The Life, Death and Life of Amelia Hollow

by Edward James Bowman

  ***

  Cameron cowered below his two superiors. He was being blamed for his my insanity, but now I had him thinking. Did Tamarax really have Sven? Why would she have his father? Harsnics had primal instincts about their family. He had gotten a sick feeling in his stomach after I had told him about our father. Something deep inside him knew I was right, yet he could not admit it. His mind had been trained by the USM to ignore the instincts he had around his family. If I was right, then he would do anything to save his father from the horrible monster so-called Tamarax.

  “Your sister is trying to spread fear.” Tek hissed. “She is a liar, and unstable. You personally will contact USM security about her.”

  Gor felt this was mean, yet he understood why Tek was doing it. She wanted the harsnic/human boy to prove he was with the USM and not his insane sister. The look of defeat in the boy’s grey eyes already told Gor where Cameron stood. He stood with the USM, but not happily.

  Cameron did not reply. He desperately wanted to leave the bridge and be out of Tek’s sight. I was his sister, he did not have the heart to call moi in.

  “En Cam,” Tek hissed, “make the call.”

  “No.” He said quietly.

  “I’m sorry,” she said condescendingly, “what was that?”

  “No.” He repeated, this time more bravely. “I don’t think my sister is crazy. I think she’s telling the truth.”

  Don’t dig yourself an early grave, boy. Gor thought while shaking his head sympathetically.

  “Tamarax has the cadets… and my father.” He whispered.

  “Indeed.” Tek was beyond displeased. “And would it matter if she did?”

  Cameron looked at her with confusion. Of course it would matter, wouldn’t it?

  “You are not hauling the Titonic across the galaxy to dangerous area of space just to save a heap of second-class cadets.”

  “But my fath–”

  “Your father is a human.” She interrupted. “He is a second-class civilian, and risking the lives of the Tit’s personnel is not worth his life.”

  Cameron stood up in a literal and figuratively: “He was an ambassador!”

  “Was.” Tek emphasised.

  “Tek, that’s enough.” Gor said to ease the situation.

  My brother rubbed his hands together. It was all he could do to not clench his hands into fists. Harsnics were peaceful, but when their loved ones were offended the anger built up inside them. Tek knew this. She liked to tweak the lower-ranking personnel just to watch them get annoyed.

  He decided to go back to his point about the cadets: “If my sister is right then we have to save them. The cadets are the future captains and officers of the USM Navy!” He squeaked.

  Tek just stared at him disapprovingly, so he turned to Gor.

  “Cap, please.” The mantis-like creature turned his head. “I cannot ask for you to take the ship to the coordinates she sent me, but let me take a shuttle. I-if my sister is wrong,” Cameron bit his lip, “then you can dishonourably discharge me. I am willing to take that risk.”

  “Yes.” Both men looked back to the haughty jellyfish fairy. “Let the mongrel go search for the seconders. Two evoks with one laser beam.”

  To translate what Tek said: ‘seconder’ does not mean the same thing as it does on Earth. It was a slur for ‘second-class’ species. And ‘two evoks with one laser beam’ was basically ‘two birds with one stone’ except more tragic if you knew what an evok was.

  “First Off Tek,” Gor objected, “that is enough.”

  In usual situations, nobody would defend a ‘mongrel’ like Cameron, but Gorirtz was a very good man. He would not let weak little creatures like my brother be bullied when he was around. What he did not know was that Cameron was not as weak as he looked. My brother snapped, clenched his fist, and caught Tek in the jaw. A very shocking scene seeing he was much shorter than her.

  Now, do not think less of my brother for hitting a woman. The United Systems of Mel standards made sure men and women were treated equally. They never even thought about the different genders until it came to ‘maternity leaves’. Having equal genders meant there were no double-standards. A man could hit a woman as easily as he would hit a man (or vice versa). I’m not sure where I stood on that. On Earth, although genders were equal in the western world, unless a woman was bioengineered like me they were generally not as strong as a man. That was simply because of lack of testosterone. I do not have that much testosterone in me, but I had just enough that I easily become aggressive. In the USM; the genders were genetically more equal. Woman like Veck were certainly equal to men. In fact, she was stronger than many men. Gender had no effect on how much she kicked somebody’s ass. Even if it did; she was hermaphrodite so she could become a man if she felt it would help her win a fight.

