Titan Insurgents

by Kate Rauner

  Fynn sealed the inner hatch and watched them leave through the porthole. Maybe he should view the maintenance videos for fliers and suits, and schedule inspections and repairs with his crews. It was a big enough job to create a team to handle suits and fliers. There were enough Mechanics and everyone needed a job as part of their daily routine.

  Chap ter 19

  D rew shoved empty boxes down the aisle. He had a couple workbenches cleared, but the bio lab stretched endlessly and unpacking was tedious, even with helpers. By luck or design, two of the station's permanent crew had arrived on the last shuttle, and they seemed happy to join him.

  "Want help with those?" a crewmate called.

  "Naw. I'll kick 'em out into the vestibule. The bots can pick them up later. I'm going to lunch."

  He dropped the boxes, climbed the ladder to the upper level, and strolled across the pedestrian bridge. Drew passed more empty equipment containers, but quite a few bins full of lounge furniture and kiosks waited to be assembled.

  Life onboard would be different from Earth, and Drew sincerely hoped it would be different from the domes too. The station's residents would decide how to organize public spaces. That should be a barracks function, but most Kin would be coming and going on short stays, assuming the pilots resumed shuttling them up and down.

  They had to, eventually. Unless they were happy eating nothing but bioreactor slop, they needed the greenhouse. And the station's nuclear reactor was already halfway through its useful life. Drew had viewed the videos. It would last two or three more years, and then power had to be transmitted from the domes.

  On the upper level, bots had installed knee-high walls along the entire segment on both sides, a meter from the curve of the hull. Not enough garden space to replace the surface greenhouse, but someday, plants would grow there, changing carbon dioxide into oxygen. The greenhouse crew would have something to do while recuperating onboard.

  Floor panels mimicked terra cotta tile, and green borders marked off sections. Columns at the knee walls hid utility ducts and pipe-chases every so often. A sofa and brightly striped chairs, arranged near their galley, didn't fill the space, but did provide a comfortable oasis near the ample counters. Despite the curve of the segment, Drew didn't feel like a hamster in a tube.

  The lounge would be even nicer once the smell of plasticizers dissipated. Drew sneezed.

  "You okay?" Tyra asked. She sat at a rectangular table long enough for a dozen people.

  "It's just the smell of these soft plastics. Orpheus should unpack them all and get it over with."

  "Imagine the smell then."

  "Our aqueous scrubbers are charged, aren't they? So it won't take long to clean the air."

  "Orpheus could give you an estimate."

  "I don't really want to know."

  The smell wasn't bad enough to ruin his appetite. Drew examined a bowl of salad tossed from whatever Evan had brought up on his last shuttle run. A bucket of dehydrated chicken stew sat next to it, no longer sealed inside its zero-g, plastic glove box.

  Ah, gravity. Drew scooped out a portion.

  "Where's your bio lab crew?" Tyra asked.

  "They go back to the blue segment to eat with their units. Are the medics joining us?"

  "Maybe breakfast tomorrow," Tyra said. "Right now, they're running stool samples..."

  Drew scrunched his long, crooked nose. "Delightful."

  "Stool, blood, and who knows what other tissues. Erik says, they're documenting thousands of molecular changes due to low gravity. He wants to track what happens to people next."

  While his bowl of stew soaked, Drew brought his salad to the table. Evan and Kana lumbered up the ladder from the lower level and joined them.

  Tyra shoved her stew aside, then pulled it back and swallowed a spoonful. "I hate to waste food. I only took a half portion and I'm not sure I can eat any more." She propped her head up with one hand.

  "I'll finish yours," Kana said. "What you've got there looks like all I can manage."

  Drew touched Tyra's shoulder. "You okay?"

  "Dizzy for a minute." She smiled feebly.

  Kana rubbed amber fingertips against her temples. "I've been dizzy too."

  "And nauseous," Evan said. "It's hard to concentrate."

  Kana's eyes widened in alarm. "Did those Kin from the domes brought up a bug?"

  Tyra shook her head once. "I felt awful before they shuttled up."

  "It's gravity," Drew said.

  "Centrifugal force," Evan said, absently correcting him.

