The Tarantula Nebula

by David Kantrowitz

  Harrish nodded. “That’s why we might have to poke him with a sharp object to get him to wake up.”

  “What if he is restored?” asked Ari. “Will he still be interested in pirating?”

  “Who knows? If not, I’d be more than happy to take his place aboard the other ship. It’s about time she got a proper name. My commitment is still to the Aldebaran I know, however. I’m not going to do anything against his will.”

  “I don’t care if he does give up pirating. Aldebaran and I have a special bond. Whatever he decides to do, I’ll be on his side. Maybe the two of us can seek our fortune together on the Faith.”

  Leitke and Harrish shared a glance and rolled their eyes.

  “Yeah, right, Ferro,” said Leitke.

  Harrish motioned for Leitke to be quiet. “You know, Ferro, it has been a long time since Aldebaran has had an attractive female on board, at least attractive to his type. Just make sure you don’t forget the command structure around here. You won’t be able to take part in any decision-making until you’ve proved yourself.”

  “In that case, I’ll defer to Aldebaran.”

  “Ruthless and wise,” said Leitke, and emptied his glass. “Too bad you’re so skinny.”

  “At least I still have all of my original parts.”

  “None of my enhancements were involuntary. Residerians don’t do so well off of Beta without some sort of modification. Genmodding was quite out of the question for a pirate, so I got these. But I’m not...” Leitke crushed his glass effortlessly. “...dissatisfied with the cybernetics.”

  “Should we try and get Aldebaran’s attention now, or shall we destroy some more of my tumblers?”

  Harrish stood up. “We’ll be arriving at Macer Alpha soon. Our ship is known to the other pirates hiding out there, but it will be easier to explain the presence of the Faith if Aldebaran is the one doing the explaining. We should wake him up.”

  Ari rose and returned the bourbon to the cabinet. She opened a drawer and retrieved a wooden toothpick.

  “This ought to do the trick,” she said.

  Crossing to the door, Ari led the way into the orb room. Aldebaran hadn’t budged. Ari grinned wickedly and stuck him in the ass with the toothpick.

  “Ouch! What in the name of the core?”

  “Sorry about that, sweetie, but we need your captainly skills on the bridge.”

  Aldebaran stood motionless except for the blinking of his eyes. After a few second he looked longingly at the orb.

  “Seth... it’s me. I’m right there. I can feel the rest of myself, so close. I was so happy, but... I couldn’t catch me. I mean, I couldn’t get to Seth. I can’t do it here.”

  “You have all the time in the cloud to keep trying, Cap,” said Harrish. “Right now the others are going to want an introduction to the new ship.”

  “Understood. You and Leitke walk this ship from stem to stern and give me a report on its construction and contents. Arianna, please join me on the bridge.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Aldebaran exited the orb room into the armory. Ari followed him.

  “I haven’t seen projectile weapons this well maintained since I was in basic training,” he said.

  “These are the best weapons available to human civilians back on Earth,” Ari replied. “They’ve proven quite effective out here so far.”

  Aldebaran picked up a M1A rifle. “I wouldn’t have left them any weapons.”

  “You wouldn’t have left them alive.”

  “I should have killed the plank. She’s more of a threat by herself than the rest of your crew put together. I let myself become distracted by Seth. I could feel him as soon as I set foot aboard.”

  “You know, you could merge with him while you’re here. You don’t have to be in physical contact with the orb to do it.”

  “I tried already. I couldn’t do it.”

  “Why not?”

  “Seth wouldn’t let me.”

  Aldebaran put down the rifle and headed for the door. Entering the cargo bay, he descended the stairs to the deck.

  “It’s such a utilitarian design,” he said. “It has very little heart to it. Your friend John did an admirable job but he’s lacking in inspiration.”

  “John had to design a spacecraft from the ground up with very little feedback from Seth. Any effort to make it look cool came as an afterthought.”

  “Seth told me he was damaged while escaping Umber. Talvan restored him. He was always so kind to me.”

