by M. D. Cooper
“You shouldn’t be,” Greer grunted. “This whole business has been one massive headache for me, and now I have accusations from Governor Richards here that your sister and Mark tried to use you to kill her.”
“It’s true,” Sera said while Serge and Elena nodded. “Somehow Mark re-activated an old failsafe that The Hand left in me. They made me attack Tanis. It was only through Flaherty’s quick actions that I failed and survived the aftermath.”
“And for this, I have just your word,” Greer replied. “Will you and your AI submit to a verification check? I’m going to need to test all six of you.”
Sera nodded, and Greer produced a small device. Sera placed her palm on it, and Tanis watched her grimace from the invasive check the machine was performing. Tanis suspected it was snaking probes through her body, making direct connections with her Hard Link and Helen.
It showed a positive response and Greer nodded with satisfaction. He performed the same procedure on the other three and finally returned the device to his pocket.
“Well, it would appear that the four of you are who you say you are and are not under any sort of subversion,” he said. “Now I’ll need to see Mark and Andrea.”
Tanis nodded and another car approached. When this one stopped, Marines surrounded it and opened the back doors. Andrea and Mark exited with as much grace as their restraints allowed, and shuffled toward the group with the muzzles of a dozen pulse rifles trained on them.
Andrea looked straight ahead, not meeting anyone’s gaze, while Mark scanned the faces before him, his own growing red at the dismissive looks he received.
“General Greer,” he called out as they approached. “Look how they have treated us! We’ve been detained—I demand that we rescind any offers that have been made.”
“Agent Mark, do shut up,” Greer said, eliciting a small smile from Tanis. “If what they say is true, and I suspect it may be, you won’t be leaving those restraints any time soon.”
“And what of me?” Andrea said softly. “It is not within your authority to detain me.”
Greer spread his hands wide. “I am not detaining you. I also do not know that you are who you appear to be, so if you wouldn’t mind submitting to auth…” He produced the device once more, and Andrea sighed impatiently before putting her hand on it.
When the scan was complete, she made to speak, but Greer raised his hand and gestured for Mark to place his hand on the device.
A minute later, it had sent its confirmation, and Greer gave a guarded smile. “So, we are all who we claim to be, then.”
“And you attest that no one is subverted, or under coercion?” Tanis asked.
“Subversion, no. Coercion is a bit harder to detect—though none is apparent, for what it’s worth,” Greer replied.
“So, do we have a deal?” Tanis asked. “Shall we complete what Andrea and Mark agreed to, and send them on their way?”
“Yes, but Sera you must come back to Airtha,” Greer’s brow lowered as he turned to Sera. “There are grievances here that must be settled. You cannot hide from them any longer.”
“I do not wish to press charges, then,” Sera replied.
“It does not matter,” Greer said with a slow shake of his head. “You must return because Andrea is right. I cannot detain her in this matter. Her status protects her under our laws. But as an agent of The Hand with the rank you hold, you can.”
“Her?” Andrea asked with a laugh. “She’s not an agent, not anymore. She cannot detain me any more than you can.”
“You realize, Andrea, that I can detain you indefinitely,” Tanis said softly. “By your own agreement, which you signed with me, New Canaan and this ship are a sovereign state in the eyes of the Transcend.”
“You’ll never see your precious colony if you do that,” Andrea replied, the vehemence that Tanis suspected to always be under the surface rose to the fore. “My father will not allow it.”
“General Greer,” Tanis turned from Andrea. “Would you agree that, while we may not be able to defeat your ships and fly to New Canaan, we certainly could escape Ascella?”
Greer nodded slowly. “It’s probable. We don’t yet know how to overwhelm your shields, and destroying this ship is not an option. Less so with the president’s scions on board.”
“You see, Andrea, whether or not your father will allow it, it very well could happen. This ship can go anywhere. Hell, we could decide to go to the Andromeda galaxy. Your prison cell could have a lovely view of the Milky Way for the million-year trip,” Tanis’s voice was cold and her expression grave.