  Drew heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Whatever. Force pushing you down against your feet, reversing fluid buildup in your brain, and whatever else makes the medics happy. I feel it too, but I'm farther through recovery than you are because I started sleeping in the ring as soon as it was pressurized."

  "We were briefed about this at spaceport," Evan said. "Warned about the effects. But the ring only produces half of Earth gravity, so I hoped it wouldn't be this bad."

  Drew plucked at his sandy mustache. "Can I make you guys some tea? Or just hot water?"

  "I think I'd rather walk," Tyra said. "Liam told us..." She caught her breath before continuing. "Liam led us on walks around the ring. He'd want us to power through. Leave the cleanup for now and come with me?"

  Drew jumped up and the others followed more slowly. They headed spinward toward Drew's bio lab, though they stayed on the upper level, walking slowly, continuing in the next segment above utilities and life support to the blue segment's quarters. The smell of fresh plastic hit again, making Drew's eyes water.

  "Why is everyone way down at that end?" Tyra asked as they passed the overhead spoke membrane.

  "Less than a quarter of this segment's lower level is occupied," Drew said. "Erik bunked them all at the Med Lab end."

  Conversations ahead sounded friendly. Kin had unpacked a galley kitchen and lounge furniture, and were reading, talking, and playing tabletop games. A few neurodistibular platforms from Med Lab sat in a row. Someone had loosened the tilt controls because instead of testing patients' balance, people were pseudo-surfing on them.

  "They know about Liam's death, don't they?" Tyra asked.

  Drew shrugged. "Whatever Ulrik told them."

  Tyra brightened at the sight of someone working at a cafe table, a square-shouldered woman with short blond hair.

  "Cornelia." Tyra gripped her in a hug. "Hey, everyone. This is Cornelia Falk. She was a procurement agent for the Herschel project." Kana seemed to know her too.

  Drew shook the woman's hand and smiled. Meeting old friends was the sort of reminder they needed that they were all Kin. Besides, no one recovering from Titan's gravity had the energy to be dangerous.

  The woman squeezed Tyra's hand. "We heard the station commander was killed in some sort of accident. He was your friend, wasn't he? I'm sorry."

  Tyra nodded silently.

  "The colony wasn't supposed to be so dangerous."

  "A lot of things are different. But I'm glad you're here. Tell me what you're doing."

  Cornelia heaved her yellow bag onto the tabletop. "I brought a bag of compost and some pepper seeds to plant in coffee cups. I hope to have sturdy seedlings before I have to leave." She rubbed her neck. "But I can't stay on my feet for long. I get so dizzy."

  "I hear you there," Evan said. "Don't worry. You'll feel better soon. Is Anders around?"

  Drew sighed. Of course, these Kin were from the Advance Team that had pirated the Herschel. Maybe Liam's death didn't hit them as hard, but they'd worked with Tyra, Evan, and Kana for months at Earth's spaceport.

  Evan spotted a friend of his own, one of the more active new arrivals who was shoving a cargo bin along the floor.

  "Come on," Evan said. "Let's help unpack."

  Drew frowned at the long line of containers edging the segment. "Call the robots."

  But Evan was already hurrying away.

  Tyra pulled a chair from a stack near Cornelia. "You don't have to get up. I'll sit wit
h you."

  Her friend smiled weakly. "Okay, but let's sit by Yuto."

  Drew carried Cornelia's chair past the scattered sofas. Against the hospital bulkhead were a half dozen beds for the weakest Kin. The young man they approached seemed shriveled, his skin papery as an onion.

  Drew set Cornelia's chair down and she pulled it close to his side. "Yuto, you remember Tyra, don't you?"

  Yuto turned his dark eyes to her, dazed at first, but then he smiled with recognition.

  "The medics think he'll improve under the influence of gravity."

  Drew nibbled his pale mustache. Happy reunions and sad reunions combined with the anxiety Liam's death provoked. He didn't know how to feel. The mix left him numb.

  ***

  Fynn rose from his seat in the Mechanics mess hall as soon as he recognized adjunct Maj striding across the dome. Her square-shouldered stance was unmistakable, and one long, gray-streaked braid bounced on her chest as she walked. When she stopped at the edge of the group, blue eyes sparkling as if suppressing a smile, she looked so much like a Viking warrior that Fynn tilted his head in a slight bow. "Maj, what can I do for you?"