  Cameron instantly regretted hitting Tek, but he could only take so much crap. Nobody got to call him a mongrel, insult his father and second-class species. The first officer had pushed the little harsnic just a little too far.

  Enraged, Tek grabbed his neck and squeezed until he started choking. Her species was a perfect example of equal genders. All of her kind was packed with an alien version of testosterone.

  My brother grabbed her arm and tried to push her away but with no avail. Her grip continued to tighten around his small neck until a bolt of electricity ran through her body. She jittered before collapsing on the metal floor.

  The harsnic coughed for a moment before looking at Gorirtz. The mantis-like alien had taken the emergency gun from the armrest of his captain’s chair. His insect face could not reveal much emotion so Cameron could not figure out what he was thinking.

  “You may want to report back to your chamber before she is reanimated.” He said shakily. “Otherwise, she will do things to you beyond my control.”

  The harsnic swallowed. Despite her immobility, she still terrified him.

  “Please sir.” He looked pitifully at Gor. “I need to go help my sister. Whether she’s right o-or just insane I have to help her.” He looked down. “I promise I’ll accept all charges when I return. I-I just need to make sure she… and possibly my father are safe.”

  Gor was torn. He knew my brother just wanted to do what was best for his family, but if he aided him he would be breaking USM law. He sighed. Gorirtz had already breached the USM laws by stunning his own first officer. Now, it really depended on how deep he wanted his grave to be.

  30: A Fate Worse than Death

  Sven was not reanimated. He just had to wait for the effects of the stun gun to wear off. In his daze, he had no awareness of his surroundings. The first sign that something was not right was when there was a sharp pain in his right toe. My father slowly lifted his head, straining his stiff neck, to see the cause of the annoyance. His eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when he saw a winged rat-like creature chewing through his retro black Converse shoes. He sat up instantly and tried to shake the creature off. The little pest hissed before gliding across the floor and through the bars of his cell.

  The prison cell was old. The only new thing in it was Sven, and the window that stared out into blackness. My father swore in Swedish as he stood up on the grey bench to get a better look out the window. Just at the bottom of the glass he could see parts of Tamarax Station. Fear sunk into his chest. This was the last place he wanted to be in the universe.

  His own body-glove covered body surprised him. My father could vaguely recall one of Tamarax’s soldiers dressing him in it. He remembered that the soldiers had talked about his body in their own strange language. One may have fondled him, but the memory was a blur.

  Sitting back on the bench, Sven padded his pockets in search of the little translator. He had it on him at all times in case Cameron spontaneously called him. It was buried underneath the handkerchief in the right pocket of his jacket. My father felt uncomfortable putting it in with his shaky hands. He winced we he scratched the delicate inside of his ear while putting it in. Just in time; he cock
ed his head when he heard mumbling coming from the cell over.

  Stepping over one of the dead reptilian pests on the floor, he made his way to the invincible metal bars. Sven was greeted by an electric shock when he tried to squeeze his head through the bars to peer out into the cellblock. His left show made a squishing noise when he staggered backwards and stepped on the dead creature.

  “Shit.” He muttered as he dragged his foot along the ground to clean the green goo of his sole.

  “Wake up already!” He heard a woman hiss a few cells down.

  Sven bit his lip. Did he dare call out? He certainly did not want to get the attention of the bulky soldiers or Tamarax.

  “Hello?” He called out hesitantly.

  His voice echoed through the cellblock. At first, he thought there was going to be no reply, but then the woman responded: “Who’s that?”

  “Err… Sven Hollow?”

  “Never heard of you.”

  “Well, who are you?” He called back. The woman was obviously not Tamarax.

