Nebula Nights: Love Among The Stars

by Melisse Aires

  “He’s concerned about this situation with Xever.”

  “Concerned how?”

  “He feels you’re being rude to the Supreme Leader.”

  “If Mr. Kilburn wants to pimp for ET, he’ll have to do it with someone else, sir.”

  His gaze narrowed. “Xever apologized for—” He stopped.

  “Propositioning me? Yes, he did, sir.”

  It sounded arrogant to say the Gadi leader wasn’t done with her. Maybe he was. Maybe it was her imagination running wild. Delusions of Helen of Troy-ness. Only it wasn’t any of those things.

  “I don’t think any of this is about me, sir. I think it’s about Miri, that woman he says I look like.” What if he thought she had the key, too? She was going to be a disappointment all around. She had nothing even slightly key-like.

  The Old Man’s lips twitched. “You seem to be garnering quite a bit of alien attention, Captain.”

  That put color in her face, big time. “It’s not like I listed my name on alien eharmony.com, sir.”

  Halliwell stood up. He paced away from her, then turned and looked. “How come I never noticed you were this much trouble before?”

  Sara would have hung her head if she weren’t a soldier. “I’m sorry, sir.”

  “Don’t look so glum, Donovan. I’ve never known a woman who wasn’t trouble at least once in her life.” He walked back to his desk. “Sit down.”

  Sara perched on the edge of the chair. He sat down, his hands clasped on the top of the desk.

  “Xever doesn’t seem the type to believe in legends.”

  “I agree, sir, but we know nothing of their political situation. What if he were involved in a power struggle of some kind? It’s kind of odd for a Supreme Leader to come out here when he knew nothing about us except we kicked some Dusan trash.”

  Halliwell looked thoughtful. “A legend could be a useful card to play for the masses—who might believe legends. How come Kilburn can’t think like that? He’s buying everything the guy tells him.”

  Sara wondered what he was telling Adin about them. Did he know enough to be a security risk?

  “They seem awfully chummy.”

  Halliwell shot her a keen look. As if she’d asked the question, he said, “He doesn’t know that much, but a smart man might be able to draw some conclusions. Maybe we should have a drill. Force the supreme leader to stay on his own, damn ship for a few days.”

  Sara grinned. “I wouldn’t be opposed to that, sir.” Not that her opinion mattered.

  There was a beep of the Old Man’s intercom. It was Fyn. He needed to see the colonel.

  “Send him in.”

  Fyn came in, checking slightly when he saw Sara.

  “You said it was urgent?”

  “You said to come talk to you if anything struck me as odd, sir.”

  “And something has?”

  He nodded. He looked at Sara again. “I’ve been thinking about Xever and how odd it is that he’d show up in this sector so quickly after the battle with the Dusan.”

  Halliwell looked at Sara. “We were thinking the same thing.”

  Sara frowned. “You know, we only have his word for it that he is a Supreme Leader. Be kind of cool if he turned out to be a Supreme Fraud.”

  Fyn looked grim. “That’s the other thing. I don’t remember the Gadi leader being called Supreme. The only thing I know for sure is that the ship is Gadi.”

  Halliwell’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “After attacking us twice, they couldn’t come back and say, let’s be friends now so we can figure out how to make you go away. But, why couldn’t you tell?”

  “The men I killed down on the planet looked like us.” Sara smiled wryly. “Be easier if ET looked more like ET.”

  “Yes, it would.” He was quiet for a moment. “What set you off, Fyn?”

  “The uniform is Gadi, but it isn’t right. It was just a comment someone made to me once, about them. But I realized it isn’t enough. Their uniforms usually have more—”

  “Decoration?” Sara prompted him. He nodded. “The Dusan uniform seemed pretty spare. Maybe it’s a thing with them?”

  “Like the ship on the planet. It was spare, too,” Fyn said.

  “And the story about Miri being taken by the Dusan?”

  The Old Man looked at her, like she had an answer. How had that happened?