  "Kin are asked to gather tonight for a party. That includes all of you here."

  "What's the party for?" Fynn doubted the trustees would feel like celebrating after searching for bodies all day. For one body, anyway. Maybe no one in the Village knew that Liam was dead too.

  Maj's eyes swept over the Mechanics and her smile broke free. "We haven't properly celebrated the awakening of the last of our colonists."

  Maybe Maj didn't know two more Kin were dead either, and Fynn wasn't about to deliver the news. He ran a hand through his hair, puzzling for a moment, and decided to stick to this idea of a party. "So we can watch everyone else eat while we're stuck with algae cakes?"

  "No, no. Doctor Tanaka wanted us to leave behind the conflicts of Earth. Kin share everything. That's why Maliah sent me in person to express her sincere wish that you attend."

  Fynn's mouth opened but no words came out. Arguing over contradictions was pointless. He gulped and tried again. "Thank you."

  Maj turned and strode away. As she disappeared into the greenhouse tunnel, Rica hopped up, arms folded tightly across her chest. "What do you suppose that's about?"

  A man in red slapped his knee. "The trouble's over. Magnus caused all our conflicts, and he's gone."

  "It's not that simple," Fynn said. "Tanaka threw people into bins, blocked private conversation..."

  "But that was before. Things are better now."

  Conversations erupted on all sides. Suspicion and relief rippled through the group in alternating waves. If it meant uniting Kin, many crewmates seemed ready to remember only Tanaka's inspiration.

  "What if this is a trap?" Rica said. "I'm staying here no matter what the rest of you do."

  "Why would it be a trap?" Fynn said. "We're trapped here in our dome every day. There's no place for us to go."

  "But we're safe. They ignore us if we stay out of sight."

  Fynn ran a hand through his hair. There was nothing rational about the split within Kin. He scanned the faces turned toward him. Crewmates were laser-focused on him, holding their breath or shifting from foot to foot.

  Most of them wanted to rejoin the Blue Kin, wanted to be accepted again. They missed their friends in the Village barracks.

  "Let's do it," Fynn said. "Guys..." He called over the eruption of chatter and raised his left arm. "Let's show the Village that we can compromise." He tapped his sleeve and True Blue flowed up his arm and throughout his coveralls.

  ***

  Exiting from the greenhouse to the Village, Fynn slowed to watch for signs of treachery. But people milled around the kitchen ahead without a glance in their direction.

  On the serving counters sat five buckets of dehydrated meals. He'd thought all the food brought from Earth was gone, but Maliah must have squirreled some away in the tower. He spotted chili-with-beans, which would go wonderfully with a few spoonfuls of fresh-diced tomatoes and chopped herbs. The counters were loaded with a choice of freshies.

  Empty tables and empty seats were scattered here and there, reminders that some Kin had shuttled to the space station. Also a reminder to Fynn of Magnus' assault on the pilots, but no one here knew what had happened. If the trustees had told their units about Magnus' death, no one seemed to be mourning him.

  Barracks leaders shepherded their units into line. A few of Fynn's crewmates peeled off to sit with their old barracks mates, but most clumped together, finding tables along the dome wall where they could escape to the tunnel if trouble started.

  Maliah and Maj arrived with flat boxes of tea and a tub of sugar packets. Cheers resounded as his sister waved to the crowd. She slid a holo-projector to the center of the counters.

  An image of Tanaka popped up, life size, dressed in black with an orange vest the same shade as the banners waving overhead. It must have been a recent image because his head was bald and his neatly trimmed beard was snowy white. A grandfatherly smile lighted his round face.

  The image raised its arms, and voices quieted until only the whir of fans filled the dome. "Look at you all. Nature's great purpose realized at last. Archetypes who courageously resisted mongrel races in our ancestral land. Explorers who traveled east to become our Samurai Kin, and west to become our Viking Kin. That heritage belongs to you all. And now, at last, we are together on our own world. Nothing divides us. Nothing will ever turn us against one another. I salute you, brave and resourceful Kin. Strong and beautiful. I love you all." Tanaka's image froze into a benevolent, flickering statue.

