“No. Is that good?”
“It's wonderful.” She swung her legs off the couch and stood, and stepped over to where he sat. “Congratulations, Spacer. You have just proven you have good instinctive reactions for piloting.” Lin held out her hand to shake his. She grinned, more life and merriment in her expression than Bain had seen since that dinner with Gil and the commander. “I was a little afraid you'd be stuck playing crew for the rest of your life. My pride in my teaching was at stake, you know.”
“I did good?” He shook her hand.
“Would you stop saying that?” She laughed. “Come on, let's see what we can use for a celebration.”
“Alyss sent a whole crate of candy bush berries,” Bain offered. “She said they're good on sourcake if you crush them first.”
“That sounds good.” Lin headed for the ladder. “Have you practiced your harp recently?”
“No.”
“You really ought to. Next time you see Branda, you should have something to show her.” Her voice sounded muffled and far off, coming up through the passageway into the dome.
“Do you think I'll see her again?” Bain hurried down the ladder.
“Bain, she's your kin. I'll bet if you keep in contact with her, Branda will show up everywhere you go, just to check on you.”
“Oh.” He stepped off the ladder and hurried across the bridge to his cubicle to get a clean shirt. The one he wore felt clammy and stuck to his back with cold, drying sweat.
“Bain, do you like Branda?” Lin's voice changed. It had that note of hesitation that made Bain think she was getting sick.
“I guess so.”
“Family is important. If she wants you, would you want to stay with her? You'd travel, you'd be running a ship—”
“But it wouldn't be the same!” he blurted, turning around at the door of his cubicle. “We'd sit on planets for months before we'd go anywhere.”
“You like space travel, eh?” Lin grinned and slid down into a galley bench. “You'd like to be a working, traveling Spacer for the rest of your life?”
“More than anything.”
“You'll have it, if I have anything to say about it.” Lin sighed and rubbed at her eyes. “Things sometimes aren't as easy as we'd like them to be, Bain.”
“Maybe I'm not as good or as smart as you think I am,” he offered. Bain crawled into his cubicle, pulled his shirt off and tossed it into a corner. Keeping it neat didn't seem to matter anymore.
“Any Spacer captain in this galaxy would be lucky to have you sign on!”
“Don't you want me to stay here?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then I'll stay.”
“Bain, it isn't that easy.”
“Chief Malloy won't let me stay with you. He's being mean just because you won't eat with him. Right?” He pulled a clean shirt on and settled down on the edge of his bunk, where he could see Lin.
“No, it's not that at all. Sourpuss Malloy can lay down all the rules he wants and be as nasty as they come, but he never lets his personal feelings get in the way of his job. That's the only reason I put up with him.”
“Then what's the problem?”
“Consider your career, Bain. With the military, you'd have the latest designs, the fastest ships, and the best weapons for defense. You wouldn't have to resort to nasty tricks to get away from the Mashrami if they tried to catch you. It's dangerous being a Spacer in an old ship like this, Bain. Even with Ganfer and all the fancy flying I do, we could get hurt.”
“I don't care. I'll take Sunsinger over those big fancy ships any day.” Bain got up and went to the galley. He sat down across from Lin. His heart thundered in his ears. He could hardly breathe. “You said you'd tell me the secret before we landed on Refuge again. Tell me now. Please?”
“When you decide what you'll do about the commander's offer, then I'll tell you.” Lin reached over and took hold of Bain's hands, squeezing them tight. “Promise me that you'll stick to your decision, Bain, no matter what I tell you.”
“No.” He felt more scared than when he had crawled into the pirates’ shuttlecraft.
“Bain—”
“Tell me. If it's so important you think it'll change my whole life, maybe you should tell me before I decide.”
“What do you want to do with your life, Bain?” Lin whispered. She squeezed his hands harder. They hurt.
“I want to stay here on Sunsinger and be your crew. Forever and ever. We'll help people get away from the Mashrami, and when the war is over we'll go exploring and find lots of new places to get to through the Knaught Points.”
“Really?” Lin's eyes suddenly had tears in them.
“Do you want me to stay here?”
“I already said so.”
“Then what's the problem? What's the secret?”
“Family is important, Bain. Sourpuss Malloy didn't want you to know this until the authorities were sure you and I were good together. They didn't want me influencing you away from what you wanted or what was really good for you.” Lin took a data disk out of her pocket and handed it to Bain. “I had to search records and sign at least a metric ton of paperwork to verify everything on this disk. Branda is your kin. That's definite and provable. She's a relative of mine, too. Her aunt married my father's uncle. Their daughter, Eliza Fieran Kern, was your grandmother. You're my kin, Bain. We belong together.”
“Really?” Bain stared at the disk in his hand, then at Lin again. She smiled too wide, too bright, for it to be anything but the truth.
“Really. Sunsinger will be yours someday—so you have to do a good job learning to captain her, hear me?”
“Yes, Ma'am, Captain!” Bain sketched a salute like he had seen Lin give a hundred times before.
Lin sank back in the galley bench and wiped at her eyes.
“Blood-kin are important to Spacers. I never met your parents, but I knew where they lived. I came to Lenga to find them. That's what put me in that bad mood, when you heard me arguing with Cowrun. It hurts to lose what little family you have left, even if you never met them. Then I found you. If you want to be kin, that is.”
