House of the Silent Moons

by Tom Shepherd

  “Yes, sir. I can deploy a full array of photovoltaic panels from engineering. Should boost available power by forty to fifty percent.”

  “Do it.”

  When they were in position, Tyler assigned two-person bridge shifts of four hours each. Flávio and João insisted on taking the first shift, so he cut the rest of the crew loose to find something to eat and get some rest. Tyler wasn’t hungry for food. He wanted to talk with Suzie, so he went to their quarters and opened a secure channel into the ship’s computer net. She immediately scolded him for skipping meals.

  “You’re the leader of this safari,” Suzie said. “You’ll go wonky without nourishment.”

  “All I want is you.”

  “You’re the one who sent me into exile.”

  “To recharge your batteries.”

  “So bloody recharge yours!”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And you better get some rest, because when I exit this computer I’m planning on shagging you until you’re knackered.”

  “First, I’ll have that hamburger ready for you to murder.”

  * * * *

  When he returned to the bridge to check on the ship’s status, Tyler heard singing accompanied by guitar. João crooned a song in Portuguese to his father and a smiling Julieta Solorio. She had brought them cafés and bolo, sweet chocolate coffee and mixed pastries.

  João sipped the expresso-like drink and returned her smile. “I sing for you something in Español Nuevo. A song my father taught me.”

  Tyler’s smile faded. He knew what was coming, and he wanted to flee the bridge, but that would mean explaining why he left so abruptly. So he sat on the jump seat and listened as Flávio’s younger son sang “Besame Mucho” to his cousin Julieta. J.B.’s cousin.

  This was getting complicated. How could he keep Mom’s secret now? Surely João knew he had an older brother. Or did he?

  When the song ended, Julieta waited while Tyler got a status report from the Tavares family. Nothing but silent moons.

  “Mr. Blue and Yumiko will relieve you in about ninety minutes,” Tyler said. “Neither are pilots, but they can read instruments. And Suzie will sound the alarm and fly the ship on autopilot if anything happens.”

  Julieta followed her cousin into the lift and halted the car when it cleared the bridge deck.

  “He’s cute. I like him.” She smiled hesitantly. “Ty, do you mind if I screw the new recruit?”

  Tyler’s first instinct was to shout, “Hell, no! He’s Family.” Then he did the genealogical math and realized Julieta and João shared no bloodline. As the child of Flávio and an unknown woman, João was biologically linked to J.B. alone. But her request painted a picture of bad consequences when Julieta learned who João really was.

  “Uh… I’d rather you wait until the mission is over.”

  Julieta crossed her arms and leaned against the elevator wall. “So, are you and Suzie swearing off sex until it’s home again, hippity-hop?”

  “Prima, we don’t know this guy.”

  “Well, I’d like to know him in a biblical sense.”

  “Julieta—”

  “I’ve been your faithful retainer since we founded Star Lawyers Corp. But a lady has needs, Primo.”

  “Will you defer until after this cruise? Trust me on this one.”

  She raised an eyebrow. For a split-second he saw her aunt Bianca—his mother—in that look. They were both Solorios.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” she demanded.

  “Nothing.”

  “Goddamnit, Ty, you are the worst liar in the galaxy.”

  No way could the secret stay hidden with João in the picture, especially if he and Julieta became lovers. And if Tyler gave her the captain’s blessings—which she didn’t need, anyway—and then she learned the truth… He shoved that time-bomb from his mind. This wasn’t the time to reveal Family secrets, even to a blood relative.

  “You’re an adult,” he said. “I have no right to shape your love life. But I’m asking you, as a member of the Matthews-Solorio clan, to think about Family history. We’ve been betrayed too many times by close friends and business associates. Remember Kichirou, my lifelong best friend, the guy Rosalie was hot to seduce?”

  “Yeah, yeah. You have a point.” She sighed. “All right. But when this cruise is over, I’m going to get seriously laid by somebody, somewhere, and soon.”

  Tyler smiled. “Prima, you ain’t the Purple Queen, but you’re still una mujer ardiente.”

  Julieta grumbled. “Tag, I’m it.”