  Maliah pumped her fist and shouted, "Kin, Kin, Kin."

  "Kin, Kin, Kin." The crowd roared back, and the Mechanics leaped to their feet along with the rest.

  Perhaps, without Magnus, Maliah would unite the Kin. Fynn wanted to believe that. He rose too, pushed off from his chair back, and hopped high off the floor.

  Maj popped the meal buckets open, and Maliah raised the box of tea packets over her head in invitation. The crowd surged to the counter, clustering in good-natured groups around the microwaves, and Mechanics joined them. Fynn scooped chili into his bowl and ate eagerly.

  Warm from a full stomach, he moved to the rear of the mess hall to watch from along the dome wall. Maj remained at his sister's side, tipping the tub of sugar forward as people filed by to collect their packets. The other adjuncts, sent back to barracks some time ago, weren't obvious. Somewhere, they were part of the crowd.

  Rather than thread his way between tables, Fynn circled the mess hall to the edge of the women's barracks and walked to the kitchen. By then, Maliah had shut down Tanaka's image and hugged the holo-projector in both arms at the tower's ground-floor door.

  He pushed the tower door open with one hand. "Can I help you with that?" She smiled at him, and he followed her inside.

  She set the projector on her desk. "Did you enjoy supper?"

  "Very much. Thanks for inviting my crew."

  Maliah looked tired. Creases shadowed her face, and her eyes were red-rimmed. But he didn't ask how she was feeling. Mom said she hated that, and he hadn't come for chitchat. "You've confirmed that Magnus is dead, haven't you?" With all the weird lies from Tanaka and lately from his sister, it was hard to know. "The trustees didn't find him. He's lost somewhere, dead and frozen solid."

  A wisp of golden hair had escaped from her braid, and she pushed it behind an ear.

  "I understand. The power in his suit would have run down by now even if he was plugged into a flier."

  She waved at the rows of tall cabinets behind them where tiny green lights glowed on narrow blades slotted into the racks. "I'm reconstructing the incident. Magnus' suit wasn't recording and there's a security barrier on some of the Herschel's directories. But I have the record from your suit. You were at the fuel depot." She cocked her head to one side, silently questioning.

  He nodded. "Magnus opened the hatch and the shuttle took off with the door
swinging open. When he never came back..."

  "And Liam. Why do you think he's dead?"

  Fynn twitched. He could only be sure because of the secret link to Drew. "You heard the comm recording. What else? But tell me about supper tonight. Why a celebration?"

  Maliah's eyes narrowed, as they always did when she was scheming. "I failed. You've never heard me say that out loud, but I know when it's true."

  She paused for a moment, and when Fynn only held his breath, she continued. "The Council, the Herschel. They should report to me. Defer to me because I speak for Doctor Tanaka. Magnus was going to secure the space station for us, and now I must start over."

  That sounded ominous. "By throwing a party?"

  "Doctor Tanaka says we create our destiny, so if you tell the story you want to be true, it will become true."

  She smiled and gave his shoulder a squeeze. Such a normal gesture, Fynn wanted to believe this was the sister he knew from Earth. Maybe that's what starting over meant.

  "No more talk," she said. "I'm tired. Back to your crew, little brother."

  Fynn swung past the counters on his way to the tunnel, palming enough tea and sugar for the crewmates left behind to tend the furnaces. The mess hall was crowded with cheerful chatter, but he wanted to curl up in his bed and think.

  Chap ter 20

  F ynn barely felt queasy anymore during Gravitron treatments, so he tore through the prescribed series of exercises and felt better. He'd gotten so used to the perpetual stuffiness in his head that breathing was a revelation. The constant, subtle ache behind his eyes was gone too.

  The motor's hum subsided, the centrifuge slowed and then stopped with a clunk as the brakes engaged. Fynn flipped over the side of his slot to land confidently on his feet.

  If everyone felt better, maybe that explained why tensions in the domes were fading. Or it could be the kids that lightened everyone's mood.

  One of the youngest girls ran over. "Mr Rupar, is the Gravitron locked down? Can we start now?"

  Fynn glanced at his mother behind the operator's shield, at his crew swarming over the machine, and then waved to the teachers. "Yes, all secure. Go ahead."