  “Dub First Off Veck of Starside Academy.”

  My father’s eyes widened. “Starside Academy? Is Amelia… Am, with you?”

  Veck did not reply immediately she looked around her own cell, and then to the cells across from her just to check. She had not seen me before when they were originally beamed, and that had not changed since.

  “No.” She called back. She then realized who Sven was. “Wait, you’re her father aren’t you?”

  “Yeah!” He called back. “What happened? What are you doing here?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me.” Veck laughed. “I think all this crap has to do with your daughter. Tam’s soldiers collected us when we were regenerating, but your daughter was not in her chamber.”

  Sven was not sure how to feel about that. Did that mean I was safe or not?

  “Am’s father?” Donn called out when he came-to. “Am and her dub cap aren’t with us. D-did Am ever tell you anything that suggested she knew Tamarax was coming for us?”

  Veck looked Donn in the cell across from her. That was the best question he had asked in his entire time as a cadet. He was in a cell with Jee, Merr, Zand, Henn, Marsh, Or, Va and Kel while Veck was with the rest. The cells were not very large, so they were incredibly cramped with most cadets still passed-out on the floor or benches. Everyone who had been captured was still present. – Good.

  “No.” Sven called back to the fishy boy anxiously. He questioned how much I had not told him if I was in trouble with Tamarax.

  Kel jumped to his feet. “We got to get out of here.”

  Sven cringed we he heard the algrin moan in pain when he grasped the electrified bars. Kel landed humiliatingly Marsh who was lying peacefully below him. The gegemetelner was fully awake now.

  “The bars are electric.” My father called out.

  “No, really?” The algrin muttered sarcastically.

  “Careful.” Veck told Kel haughtily. “He is Am’s father. He could kick your ass just like she did.”

  Oh. Sven thought. So he is the phallic I’ve heard so much about.

  “You’re lucky these electric bars separate us.” Kel hissed.

  “Chill.” Donn put his hand on the algrin’s shoulders. “I really don’t think now is the time.”

  “How are we going to get out?” Jhan asked Donn from across the cells.

  Donn shrugged nonchalantly. “How should I know? I never trained for this!”

  “Wait, Am’s father is here too?” Merr purred as he stretched out like a cat. “Where is he?”

  “Over here.” Sven called out again. The conversation with the cadets was accomplishing nothing.

  All of them fell silent when they heard a heavy door open. Tamarax skipped in followed by her little blue slave and two soldiers. She felt her plan was coming together… until she looked into the two cadet cells. He smile vanished.

  “Wait, where’s Am?” She asked Kel as he was closest. “Did she escape?”

  The algrin raised an eyebrow: “You did not capture her. Remember?”

  Her eye twitched, but she smiled. “Yes, forgot that we weren’t following that script.”

  KC2203 turned away from his master. He got to see her like nobody else did. She was completely insane. Her deteriorating brain could not tell dreams form reality. She would probably ask Kel again in a few minutes where Am was. It was like she had 4th dimensional-induced Alzheimer's. He hoped I arrived soon… and killed her.

  “She’ll be here soon.” Tamarax reassured my father as she strode up to his cell. “She has to come here to save her daddy, after all.”

  That was Tamarax’s real reason for capturing my father. She wanted to make sure I came to Tamarax Station instead of going for the ‘comet’ that was heading for my Solar System’s sun. If she was able draw me here instead of to the comet then she was positive her plan to kill me, Mel and reshape the universe would work. Then again, she was a lunatic so there was no guarantee her plan actually made any sense.

  “How would she know to come here?” Sven asked. He tried to make sure his voice did not tremble, but Tamarax could sense his fear.

  “There’s a lot you don’t know about your daughter.” She smirked.

  Sven was a little offended. He was sure that I told him everything as we were so similar. Then again, I had not told him about Geraldine’s dusk addiction, so what else had I not told him?

  “How do you know she’s coming?” Tamarax strode back to the previous cell. The algrin was standing so close to the bars she was surprised he had not been electrocuted yet.

