Burning Bright

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “Adam, my name is Madalena Vaish. My ship is named Dance to the Dirge. Are you looking for me? Why?” The woman’s voice was a dark tenor, and I guessed she must have been standing next to Mikhael when he spoke to me.

  “Yes, I am looking for you. I have questions about your ship,” I answered.

  “Then you better give us a hand!” she snorted.

  I smirked at the irony of her words.

  “I need some time, but then I’ll fly closer so I can see the condition of your station,” I said as I moved.

  “When you say you ‘need some time,’ does it mean you are plotting a hyperdrive course here?” Her voice didn’t sound very happy.

  “How much time do you all have left?” I asked.

  “We need your help, Adam. Sooner rather than later.”

  “I need a few days. I’m sorry. Can you last that long?” I sighed and looked down at my blood soaked parachute. The sprint from my bedroom back to the bridge had used the last of my energy, and I knew it would be a struggle to get to our infirmary.

  It would be even harder to get the IV’s in my arm, but if I didn’t do it, I might not wake up from the sleep I needed.

  “No, we can’t last that long. Is there something wrong with your hyperdrive?” Her voice was a growl, and I heard someone whisper: “Don't piss him off.”

  “There isn’t anything wrong with my ship, Captain Vaish. I will need a few days though.” I tried again to see if I could get her to budge on the time table. It was going to take me time to plot a hyperdrive course since I had never done it before, but I also needed to heal my wounds so I could pilot Persephone properly.

  “Captain Adam. I am not the kind of woman who pleads. I am Madalena Vaish of the Vaish Overlord Clan. I am a Prime Valkyrie. I have never knelt before another, or lost in tribunal battle, but I am begging for your help. We are desperate here. Our life support has less than two hours left, and we just finished saying our final goodbyes when our system alerted us to your presence. Mikhael is the most charming one of my blood clan, so we asked him to speak with you. If you do not get to us soon, we will die. I don’t know why you are looking for me, but I will submit to your body and blood clan once you save us.” I heard something that sounded like shouting on the communication, but it stopped a second after it started, and I guessed it might have been interference from the asteroid.

  I let out an aggravated growl and closed my eyes to think. If Zea were here, she would have said something like “Only two hours left? We are either really unlucky, or this is a trap.” Eve would have said, “We should try our best to save them, and if it is a trap, we will make them pay.”

  But my friends weren’t here. I was alone, and I didn’t know if I had enough time to figure out how to plot a hyperdrive course over to the station.

  “Captain Vaish, I will try to get to you as soon as I can, but the matter isn’t as simple as plotting a new course. I have been injured, and my crew has been kidnapped by slavers. I engaged my drives right before they could shoot me down, and I haven’t had time to recover from my injuries, or learn how to use my navigation systems.”

  “We have medical staff here. Please hurry. We can help you.” Her dark voice was a rush.

  “I will,” I replied, but as soon as I started to speak, but my head swam with a bout of nausea. Damn it. They only had two hours left. Getting to the infirmary, sticking the IV needle in my arm, and then coming back would probably take me a quarter of an hour. Maybe longer.

  I turned my tired eyes to the controls around the navigation system. I understood Mikhael and Madalena’s frustration. Once I plotted a hyperdrive course, it would only take a few seconds to get there. Nine million kilometers was nothing for an engine that could travel a light year in twenty-four hours. Kasta, Paula, and Zea would be able to plot the course in less than fifteen seconds. This should have been simple for me to do, but nothing was quite simple when you didn’t have hands or knowledge of advanced starship systems.

  There was a menu button on the screen, and I pressed it with my elbow. The setting of the buttons here was too close together though, and I was also hitting the sensor buttons next to the menu one with my elbow. I sighed and then pressed my face down so my nose could press on just the menu button.

