The Tarantula Nebula

by David Kantrowitz

  “This never gets old,” said Christie.

  “Geosynchronous orbit established,” said Seth.

  “Okay, run program Andrews zero-one,” Dana said.

  The view zoomed out to an overhead orbital diagram of Residere and its moons. Dana began to narrate what they were seeing.

  “Here we have the gas giant Residere and its moons. As you can see from this animation, the moons experience two kinds of night. There’s satellite nightfall and planetary nightfall. Satellite nightfall is caused when a moon rotates away from the sun, and is the same as night time on Earth. Planetary nightfall is when the moon orbits into the umbra of Residere. I’ve sped up time so you can see. Alpha orbits Residere every one hundred and eighty hours, but has a rotational period of thirty hours. Based on the location of the town where we intend to land, there is four hours of daylight remaining. After that the moon will enter the umbra of Residere and there will be darkness for eighty-six hours straight. After that, the moon will experience three days on the near side of Residere, which will result in three periods of night and day that we would consider normal.”

  “What are the daytime and nighttime temperatures down there?” asked John.

  “Daytime is one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit. Night is fifty. Average.”

  “I say we get down there immediately,” said Ray. “Night travel may be more dangerous but it will be much easier on our stamina and water supply.”

  “Agreed,” replied John.

  “There are brighter and darker periods on the surface, even during night,” began Dana. “You’ll still be facing Residere every fifteen hours. You’ll also have Delta in a quarter phase for the other fifteen. There will be more ambient light during the latter time. I don’t know how dark it will be when Residere dominates the sky.”

  “Too bad we don’t have any NODs,” said Ray.

  “They wouldn’t function anyway, remember?” said Christie. “Those anti-energy zones prevent all electronics from working.”

  “Shit, that’s right. So much for flashlights, too.”

  “I guess if we need extra lights we’ll have to make torches,” said John. “All right, everybody. Dana and I will go to the bridge and prepare for landing. Ray, Ari, you and Christie continue to get our gear together. Seth, end simulation.”

  Twenty minutes later the Faith had landed on the edge of town, and the expedition team had assembled in the cargo bay. Richter was giving advice to Christie on how best to arrange her personal items, John and Ray were going over an anti-ambush scenario, and Ari leaned back against the bulkhead, her gear long since arranged and prepared. Dana appeared from the stairs and approached John.

  “Seth has finished analyzing the energy buffer fields,” she said. “Remaining invisible shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Okay,” said John. “Once we’re clear of the ramp, close it behind us. We’ll stay in contact until we’re ready to leave the buffer zone. Then you’ll be on your own until we get back.”

  “And if you don’t come back?”

  “It will be up to you to decide whether or not to continue the mission.”

  “God... you know, I’d really rather you take Byron with you.”

  John shrugged apologetically, and said, “I’m sorry, but there’s just too much potential for him to cause trouble out there.”

  “Why not keep him locked in the hold while we‘re gone?” asked Ray.

  “I’m not worried about him causing trouble,” replied Dana, “I just prefer not to talk to him. He can roam around as long as he doesn‘t bother me.”

  “We’re all set over here,” Richter announced.

  “All right,” began John. “Christie, if we get into the shit, you’ll be sticking with Ray and I. Richter and Ari will definitely work better without having to keep an eye on you.”

  “You’re finally wearing a pistol, Christie?” asked Ari.

  “I finally have a reason to wear one,” Christie replied.

  “Bailey, are you bringing your Remington?” asked Richter.

  Ray shook his head. “No, just my rifle and sidearm. If you want to haul the damn thing around, be my guest.”

  “It’s only another seven pounds. Thank you.”

  Richter ran up the stairs to the armory and returned a moment later. He slung both an ammo bag of buckshot and the shotgun over his shoulders, and secured them.

  “Listen up, people,” said John. “It looks like the order of the day is long arms shouldered. From what we can tell out there, this town is the wild west. Don’t look at anybody the wrong way, and don’t make it look like you’re going for your weapons. We’ve all got the translation earpieces set up, so we shouldn’t have a problem communicating within the buffer zone. Outside of the buffer zone they won’t work, so part of our mission is going to be to get a written note in the appropriate language that says what we’re looking for and how much we need. If things go south in town, the ship is the rally point. Once we’re out in the desert, we’ll establish rally points every mile. Any questions?”

  There were none. John hit the button for the ramp. There was a slight whooshing sound as the pressure normalized, and the ramp lowered into place.

  “Good luck,” said Dana.

  “Standard marching order,” said Richter.

  The team descended the ramp to the ground. John and Christie had already seen the environment from the bridge, but for the others it was a new scene. The team was forced to stop as Ari, Richter, and Ray gaped in awe at the sight.

  The sun was setting behind Residere, both low in the sky. As the light filtered through the upper atmosphere of the gas giant, it was bent into shades of green and orange. To the east, the nebula slightly obscured the stars with a pale sheen. When the light hit the red earth of Alpha, it seemed to glow. Quite a bit of the rock scattered about glittered like quartz. The air was cool and pleasant, with a smell like ozone after a thunderstorm. Small creatures flew through the air with an eerie whistling.