“Elena,” Greer addressed the Hand agent. “You possess the authority to provisionally reinstate Sera’s status. If you do that, she can legally incarcerate her sister and Mark and bring them to Airtha. You’ll have to accompany her—”
“Stars,” Sera interrupted, approaching Andrea, her fists clenched with rage. “How, even in your failure, do you get me going back to Airtha?”
“You don’t have to go,” Tanis said. “You can claim asylum with us.”
Sera turned to Tanis and shook her head, her eyes tired and sad. “No, it has to be this way. You’ve worked too hard to get this far, just to lose one of the best-looking colony systems I’ve seen the FGT make in a long time…just because I’m selfish.”
“You’re sure?” Tanis asked.
“I’m sure,” Sera nodded. “It’s about time I at least made this scum pay for what he did,” she cast Mark a dark look as she spoke.
Tanis waited for Mark’s rejoinder, but none came. Perhaps he had finally realized that keeping his mouth shut was the best option he had available.
“And the data you’ll be exchanging?” Greer asked. “When will we receive that?”
“At New Canaan’s heliopause,” she replied. “No sooner.”
Greer nodded slowly. “Very well. I suppose that’s the best I can expect under these circumstances.”
“Perhaps you should let Tsaroff know that all is well and that he doesn’t need to blow us out of the black,” Tanis added.
“No need,” Greer said with a smile. “I’ve been broadcasting the conversation and the data streams from my verification device as we’ve been speaking.”
“Good,” Tanis replied. “Then we’re in accord.”
PARTING
STELLAR DATE: 12.31.8929 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: ISS Intrepid
REGION: Ascella System, Galactic North of the Corona Australis star forming region
Sera watched the shape of the Intrepid shrink in the distance, eventually disappearing in the glare of the twin Ascella stars. First watching Sabrina leave, and now leaving the Intrepid…she felt as though a chapter was ending in her life, as though she might never see either ship or their crews—her friends—again.
“We’re really going back,” she said softly from her seat in the ship’s small lounge.
Flaherty nodded slowly. “It has always been inevitable. You must have known that.”
Sera looked up sharply at the man who had been her sworn protector for years. “No, no I haven’t always known that. I thought I was free of the Transcend, The Hand, my father’s machinations.”
“Don’t be a fool, Sis,” Serge said from his seat. “You were never free. Father had eyes on you at every turn. You never left his sight.”
Sera cast a glance to Flaherty—not because she suspected that he had split loyalties, but because she was curious if he agreed.
“Of course he did,” Flaherty confirmed. “The Inner Stars are full of Hand agents. Sabrina stood out—the only ship of that build hauling cargo we ever saw. Probably child’s play for The Hand to track.”
Sera sighed. She knew this, she always had, but that hadn’t stopped her from buying the ship. It just looked so damn sleek, and the mere sight of it had lifted her spirits. Still, when The Hand stopped trying to bring her in, she had assumed that her father had written her off, th
at somehow she had been deemed not worth the effort.
“So, what now?” she asked.
“Well, we have to get back to the beta gate. Greer doesn’t want to use the insystem ones again. It’ll be a two-week flight out.”
“And then we’ll be in Airtha before we know it,” Sera replied.
Serge nodded, while Flaherty silently gazed out at the stars.
Sera looked at the dancing lights on the holoceiling and thought of her parting conversation with Tanis, glad they had parted as friends. Sera had the suspicion that she would need that friendship in the future.
“You watch out, Seraphina Tomlinson,” Tanis had said. “Someone wants me dead, and they let Mark come here at least suspecting that he would try to take your life. I don’t know what’s going on, and neither do you. You need to treat everyone like they are dangerous strangers, because that’s what they are. Anyone you think you can trust, any old friends, those are the most dangerous. Trust Flaherty, and no other.”
