of the life-pod.
“Me and Jordan, yes,” Wen said.
The pilot, Wen, disappeared into the cockpit. Larry would have loved to go forward to see it, but he doubted they would let him, so he just sat.
The trip over lasted only a few minutes. On the other end, just as he had suspected, he, Sandra, and Owen were shown right through, picking up an escort on the way. Of course, they had only their ready cases. Some of the other passengers had luggage.
“In here,” their escort said, and ushered them in to what looked like a conference room. Owen kept walking, very intent on something.
“Hello, Larry, Sandra.”
He looked at the face, and recalled it from the vid transmission back in the life-pod.
“Ms Yrden!”
And there she stood, Jaswinder Yrden, herself – the hyperspace physicist who had figured out how to jump something as huge and ungainly as Haida Gwaii.
She shook their hands. “Welcome to your new home. Donna, here,” she indicated their escort, “will get you set up in your quarters, see that you are issued work clothing. Today, you get to read up on regulations and all that good stuff, relax, and get used to your new quarters. Tomorrow, you go to work.”
Sandra laughed. “Just like at the Institute, Larry.”
Larry considered explaining the joke to Ms Yrden, then decided not to. She would ask if she wanted to know. “Thank you for our jobs, Ms Yrden.”
She smiled at them. “We’re quite informal in the Families. I’m Jaswinder. Do you have any questions?”
Sandra made the reply. “We don’t know if we do, yet. I’m sure we’ll think of some eventually.”
And that caused Jaswinder to laugh. “I can see we’ll get along well, Sandra. Well, I won’t take up any more of your time. Donna?”
“This way.”
Larry and Sandra looked all around them as they followed Donna to their quarters, which rivalled those on Venture. Larry picked up the reader that sat on the desk.
“We’d better do some research,” he said.
She hooked her arm in his, and led him to the couch.
“What we do best.”
* * *
“Please sit down, Owen,” Johannes told his son. “You’re making me dizzy.”
He stopped pacing. “Dad. We picked up the distress beacon. Sharon’s alive in the Catastrophe Core, and waiting for us.”
Perhaps she had survived and made it there; perhaps she hadn’t. Johannes didn’t bring up that possibility. The distress beacon didn’t carry any real information on it. And those in the Core hadn’t answered their attempts to communicate by radio, so they didn’t know who had activated the beacon.
“Owen, we have priorities. Anyone in the Catastrophe Core on FTL-1 can count on remaining safe for at least a month. Those in damaged life-pods or lifeboats – or, perhaps, shuttles – can’t.”
“I promised I would come for her,” Owen stated, not having listened, or having dismissed his father’s words entirely.
Johannes understood, for he would want to do the same thing, were Jaswinder there. He only hoped that he would have enough sense to first rescue others who needed it more desperately. He decided
to not bring up the fact of debris, which might prevent them from even making an attempt.
“Venture and Kobe Maru – along with any other FTL ships that drop in – will begin rescue operations tomorrow. Haida Gwaii will remain here, and pick up any who make it to the rendezvous point.”
“Then I’ll go with Venture,” Owen declared. “I’ll take a workboat to get her, if necessary.”
“No you will not. A workboat has no shielding, and wouldn’t survive the attempt.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do. And I’ll personally see that you do, too.”
Owen looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“I’m going across to Venture as well. Haida Gwaii doesn’t need me any longer. Your mother, on the other hand, will remain here. Once we get to Earth Orbit, we’ll know better what can or can’t be done. You will work with me.”
Owen glared at him. “You never liked her. You’d just let her die.”
No way the boy could see reason at this point. “You may be right in that I never liked her. But let’s say you are correct, that I would let her die rather than saving her. Would I also condemn Family members because of that dislike?”
Owen shook his head. “What?”
“Assuming Major Temple made it to the Catastrophe Core, do you think she’s sitting there alone? We’ve had this conversation before. Hasn’t it sunk in that if she made it, then other people likely made it, too? We had people working in the warehouse there. So did other Families.” And Jill Paxton, whom he respected, might also have survived. “So, Owen, tell me: is your father so cold-hearted that he would just let them die because he disliked someone who happened to be there with them? Is he so hate-filled that he would rescue the others, but deny her?”
Owen looked at him, chagrined. “I’m sorry, Dad.”
He stood up and patted his son on the shoulder. “That’s okay, Son. I know you love her. I would feel the same way if your mother were over there. And, if your major has survived, we’ll do everything we can to get her out safely. But to do that, we need to go at it in an organized way. Tomorrow, we’ll go to Venture, you and I. And then we’ll assess the scene. So, go grab a cabin, get some sleep, get something to eat. Fair enough?”
“Fair enough.”
“Now, go see your mother. You and Bettina scared her half to death.”
“Yes, Dad.”
After Owen left, Johannes let out a sigh. One problem down, twenty thousand to go. But, first, something to eat.
In the cafeteria, he grabbed a plate, and filled it. Looking for a seat, he saw an arm waving. It belonged to a familiar face. However, Johannes had never before seen the man sitting with his cousin.
“Paul, you made it back.” Johannes placed his tray on the table.
“I did. Scary coming back up, though. Lots of debris in the upper reaches. Got a couple of dings, but Maintenance has it all in hand.” Paul indicated the man sitting next to him. “Let me introduce you to Sidney Tremblay, the Seed King.”
Johannes forced himself to keep his smile on his face. Pierre, who had volunteered to stay behind with a crippled shuttle, had called him filth, slime. Johannes wondered how Pierre had come to that conclusion. But Pierre said that for what he brought, he would welcome Sidney into the Families.
“Pleased to meet you Mr Tremblay. I understand you brought us a valuable gift.”
