Elysium Shining

by Terri Kraemer

  That bothered her. Soror Valide was supposed to be the leader of this team. She was supposed to know everything that went on with it.

  Now they were a few days from reaching headquarters while towed by two other crafts the same size. Soror Valide observed the instruments and considered telling the pilot on duty they were relieved to be with their brothers and sisters. Instead, she once again stared into space. The faces she had seen haunted her. Who was that girl she had seen? Who else had lived or died in that attack?

  * * *

  The projection of fireworks against the station’s night sky looked almost as spectacular as the real thing. Dasos walked along the side of the street, going in the opposite direction of last minute maintenance workers making sure the road was all ready for the coming parade.

  His parents were on a street corner chatting with one another. Keft’aerak was now without the soft cast on his arm, since today was the last day of fracture therapy he needed. Dasos was feeling mostly better in his chest as well, though he’d skipped the recommended therapy.

  Today had been a relaxing day for him. He’d visited Aren’oro for a while and picked up a case of the man’s cerveza to take home. Checking with Commander Consilius for interstellar customs went far quicker than he had expected, leaving him with more than half of the day to play any game he liked or work on one of his final assignments for class.

  Tong-Chang and Zoey joined him for a while before they left to do their own thing. He made sure to tell them that this festival was happening tonight as the final rite and send-off for the crew members that had fallen a few days ago.

  On his way out of the ship, Dasos encountered two men from the ship who were coming back from seeing a movie a friend of theirs had wanted to see in theater. They took with them a placard of their friend’s accolades, and bought a third ticket so the placard would fill the one seat.

  Tonight, everyone celebrated the lives that were, and the lives that would be, thanks to them.

  Dasos joined his parents and they moved forward. The girls were waiting for them at a good spot to witness the parade, according to Bon’sinne. She didn’t say how she knew this.

  The main road curved and split off at a couple points. At one such fork, barricades were set up with wooden frames and tables on the side meant for onlookers; one direction of the road was cut off so as to direct the coming parade. Zoey and Tong-Chang sat at a table, eating what appeared to be sandwiches from their leaf-wraps. They spotted the trio that approached them and waved in their direction.

  “Hi, guys,” said Zoey. “Are you feeling any better, Mom?”

  “A little bit, dear, thank you,” Bon’sinne said. She sat down next to the girls, and Keft’aerak next to her while Das looked for a seat by them. “I’m still impressed that you were able to figure out our cell-comms, dear.”

  “They’re a lot like the phones we have on Earth. There wasn’t that much to figure out. It was nice of you to invite me to come see this, though.”

  “Of course, dear. I’m glad you could join us. I wish you could have seen the happier festival that took place over a week ago.”

  “So what is the story with this parade, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “I’m sure none of us mind at all. You see, each major planet of the alliance has a wide variety of rituals, some older than others, involving the passing of friends, family, enemies, or other loved ones. As part of the compromise on this matter, it was decided that the Rites of Interment would begin with the burial that you saw, allowing for the cremation for those that prefer it. Everyone involved would be given about a day to perform their own small rituals if they had them. Then it all ends with a party in the streets to remember those people as they had lived in their finest moments. Volunteers, including folks not part of the grieving, come together for this to sing and dance in regalia that you would not normally see them wearing.”

  “That sounds so much better than anything I got to witness while on Earth. I’m sure a few cultures there have something like this parade, or any of the activities during the one day, but I never got the chance to see it.”

  “Nothing beats travel for such experiences.”

  “Reading about it is still nice, though. It would be nice to study a lot of things and go traveling on my own one day. How would I pay for that, though? And no, Tonny, we’re not using your money for that.”

  “You’re going to spread those Earth words, aren’t you?” Bon’sinne smiled at her, and Dasos chuckled silently at the idea. It could happen.

  When Tong-Chang whispered into Zoey’s ear, and Zoey giggled, Dasos felt a sting in his chest again. He should have handled things better by the time he and Tonny received their assignments away from one another. If he’d known who the mystery sire was, Dasos suspected he would have decked the man.

  Just move on, and don’t be an ass, he thought.

  He said, “I remember you saying something once about liking history. Does that still hold true?”

  Zoey said, “Yeah, it does. I’ve been so busy learning about the here and the now that what I know of your past is limited. Ask me about Earth history, though, and I can share some of the lies or conflicting stories they told, and the few offerings of truth that I could find.”

  “I can think of a few doctors or lecturers at Elysium University who would be fascinated to hear that.”

  After the second group of performers moved past the barricade, the Marslou’s commander approached the family. He stood closer to the girls, to Dasos’s dismay. He had heard about the man’s reputation with the ladies, in passing, and heard at least one rumor with the gentlemen as well.

