by Henry Vogel
I made myself watch Quint’s futile struggle for life as he drifted in the void.
I made myself watch Quint die.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
Quint’s still and lifeless body tumbled away from the pirate base, shrinking until it was too small to see. I gave myself a mental shake and pulled my gaze away from the airless abyss beyond the atmosphere shield.
Chapman, a smug smile pasted on his face, stepped in front of me.
“Well, Rice, I guess you’re pretty happy I was around to save everyone!”
I punched him, flattening Chapman’s nose.
“Ow! What the hell-?”
“Don’t you dare proclaim yourself the hero!”
“But I stopped Quint!” Chapman’s voice rose with each word.
I punched him in the stomach and heard the breath whoosh out of him. Good. Maybe that would shut him up for a few minutes.
“This whole situation is your fault, Chapman.”
I hit him with a left cross and he stumbled back a step.
“If you had simply kept your big mouth shut and stayed on our ship, none of this would have happened.”
My right fist cracked into his eye and Chapman reeled back against the wall of the docking bay.
“If you had simply kept your big mouth shut, you wouldn’t have been challenged to a duel.”
I grabbed Chapman’s shirt in both fists and pounded him against the wall.
“If you had simply kept your big mouth shut, I wouldn’t have had to join the duel just to keep you quiet.”
I smashed Chapman against the wall, again.
“If you had simply kept your big mouth shut, my wife and friends wouldn’t have had to put themselves in danger just to keep our story intact. The story you were determined to reveal!”
Chapman sagged as I thumped him into the wall a third time.
“If you had simply kept your big mouth shut, dozens, maybe hundreds, of men — marines and pirates, alike — would still be alive.”
Thump.
“If you had simply kept your big mouth shut, Milo would still be alive!”
Thump.
“He.”
Thump.
“Was.”
Thump.
“Only.”
Thump.
“Sixteen!”
Thump.
I heard a voice from far away. “You’re on a private channel, Your Highness.”
“David? Talk to me!”
I released Chapman and he slid down the wall to the floor.
“Callan? Are you safe?”
“Yes, darling, we’re all on board the ship. We’re all safe.”
“Milo’s not safe. He’ll never be safe again.”
“You’re wrong, David. He’ll never be in danger again. He’s at peace.”
“Do you truly believe that, Callan?”
“After all we’ve been through, how could I not?”
I paused to consider her words. Callan couldn’t see it, but I nodded slowly and pushed my emotions down. Having mastered myself, I turned to survey the scene in the docking bay.
“All right, men, it’s time to get back to work.”
Rupor stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. “We can handle this, David. When the fighting ends, a man must take the time to properly mourn the dead.”
The marines did appear to have everything under control. Squads of marines herded the pirates into small, manageable groups and disarmed them. Others directed the collection of the dead and wounded from both sides. Medics moved among the wounded performing triage. And beyond the atmosphere shield, our ship’s remaining pinnace detached and maneuvered into the docking bay. Tristan bounded out as soon as the hatch opened, rushing to tend the wounded.
And then Callan emerged and ran across the docking bay to me. She flew into my arms and kissed me. It was long and tender and I felt my emotions rising again. This time I did not try to hold them back and the tears flowed.
Tears of rage and relief.
Tears of loss and love.
Tears for Milo.
Tears for the marines.
Tears for Martin and Megan.
Tears for the woman who held me.
I sank to the deck and Callan held me while I cried.
Sometime later, I became aware a marine stood silently ten feet away. Callan and I rose from the deck and looked around the docking bay. The Aashla’s Hope was inside again, floating on repulsers but tethered in position. Tristan still moved among the wounded, barking orders and tending patients. The pirates sat, hands upon heads, in small groups scattered around the bay.
“Yes, private? What can I do for you?” I said to the marine.
He snapped off a salute. “I’m sorry to interrupt, sir, but you’re wanted aboard the ship.”
“Do you have any idea why?”
“Yes, sir. They said to tell you the wormhole has opened.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
“Your Highness?” a marine asked as we turned toward the ship. “Should we space Chapman, too?”
Callan glared at the man slumped against the wall. “No, corporal. I’m not kind enough to give him the easy way out.”
Without another word, she led the way to the ship.
“Please excuse my ignorance, dear, but this must be some new definition of ‘kind’ I’m not familiar with.”
“That’s because you haven’t spent enough time among the sycophants in court, David.” With a smile Callan took my arm. “There are people for whom status is everything. They must belong to the ‘right’ groups and be seen with the ‘right’ people. Such people would rather die than lose status.”
“You’re saying Chapman is one of those people?”
“Absolutely. If we dig into his past, I’m sure we’ll find a high status education and a high status job. All you have to do is look at Heidi to realize she’s his high status wife.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why he sucked up to the pirates like he did.”
“Of course it does, darling. Different societies have different definitions of high status. Whatever gave Chapman his status before his capture did nothing for him in a society of pirates. He had to change who and what he was or face being a low status outsider. That’s the one thing he couldn’t accept.”