The man jerked as if touched by an electric prod. He looked at Johannes, then to Paul.
“Not a gift,” he said, face wary. “You people made promises.”
“Peace, friend,” Paul said. “We will honour the deal Pierre made. My cousin chose an unfortunate word. He merely meant that having the seed is a gift to humanity, not that you gifted it to us.”
“Oh,” Tremblay said, somewhat appeased.
“Exactly,” Johannes said, as he sat. “We would not cheat you.”
He noticed that Tremblay had finished his meal. Getting rid of him so he could talk to Paul might not present too many difficulties.
“Just freshly on board?”
“Yes. We arrived only an hour ago,” Tremblay said.
“In that case, you’ll likely want to rest. Your luggage should have arrived at your suite by now. I can have someone take you there, if you wish. You’ll find a reader in your room, with regulations that govern people on a station, a map of facilities, emergency stations, et cetera. You’ll want to familiarize yourself with them.”
Sidney looked at him. “I understand that you had an invasion, that the soldiers haven’t yet been ... uh ... neutralized.”
Johannes nodded. “That’s true, Mr Tremblay. However, we have defeated their attempt to take the station. We have them cornered. They just refuse to give up. You are in no danger.” He had a thought. “However, as per our agreement with you, you can transfer to Kobe Maru. She’s taking survivors to Liberty.”
“I’ll stay here. A ship has few facilities – as you call them. Once I have studied my options, I’ll know better what I want to do.” He looked down at his plate. “I would like to see my suite.”
Johannes scanned the crowd. He saw Bill Tannon on his way out. Laughing to himself, he waved Bill over.
“Bill, I’d like you to meet Sidney Tremblay. He brought us the seeds from The Vault. I wonder if you could see him to his suite.” He turned back to Tremblay. “Bill Tannon is Haida Gwaii’s Station Chief. He’s in charge of everything. If you have any questions, he’s the man to ask.”
“Mr Tremblay. Welcome to Haida Gwaii. If you’ll just come with me.”
Tremblay stood, and then followed Bill out, not taking his leave of Johannes or Paul, and not removing his dirty dishes from the table.
“What’s the story, Paul?”
“First, thank you for taking that pig off my hands. Pierre called him filth. I have to agree. He had a girlfriend – apparently one he used as a mule to traffic seeds across borders. She didn’t even know he had done this. And then he offered her favours to Pierre as enticement. And, finally, when we discovered we had to leave three people behind, he claimed his place, which I admit was fair enough.”
“That last makes him filth? You just called it fair enough.”
“Pierre said that the Families would take people based on their skills. The girl – she’s probably only twenty – pipes up with the fact that she had no skills and thus would have to remain behind.”
“Okay.” Johannes didn’t see the problem.
“That bastard sold the seeds for a place in the FTL, for millions of dollars worth of precious metals, and he couldn’t even be bothered to speak a word for the girl. Hell, if he had claimed a second seat as his right – we got tons, literally tons, of seed – no one in the Families would have gainsaid him. But he just walked off, abandoning her. Pierre had him pegged. Filth.”
Johannes looked down at his food with distaste. Not for the food, but for the company he had just kept.
“A valuable addition to the Families,” he finally said.
“Well put.” Paul agreed. “Make no mistake, I think what he brought to us makes him worth every bit of what we offered. I just don’t want to be in the same room as him. But I don’t think he’s going to be a problem for long.”
Johannes froze. Very carefully he said, “Why do you say that?”
Paul laughed. “No, no. It’s nothing like that, though I expect he’ll soon have any number of us who wouldn’t cry if he turned up dead. No, he’ll do it himself. He likes his women, his power. He’s not going to find that easy to fulfill in the Families. So, I’ll bet that sooner or later – and I’m betting on sooner – he’s going to go down to some planet, and set himself up as the lord and master of a plantation. He’ll have our support; he’ll have the money. And, down there, he’ll have his pick of women who might wish to ease their burdens.”
Johannes grimaced. “And, as he has ‘earned’ the right, he can come up on any of our shuttles, travel on any of our ships at any time to get some of the good life – as represente
d by technology – whenever he wishes.”
He took a bite of his food.
“Do you think the planet where we set him down will ever forgive the Families?” Paul asked.
Johannes choked on his food. “That wasn’t kind of you, Paul,” he sputtered.
“Did you want to hear about Pierre?”
Johannes, mouth full of food, nodded.
“We came down with all the shuttles we had, including one that Maintenance labelled, to put it mildly, glitchy. They warned us that it shouldn’t be taken into an atmosphere until they had a chance to catch up. They never got that chance, and we needed at least the four. It made it down, but something went wrong, and we couldn’t get it started. So, we left three behind. One, Kiera West – that’s the woman. Then Pierre volunteers.” Paul sighed. “We tried to talk him out of it, but it seems that he has fallen in love with Ms West. If she stayed, he would stay.”
Johannes rubbed his hands over his face. Love would doom them all.
“And you know how Jacques feels about Pierre. So, he stayed, too. Figured he might get the shuttle working.”
“So you left two of the Families behind to save a couple of workers at the Vault.”
“They were all on board by that time. And Pierre told me that if I wanted him, I’d have to take Ms West and Jacques.”
“I see.” Johannes thought he knew where this would lead. Paul didn’t disappoint him.
“And he left it to me to choose whom I would kick off the shuttles and leave to die, perhaps to die horribly of radiation poisoning, when I already had three volunteers. Johannes,” he shook his head, “I just couldn’t do it.”
Johannes squeezed Paul’s arm. “I know. His choice. I hope she makes him happy for whatever time they have left.”
Paul negated that with a hand wave. “I hope that Jacques works a miracle, and gets that damned shuttle flying.”
Not With A Whimper: Survivors Page 40