They were powerful words, and she knew them to be true. Airtha was worse than enemy territory. It was enemy territory that she thought she knew, but it surely changed over the years. Old alliances were long gone, and new political undercurrents would surround her.
TRANSCEND TRADERS
STELLAR DATE: UNKNOWN
LOCATION: Dwarka
REGION: Indus System, Transcend Interstellar Alliance
Saanvi stepped off the maglev train, one hand stretched up, clasped in her father’s, and the other pointed to the sky.
“Father, it’s…”
“I know, it’s even more impressive up close,” Pradesh replied.
“It just disappears into the sky,” Saanvi whispered. “Like it goes to Swarga.”
Her father chuckled and stroked her head with his free hand. “It may look like that, but there is only Kush Station up there. While it’s nice, it is certainly no Swarga.”
Saanvi barely heard her father as she watched a lift-car climb up one of the space elevator’s five strands. It was a thick ring, which wrapped around the strand—the size of many houses. There were many levels and windows. To Saanvi’s young mind, it was the most majestic thing she had ever seen.
“Come now, Saanvi,” her father said as he pulled at her hand. “We must be on our way. Our lift-car departs in an hour, and it will take some time to get through security.”
“What about Karen?” Saanvi asked.
“Karen is already there,” her father replied. “She’s on the lift-car checking our cargo.”
“Oh,” Saanvi’s face fell. “I was hoping she would ride with us.”
“She will,” Pradesh replied as they threaded their way through the crowds. “She can’t ride down in the lift-car’s cargo hold, silly monkey.”
Saanvi smiled. She loved it when her father called her that. It was a name just for her—something he never said to her brothers or older sister. It was their special thing.
Her mind was quickly distracted by the sights around her. Travelers from other worlds in the Shimla System brushed past them. Sprinkled throughout the crowd, she even saw people with strange clothing and skin colors, visitors from other systems in the Transcend.
“Father,” she tugged at his sleeve. “Do you think we’ll see any terraformers on Kush Station?”
He chuckled in response and stroked his daughter’s hair. “I don’t think so. There is no terraforming going on anywhere near here. They have no reason to come through Shimla.”
Saanvi sighed. She had really hoped they would see terraformers on the trip. Ever since she had learned that humans had made her world—not the gods—she wanted to meet the people who did such things.
She had studied them as much as she could, asked her parents to show her videos and pictures of how worlds were made, and of the people who had made her world, Dwarka.
“Will we see them at any of the other worlds we’ll go to?” Saanvi asked. “Are many of them made by terraformers like ours was?”
Her father held up a hand while he passed his security tokens at a checkpoint, then led her through the scanning arch. He smiled down at her. “Who is to know, little monkey? Our return route is not fixed, and there are FGT ships out there—though people mostly bring them what they need. The terraformers rarely leave their ships or the systems they are changing.”
Saanvi’s face lit up. “You never told me people trade with the terraformers! Can you do it? Can we take them something?”
“Believe me, my daughter, I would love to do that, to see the terraformers at work with my own eyes…not to mention how lucrative such a trip would be,” Pradesh said with a smile. “But come, we must hurry, this port is large, and we still have far to go.”
Saanvi smiled as her father pulled her along, brimming with excitement that she was finally to go on a trading trip with him—her first one, and that she would get to go alone. It was going to be at least five months long, and none of her brothers and sisters were coming.
Just she, her father, and Karen, traveling across space, seeing dozens of new worlds and people. It was something she had dreamed of ever since the first time her father had taken her through a full spaceflight sim at the age of three.
After three more security checks, they finally reached the departure wing that led to Strand Two, where their lift-car waited for its cargo and passengers to finish loading.
“Karen is waiting for us,” Pradesh said with a warm smile for his daughter. “She is excited to see you and bought some new games for the two of you to play.”
“Ohhh,” Saanvi gasped and smiled. “I wonder what they’ll be!”