  “I don’t know, sir, but I do know that Adin Xever isn’t that sentimental. I don’t sense a lot ofrespectfor women in any of them. So why would they believe one could defeat anyone?”

  Fyn nodded agreement.

  “You’ve got a good brain, Donovan. Wish Kilburn was a bit brighter.”

  Sara grinned. “Well, if he was, he wouldn’t be out here. It’s only us military pukes who think its good fun to push the envelope.”

  Halliwell smiled. “See new places, meet new people and kill them.” He chuckled. “I thought Kilburn was going to choke to death.”

  Sara smiled, then had another thought. “Kilburn wouldn’t tell him about the outpost, would he?”

  “Mr. Kilburn doesn’t know about it. I’ve never trusted diplomats with military secrets.”

  He stood up and she jumped to her feet.

  “Thank you, Fyn. You’ve given me a lot to think about.” He looked at her for a long moment. “You’re both dismissed.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Outside his wardroom, she looked up at Fyn. Delight did a shivering run through her body.

  “I was going to go get something to eat, thought you might be hungry, too.”

  She took the hand he held out, feeling a tiny click in her head as the palms came together. It was crazy and she couldn’t see a neat ending, but it didn’t seem to matter. Clicking was clicking.

  They were almost to the cafeteria when she felt it. She stopped. Something was incoming. It was a reflex to raise the ship’s shields.

  “Crap.”

  As a period to her sentence, the alarm began to shrill. A few seconds after that, the ship shuddered as it took a hit. Sara staggered and almost fell. Fyn caught her, then they both staggered as they took another hit.

  “It’s some kind of energy burst.” Her mind was already sorting through data on the ship’s computer. “It’s the Gadi ship. What the hell do they think they’re doing?”

  Fyn braced his arm against the wall to keep them both from falling as the hits got closer together. They managed to get to the end of the corridor, but it was like trying to walk during an earthquake.

  “This is nuts—crap. They’re trying to deplete our shields. So they can take the ship intact.” Sara grabbed onto an arch, trying to keep on her feet. Suddenly it made more sense. Had cozying up to Fyn precipitated the attack? Was this Adin’s way of getting what he wanted?

  “If we can make it to our ships, you could head for Kikk—”

  “No ships are launching. They can’t get out of the bays. Something about the energy from the Gadi ship is messing with the fighter bay shield. It’s hinky. I don’t—”

  The beam was messing with the computers, too. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate, trying to help, even as she was worked her way through the systems to ship’s shield controls. They were down to thirty percent. At this rate, they’d be completely down in another ten minutes. Or less. And then Adin would come looking for her. On the heels of panic, Sara felt an odd tingling in her body. It was if energy were flowing through her and into her hands. She looked down and saw the tiny beads of light leaving her and going into the ship.

  “Holy crap.”

  “What the—” Fyn stopped, his eyes wide with shock.

  For a minute nothing happened. The transfer got faster. It felt so strange, almost like life leaving her. Her knees buckled. She dropped to the deck, but managed to keep her hands against the metal frame. In her mind, she saw the shield readouts begin to change, moving in the other direction. As she watched, it crept up moving past normal.

  Don’t over load it.

  A feeling
of reassurance.

  A bad hit almost tore her hands free from the jamb.

  Fyn’s hands closed over hers, helping to maintain the contact. She closed her eyes and concentrated harder, trying to help them do whatever it was they were doing.

  The Gadi increased their rate of fire, but now it seemed as if the Doolittle was absorbing the energy into the shields. The levels rose higher and higher. If they didn’t discharge soon, the ship would explode—

  There was a flash of bright, white light. It flashed through Sara, too. It hurt like hell—and her heart just…stopped.

  That couldn’t be good.

  Chapter Seven

  Sara lit up with a bright flash of light, then slumped against him. He lowered her to the deck, grateful the ship was no longer shuddering and bouncing. The alarm was still sounding and crew members ran past, but there was no sense of panic. Everyone seemed to know what they needed to do.

  He smoothed her hair back, as those strange sparks of light winked out on the palms of her hands. He frowned. And then he noticed how still she was.