That did explain a lot about Chapman’s behavior. “And spacing him would spare him being dragged back into galactic society as a traitor against his fellow prisoners and a spy for the pirates. God above, even the other prisoners will despise him!”
A grim smile played across Callan’s lips as she nodded. “I have no sympathy for the wretched man. He brought it on himself.”
We climbed the ramp into the Aashla’s Hope and headed for the bridge. Crewmen hunched over each of the ship’s sensor displays. Laura stood next to Heidi as the comm officer scanned subspace bands for any activity.
“Have you found anything, Heidi?” I asked.
She shook her head. “All of the bands are clear, David.”
“Try broadcasting an SOS on all bands. And put the comm on speaker.”
Heidi’s fingers flew across the keyboard. The sound of the automated SOS signal filled the bridge. We received a reply within seconds.
“Unidentified ship, what is the nature of your emergency?”
The response was fast and professional. It had to be a naval ship.
“This is David Rice commanding the Aashla’s Hope. We are currently moored in a pirate base docking bay-”
A new voice broke in. It held the no-nonsense, take-charge tone you find in experienced officers.
“How dire is your situation? We’re on a hard burn toward the coordinates you provided in your drone. Can you hold out for another twenty minutes?”
“We don’t need to hold out, sir. We’ve taken the base. The pirate captains are all dead and the surviving pirates are our prisoners.”
There was a pause. “Well done, of course, but why did you broadcast an SOS?”
&nbs
p; “We’ve taken the base, but have many wounded from both sides. We are woefully short of supplies and personnel to attend to them all.”
“Understood. I have a fully equipped medical ship as part of my command. We will make all haste to the base.”
“Thank you, sir. Rice out.”
While waiting for naval aid to arrive, Callan and I went out to the makeshift hospital. My wife’s eyes welled as she gazed upon the row of neatly laid out dead, each draped in the flag of his native country.
The marine commander approached and sketched a bow. “Your Highness? Perhaps you could say a few words? I believe it will mean a lot to the men.”
“Of course, Commander.” Callan touched her comm. “Heidi, please broadcast my comm throughout the docking bay.”
“You’re on, Princess Callan.”
Callan walked in among the wounded, looking each in the eye and flashing her dazzling smile. She raised her head and her gaze took in the unwounded marines around the docking bay.
“My brave warriors, Tartegian and Mordanian alike, your world owes you a debt of thanks. You have fought well.” She looked back to the rows of dead. “And too many of you have died well.”
Callan turned back to the living. “Today, we have lost friends, brothers-in-arms. Back home, though they do not yet know it, families have lost fathers and sons and brothers. Yet these sacrifices will save lives untold. The lives of fathers and sons, of mothers and daughters, of brothers and sisters.
“We shall never know how many lives have been saved by your actions here today. More importantly, those you have saved will never know you saved them. They will sail peacefully through space and arrive safely at their destination, all because men of honor and courage dared to venture beyond the sky of their home world. Those saved will never know — but I know.
“And I swell with pride knowing our countries — our world — produce men such as you. Well done, gentlemen. Well done, indeed.”
The docking bay rocked with cheers as Callan knelt to speak with one of the wounded. She was still comforting the wounded when the navy arrived.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
The navy’s medical ship came fully staffed and supplied. The ship’s med team rushed to our wounded, injecting swarms of medical nanites into those with the worst wounds. Tristan could only watch in awe as wounds beyond his ability to heal closed as if by magic. Once those on the brink of death were safe, the doctor in charge of the medical team sought out our doctor.
“Sir, are you Doctor Agrilla?”
“I am, though after watching you at work, I’m not so sure I should call myself ‘doctor’ anymore.” Tristan’s gaze swept the organized chaos in his makeshift hospital. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you for saving those I am too unskilled to save.”
“It’s not our skill, sir, it’s our technology. Without the nanites, my team would not have saved anywhere near as many men as they did.”
Tristan’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”
“It’s God’s own truth, sir.” The doctor smiled at Tristan. “I sought you out because I want to ask you about some of the procedures you used.”
Gesturing to some of the wounded men, Tristan and the naval doctor fell into a technical discussion well beyond my capability to follow.
Once the initial rush to help the wounded and establish naval control of the docking bay was over, the navy reverted to its thorough, though tedious, routine. Armored marines swept the rest of the base section by section, rounding up the last of the pirates. The records of the pirate captains were secured and unsold plunder recovered. Naval repair crews even fixed the landing struts on the Aashla’s Hope.
A long and busy thirty-five hours after they arrived, naval demolitions crews rigged the base with explosives and we finally set a course for the wormhole. All who were onboard our ship watched the vid display as the explosives detonated and blasted the pirate base into thousands of tiny asteroids.
The only thing worth noting during the trip to the navy base occurred shortly after we exited the wormhole. The trio of Rupor, Heidi, and Megan approached Callan in the recreation room.
“Your Highness?”
Something in Heidi’s tone sent Callan right into princess mode. She stood straighter. Her shoulders drew back. Her gaze sharpened.
“Yes, Heidi?”
