by Tasha Black
Her thoughts went back to the shadowy creature. They hadn’t seen any sign of it all night. What if it had been waiting in here to ambush them?
She felt a warm hand on her thigh and nearly gasped in water, before realizing it was Leo.
A moment later her leg was freed and she swam on, dazed and hoping she hadn’t lost much time or oxygen.
Her lungs began to burn. Her left arm ached from stroking and her right arm was almost cramped she was holding the baby so tightly.
She kicked on, determined. Tolstoy was counting on her. Leo was here. Her body would have to persevere.
The water began to lighten ahead of her, and then she saw the dark metal of another staircase.
She let her feet fall, grasped the rail and pulled herself up.
Her head hit the warm air and she nearly wept with relief. She took a deep, gasping breath as she hurried up the staircase, making room for Leo to join her and getting herself further away from whatever else was in that water.
The lights flashed over the surface and she could see something roiling underneath.
“Leo,” she called breathlessly.
A moment later he emerged.
“Are you okay?” he asked immediately.
He didn’t gasp for air like she had.
“I’m fine,” she said, nodding. “Thank you for helping me back there.”
“Aren’t you glad I came?” he asked, one brow raised.
“Yes.” She couldn’t help smiling. “What was that?”
“A safety harness of some kind, I think,” he said.
“So… not alive?” she asked.
“Not alive,” he confirmed.
“Well, let’s go then,” she said, heading up to the door and pushing it open without hesitation. Safety harness or not, she didn’t want to be near that water any longer than she had to.
16
Anna
A large room filled with consoles awaited them on the other side. Everything appeared to be dry.
“What are we looking for?” Leo asked. “Do we have to ask the drone?”
“She’ll probably want to rest until her components are dried out,” Anna replied. “But I think I know.”
There was a comms center on the Stargazer too. It was much smaller than this one, but the transmitter was marked with a symbol that looked like three leaves.
She scanned the room and found it emblazoned across a white plastic dome.
“There,” she said, heading for it.
The symbol should have been lit up, but it was dark.
“Okay,” she said. “Now we know why the comms are down. This light is out, so it must need to reboot.”
“I’m glad you understand it,” Leo said.
Anna bit back the truth, that she’d watched Angel reboot the beacon on the Stargazer once and was far from sure she could replicate it. There was no point upsetting him.
“Here, hold Tolstoy,” she said, handing him the pod.
She couldn’t help but notice the tender expression on Leo’s face as he took the little one.
They were both getting attached to the baby, which was not a good thing. But somehow it made her feel good inside to see Leo cradle the little pod anyway.
She turned back to the console and felt the underside for a button or switch. That was what Angel had activated, she was sure of it.
She felt a surge of satisfaction as her finger passed over a sensor.
She stood back and watched.
Nothing happened.
She reached underneath again, but her next swipe was no good either. She crawled under the console and used the light of her wristband to search.
The finger pad was the only possible reset.
“Okay,” she said to herself, crawling out. “Okay, okay.”
She studied the console itself. Twin attachments in the corners suggested she was really looking at a cover panel. Inside, if this tech were similar to what they had on Earth in her time, there would be a confusing tangle of wires. Maybe something had gone wrong inside.
She thought back to the time she’d helped her mom rewire a burnt out branch of knob and tube in their old Victorian. Surely this would be similar to that. Easier in fact, since she wouldn’t have to break through any plaster.
“I’m going to remove the panel,” she said.
“Is that safe?” Leo asked.
“I’m not sure,” she replied as she twisted a clip from her wristband and used it to unscrew the corners.
The panel lifted off easily. Inside was a reassuring nest of wires. At least it was something she could deal with. She scanned it for anything amiss.
“What are you doing?” Leo asked.
“I’m looking to see if anything is disconnected,” she said. “Most likely it was jarred and something came undone. All I need to do is reconnect it.”
He nodded, looking impressed.
She went back to her work, and a few minutes later was pleased to find a small gold connector detached from its mate.
She leaned in and gently reestablished the connection.
When that was complete, she methodically checked the other connections. They all seemed to be secured.
Leo watched as she replaced the panel cover and locked it back in place.
Then she leaned under the console and touched her finger to the pad again.
Nothing happened.
She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
“Looks like it tripped some kind of breaker,” she said. “We’ll have to reset it manually.”
She pointed to a huge toggle switch behind a glass window on the wall a few steps away. Yellow caution warnings were fixed to the glass.
“Hold the baby,” Leo said, handing over the pod before Anna could protest.
The weight felt good back in her arms.
Leo removed a pin from the seal on the right side of the glass, then from the left.
He lifted the glass window from its place and set it gently on the floor.
Before Anna could beg him to be careful, he grabbed the toggle and thrust it downward.
Nothing happened.
He lifted it up again.
Still nothing.
“It must be on a relay,” Anna murmured. “Like Christmas lights.”
“Like what?” Leo asked.