  “My God,” said Ari.

  Christie pulled out a small camera and took a picture.

  “I didn’t know you brought a camera,” said John.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t,” said Christie.

  Once they were done admiring the view, the team took stock of their surroundings. To the north lay the small town of Metzqual. The Faith had landed about four hundred yards outside of the shanties that surrounded the larger permanent buildings. Smoke rose from various places within the town, and as the wind shifted towards the Faith the team could smell a variety of things. Music also wafted towards them. Closer, a small convoy of covered wagons passed slowly by, pulled by wolrasi. Some distance off to the east lay a bevy of other parked spacecraft.

  “Let’s go,” said John, taking point.

  Ray fell in behind him. Christie and Ari came next, with Richter taking up the rear. As they approached the town they passed by a few campsites, some with Z'Sorth and others with Kau’Rii. There were strong smells of cooked food and alcohol. The atmosphere seemed relaxed, although in the distance there were periodic blasts from energy weapons. John found himself much more anxious than he had been on Residere Beta.

  “Is this place truly lawless?” he said quietly.

  “Maybe,” replied Ray. “It looks like things are kept in relative peace by one way.”

  “The way of the gun?”

  “Yup.”

  “Keep your chin up, everyone. Don’t let anybody get the impression that we’re easy targets.”

  The team began crossing through the shanty area. They appeared to be in a Residerian neighborhood, and the predominant population didn’t seem the slightest bit interested in them. Despite the obvious poverty, things were clean and orderly and the Residerians pleasant and upbeat. All of the males carried sidearms and almost all of the females carried infants. Occasionally these two roles were reversed.

  Ahead, they approached the first line of permanent structures. The buildings were either mud brick or concrete blocks,
with flat metal roofs. Most seemed to be limited to one level; a few more opulent buildings had three. As the ambient light steadily decreased, bluish street lights began to wink on. The road grew busier the further they progressed.

  A scruffy-looking Kau’Rii leaned against a wall, smoking a pipe. John motioned for the others to spread out across the street as he approached him.

  “Smells good,” John said, smiling. “What do you have in there?”

  “Beta Pressed Flake. Do you smoke a pipe?”

  The translation unit’s effect was instantaneous and flawless.

  “Yeah, but I haven’t tried any of the local tobacco.”

  “We’re a dying breed, you know. Not because of the pipe, of course.”

  “Do you mind if I ask you another question?” John said.

  “You can ask.”

  “We’re looking for the largest and most well stocked Z'Sorth shop in town. Can you make a recommendation for us?”

  “Yeah, I recommend you give me twenty credits for that information.”

  John was taken slightly off-guard by the request.

  “Well, five credits is all we can spare.”

  “Then find it yourself.”

  “Okay, ten credits.”

  “Fifteen.”

  John looked at Ray, who shrugged. John counted out fifteen credits and handed it to the Kau’Rii.

  “Fifteen credits. Where do we go?”

  “The largest Z'Sorth merchant is Pulchik’s place on Vulpine Street. Take this street to the center of town until you see a sign that looks like a glass of ale. Vulpine is the second street on the right after that.”

  “Thank you.”

  John and Ray crossed the street to gather with the others.

  “You don’t think fifteen credits is kind of steep for information like that?” asked Ari.

  “This town is larger than it appears,” replied John. “I’d rather not spend too much time wandering around.”

  “Let’s just hope we didn’t get ripped off.”

  “There are some Rakhar taking interest in us,” said Richter quietly.

  “Play it cool, folks,” said John. “What do they look like?”

  “A rag-tag group. They’ve been following us on a parallel street. They don’t look anything like the mercs, other than sharing the same race.”

  “Keep an eye on them. They may only be curious. Let’s keep moving.”

  The team resumed their marching order and continued down the street. After a few minutes they approached a market area. Most of the vendors appeared to be shutting down for the evening. A fight between two Kau’Rii broke out into the street from a nearby building, startling the humans. The pair was quickly surrounded by spectators. Ray craned his neck to get a look at the action as they passed by.

  “One of those guys has quite an interesting martial arts style,” he said.

  “Cat Fu?” said John.

  “It actually looked like Aikido, but with more clawing.”

  The fight was over before Richter had passed the scene. The crowd sounded disappointed and began to disperse. John looked over his shoulder, turned forward, and almost ran into a Rakhar standing in front of him.

  John rapidly assessed the situation. The Rakhar was standing alone in the street, and obviously wanted a word with him. He had four friends but they were leaning up against the wall on an adjoining alleyway. John took half a step back and motioned to the others to spread out. Ari and Richter took a particular interest in their six.

  “Excuse me, I didn’t see you there,” said John.

  “My friends and I wanted to welcome you to Metzqual,” the Rakhar said. His ornate earrings jingled slightly as he spoke.

  “Thanks...?”

  “We wanted to offer you the opportunity to purchase some life insurance from the local Rakhar enforcers.”

  “Oh? I didn’t realize we were in peril.”

  “This place can be dangerous to those who are not welcome.”

  “Since you just welcomed us, the danger can’t possibly be from your lot, right?”