“I have a problem I hope you can solve, Princess Callan.” Heidi continued with the formal tone. “In the Federation, divorces can be complicated, even if both parties agree to the divorce. I rather doubt Erwin will cooperate.”
Heidi stopped and met Callan’s eyes for a moment. Callan nodded for her to continue.
“Megan told me that you can issue a royal proclamation of divorce.”
“I can, Heidi, but only for Mordanian citizens.”
“Megan also told me you can grant Mordanian citizenship by royal proclamation.”
“I can do that, also, but Rupor can do likewise for Tartegian citizens.”
Rupor cleared his throat. “As I have a vested interest in this outcome, I feel it will be more seemly if the proclamations came from someone other than me.” A bright smile crossed Rupor’s face. “Besides, Callan, at one time my subjects expected me to marry a beautiful Mordanian citizen. I believe many of them are still rather partial to the idea.”
Callan smiled in return. “Heidi, I don’t have the oath of citizenship memorized, but I’ve accepted nontraditional oaths in the past. Do you swear to uphold the laws of Mordan, obey the monarch, and support Mordan in peace and in war?”
“I so swear.”
“Then by the powers granted to me as a princess of the realm and heir to the throne, I accept your pledge and welcome you as a subject of the kingdom of Mordan.”
Applause broke out around the bridge and Callan raised a hand to request quiet.
“Furthermore, it has come to my attention that you are unhappy in your marriage to one Erwin Chapman and wish to terminate the bond of matrimony between the two of you. Is that correct?”
“Damn right it is!” Heidi blushed when she realized what she had said. “I beg your pardon, Your Highness. Yes, that is correct.”
“Again, by the powers granted to me as a princess of the realm and heir to the throne, I hereby grant your request for divorce and order your marriage to Erwin Chapman dissolved.”
Applause broke out again, louder than before.
Callan looked at Rupor, who wore the widest grin I’d ever seen on his face. “For God’s sake, Rupor, stop grinning like an idiot and kiss Heidi!”
He did and we all cheered.
Thirty minutes later, we docked and emerged into a madhouse.
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
We docked at Velron Station, orbiting the border world of Darthan. Planets on the edge of Federation territory could rarely afford multiple space stations and Darthan was no exception. The single space station served both military and civilian ships and personnel. As seems to be typical in these situations, space for military ships was severely limited. Station control ordered the Aashla’s Hope to dock in the civilian section.
The first hint of trouble came when some of our crew — all men and women formerly held by the pirates — ran out to help the station crew attach magnetic grapples and seal the airlocks. Thirty seconds later, they all ran back into the ship, sweat beaded on their faces and short of breath.
Martin and I exchanged glances before I spoke to one of the crew.
“Is there a problem, Natalie?”
Her wide eyes focused on me and her breathing slowed. “It’s crazy out there, sir!”
“What do you mean by crazy?”
“It’s wall-to-wall newsies out there, sir! Half a dozen of them surrounded me when I tried to help the station crew, all of them pushing and shoving to get my attention, shouting questions the whole time. I- I’m not used to crowds like that after all the time I spent with the pirates and then you Aashlanders. I panicked.” Natalie looked around at the others who went out with her. “We a
ll did.”
I patted her on the shoulder. “Why don’t you and the others go to the med bay. Ask Tristan to give you something to calm you down.”
Thumbing my comm unit, I said, “Heidi, please have the senior staff meet Martin and me in the Captain’s office. Also, can you tap into the station’s vid feeds and find a view of our docking bay?”
“I’m on it, David. Do you want me to scan the news channels, too?”
“Good idea. Be ready to route what you find to the screens in the office.”
A moment later, we stared at the images Heidi sent to the office. Natalie hadn’t exaggerated describing the docking bay. Hundreds of men and women pushed and shoved to get close to our ship’s exits. Vid cameras swooped over the crowd, somehow managing to avoid colliding with each other. As bad as that was, the news vids were worse.
One newsie exclaimed, “Word on the station is those aboard this very ship stormed the base of the infamous pirate captains Caudill and Quint, slaughtering every last one of the pirates!”
Another reported, “We have been told that these people from a long-lost human colony forgot all technological knowledge but may have gained powerful mental or mystic abilities. Frankly, viewers, it’s the only logical explanation for how a band of barbarians could have defeated these pirates.”
Callan, Rupor, and Tristan bristled at the speculation.
“Darling, did that man just call us barbarians?”
“Now, Callan-”
Laura pointed to a screen. “Look, it’s David!”
An image of me in my cadet uniform filled one screen.
Martin burst out laughing. “Isn’t he adorable?”
His laughter stilled when my image was replaced by one of Martin in his cadet uniform.
Megan wrapped an arm around Martin. “Don’t worry, Martin, you look much cuter than David in that uniform.”
Everyone had a laugh at our expense, but I’d seen all I wanted to see.
“Heidi, cut the broadcasts to the office and then get me the commander of the military base.”
Several minutes passed before Heidi reported, “I’ve got an aide to the commander, David. It’s the best I could do.”