  * * * *

  After a full day of station watching without detecting any activity aboard, João brought the Dengathi ship within a thousand meters of the lower disk. They floated along the edge until the younger Tavares located a docking bay. No forcefield blocked their entry, which meant the hanger deck would be depressurized. In fact, nothing suggested any kind of power usage. No EM signature from the mainframe, no beacons or broadcasts, no indication of life support or power generation. No life signs.

  “Like flying into an undisturbed tomb,” Lovey said.

  “Oh, no. You’ll see,” João said.

  “Set down on the deck, Mr. Tavares,” Tyler said. “We’ll suit up for an EVA.”

  “Unnecessary. Wait for the welcome,” João said.

  “Welcome? The place is dead as a—”

  Light flooded the white metal deck. A hazy blue forcefield snapped in place across the entrance port, and the unmistakable hiss of pressurization meant someone had decided to pump breathable air into the spacious landing bay.

  “Shut down and secure from spaceflight.” Tyler frowned at João “You could’ve told me.”

  “Shall we see if the guide awaits us?”

  “What guide?”

  A fuzzy, waist-tall creature appeared on the bridge. He looked like a cuddly toy, rust-red fur with a cantaloupe belly below a long, opossum face and pink nose. His upper limbs ended in three fingers and a thumb, plus a sharp black claw where the little finger would be.

  Suzie materialized beside him, and the creature sniffed, reared up on back legs, perked up stubby ears, and gazed up at her with what appeared to be a puzzled expression.

  “Core blimey!” she said. “He’s a ruddy tree kangaroo. Native to Australia and New Guinea. They’re the only truly arboreal macropods.”

  “Madame, I assure you, I am not any kind of Terran animal,” he said with quiet dignity.

  “Hello, Wricket,” João said with a smile. “Captain Matthews, this is Wricket Granth. He is a Kozie. A distilled essence of someone’s consciousness who lived over a thousand years ago.”

  “I would not have put it so metaphysically,” Wricket said.

  “It’s okay,” Tyler said. “Metaphysics is just another way of saying we don’t know how to explain that yet.”

  “João, it is good to interface with you again. Are these people traders?”

  “No, little amigo,” João said. “Attorneys from the Matthews Corporation,. They wish to obtain this station for the Terran Commonwealth.”

  “Oh…”

  Tyler showed his empty hands and bowed slightly. “Mind if I use an old cliché? We come in peace.”

  Wricket’s nose wiggled. “To steal the weapons of my ancestors?”

  “To keep the bad guys from getting them,” Tyler said.

  “This is a Dengathi ship, yet you are not Dengathi. One Quirt-Thymean, the rest of you are human. Except you.” Wricket pointed a stubby finger at Suzie. “You appear human, but arrived here in an eyeblink, like I did. Are you a hologram?”

  “I was. Not anymore. Bioenergetic now. Long story.”

  “Bioenergetic? You have met the Father of Life on Adao.”

  Tyler sat on the armrest of the captain’s chair. “You know Yajik?”

  “Yajik Kabor is a peaceful being. You must have won his trust. Therefore, you are welcome here. We can discuss my station. Let me show you around.”

  The Kozie invited crew membe
rs along on the tour, so Tyler picked Paco, Mr. Blue, Julieta and Suzie. He put Lovey Frost in charge but asked Flávio to assist her. Even though the senior Tavares had logged thirty-plus years on the bridge of a starship, Tyler felt better with one of his Star Lawyers in control. Flávio accepted without a murmur of discontent.

  Tyler ordered Yumiko, Félix Koshka, and Dorla Léon to guard the exit ramps. Nobody off, nobody on. Dorla reported for duty with a rifle blaster. She had just baked cookies for the crew, and God help any boarders who tried to get past her to the chocolate chips.

  Finally, Tyler had Chief Léon plug André Mercier’s holo-projecting suitcase into the Tadpole’s computer network. With the connection established, Tyler sent the A.I. program internal to monitor ship’s systems as acting-MLC until Suzie returned.

  At the last moment, Tyler asked João to join the Recon Team, but the junior Tavares declined. He wanted to be certain the Tadpole was ready for takeoff, and to spend some time with his dad. João carried his guitar case to the bridge to entertain Flávio and Lovey.