“This power switch is connected to the next one in line,” she said. “Come on, let’s find the next box.”
He followed her as she headed through the door to the next room.
There were no switches there, so they continued, room by room until the next box appeared in the corridor.
Leo removed the glass front again and Anna watched as he threw the switch.
“Okay,” he said. “Now what?”
“We go back,” she said. “We’ll see if it worked.”
They hurried down the dim hallway until they reached the comms center. The power to the console was still out.
BFF19 fluttered slightly and then unfolded and zoomed around Anna’s head.
“You made it,” BFF19 sang.
“Yes, but we’re not getting anywhere,” Leo grumbled.
Anna explained their efforts so far to the little drone.
“The reset has to be synchronized,” BFF19 said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Synchronized?” Leo asked.
“Why in the world would that be necessary?” Anna asked.
“It is a common safety measure,” BFF19 said. “The power could have gone off because of a fire, or an attack. Someone could have turned it off for a number of safety reasons too.”
“So when it comes back on, they want to be damned sure they want it back on,” Leo said, nodding.
“Precisely,” BFF19 said.
“Okay then,” Anna said. “I’ll stay here. You head back to the relay in the hall. I’ll give you a countdown, and then we’ll flip the switches together.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Leo said. “Give me a minute to get the
re.”
“Of course,” Anna replied.
He smiled down at her and then stroked the glass front of the baby’s pod with one finger, his touch as light as a butterfly’s wing.
Inside the pod, baby Tolstoy stretched. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but he appeared to shimmer slightly.
By the time Anna looked up again Leo was gone.
“Ready?” BFF19 buzzed.
A little time drying off really seemed to have revved her up.
“Sure,” Anna said.
“Can’t moon about the man all day,” BFF19 chirped.
Anna laughed and took hold of the toggle switch with the hand that wasn’t holding the pod.
“Ready,” Leo’s voice boomed from the long corridor.
“On my signal,” Anna yelled back. “Three, two, one, go!”
Anna slammed down the toggle.
BFF19 shrieked and dove, faster than Anna had even seen the drone move. She barely had time to register the problem. Anna must not have put back all the wires properly, some of them hung down below the console and rested in a puddle of water that began there and ended right at Anna’s feet.
Just as the drone reached the wires, there was the sound of an electronic jolt, and the smell of ozone filled the air.
A light on the power relay flashed twice and came on.
Leo’s footsteps were heading her way from the room next door, but Anna was frantically scanning the room for her robot companion.
She saw the tiny white form, stretched completely flat for the first time, on the floor near the entrance. She must have been knocked back by the jolt.
Leo flung the door open as she ran to the spot and sank to her knees, taking the little square into her hands.
“We did it, Anna,” Leo cried.
But her eyes were blurred with tears.
“What- what’s wrong?” he asked.
“It’s BFF19,” Anna said quietly. “She saved me. She moved the wires before I got fried.”
She stroked the glossy surface of the frozen little drone.
“I’m so sorry,” Leo whispered.
“She was… she was my friend,” Anna said, her voice shaky.
Leo placed a warm hand between her shoulder blades.
“I know she was a robot,” Anna admitted. “But she was so much more than that.”
“An honorable creature,” Leo agreed, warming Anna’s heart.
There was a slight tremble in her hand.
“BFF19?” she said.
The little drone shivered all over as if with delight and sailed off Anna’s hand.
“An honorable creature,” she crowed. “A friend.”
“You’re okay,” Anna said, hopping up.
“Of course I’m okay, I only got a little stunned,” BFF19 said, sounding slightly offended. “I’m made of carbon fiber. My drive is solid platinum.”
Leo roared with laughter.
“Well, I meant everything I said,” Anna said, smiling in spite of herself.
“Am I to assume that another promotion is in order?” BFF19 asked.
“Let’s get the baby off the ship first and then we’ll figure it out,” Anna said.
She went back to the console.
The light there was still out.
“That’s not good,” BFF19 said.
Anna sighed inwardly. She’d done all she could do to get the system back online. Whatever was wrong was beyond her.
And now they were out of options.
Except one.
17
Anna
Anna looked over at Leo.
His handsome face was marred with concern. He must be thinking too, realizing the same thing she had. They only had one choice - one imperfect and dangerous choice.
“The escape pods,” he murmured.
“Yes,” she said.
“The escape pods have not been maintained according to safety protocol for hundreds of years,” BFF19 said. “They cannot possibly be used with any confidence.”
“Let’s go check them out anyway,” Anna said. “We don’t have any other options.”
“I’m a salvage droid,” BFF19 said. “You know I cannot allow you onto one of those pods.”
The little droid had been through a lot, and she had already proven how far she was willing to go to provide for Anna’s safety. It was probably best not to push her too much.
“What about me?” Leo asked.