“If I want?” Bain's voice cracked. He blushed hot, bright red.
“It won't be easy, raising you. These last few weeks have shown me that. It won't be easy on you, either, but I think we'll survive. Besides, Ganfer will be doing most of the work.”
“I haven't finished raising Lin, yet,” Ganfer broke in.
“That's the truth!” She chuckled. “It'll be dangerous, running supplies and transporting scientists, fighting plagues, exploring, maybe even marking the Mashrami invasion path. That's the Spacer's Creed: going out ahead of the rest of the Human race, marking the trail, taking the risks, helping to keep the universe safe for everyone else. But we'll be together. Are you with me?”
“Yes!” Bain thought he could fly without needing to be in free fall. “Lin, was that the whole problem?”
“I wanted you to be with me the moment I learned who you were. That's how important family is. Malloy and Chief Gracia see it differently, and in a lot of ways they're right. Staying with me has to be what's best for you and for your future.”
“I want to stay on Sunsinger. I want to stay with you and Ganfer. I want to be a Spacer and a Free Trader and help the Commonwealth beat the Mashrami.”
“Is that all?”
“I'll think of more things tomorrow.”
“That's the first sensible thing both of you have said in hours,” Ganfer said, his voice coming from their link collars.
“Listen here, Bucket of Bolts,” Lin began. Then she burst out laughing and couldn't talk anymore. Bain joined in, laughing until he was red-faced and his stomach hurt and he couldn't breathe. It felt good.
[Back to Table of Contents]
* * *
Chapter Twenty-One
The next morning, Commander Chasburn came to Sunsinger with the refugee families. Bain didn't see the man at first. Marco, Mattias and Alyss and the
ir families were among the first load of refugees Sunsinger would ferry to Refuge. Bain ran to meet his friends and help them find their bunks for the trip out. He had just finished showing them how to use the tethers in free-fall when he turned around and saw the Commander crossing the crowded hold to meet him.
“Good morning, Bain,” Commander Chasburn called. He looked around the hold, grinning at all the activity. “Rather exciting in here, isn't it?”
“It's busy, sir. Good morning,” Bain hurried to add. He saw his three friends standing very still, their mouths slowly falling open as they watched the commander approach the corner where they stood with Bain.
“Captain Fieran keeps you busy, doesn't she?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You'll be even more busy if you sign on with me. Think you can handle it?”
“Sign on?” Mattias blurted. He gasped when his older brother shoved an elbow into his side to quiet him.
“Yes, sir.” Bain swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “I've decided I can't join the Fleet, sir.”
“Oh?” Commander Chasburn didn't look angry. He frowned a little, but it was like Lin's puzzled frown.
“We have a ship full of people we have to take to Refuge, and I'm crew here, and so I have to help.” He gestured around the hold, as if no one had seen the parents and grandparents and children finding net beds and stowing their bags and crates of belongings.
“I won't take you away from Sunsinger while you're needed, if that's what worries you.”
“I'll always be needed on Sunsinger. Captain Fieran is almost all the family I have left, sir.”
“She is, isn't she?” Commander Chasburn smiled and settled down on the edge of the bunk frame next to Bain.
“You knew already?” Bain thought his jaw would hit the floor, his mouth hung open so far.
“I've been doing a little research of my own, Bain. I want to know all about a young man who impresses me as much as you did. I made Captain Fieran tell me everything she knew about you. That was a pretty nasty trick the Child Welfare people on Refuge played, wasn't it?”
“They had their reasons, sir.”
“Yes, they did.” The commander winked at Bain and clapped him on the shoulder. “I had the feeling you wanted to stay here on Sunsinger.”
“You did?” Bain felt very stupid, but he didn't mind at all. He realized he had been terrified of making Commander Chasburn angry.
“Son, when a boy your age is offered a chance to join the Fleet and he hesitates, that means there's something a whole universe more important to him. The Fleet is important, but family is more important. A young man who sees that will serve the Commonwealth in much more important ways than someone who abandons his family responsibilities for the sake of adventure and glory.” The Commander leaned closer and lowered his voice. Bain could barely hear him above the noise of the people around them. “From what Captain Gilmore tells me, Captain Fieran needs you just as much as you need her.”
“Yes, sir. I hope so.”
“Believe me, it's true.” He stood up. “Well, crewman, you have a ship to prepare for launch. I'll let you get on with your work.” Then he stood straight and tall and raised two fingers to his brow and saluted Bain.
Gaping, Bain struggled to salute back. He held his breath, waiting, until the Commander turned and crossed the hold. Bain didn't lower his hand until the man had vanished down the ramp.
“You got asked to join the Fleet, and you didn't?” Mattias shrieked. “You're so stupid!”
“No, he's not.” Alyss gave the younger boy a shove so hard that he fell backwards into a net bunk. “He's smart.”
“He'll be captain of Sunsinger someday,” Marco said. “I'd give anything to be a Spacer captain.”
An hour later he was alone with Lin on the bridge. They sat at the control panel and waited for Ganfer to finish the countdown for launch. Bain told Lin what his friends had said. She laughed and reached over and messed his hair.
“You, Chobainian Kern, are going to be the best Spacer captain the Commonwealth has ever seen. I promise you that.”
THE END
* * *
Visit ebooks.writers-exchange.com for information on additional titles by this and other authors.
Spacer's Creed Page 15