  “Because I know everything.” She said simply. “She’s coming here to save you guys and also coming here to die.”

  “Liar.” Sven muttered. Tamarax heard him, but chose to ignore the pitiful man.

  “You know when she’ll be here?” The hekkit looked back to Kel for an answer. KC2203 cringed, obviously his master had just forgotten that the algrin would have no idea when I would arrive.

  Kel shook his head, surprised by Tamarax’s apparent lack of intelligence. “No.” He said simply.

  The wretched woman then remembered that she already knew when I would arrive. She laughed at her own insanity before abruptly stopping to sniff. She could feel another nosebleed coming on.

  Kel muttered something incoherently so that her translator could not pick up on it. “What was that?” She asked. Her eye twitched.

  He opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted: “Kel.” Veck said sternly from across the bars. She and Kel may have not seen eye to eye, but she certainly did not want him to suffer at the hands of Tamarax.

  The phallic ignored her boldly: “I’m not sure when Am’s arriving, but when she gets here she’s gonna kick your ass.”

  Tamarax’s smile shattered. She had heard those words before. Without her consent her henchmen opened the cell gate and grabbed the prideful boy. The other cadets in his cell stood up instantly. They had no chance of escaping with two beasts guarding the door. They just did not want the monsters to take Kel.

  Sven was not sure what was happening. He tried to look out of his cell but just ended up getting electrocuted again. He was powerless to defend the young cadets, and he knew that. Reasoning with Tamarax was out of the question. Her humanity was long gone.

  “No.” She said calmly, not bothering to make eye contact with the algrin. She pointed one of her sharp nails at Veck’s cell. “That one.”

  The soldiers looked at each other in confusion. Kel was hurdled back into his cell. Donn caught him, but stammered backwards while doing so.

  At first, the argon passé thought the beasts were coming for her. Her eyes widened when the one in front reached right past her and instead grabbed the little golden boy who had been sitting on the bench. He made a squeaking noise as he was dragged out of the cell by the brutish henchman.

  “No!” Veck cried as she lunged at the henchman. He swatted her away like a fly and she crashed to the floor unconscious.

>   After seeing what happened to Veck, the other cadets in her cell stood by reluctantly. None of them were strong enough to take on the beasts. Nis looked back to them and squealed sorrowfully. He did not know what was happening. As soon as the gate closed they all raced to the bars along with the cadets in Kel’s cell. Nis had been provided with a body glove by Tamarax as she knew how delicate his body was, but that was not going to save him.

  Tamarax looked at Kel and smiled. The algrin shook his head frantically. “No. Don’t do it.” Please… Please don’t.” He pleaded.

  “You pushed me to.” She said slyly.

  “Don’t hurt the cadets.” Sven pleaded shakily once he realized what was happening. “Do whatever you want to me, but please don’t hurt the cadets. They’re just kids.”

  Tamarax strolled up to his cell. KC2203 and the henchmen followed her while holding the squealing boy firmly. The hekkit gave them a grave glare which told the henchman holding Nis to ease up. The boy was at a stage where he could go into grey state at any point, and she did not want that to happen just yet.

  “I intend to do whatever I want to you.” She told my father. “I also intend to do whatever I want to these ‘kids’. You’re not in a position where can tell me otherwise.”

  “He’ll go grey.” Sven stammered. He knew Nis’s species well. Back when he was an ambassador he witnessed the bhe marc ambassador go into grey state when he saw a video of a previous USM war. The medics knew they could not save him, so they instead euthanized the innocent creature.

  Tamarax shrugged. “I know, but what have I got to lose?”

  “Please don’t.”

  She looked back. It was not my father who said that so it had to have been one of the cadets. No, KC2203 had said it. He stood in front of the two henchmen and Nis meekly with his arms wrapped around his chest protectively. “Don’t hurt him.” He continued feebly. “He hasn’t done anything to you.”