  “You knew Talvan?”

  “He was the chief architect of the project that separated me from Seth, and the leader of the team that was dedicated to restoring my mind after the experiment.”

  Aldebaran climbed the stairs to the first deck and entered the bridge.

  “Too bad he’s trapped on Umber,” said Ari.

  “Yeah, I almost regret handing him over to the Zendreen. Now this shows some imagination. It’s well laid-out. Are you a good pilot?”

  “Not really. John and Dana were the good ones. I focused on ground fighting and hand-to-hand.”

  “In your mind I saw that you gained that Rakhar battle blade in combat. That’s one reason why I asked you to join me. You obviously know how to handle yourself.”

  Ari smiled and stepped closer to Aldebaran. “Would you like a demonstration?”

  “We don’t have time for that. We’re going to stop at Macer Alpha just long enough to plan the mission and then I’m going to take both ships back out.”

  “The mission? Where are we going?”

  __________

  “I honestly have no idea.”

  Fernwyn checked her communicator and put it back into her pocket.

  “How much longer?” asked Dana.

  “Ten minutes or so.”

  Richter and Ray approached from the north. John, Fernwyn, Dana and Christie were sitting near the wall of the old mill. The first streaks of daylight had begun to appear in the sky.

  “What’s the good word?” asked John.

  “This place is as dead as heaven on a Saturday night,” said Ray.

  “Good. What about supplies?”

  Richter took a knee. “We have my rifle with ninety rounds. Ray’s shotgun was fully loaded and there were sixty rounds in the ammo bag, so that’s sixty-five. I have a full load on my pistol of forty-one rounds and Ray’s Smith has forty-two. How many magazines were you carrying?”

  “I had four, as usual, so that’s sixty-one rounds.”

  “We won’t be storming Omaha Beach with this loadout,” said Ray.

  “I’m hoping we won’t have to storm anything. I’m sure if I can just get into contact with Seth we can retake the Faith. What else?”

  “That’s it,” said Richter. “The clothes on our backs. We’re lucky we’re not unarmed and naked down here.”

  “What about you, Rylie? Are you with us?”

  Fernwyn shifted her weight and crossed her legs. “As if Aldebaran wasn’t enough trouble with one Mark Seventeen, now he has two. If we can come up with a reasonable plan, not only will we retake your ship but we’ll be able to split a one hundred million credit bounty. I seriously doubt that you’ll be able to come up with a reasonable plan, however. Like I was saying, I have no idea where Aldebaran is going. If we can find him and if we can come up with a plan that isn’t suicidal, I’ll help you.”

  “What about this Nathalier guy?” asked Dana.

  “Forget about Nathalier. He’s just a security guard at Gleeful. He may be able to help you get some extra gear from the shops there, but that’s about it. You heard the fuss he put up when I asked him to come get us. He’s got less of a reason to risk his hide than any of us.”

  Christie shrugged. “And yet, he’s on his way to pick us up.”

  “I didn’t say he was a coward. He’s simply got his own agenda.”

  “What’s he picking us up in?” asked Ray.

  “I’m not sure. He said something about the impound garage. It could be anything.”


  “Let’s hope for the Winnebago with wings,” said Christie.

  “What, the Intergalactic Volvo wasn’t good enough for you?” said John, grinning.

  “Is there anything else you can think of to tell us about Aldebaran?” asked Richter.

  “I already told you everything I know,” began Fernwyn, “but since I have access to the SPF database I may be able to find out more.”

  “Rylie, before we were interrupted by Ferro’s little mutiny, you said that there was more to the Umberian non-aggression pact than we were aware. What did you mean?”

  “The Umberian government was involved in scientific experiments of a dubious ethical nature. Part of the SUF’s sanctioning of Umber was an attempt to curtail any perceived sentient rights violations.”

  “Perceived?” said John.

  “As far as I know, any experiment that was harmful was conducted on volunteers who were aware of the risks. It was the early genmodding disasters that had the SUF worried. While the volunteers may have been willing, the way that Umber dealt with them afterward was rather cruel.”