  “Good evening, everyone,” Commander Consilius said. “Mind if I join you for a bit?”

  “By all means,” Keft’aerak said. “I was wondering about something, actually. I heard that you took charge of an investigation that took you and two other officers off of the ship while it moved further out in the frontier. How did that go?”

  “We apprehended a violent member of the Hulda’fi and the weapons dealer they were doing business with. The investigation was completed on schedule within two hours, during which our ship was supposed to be chasing a smaller craft. Then the incident occurred that brought the Marslou to sa-Gir-2-V-n-3: p-3-c-D and temporarily disabled the engines.”

  “You mean the same incident that blew up one of your Matter Transference chambers.”

  “That is the belief, yes.”

  “What was that bunch of lyurunics and numbers?” Zoey asked.

  “It’s what we’ve been calling Earth, Zoi’ne. We’ll have to tell you about the planetary designations sometime.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  The commander said, “Earth? That is a fascinating name from a fascinating young woman. I’d be happy to hear more sometime if you’d like to join me.”

  She exhaled, her cheeks flared out, and fanned herself with one hand. “Down, boy.”

  “We will all have plenty to discuss soon, anyway. You’ll hear about it, captain’s orders, when we’re aboard the Marslou and heading home.”

  “We should speak with Ren’baek before that,” Bon’sinne said. “Would you happen to know where he is now?”

  “Good question. I believe he is busy with the ring’s dock master to confirm progress on repairs and supplies. I gave him my report on the latter not twenty minutes ago. If all is well, then he’ll sign off on paying the costs. So it may be an hour or longer, by which point Captain Druvvin will find a quiet place to read.”

  “Knowing him, he’s chosen his quiet spot already and plans to be there. Thank you for the information, commander.”

  Commander Consilius bowed and then walked away.

  Everything was curious, Dasos told himself, but he decided to turn his attention to the current group of performers. Now was the time to enjoy himself. The questions he had would still exist in the morning.

  [ 16]

  Zoey returned to the private quarters on the ship. There sat a box on
one chair that contained a few items and a note. At least two of the casualties from the attack had a cultural tradition to give their belongings to those in need. This box was a fraction of what they’d had onboard the Marslou. Zoey had been here when the delivery was made, and she’d tried to argue that she didn’t need anything. It wasn’t true, of course, but she felt like a leech receiving all of these nice things.

  She lifted the hoody from the top of the box of items sent her way. The note indicated that the previous owners had insisted that Zoi’ne keep these things since that was that they were – things. So her argument failed.

  The people here were too nice. Zoey hadn’t gone through these things yet, but she knew she would have to cherish it all while her new life was beginning.

  Looking at these things now, however, made Zoey think about her mortality. Had she died a few days prior, or weeks earlier than that, then she would have had nothing to her name. If she woke up again as Dylan, then none of this would have been here. Zoey said, “I’ll go through this later,” and then dropped the hoody on top of the new belongings.

  Her door opened then when Tong-Chang pressed the main button on the panel outside. The sudden movement of the door made Tonny flinch in surprise. She stepped inside as Zoey smiled at her. Tong-Chang must have expected to hear the doorbell.

  “Did you forget to lock your door?” Tong-Chang asked.

  “After the first night being awake on this ship,” Zoey said, “I felt safe enough in present company that locking the door never really occurred to me. It’s like my own bedroom on Earth, rather than my own house. What was anyone going to steal from me? The water pitcher that wasn’t even mine?”

  “What about the Hulda’fi?”

  “If those weirdos showed up again, I doubt a single door would stop them from getting in here.”

  “That’s fair.”

  Tong-Chang sat on the bed and tinkered with something that she had carried into the room. It was about the size of a pinky finger, but obviously mechanical in nature the more that Tong-Chang played with it using that prodding tool of hers.

  “What have you got there?” Zoey asked.

  Her friend said, “I decided to search the admiral’s suite since he and his wife left last night. If they left anything behind I wanted to set it on fire after all that happened, but I found this tucked inside the cushions of their sofa instead.”

  “Again, I find myself asking what it is.”

  “It appears to be a receiver that bypasses the ship’s internal system, so it can pick up radio signals from one end of the ship to the other without being detected. I’d need the sender to confirm this, but if I’m right, then all that security or engineering would pick up is static akin to the Engine Room.”

  “Do you mean like a bug or something?” Tong-Chang gave Zoey a now-familiar look. “A microphone. You said something about a sender. Why would you bring that here instead of either security or engineering?”

  “I was on my way there, but I wanted to see first if I could activate this, or if it has the power available for that. You know, while I came by to see you.”