  Tamarax’s eye twitched as she stared down her meek slave. Sven flinched sympathetically when she drew her hand back before slicing the blue man across the left side of his face. KC2203 whimpered when her nail cut through his eye and stammered away from her. It was lucky that Nis was too distracted to witness Tamarax’s brutality; otherwise he would have gone into grey state right then.

  The regret was obvious in the witch-like lady’s eyes. All this time her little ‘companion’ had worn scars that could be hidden by layers of fancy clothing, and now he had a permanent mark on his face. On his knees, he looked up at her with his one good eye while his hand covered the other side. Anger overlapped her sympathy for her pet, and she nodded to the henchman –that did not have his hands full with Nis– to pick him up off the ground. There was a free cell across from Sven. However, a small army of alien pests occupied it as they were feasting of the corpse of its previous resident. Tamarax still had a heart for her pet, so she instead put him in Sven’s cell. The henchman took pleasure in thrusting the blue boy into the cell. He had never liked the slave clone anyways.

  “Consider this timeout.” She told KC2203 impassively.

  The witch, her henchmen and the poor golden boy started off out of the cellblock without another word. Tamarax felt she was not accomplishing anything by being with the prisoners. All she really wanted was moi.

  “Tamarax!” My father called out as his last feeble attempt to save Nis. He was greeted with no reply.

  Kel felt his eyes swelling with tears. It was his fault she was going to hurt Nis. He just had to open his big mouth and offend her. Donn looked at him when he heard his sniffing. There was nowhere for the algrin to hide. No little safe haven for him to cry in. He was breaking down in front of all the cadets and he could not run away. He just stormed away from the cage door and went to the corner on the opposite side of the cell. All the cadets watched him as sobbed with his back to them.

  “It’s not your fault.” Donn told him sincerely. He took a step toward the sobbing boy even though he was afraid that the algrin would lash out and strike him.

  “Am and Chorst will save him.” Zand said although she doubted I was actually coming at all.

  Veck’s expression softened. No one ever really liked Kel, but none of them could stand to see him cry. She knew how guilty and humiliated he was feeling. In algrin culture; it was seen as weak for a man to cry. Kel had pretended he was a ‘man’ at Starside Academy by holding back his tears in public. However, on his own planet he felt weak because his father had managed to make him cry on a regular basis. He hoped that at Starside nobody would have thought of him as weak. He did not understand that none of the cadets saw him as weak for crying. Heck, most of them did not even know what crying was. They had only ever seen him as weak because he clung too closely to his irrational algrin beliefs and could not separate from them. None of them could tell him that. He would just feel worse if they said anything.

  Sven could not hear the algrin’s sobbing from his cell, but the silence of all the cadets told him something was up. He looked back from the cage door at the little blue boy in the corner. His hands were completely soaked in dark blue blood as he tried to cover the left side of his face.

  KC2203 froze when Sven paced over to him. He feared that the taller man was going to beat him to a pulp because he had been with Tamarax. He backed himself up against the wall and brought his legs off the ground and onto the bench to use as shields for his body. Having been so exploited, KC2203 did not understand that he had been bioengineered to be incredibly strong because slave clones generally worked in harsh conditions. Tamarax had convinced him that he was feeble despite the fact he could have thrown my father across the cell if he had wanted to.

  “It’s okay.” Sven hummed softly as he reached into his pocket. “I’m not gonna hurt ya.”

  The slave clone did not relax. He could not count the number of times he had been told that and ended up being hurt.

  Sven pulled out his handkerchief and held it out to the little blue boy. KC2203 did not accept it. He just stared at it suspiciously.

  “It’s okay.” My father said with a smile. “I haven’t used it.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why do you want to help me?” He asked in almost a whisper. “You’re part of the USM… I’m with her.”

  “You’re not with her,” Sven sat down on the bench, “and I’m not with the USM.” KC2203 cocked his head in confusion. “I’m a second-class citizen.” My father explained.

  The blue boy leaned away when Sven raised the handkerchief. The Swede smiled humbly and dropped the piece of white cloth on the boy’s knee for him to pick up in his own time. KC2203’s one good eye shifted from the white cloth to Sven repeatedly until he picked it up and used it to cover the scarred left side of his face.