  “You’ve lost me. What’s genmodding?”

  “Genetic modification. Scientists have been looking for ways to create sentient beings in whatever form they desired for decades. Prenatal efforts proved limited. Umber was the first to experiment on subjects after they were born. While such genmodding eventually proved successful, most of the earlier volunteers ended up with freakish mutations. They were brought to a “recovery center” on Residere Alpha, but they were unhappy with their treatment so after several years they took the place over. Rather than negotiate, the Umberians simply abandoned them. Now they roam the deserts and plains of Alpha as raiders and nomads.”

  “That explains the monsters we ran into on Alpha,” said Christie.

  “You ran into some of them? You’re lucky to be alive.”

  “We’ve been hearing that a lot lately,” said John. “So what kinds of genmods were considered a success?”

  “I said I was Residerian, remember?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Haven’t you noticed that I don’t look anything like a Residerian?”

  “Every Residerian we’ve run into, yes, but we’re new to the neighborhood. You’re a genmod?”

  “Yes.”

  “You look like one of us,” said Dana. “You look completely human.”

  “You volunteered to be experimented upon?” asked Ray.

  Fernwyn shook her head. “Being born a Residerian is all well and good if you like living on Residere. We don’t do so well in space, however. Variable gravity environments are detrimental to our skeletal structures and we lose muscle mass faster than other races. Most ships aren’t designed for sentients as large as Residerians, either. Getting a job off-world or becoming an explorer is pretty much out of the question unless you can afford some sort of modding. Some went the route of cybernetics. My parents thought I’d do well with genmodding, since by the time I was ten years old the practice had been proven safe.”

  “So, are you part Umberian, then?” asked John.

  “No. I got the exotic treatment. I’m forty percent Residerian, thirty percent Rakhar and thirty percent Kau’Rii.”

  “And yet you look just like a human. That’s weird.”

  Fernwyn stood up and walked over to Ray. She stepped in close and looked at him.

  “Uh, hi,” said Ray.

  “Not entirely so. You don’t have feline eyes like I do. It also doesn’t look like you can lift more than twenty or twenty five fists, right?”

  “I don’t understand,” said John.

  Fernwyn looked around until she found a rock that she liked. She lifted it over her head and tossed it aside easily. Richter shrugged and tried it himself. He managed to get it about twelve inches off of the ground.

  “Shit, it’s at least seventy-five pounds,” he said.

  Fernwyn smiled. “So I thought.”

  “You must have been quite a popular kid after that,” Christie said.

  “Hardly. Genmods are shunned by almost everybody. They’re seen as rich snobs who cheated in order to get ahead. Even Residerians who had little choice if they ever wanted to leave home were ridiculed for trying to change who they really were. Identity runs deep in these parts. I had to work twice as hard as the other recruits when I was trying to become a plank. That’s just the way it goes.”

  “It kind of reminds me of anabolic steroids back on Earth,” said Ray.

  “Earth?”

  “Earth, Perditia, they’re both words for our planet,” said John quickly.

  “Well, you won’t see any prejudice from us,” began Ray. “Not only do we need all the help we can get, but your genmod has made you one hell of an attractive female.”

  Fernwyn blushed, and John looked at Ray with surprise. “I’m impressed that you can keep your sense of humor after everything that’s happened...” Fernwyn cut herself off and cocked her head to the side.

  “What?”

  “Cover!”

  Everyone standing hit the deck, and those who were seated spun around to go prone. A ship appeared over the glen and began to land. It very much resembled an oversized subway car with the windows blacked out, with two barrel-like engines stuck to either side. The engines were oriented to the vertical as the ship landed, with large struts folding out from the bottom. It sounded altogether different from the Faith. A ramp opened from the side, and the silhouette of a Rakhar could be seen.

  “It’s Nathalier,” said Fernwyn, rising.

  “Cool, we finally get to meet a Rakhar without trying to kill each other,” said Richter.