  * * * *

  For the next two hours, Wricket guided Tyler and his Recon Team through storerooms piled to the overhead with sealed crates and packaged modules. One vast compartment housed an army of large equipment—bizarre vehicles that looked like snowplows with the blade set on the diagonal, thick metallic tubes flowing from a base of gilded flowers, saucers and egg-shaped pods and endless barrels which looked like poured acrylic with fist-sized items suspended inside the hard plastic.

  Wricket explained a few items, but mostly they wandered down lane after lane of packaged technologies. One deck storehoused hand-held weapons, but the russet Kozie did not specify the capabilities of items stored in the collection.

  “Your people might like this level,” Wricket said.

  They stepped from the lift into the moist air of a botanical garden. Tall trees and thick underbrush awaited them, and exotic scents from flowers representing an assortment of worlds. Tyler glimpsed sprays of blossoms clinging to tree trunks and dotting the perfectly polished stone paths. Water splashed somewhere up ahead, and globe-shaped seats awaited in cul-de-sacs along the path.

  “Let’s take a break,” Tyler said. “Indigo, do not eat any vegetation.”

  They spread out to explore the groves and little waterfalls. Suzie stayed with Tyler, who lingered with their host.

  Tyler and Suzie sat on a twisted, fibrous bench that proved surprisingly comfortable. A small creek bubbled over rocks behind them and the scent of misty ginger filled the break in the forest.

  “Wricket, do you mind if I ask something personal?” Suzie said. “This station offers peaceful, lovely corners like this, and I am guessing a large library of books, videos, and music from galactic cultures.”

  “Yes.”

  “But you don’t seem happy.”

  “I am not.” Wricket sat beside them. “You wouldn’t think an artificial lifeform could get lonely.”

  “Oh, I understand perfectly. Every sentient lifeform needs companionship.” Suzie’s fingers touched Tyler’s hand. “You’d been here a millennium, and for energetic beings that is several eternities.”

  “God created a Universe to overcome loneliness,” Tyler said. “You found the Ovoins.”

  Wricket shook his kangaroo-like head. “They found me. I was glad.”

  “Did they treat you kindly?” Suzie said.

  “Yes, my dear. Joy was mine from the moment their ship threaded its way through the moons and broken asteroids to the docking bays of my station.”

  “And you liked them, even after they started stripping your station of high-tech and selling it to the highest bidder?” Tyler said.

  He smiled sadly, like a puppy in pain. “I have always liked humans, too. You are all so honest and candid.”

  “Not all honest,” Tyler said. “But since I’m being candid, is it true what they say? Do you have a weapon on this battle station that can destroy whole planets?”

  “Yes, Captain Matthews. The Galactic Empire developed it long ago.”

  “So, the ancient horror exists,” Tyler said.

  “Why in bloody hell would an enlightened people invent something as awful as that?” Suzie said.

  Wricket spoke softly, slowly, apologetically. “In ancient times the Empire encompassed forty-two per cent of the galaxy. They needed a massive influx of metals from asteroid mining to build cities on newly discovered habitable worlds. But the science of laser-tractor mining had not yet been invented. Miners blasted chunks off small asteroids and swept up the rubble with big, open bay ships.”

  “Space whales,” Tyler said.

  “It was laborious and inefficient. Then scientists discovered how to cause very large asteroids to vibrate radically until they crumbled, producing a much larger debris field.”

  “And somebody upscaled the technology,” Tyler said.

  “Yes,” Wricket said. “They converted a mining tool into a device to shatter rocks as big as a planet. Miyosians still thought it was a mining tool until the Lutzak Horde acquired the technology. We lost three densely populated colonies, billions of sentient beings. Only then did it become known as the World Crusher.”

  “When did you meet Terrans?” Tyler said.

  “Oh, I encountered your race for the first time in the years before my people moved this relic from the ancient Empire to its current location. Before your scientists discovered Faster Than Light transportation.”

  “That long ago, before Aurelio Lupetti?”

  “Yes, yes. Captain Lupetti was an extraordinary man. But—”

  “You knew Aurelio Lupetti?”