  Someone knelt by him. He looked up. Carey.

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  He didn’t even know how to explain what just happened. “I don’t think she’s breathing.”

  Carey laid his head on her chest. “Her heart’s not beating either.”

  He placed his hands over her heart and pumped twice, a short break between. He listened again, then covered his mouth with hers, blowing his air into her lungs. He looked at Fyn.

  “You give her mouth to mouth, while I do the CPR.”

  Fyn nodded. They alternated mouth to mouth with CPR for what seemed a long time. Finally, she inhaled, then her chest began to rise and fall on its own.

  Carey sat back. “Can you get her to the infirmary? I need to get to my bird.”

  Fyn nodded. Abruptly the alarm shut off. The silence was almost eerie as Fyn bent and picked her up, cradling her against his chest. He headed for the infirmary, wondering what to say to the doctor, but when he got there, he found he didn’t have to.

  Injured were coming in from all over the ship, though most seemed to be minor. When the doc found out her heart had stopped, she became a priority. And Fyn found himself shut out. When it became clear no one was coming to give him an update, he gave up and headed down to the hanger bay. Maybe Carey could find out something.

  The wing hadn’t deployed. Fyn found Carey standing in a knot of men, but before he could ask, he heard the colonel speaking over the ship’s intercom.

  “Attention please. I’m sure you’re all aware by now that the Gadi ship attacked us. They have been repulsed and have left the system. I want a report on damage and injured a-sap. If you haven’t reported to your duty station, do so now. Halliwell out.”

  “Why the hell did the gomers attack us?” Carey was white with anger.

  The attack was crazy and reckless, not like the Dusan or the Gadi. Fyn knew it had to be about Sara, but it still made no sense. There was something more going on, and somehow it was all linked to her unusual abilities and her likeness to Miri. He could still see the light flowing from her and into the ship. It had weakened her. He could feel strength and life leaving her as he supported her. And then that flash. Where had that come from?

  “How’s Donovan?”

  Fyn frowned. “They wouldn’t tell me anything.”

  Carey looked around. “This area is secure. Let’s go see what we can find out. I’ll need to report to the colonel.”

  The infirmary was calming down by the time they got there. Carey had the pull to get a report from the doc.

  He rubbed his face. “She must have got hit by some kind of electrical discharge. Her heart got a hell of a jolt.”

  “But she’ll be all right?” Carey asked.

  They looked at Sara. She lay in the bed, her face as white as her bedding, her body motionless. Fyn remembered the last time he’d watched her and waited for her to open her eyes. This time, everything about her seemed dimmed as if most of the light had gone out of her in that big flash.

  The doctor was quiet for a long moment. “I don’t know. We’ve got her stabilized, but she’s very weak. I’ve done all I can. She’ll pull through or—”

  Fyn didn’t understand. He’d seen her heal. Unless—what if she’d used all she had to heal the ship?

  Take her to the city.

  Fyn looked around. No one was looking at him. Clearly no one had spoken to him.

  “Thanks, doc. Let’s go see the colonel,” Carey said. “He’ll want to know.”

  They were both quiet as they traversed the ship to the bridge. Halliwell took them into his wardroom.

  “What happened, sir?” Carey asked, once they were alone.

  “All I know, first our shields went up on their own, then they were going down, when they suddenly went back up again.” Halliwell rubbed his head tiredly. “Damnedest thing I ever saw. And then some kind of energy surge hit their ship. It threw them right out of our neighborhood. Tracking in the city showed ‘em taking a hyperspace jump away when they stopped spinning.”

  “Damn.” Carey looked thoughtful. “Did it come from the planet?”

  “We thought so, but they thought it came from us, though they won’t discount the possibility it came from there and they just didn’t see it.”

  Carey made a kind of face. “If there is an AI down there, glad it likes us. That’s twice it’s saved our asses.”