  “Sorry.” The slave clone said when he pulled the cloth away from his eye for a brief moment to look at it. “I think I’ve stained it.”

  “Keep it.” My father waved away the apology. “I’ve got plenty at…”

  Home. Sven pondered. With the civil war… and Geraldine. There’s no real home to go back to. Well, if I survive this.

  “You sure?” The blue boy asked suspiciously. “You want me to have it?”

  “Yeah. It’s yours.”

  “Thank you.” He whispered meekly.

  My father was not sure how much of a gift the handkerchief really was. The poor blue boy had already bled right through it. Then again, he did not understand how much possessions meant to the fragile creature. KC2203 owned nothing except his soul. Tamarax owned everything else.

  “You’re a human.” The blue boy noted.

  “And you’re an… aldoren?”

  “Uh huh.” He nodded happily.

  “Sven Hollow.” My father stuck his hand out politely.

  KC2203 was a little confused at first. He pinched the top of Sven’s hand delicately and shook it, leaving a little dark blue blood on the pale man’s hand. “KC2203.” He replied.

  “Wait.” My fat
her raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  The blue boy repeated his liscence, but Sven did not change his confused expression. “You’re a clone?”

  “Yes.” KC2203 shrunk as Sven looked at him.

  “Where are the others like you?”

  “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “Off mining somewhere in the galaxy… or dead.”

  “But Tam kept you here?”

  “Yes.”

  “But she didn’t give you a name?”

  “Never felt the need to.”

  Sven leaned back and rested his head on the hard wall. “KC2203 is a big name to carry.”

  “It’s not a name. It’s a liscence.”

  “True.” My father thought for a moment. “Can I just call you Cacey?”

  “Huh?” The slave clone titled his head.

  “Cacey.” Sven repeated. “It’s like K-C, but it’s spelt C-A-C-E-Y. It’s an Earthling name.”

  Although the two men did not share the same alphabet, the blue boy’s translator picked up the name ‘Cacey’ which could easily be pronounced in his own language. The major difference was how the name would be spelt. In the aldoren language, Fweth, there was no ‘C’ or ‘K’. Both letters were replaced by an ‘S’ so if his name was translated into written Fweth and then back to English it would be ‘Sasey’. That’s why in his own language his liscence was actually SS2203.

  “Are you sure I can have it?” The boy asked, hopefully.

  Sven nodded. “You deserve it.”

  The aldoren dropped his legs back onto the floor. He saw no point in trying to defend his body anymore. Sven was obviously his friend. The Earthling was kind to him. He’d even given him a name. Sven had been kinder to him in a few minutes than Tamarax had ever been in thirty years.

  “I like the name.” Cacey said cheerfully while swinging his legs like a child. Sven did not have to be a genius to know the blue boy had a crush on him. My father smiled. He was happy he had made the slave clone happy because he figured the end of both of their lives was coming soon.

  “Why does Tam want my daughter?” He asked to dampen the cheerful atmosphere in the prison cell.

  The blue man froze. “I-I thinking it has something to do with the 4th dimension. She needs to kill her because y-your daughter may be the only thing that stands in the way of Tam reshaping the universe… or something like that.”

  Sven stared blankly at the boy. The thought of moi, his daughter, being wrapped-up in 4th dimensional matters was shocking. He felt he knew less and less about his child every moment.

  Cacey wiped the dark blue blood off onto his tight pant leg before putting his hand on my father’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. Your daughter, she has to stop Tamarax.”

  My father continued to stare blankly ahead. Confusion had set in.

  31: Escape from Tamarax Station

  I was forced to reside in the bathroom for most of our light speed flight. Chorst did not question why I left him so abruptly. I could no longer control my nosebleed by just sniffing when it got too intense.

  The dub spaceship bathroom was even smaller than the ones on the airplanes of old. My legs were crushed between the alien toilet and the alien sink as I tried to deal with my nosebleed. The toilet paper was even coarser in the Mar than it was back at Starside Academy.