“We shall have to wait and see,” her father replied. “But don’t forget, you still have your schoolwork to do. Your teachers have outlined your coursework, and you’ll have full school days with your teach-mind.”
“Yes, father,” Saanvi replied with a pout.
“Don’t worry, little monkey, a lot of our time will be in the dark layer. There’s not much to see there, and you’re going to be happy for the routine your studies will create,” her father said.
Saanvi didn’t reply as she caught sight of the portal to the lift-car. A final security arch, with smiling attendants, stood at the entrance, and she began to skip with excitement, tugging at her father’s hand.
“Daddy, come on, we’re going to space!”
She heard his laugh sound behind her as she wove through the crowds, pulling him by the hand until they reached the back of the line.
“OK, dear, we have to wait here. No cutting ahead of everyone.”
Saanvi frowned as she looked at all the people ahead of them. “They’re moving so slow!”
“I know, I know, little monkey. The last check just takes a moment, though. We’ll be at our seats with Karen in no time.”
True to her father’s word, the wait wasn’t long, and before she knew it they had entered the passenger level of the lift-car. She was right when she thought that it was much larger than their house, maybe larger than all the houses on their street.
The outside walls were floor-to-ceiling windows, and the seats were arranged in concentric rings facing them. Near the central shaft, there were several small food stands and tables for people to sit while eating. It was almost like the waiting areas in the port, but this one would soon rise above the planet.
“Come Saanvi, our seats are up on the third level,” her father said as he pulled her hand and led her to the staircase, which wound around the central shaft.
When they reached the third level, her mouth fell open at the view.
“I thought you might like this,” her father said with a smile and picked her up in his arms.
“Daddy the roof is clear. We’ll be able to see everything!”
“Yes we will, my little monkey, and let me tell you, it’s quite the view.”
He carried her the final distance to their seats, right in front of the window, facing east by the holoindicator on the plas. Karen with her fair skin and long, bl
onde hair was waiting for them, her arms stretched out to embrace Saanvi.
“Oh, my beautiful little girl, how are you?”
“I’m great, Auntie Karen. I can’t believe I’m really going into space!” Saanvi exclaimed.
“Me either,” Karen replied, her face split wide in a smile. “We’re going to have a blast, you and me. I have a ton of stuff planned.”
“You’ll still have a few ship-duties, don’t forget,” Pradesh said with a frown. “The Vimana better stay ship-shape at all times, or I’ll have the both of you swabbing the deck.”
Saanvi wasn’t certain if her father was joking, but Karen laughed.
“Prad, I could run your ship with both eyes closed and have time for a dozen little Saanvis.”
“Good,” her father leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. “Then I’m going to take a three-month nap once we get up there. You two can do everything.”
“Hmmm,” Karen winked at Saanvi. “That may have backfired on me.”
Saanvi chuckled and poked her father. “You can’t sleep for three months. You always say that you just pop awake after seven hours.”
Pradesh cracked an eye open. “Hmm… you may have me there. Then perhaps I’ll take up baking. That’s it—while you two are running the show, I’ll bake cakes, but just for me!”
“What?” Saanvi cried out. “I want cake, too! That’s not fair!”
“Trust me, Saanvi,” Karen said. “I’ve flown with your father for three years. If he’s baking any cakes, you want no part of it. He can barely pour a bowl of cereal.”
“I’ll have you know I can make a mean bowl of oatmeal,” Pradesh replied.
“Sure, boss, whatever you say. I’ve had to clean the galley after you’ve ‘cooked’. It’s not a pretty sight.”
Pradesh frowned, but Saanvi could tell from the sparkle in his eye that he was finding the conversation very funny.
Saanvi hopped up into her seat and settled down with her favorite stuffed turtle. It briefly occurred to her that she may be too old to be clutching a stuffed animal, but she was sure that he’d want to see them go into space, too.