  Did it like them, Fyn wondered or was it Sara? It was her ship that got pulled to the city. Was it possible that she really was descended from this Miri? If she was, the Dusan wouldn’t be the only ones interested in her. How long would it be before information about her reached Kalian?

  “When does your other ship arrive?” Fyn asked.

  “Still a week out.” Halliwell frowned. “Do you think they’ll try again?”

  Fyn shrugged. “I wish Sara was on the island.” Even Kalian couldn’t get at her there.

  “You think they were after her?”

  Fyn looked at him. “Don’t you? The energy weapon they were firing was designed to take down shields, leaving the ship intact.”

  Luckily neither man asked him how he knew that.

  “But they almost killed her,” Carey protested.

  “What?” Halliwell stiffened.

  “Sorry, sir, that’s what we came to report. Doc isn’t sure, but thinks she got some kind of electrical feedback. She’s pretty weak.”

  Take her to the city.

  Fyn didn’t look around this time. He hesitated. “Do you think they’d have some technology down there that could help her? Maybe this AI would do something.”

  “Our people haven’t found anything yet.” Halliwell looked grim.

  “Doesn’t mean there isn’t something there,” Fyn said. “If it is intelligent maybe it will help. The AI made first contact with her.”

  Carey started to look thoughtful. “That’s true, sir.”

  “Is it safe to move her?” Halliwell started to look interested.

  “We can ask the doc—but if he can’t help her, then we should take the risk. She’s going away if we don’t do something.”

  Halliwell rubbed his head again. “Do it.”

  * * * * *

  Fyn held Sara’s hand as the transport lifted off and took a heading toward Kikk. Her hand felt cold, like most of her was already gone. A monitor next to her beeped regularly, proof she wasn’t, but the beats were getting further apart. Only last night she’d been singing, her gaze slanting his way from time to time.

  Sometime during the ride to the planet, he could feel his loyalties shift, not just to Sara, but to her people. What had driven him into the Ojemba, it still mattered, but Sara mattered more. It was that simple. He just hoped it would be that simple to get clear of them. He wished he had told the colonel about the Ojemba when he first came aboard. Now it was too late. All he could do is hope they never found out…

  It seemed to take a lo
ng time to reach the city. Once Carey touched down, he released the rear hatch, so they could roll her stretcher out, though no one knew where to take her. The medic adjusted her monitors, then pushed the stretcher down the ramp. Fyn walked beside it, still holding her hand. As soon as the stretcher cleared the ramp, a row of lights appeared in the stone path, stopping at a junction in the pathways ahead of them.

  Carey looked at him. “I guess we follow the yellow light path.”

  At his direction, the medic pushed the stretcher along the path. Carey walked ahead, weapon’s ready. When they reached the end of the lights, a new line of them appeared, disappearing around the side of the main building. The line of lights behind them disappeared. Fyn pulled his weapon, eyeing the surrounding under growth. Light was fading fast and no one had really determined if there were biters on the island.

  The path of lights led them gradually to a building near the shoreline of the island. As they approached, doors slid back. The interior had the look of a hospital about it. The smells were old, antiseptic. Now the lights made a straight line to what looked like a dead end against a wall, but when they reached it, panels slid back.

  Carey leaned in and studied it. “Could be an elevator. Let’s go.”

  Once they were inside, there was a soft, green glow and then the doors opened again on a different corridor.

  “Okay. A really fast elevator.” Carey peered out and once again the path of lights showed them the way. About halfway down this corridor, the lights made a right turn. “I think we’re almost there.”

  Another door slid back for them and lights came on in a room that reminded Fyn of the infirmary on the Doolittle. The lights stopped at a table in the center of the room. There was a circle of lights over this and consoles on two sides.

  “Let’s lift her on it,” Carey said. He looked as uneasy as the medic now.

  Fyn was starting to have second thoughts, too, but if they left, what then? The beep of the monitor was slowing. She was dying. The medic removed all the wires, and then stepped back. Fyn slid his arms under her and gently shifted her to the table. It wasn’t hard and seemed to expand to cushion and support her. The light path formed into a circle around the table and began flashing.