  “Of course not,” the Rakhar said, grinning widely.

  “We’re Pertidian traders. Generally we don’t require extra life insurance beyond our own policies.”

  “That’s hard to believe, considering that you’re armed with antiques.”

  “They do the job, but it’s not only the weapons that provide protection. So do our employers.”

  “If you say you’re working for the Empire, I may just lose it.”

  “No, we’re working for the Zendreen.”

  The color drained from the Rakhar’s eyes, and for a moment he seemed genuinely concerned.

  “Since when have the Zendreen needed to hire anybody to do their work?”

  “Our task is too small to warrant an invasion. Of course, if anything happened to us, they could theoretically invade Alpha to get what they need. Which would you prefer?”

  “If you’re working on the Zendreen’s behest, you’d be violating the treaty. In which case, you’d better hope we don’t spread the word of your arrival here.”

  “Oh?”

  “The SUF doesn’t look too kindly on Zendreen spies. In which case, keeping us quiet will cost you.”

  John had run out of pithy comments, and struggled for a reply.

  “Why would the SUF believe anything that a group of thugs from a small town on Alpha had to say?” said Ray.

  “Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn’t. We can all still be friends, here. Five hundred credits will keep you safe and we won’t mention a word of this to the authorities.”

  Richter motioned for Christie to switch places with him, and turned toward the Rakhar.

  “You’re not going to contact the authorities,” he said calmly.

  “Why not?”

  “I see the way you carry yourself. The way you and your friends confronted us. You’ve been doing this for a long time. Visitors you think you can take advantage of either pay up or get roughed up. Now of all the people that you’ve done this to, do you really think none of them filed a complaint with the SPF once they were safe?”

  The Rakhar laughed. “The SPF has no authority here. Let them file their complaints!”

  “Fine. And you go ahead and arrange a meeting with them to tell your story. You’ll be thrown in jail so fast you’ll think you were born there. You’re not going to be able to trade amnesty for a highly dubious story like this. Not without some serious evidence to back it up.”

  “Then maybe I should take your barely breathing hide in as evidence.”

  “You can try.”

  “Whoa, hold on there,” said John. “We don’t want any trouble. Surely there’s something we can...”

  Before John could finish, the Rakhar went for his sidearm. Richter moved in close, deflecting the draw and catching the Rakhar off balance. Richter guided him to the ground with precision, twisting his free arm around his back and the energy pistol around until the Rakhar had it pointed at his own head. With his wrists locked painfully into place, the Rakhar couldn’t move. The other Rakhar in the alley had begun to move but stopped in their tracks.

  “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t take off your boss’ head,” said Richter.

  “You’ll never be safe in this town again,” one of them said.

  “There may be no honor among thieves,” Richter whispered to the boss, “but you and I have a special relationship now.”

  Richter released the boss. He examined the energy pistol, found the power cartridge, and ejected it. A small green light on the side ceased to glow, and Richter tossed the pistol back to its owner. The boss caught it despite his astonishment.

  “Like he said, we can all still be friends here. Let’s keep it a long distance relationship, shall we?”

  The boss ran into the alleyway, and he and his friends disappeared. John, Ray, and Christie looked at Richter in awe as he tried to decide what to do with the energy cartridge. Ari lit a cigarette.


  “Whatever we’re paying you, it ain’t enough,” said John.

  “Come on, we should keep moving.”

  The team resumed marching order and continued down the street.

  “Let’s hope that’s the last we see of them,” said Christie.

  “We may have lucked out again,” began John, “but our habit of ending every single confrontation with a fight is getting very old.”

  “Seth never said this would be easy,” said Ray.

  Christie pointed up the street. “Hey, there’s the glass of ale.”

  A wooden sign hung above a one story building, shaped like a long pilsner glass. There was much carousing going on inside.

  “Okay, so it’s our second right from here,” said John.

  John’s radio crackled to life and Dana’s voice came through.

  “How’s it going down there, John?” she said.

  “Just cozying up to the locals. We’re almost at a Z'Sorth shop. Hopefully we’ll be able to get some useful information there.”

  “Wouldn’t it be nice if he a hundred and thirty pounds of Talvanium lying around?” said Ari.

  “If we’re extremely fortunate, yes. But I wouldn’t bet on it.”

  __________

  Dana put her feet up next to the radio on the console. John’s sarcastic tone over the radio had led her to believe that something unpleasant had occurred, if nothing more than annoying as a result. She began to wonder if she wouldn’t have been better off going with the others. Not knowing what was going on out there was disconcerting back at Gleeful Complexium, and it was even worse now. At least then she had Christie around. Christie and Dana had become best friends over the course of the journey, and while Dana understood her desire to be part of the expedition team, she couldn’t help but feel abandoned aboard the Faith. With Byron her only companion, even the gorgeous view outside of the windows couldn’t quiet her concerns.

  Dana picked up a cup of coffee and sipped from it. She was taking a break from her efforts to modify the ship’s energy signature. Seth lacked the imagination to come up with a solution, so her efforts were little more than trial-and-error. She had to keep an eye on the sky, too, since occasionally another ship would pass close by. Being invisible was a liability for hanging around such a busy town.