  “I knew many people from your world. My first contact with humans was much earlier. Mark Bricchetti, Aaron Hooper,” Wricket said wistfully. “Oh, and have you ever heard of Tanella Blake? I grew quite fond of Tanella and her chatty friend, Sally Ann.”

  “Tanella Blake?” Tyler said.

  “Maiden name,” Suzie said. “She married Dr. Perry Jennings. And her friend was Sally Ann Palmer. Ring a bell, luv?”

  “Jesus, Joseph and Mary,” Tyler said. “The Palmer Diaries are true? Your people abducted Tanella Jennings when she was a teenager. That’s why she devoted her life to developing a theoretical model for Faster Than Light travel. She had experienced it.”

  “I suppose so.”

  “What about the First Law?” Suzie said.

  “We never provided them with any advanced technologies,” Wricket said. “Although Tanella was a very clever girl. And curious. I caught her accessing the computer system more than once, but she never found the FTL algorithms.”

  “Amazing.” Tyler was still trying to get his head around the new shape of human history. If it weren’t for this furry energetic creature introducing Tanella Jennings to the possibility of light-plus travel, humanity might still lumber around the Terran system at sublight speeds.

  “That part of my existence was long ago,” Wricket said, “before the great silence. My long exile to Hakieth n’diuo Kalieth ended when Ovoin explorers arrived. And now, Terrans return. My isolation appears over.”

  “Back to my original question,” Tyler said. “You are a peace-loving entity. So, why have you been selling off dangerous technologies if you disapprove of violence?”

  “Captain Matthews, I fought the Ovoin intrusion with every resource I have. But I cannot kill them. And they are clever enough to work around my attempts to stall their salvaging efforts.” He looked away. “I am saddened by these events. The weapons housed in this beautiful arsenal will find markets. More people will die. But I don’t know how to stop it.”

  Suzie said, “Wricket, did you have an end game? What did you want for yourself?”

  “A great Miyosian poet wrote, ‘You cannot choose your dream, your dream it chooses you...’ A thousand years ago, my dream was to serve the Miyosian Seven Worlds. Then the Lutzak attacked our miners, seized the rock-shattering device and converted it into a World Crusher.

  “With that
everything changed. Reduced to four brutalized planets, we fought to survive yet another barbarian invasion. Fortunately, we were not alone. Other races faced the same threat of annihilation. Many star nations joined the fight to defend what was left of the old Imperial civilization. And to save their own skins.

  “In the end, defending forces prevailed. The Lutzak Horde and their allies were completely routed. But the war badly fragmented the civilized star nations and weakened Miyosians so profoundly that we withdrew from interstellar commerce.

  “The last official act of my people as custodians of the old Imperial order was to abandon this battle station in the most remote corner of unexplored space. I stayed here to guard the powerful technologies and cultural heritage left behind.”

  “Noah’s Ark,” Suzie said. “But instead of animals you preserved the science and literature of a lost Galactic civilization.”

  “Yes, and—” The Kozie cocked an ear, turned his head. “Excuse me.”

  He disappeared.

  “Want to pursue him?” Tyler said.

  Suzie swept the forest with a glance. “Massive computer activity, but I don’t sense a portal into the network. He must have special access.”

  “Better not go skinny-dipping in this cyber-ocean anyway,” Tyler said. “Lord knows what sharks you’ll encounter.”

  Wricket returned, visibly agitated. “Two flights of ships are approaching at FTL along widely divergent vectors. The first comes from the direction of the Gate. The other, deep space.”

  “Can you identify the ships?” Tyler said. “Whose fleet is it—Dengathi, Ovoin?”

  “Neither. I cannot identify their registry or intent.”

  “Will you let me enter your network?” Suzie said. “I am more current about ship identification than your databanks.”

  “Of course,” Wricket said. “Captain Matthews, I will teleport your crew to their vessel on your command.”

  “Do it,” Tyler said.

  Wricket and Suzie disappeared, but the Kozie’s voice remained. “We are viewing the vessels. Suzie has identified the first group as Sakura House. I do not know what that means.”