“I have no jurisdiction over you,” BFF19 replied brightly. “You’re free to launch yourself heedlessly into the cosmos as you wish. But Privateer Anna Nilsson is the property of the Stargazer and, as such, my responsibility.”
“She’s no one’s property,” Leo snarled.
“Guys,” Anna said. “Let’s just go for a walk.”
BFF19 made an aerial half-loop in an irritated way, then folded herself into a narrow shape like a paper airplane and sailed out into the hallway.
“Do you want me to carry him?” Leo asked hopefully, looking down at the pod.
“Sure,” Anna said. She wasn’t proud to admit it but she was feeling tired. The full gravity of the ship was only a little higher than the Stargazer’s. But between that and the adrenaline from the swim, she wished she could curl back up in the first mate’s cozy bed for a minute.
Leo took the pod, smiling down at little Tolstoy as if they had just shared a joke.
Anna looked over, but the baby was the same as before, sleeping hard, blond curls drifting.
They headed out after BFF19 as quickly as they could.
The droid hovered at the end of the corridor, waiting for them but in a frustrated way. She was probably convinced Anna was going to try and trick her into letting them into an escape hatch. And she wasn’t wrong to be worried. That was precisely what Anna hoped to do.
When they had almost reached her, the little drone zipped around the corner and down another dim hallway.
Anna didn’t dare to speak for fear of drawing attention to their party. It was a wonder that shadowy thing hadn’t found them when they jolted the electrical system back to life. But she supposed it was a big ship.
The scare in the water had turned out to be nothing, but maybe the creature really was planning something, lying in wait.
She tried not to think about it too hard.
They passed endless doors and suddenly the forest came into view again. Anna paused for a moment, paralyzed by its beauty.
They were level with the canopy now. Enormous snowflakes drifted onto the dark, bare branches within. An evergreen trembled slightly in a manufactured breeze and its snowy limbs glittered like the top of a sugar cookie.
Anna couldn’t help but think of The Nutcracker Ballet and the enormous tree that grew inside Marie Stahlbaum’s living room while her parents and brother slept upstairs.
“Almost there,” BFF19 chirped.
Anna managed to tear her gaze from the snowy forest.
The little drone had darted into a shadowy offshoot of the main hallway. She hovered before what looked almost like a bank of elevators.
“You’ve seen them now. Are you happy?” BFF19 asked.
“These are the escape pods?” Anna asked.
She moved closer and saw that behind each doorway was a smooth metal oval with an indentation indicating a hatch. She was reminded of the silver and gold eggs that were hidden in the park during the annual Easter egg hunt back in Tarker’s Hollow. If you found a gold or silver egg you got a big prize.
No prize could be bigger than a way off this ship with the baby.
“They don’t seem to be damaged in any way,” Anna said.
“Life support function has not been maintained according to the manufacturer’s standards,” BFF19 said, her voice sounding almost petulant.
“Can we test that?” Leo’s deep voice nearly startled Anna.
She stepped back and allowed him to approach the metal eggs.
BFF19 whirred and then fluttered to the first door, tapping the indentation
with a crisply folded wing.
The thing lifted with a whoosh.
“Diagnostic,” BFF19 sang out.
A glass palette came to life, lighting up various functions.
Two red X marks marred its screen.
One was over the comms symbol.
The other was over the man shape.
“No comms, no life support,” BFF19 said. Anna could have sworn there was something smug about her tone.
“The other two?” Leo asked.
The little robot repeated her task.
Both times Anna held her breath, hoping for a miracle.
Both times the two red X marks appeared on the palette.
Anna let her head fall into her hands for a moment, overwhelmed. She wondered what she was supposed to do in this situation. Surely there was some way to get the baby out of there. Mama was supposed to drop off the others on the two most promising ships after she left Anna aboard this one. By now, she was probably in a holding pattern not too far away, waiting for the designated pick up time. But getting to her was beginning to feel hopeless.
Something lightly caressed her shoulder.
She looked up, expecting Leo.
But it was BFF19. The little droid had folded herself into a shape that resembled a tiny hand.
Something occurred to Anna.
“BFF19,” she said carefully. “What does it take to fly one of these escape pods? Is it difficult?”
“This pod is a simple lift-torque device with a modified Bhimani drive the size of your tagger inside it,” BFF19 began. “According to the manufacturer—”
“—wait” Anna interrupted, sensing a long explanation. “Wait. Could you fly it?”
“Of course,” BFF19 scoffed at once. “If these pods had proper life support, I would have piloted for you.”
Leo moved toward them and it occurred to Anna that he realized where she was going with this.
“Could you pilot it by yourself?” Anna asked.
BFF19 froze mid-hover.
Anna bit her lip and watched as the little robot took in her question.
First the drone seemed to float upward in a kind of dreamy pride. Then she stopped on a dime and spun around twice.
“I am a salvage drone,” she said flatly.
“Yes,” Anna agreed. “But I need you to fly this pod to Mama. You don’t need life support, do you?”