  “The day is young.”

  Waving at Nathalier, Fernwyn led the group toward the ship. Nathalier smiled.

  “If it isn’t the mysterious strangers who trashed my Complexium,” he said.

  “Yeah, sorry about that whole bit,” said John.

  “I’m joking. Good show against the Black Crest. I can admit it to a precious few but I enjoyed seeing them get a fat lip. It amused me even more to see a Residerian/Z'Sorth mech get ripped to shreds.”

  “You look good in street clothes,” said Fernwyn.

  “So do you. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your new friends?”

  “This is John Scherer, Ray Bailey, Christie Tolliver, Dana Andrews, and Chance Richter. They’re humans from Perditia.”

  “Never heard of it. Are you here to liberate Umber?”

  “Hopefully,” said John.

  “Mind if I make book on it?”

  Richter began to laugh loudly. The others were simply confused.

  “What’s this hunk of junk?” asked Fernwyn.

  “This is the Raven,” replied Nathalier. “She’s a transport that somebody abandoned on one of the docking platforms last year. Rather than scrap her I rented a berth in the underground garage. I’ve been restoring her, albeit slowly.”

  “Will my ship fit in the cargo bay?”

  “Not unless you chop off the wings.”

  “The wings fold up.”

  “Oh, in that case it should. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather fly her yourself?”

  “I want to do some research on the net as quickly as possible. I can’t do that and fly at the same time. Can you do me a favor and take care of that?”

  “Sure. I could use two volunteers to help me.”

  “I’ll help,” said Dana.

  “Me, too,” added Ray.

  Fernwyn gave her keys to Nathalier. “Good. Let’s get off of this moon. Scherer, Tolliver, Richter, let’s see what we can find out about Aldebaran.”

  Nathalier tripped and almost fell over. He turned around, astonished.

  “The people who stole your ship work for Aldebaran?”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that. Sorry.”

  “It was him, too,” said John, “not just his crew.”

  Nathalier gesticulated wildly. “Are you all out of your minds? For the love of the core, you’re lucky to
...”

  “Yeah, we know,” interjected John.

  “Don’t worry, Nathalier,” said Fernwyn. “If you help us get back to Beta we’ll put you in for five percent when we catch him.”

  “They don’t pay out bounties to dead men,” Nathalier said.

  “I seriously doubt Aldebaran left us alive down here just so that he could pounce on us if we leave. He’s probably long gone by now. He’s not a god, you know.”

  “I don’t appreciate you leaving that little detail out, Rylie.”

  “Would you have come if I’d told you?”

  “No.”

  “Are you going to abandon us now?”

  “Of course not. My word is my bond, even if you manipulated me. I’ll take you as far as Beta and I’ll take that five percent if you actually catch Aldebaran. Now let’s get the hell out of here while we’re all still vertical.”

  Fernwyn nodded and headed toward the Raven. When the others were out of earshot John spoke.

  “So much for asking him to come along on the recovery mission.”

  “Not everyone is as crazy as we,” Fernwyn replied.

  Fernwyn and John climbed aboard followed by Christie and Richter. The interior of the ship was about fifteen feet tall. An open hatch to the rear led the way to the cargo bay. The area they were in currently had additional storage space underneath raised platforms. Four smaller rooms lay off from the platforms and lined the sides. Another hatch forward led to the control room. Fernwyn scowled as they headed there.

  “Not exactly the lap of luxury,” said John.

  “I wonder if Nathalier used the word ‘restore’ properly,” said Fernwyn. “I hate to think what kind of shape this was in when he first got his claws on it.”

  Entering into the control room, Fernwyn discovered three stations. She sat down at one of them and began checking the systems. Satisfied, she accessed the net.

  “Will no one care that you’re digging around in the SPF’s files?” asked Richter.

  “Not really. I have level two clearance. If there’s any information on Aldebaran classified higher than that we’ll have to make a direct request. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

  Fernwyn directed her attention to the search. John sighed and leaned against the wall.