  When I looked up to the smaller screen on my terminal, I saw a list of options. One of them read PLOT NEW COURSE, and I moved my nose over it before pushing my face into the screen. The next menu had a list of twelve selections that didn’t make much sense, and I groaned with more frustration.

  I pressed the top selection which read Non-Euclidean Position Tracker and then pulled my face away from the screen. It showed a sphere map which looked somewhat like the holographic one on the bridge behind me, but the one on my terminal screen was two-dimensional. The grid of the map showed swirls around the massive of asteroids on the field, and I tried to figure out how I could pull the map out so I could find the station where Madalena and her people were.

  I moved my elbow down to the controls on my left side and tried to toggle zoom the map out with a combination of random buttons and movements of the switches. None of them seemed to do what I wanted, and I moved to wipe my oily face with my hands, then I gasped with surprise when I didn’t feel my hands. My head started to spin again, and I had to lean back in my chair for a few moments.

  “Adam? What is your status?” Madalena’s voiced pulled my eyes awake, and I realized I had fallen asleep, fainted, or lost track of time.

  “I am still working on it,” I said as I tried another set of control buttons with my elbow. One of them must have done something, and the map started to pan to the left. I pulled my elbow off the button, and moved it to the adjacent switch. This pulled the image right a bit.

  I was getting somewhere. I just needed to twist the yaw of the map to the right, roll it a bit to the left, and then pan over left nine million kilometers so that I found the station. Then I didn’t really know what the fuck to do, but at least I’d have the station on the map of the navigation system.

  “We only have an hour left, Adam,” Madalena’s voice said.

  “Damn. Has it been an hour? I’m trying to figure my systems out.”

  “A half an hour has passed. We are keeping our communication open, and it is using more energy than planned. My navigator might be able to assist you, but she won’t be familiar with your system.”

  “No, turn off your systems to give yourself more time. I am getting closer.” Cold sweat was pouring down my back, and I started to shiver. I should have begun to feel itching on the stumps of my arms by now, but I wasn’t. Was it because I couldn’t shift into my tiger-form? Was there something wrong with me? Something was preventing me from healing. I almost laughed when I realized I now thought it was abnormal to not be able to shift into a weretiger.

  I found a button to adjust the roll of the map, image, and then I found the control for the yaw. I lined them up about where I thought the station would be, given where Persephone previously had the dot on display on her screen. I panned left with the correct button but then didn’t see the station where I thought it would be.

  “Damn it!” I shouted.

  I considered slamming my fist down into the armrest of the chair, but I didn’t have a fist to slam. Instead, I tried to figure out where I went wrong with the map. I panned the image back to Persephone, twisted the roll and yaw a bit more, and then panned more left. I still didn’t see the station, and I started to wonder why the fuck the image was only showing up on my screen in two dimensions when space was in three.

  I thought about the holographic map behind me and climbed out of my chair. The movement was significantly harder than I expected, and it was difficult to catch my breath for a few seconds. My heart was slamming into my chest, and each beat seemed to make the edges of my vision turn darker. The adrenaline shot I had given myself was starting to wear off, and my body was beginning to realize it was grievously wounded.

  I stumbled to the holographic map and s
aw the layout of the solar system. It was perfectly zoomed in with Persephone on the right, the station on the left, and the massive cluster of asteroids between us.

  “I want to go here,” I said as I pushed my stump into the map next to the tiny outline of the space station. As soon as the edge of my armor touched the floating image, a small blue dot appeared there, and a beep sounded from the display table. I looked down at the bottom of the map and saw a set of three numbers there. I moved my arm back into the map at a slightly different location, and the numbers at the bottom changed.

  “Okay, so these are the coordinates I want. How do I get them in the navigation system?” I looked down at the numbers and then back up at the dot on the map next to the station. Then I returned to Zea’s seat and hit the menu button again. It seemed to cancel out the project I was working on and return to the previous screen.