  My complexion was not attractive in the mirror, and not just because of my bleeding nose. Something about my eyes was not right. I looked deranged. I wondered if Chorst noticed. That was probably why he was holding onto the Bennu Bomb instead of moi.

  I stopped breathing when I noticed a shadowy figure standing behind me in the mirror. The black shadow was too hard to make-out because of the dirty mirror. Despite the cramped conditions, I was able to swivel my torso and head around to look behind. There was nothing there. – I’m not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  “Are you actually appearing or am I just going insane?” I asked aloud.

  Both.

  I sighed. “You know, I really don’t like you.”

  The feeling’s mutual.

  Once my nosebleed had subsided, I re-joined the trinard at the front of the ship. Frenchy did not acknowledge moi when I sat down in front of him. That was probably for the best. I did not want him to question what I was doing in the bathroom. I put my helm back on when I sat down. Even though my nose was done bleeding, there was always the chance that the trinard would catch my eye twitching.

  “We will arrive at Lieu Com Feb’s last known coordinates in approximately two minutes.” He reported impassively.

  “Excellent.” I replied. “You ready to take on the whole of Tamarax Station?”

  He answered with his own question. “The USM should have seen our ship leaving the hangar. They could have deactivated our spaceship if they had not wanted us to leave.”

  Chorst was right. There was no way the hunk of metal we were driving could leave the outpost without being noticed. This intrigued me as much as I presumed it intrigued Chorst. Someone inside of Starside wanted us to go. I had a hunch on who it was, but chose not to tell Chorst my suspicions.

  I shrugged casually: “Maybe they have someone following us.”

  “Unlikely.” He glanced at his wrist computer. “We can track all USM ships even if they are in light speed or are cloaked. There are no USM Naval ships for over fifty light-years.”

  I shrugged. “The USM probably has its reasons for not caring about us.”

  “All the cadets are of second-class species.”

  “That’s probably the main reason.”

  I was surprised when the light speed dega-drive stopped humming loudly. According to the monitor we were staring at nothing but blackness. I inhaled sharply. Had I been wrong? Tamarax Station was most likely still in the same area as Lieu Com Feb’s last GPS transmission, but we did not have the time to fly around this sector searching for it.

  “What should we do?” I asked Frenchy.

  Remaining silent, he rotated the ship one-hundred and eighty degrees. I sighed in relief when a lone rock body appeared in the blackness. Tamarax Station had been right behind us.

  The station was larger than I had expected it to be. The lump of rock it was attached to was only about half the size of Earth’s Moon, however Tamarax had really expanded on the place with much of its surface now being covered in manmade structures that made it more than three times as large. It was certainly no match for the whole of Starside. Tamarax knew that. That was why she kept such a low profile.

  “Landing the ship on the far side of the station is the best option.” Chorst said as he slowly drove the dub spaceship toward the wretched station. “Tamarax appears to not have as many buildings or machinery on that side. It is likely the testing ground for new weapons.”

  “If we manage to save the cadets, how we will get them out to the Mar?” I asked, now hesitant about my own plan. “I doubt any of them have their armour.”

  “Stealing one of Tamarax’s ships within one of the hangars is a possibility.” I nodded along. “Then we would use the Mar as a decoy for our escape. I would control the dub spaceship via my wrist computer, make it take off and prep for light speed, and while Tamarax Station was focused on the dub spaceship, we would take an inconspicuous spaceship in one of the hangars.”

  “Not bad.” I praised. “But this is all providing we survive everything else, right?”

  “Yes.” He looked back at his wrist computer. “Tamarax Station may have already spotted us.”

  “They have.” The voice within moi whispered aloud. “But Tamarax wants us to come.”

  Chorst said nothing. Instead, he reached down to his belt to make sure the Bennu Bomb was still in his pocket. There would come a point when I would have to get the little bomb off him. I would most likely have to get it off him by force. I shook away the thought. I could worry about that later.