  “Tonny, what’s your protocol on this sort of thing?”

  “Ugh, fine! You’re right.”

  “I don’t want you to get in trouble, since you care so much about your career.”

  When Zoey had first pointed out that the device should have been taken to the right authority, Tong-Chang’s ears had risen a bit. Now they sank below normal.

  Zoey clasped her arm with Tong-Chang’s and said, “We’ll go together. How about that?”

  * * *

  Within a short hop or walk from the Engine Room was the main working station for the engineers and technicians. Since the ship was not actively going anywhere at the moment, only two of the engineers were present as they tested the instruments after all of the repairs that had been done.

  Tong-Chang had called for someone in security to come to this workstation so that the device could be reported and analyzed. However, Zoey saw no one else coming when they arrived.

  “Is something wrong, ensign?” asked one of the engineers.

  “There might be,” Tong-Chang said. “I found something that requires attention, but no one from security is here yet.”

  Commander Consilius arrived seconds later. He stood in the doorway and nodded to everyone, his hands behind his back. Everyone saluted, save for Zoey.

  “Sir, I was not expecting you,” said Tong-Chang.

  “Everyone not in this room has the night off, Ensign Leezu,” the commander said. “That should include yourself and Miss Wilde over here.”

  “I was looking through the admiral’s quarters, sir, to see if he left anything behind. I was tasked with handling his or Lady Fjorfolia’s needs while you were separated from us.”

  “Yes, I heard that this duty was added to your workload at their behest. That is some faith that he put in your ability.”

  “The search turned up this device. I was examining it when I encountered Zoi’ne. It was then that I realized that it was the receiver of a one-way radio that was made to hide the signal behind the noise from our Engine Room.”

  “That is some claim, ensign. You were able to identify such a thing on your own? That is almost suspect to me.”

  “I wrote a thesis on communicative devices, sir. I am more than confident in my examination abilities, but will gladly hand it over to be confirmed. The sender will need to be found, sir.”

  The commander was clearly thinking about this. What was running through his mind? Zoey couldn’t tell. Even in his contemplative posture, the man looked attractive, and it was torturing Zoey to look his way. When he nodded, Tong-Chang set down the receiver on the table with a bare minimum of force. The way in which she blinked, and a grimace flashed on her face, indicated that it was harder than she intended.

  Static broke out of the receiver as one of the engineers scrambled to press a few buttons on a console they were standing at. During this time Zoey felt more tension in her legs and shoulders, and she could read levels of discomfort in everyone else’s face as well. Something in the air felt heavier, making it harder to remain standing. The engineer motioned with his lips a quick “sorry.”

  The static cleared up while the weight of everything around Zoey lifted back to normal. Then voices came through the small receiver at a far superior quality compared to any laptop computer speakers that Zoey had witnessed on Earth.

  “Oh blast,” said Captain Druvvin on the other end.

  Bon’sinne said, “I know, I’m the last person you wanted to see, especially during your personal time.”

  “Must you two do this, now?”

  “This is about our daughter, Ren’baek. We need to talk.”

  One of the engineers asked, “Do we shut it off?”

  “No,” said the commander, “trace its origin. The captains are in one of three places on this ship.” He shot a glare in Tong-Chang’s direction.

  “Very well,” said Captain Druvvin. “What do you want to talk about?”

  Keft’aerak said, “It’s about what you said regarding our policy for sending aliens back to underdeveloped worlds.”

  “Oh, that daughter. She has certainly made a good impression on you, and to me as well despite last night’s little non-issue.”

  “Non-issue? You threatened to tear Zoey from her new life and send her back to Earth.”

  “You misunderstand me. Protocol is clear what to do in a normal circumstance. In a normal circumstance we would now have to wait until the next ship heads out there to study the planet and its progress or deterioration. In a normal circumstance you would not have been here to give her such hope of a family and home among us. This, however, is anything but a normal circumstance. She is, however, not your daughter.”

  “No?” Bon’sinne asked. There was another sound, like an object being set down upon a hard surface. “This document just needs two more signatures before it can be processed. We would fill the authoritative requi
rement, but we can’t since we intend to adopt her and that would raise a conflict of interest. The second would be her own in two spaces, to make her chosen name and place among our family official. That would be her choice, of course, but this is all we need now.”

  “This is foolish. You are talking about someone whom you have spent one week with instead of a whole revolution, as is the minimum time given for adoptions. You are speaking of someone who was born a boy and forced into the body of a young woman – your real daughter.”

  Everyone in the work station looked at Zoey. She smiled through it and rolled her eyes, considering how done she was with other people bringing that up.