  “There has to be a way to enter it in and let the ship figure it out,” I muttered as I scanned the options again. Then I saw a selection that said DIRECT INPUT, and I pressed my nose up against it. The map of the solar system popped up in 2D again, but there were three blank fields around the image. I guessed this was the destination entry field, so I stumbled back out of Zea’s chair, walked to the holographic map, and looked at the first number.

  -844.2343202

  I repeated the number out loud four times as I walked back to Zea’s chair. Then I pushed my stump against the screen for the first field and moved my face over the number pad on the terminal. My nose was almost impossible to use, but I didn’t have another option, and I eventually got all the numbers entered.

  “Two more,” I gasped as I stood from the chair and a storm of pain screamed from my stumps. I wasn’t ready for the pain, and I had to lean against one of the seats to keep from doubling over with agony.

  It passed within a few seconds, and I felt the first itchy tingle of my healing around the wounds. The sensation was welcome, and I continued to the holographic map so that I could memorize the second number.

  I was getting better at typing them in, and I was able to enter in the second coordinate in half the time of the first. Then I got up from Zea’s chair to get the third one.

  “We’ve got thirty-five minutes left,” Madalena’s voice reported.

  “I’m working on it,” I growled, but then I cursed when I realized I’d just forgotten the last coordinate number when I replied to her. Fuck me. My brain felt like it was trying to think through a haze.

  I got out of the chair again and walked back to the map.

  Except it was more like a limp, and each step made the bridge spin.

  “Seven seven eight point five five four four eight. Seven seven eight point five five four four eight. Seven seven eight point five five four four eight. Seven seven eight point five five four four eight.” I repeatedly chanted the last set of numbers as I walked back to Zea’s chair. I typed them in with my nose despite every cell in my brain telling me to close my eyes and sleep.

  “There,” I whispered when it was done. “Now what?” I knew my words were slurring, but there was nothing I could do about that right now.

  I searched the screen again for a “submit” button or anything which would fire the hyperdrives. Fuck, I hadn’t even selected the hyperdrive from a list of options. I could figure this navigation part out, and then Persephone would have just given me an error message because the warp drive was on cooldown.

  “This?” I asked as I moved my elbow to a green arrow looking button on the control panel to my left. I hesitantly pressed it, and an alarm sounded.

  DANGER. PLOT CONFLICT: SOLID MATTER. DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE? Y/N.

  The map showed a straight line between my position and the spot next to the station.

  Right through the asteroid cluster.

  “No, dumbass,” I hissed and very carefully pressed my nose against the “N” button, so I didn’t accidentally send Persephone through the floating rocks.

  The menu shifted to another display that asked if I wanted to Alter drive trajectory or plot new position. I picked the first one and hoped it would give me an easy way to figure out a new course.

  It didn’t though, instead, it listed a grid of hundreds of numbers in green colored columns. I almost threw up my hands in frustration, but I didn’t have hands, and I was out of time to be frustrated.

  “Adam, we have fifteen minutes left.” Her words came out in elongated breaths, and I guessed they were close to being out of air.

  “I’m still working on it,” I replied as I pressed my nose to one of the last columns of numbers on the list.

  The screen changed to show me a graphical representation of the travel path, and I sighed with relief. The line went around the asteroid field and ended right where I wanted.

  ALTERNATIVE TRAJECTORY PLOTTED. CONTINUE? Y/N

  I pushed my nose to the “Y” button and expected the system to tell me I’d fucked up something else, and it wouldn’t work. Instead, the screen asked me to select hyperdrive, warpdrive, or folding drive.

  I pressed the button for the hyperdrive, and then I saw another pair of buttons:

  ENGAGE HYPERDRIVE

  RETURN TO MENU

  I pressed my nose to the button the engage the hyperdrive and felt a slight movement in my stomach. Then I looked up at the display screen and saw the space station.

  I had never seen a station quite like the one on Persephone’s screen. Four massive asteroids were linked together by long metal walkways, chain lines, and giant robot looking arms. Each boulder was half covered with dark metal buildings and atmospheric bubbles in a way that reminded me of moss growing on the side of a river stone.

  The rock on my right looked to be a harbor, and the size of the docking stations gave me a good idea of the relative diameter of the asteroids. I guessed each one to be about a kilometer in diameter.

  The sides of the center rocks of the station were burnt by an explosion, and each of the far right and far left asteroids looked like they once had arms connecting them to other rocks. What was left of the connections were just melted metal stubs.

  Something had hit the station hard, and I didn’t see a single blinking light or glow that indicated there was power anywhere.

  “You are here,” Madalena gasped.

  “Yeah. What do you need me to do?” I asked.

  “We are in the top most dwelling pod on the last asteroid, but you need to go to the base of the connector arm. The power line switch there activates the solar radiation collectors.” The woman cleared her throat and wheezed a bit. “Once you activate the switch, it will push the power to the rest of the station. We’ll get enough air to breathe.”

  “You need me to suit up and do a space walk?” I almost couldn’t get the question out of my mouth.

  “Yes,” she wheezed, “and you have to hurry. We have thirteen minutes left.”

  I sighed, looked down at the bloody parachute where my arm-stumps rested in my lap, and then closed my eyes for half a moment.

  “I’ll get to it then,” I said.

  Chapter 13

  It was hard to get Persephone close enough to the station with my stubs on her sensitive controls, but I didn’t have much time, so I had to do what I could quickly. I knew I could have used the landing gear to grab onto a part, but manipulation of those controls required fingers, and I knew it would take me at least ten minutes to do it with my nose or mouth.

  Madalena and her crew didn’t have time for that.

  I found ten space suits hanging up on the wall beside Persephone’s side docking exit door. They were single piece garments that looked like they were large enough for a man twice my size to fit inside. The top shoulder area was open, and I guessed I could wiggle inside of one without taking my armor off, and then I could use the hanger on the wall to try and push the sealing buttons in.

  I used my head to lift a suit off the rack and then kicked it over on the floor, so the back piece was flat on the metal tile. Then I sat on my ass by the sh
oulder entrance and tried to fish my boots through the shoulder holes. I knew this would be a pain in the ass without hands. I let out a scream of frustration when I couldn’t seem to hook my feet in.

  “Fuck! Come on!” I shouted as I kicked up with my right foot. Maybe it was the cursing, but this movement worked, and my boot wiggled inside the chest cavity of the suit. Having one foot inside allowed me to lift up the opening more, and it was much easier to get my left boot inside.

  I repeated this sequence a few times; raising one foot to create space in the garment while I pushed my other foot deeper into the suit. Soon I had my feet in place, and I set about trying to maneuver my arms into the sleeves. This task was easier than I expected, but then I realized I neglected to account for the pieces of parachute still attached to my back. The line and chute were hanging out of the suit, and I had to wiggle my arms out, loop the cords around my bloody stump, push the chute into the chest of the suit, untangle both my arms, and then insert them back into the sleeves.

  The space suit looked like an over-sized marshmallow version of our gray and black striped flight suits, and I flopped around inside of it as I tried to stand. I guessed I could tighten the suit using one of the five control buttons over the chest plate, and I walked over to the hanger to try and push the metal against one of the buttons.

  I got lucky my first attempt, and the suit vacuum tightened around me with a quick hiss.

  “Thank the stars,” I growled, but as soon as the words left my mouth, an intense wave of dizziness assaulted me, and I had to lean against the wall for a few moments. It felt as if the nausea would last forever, but it finally passed, and I moved back to the hook to try another button. This one reverted the suit back to its expanded form, and I nearly screamed with frustration. Fuck. I was such an idiot. I didn’t even know how the suits worked.

  “Get it together, Adam,” I snarled and then lifted my chest up to hit the first button. My suit tightened again with a hiss, and I moved to press the third button.