No Safe Harbor: The Silver Liner

by Daniel Sullivan

  “Thanks.” He allowed her to help him to the table, where he sat comfortably. “Even if this doesn’t work, you’re a lifesaver!”

  “Amanda is a lifesaver,” she corrected. “I should have listened to her and stayed on the ship. Instead, I ended up being a piece of leverage that they would have used against you.”

  “You’ve saved my life and the life of the ship many times over, Lena,” Kendrick reminded her, somewhat surprised at her self-doubt. “Amanda would have had to do everything she did regardless and without you, extracting me would have been more difficult.”

  Lena smiled a bittersweet smile. “Thank you, Captain. I only wish that I had been able to rescue Fiona. Perhaps if I had been with them, I could have followed her and kept her from harm; or maybe I could have …”

  Kendrick put a finger to her lips. “Stop,” he said softly. “Fiona always was a bit of a free spirit when it came to following the plan. She could have asked me for help when we first met, but instead she stowed away; had I known she was aboard, I could have made preparations and accounted for being pursued. Then she took off on Atlas, getting you shot, getting Father Ronan aboard, and her formula and the embryos recovered by the very people she sought to keep it from. Fiona ran off and did things without thinking it through, and you can’t beat yourself up for not being able to predict it. It’s just something she did. I love her. God, I love her, but she has a hell of a way of throwin’ a wrench into the plans sometimes.” Kendrick placed his hand over hers and gently squeezed, turning to smile at her. “Just be you, Lena.”

  She smiled back at him. “I have her hooked up. Are you ready, Captain?”

  “Yeah. Let’s get started.”

  Lena nodded and inserted the needle into Kendrick’s arm, beginning what they both hoped would be a life restoring procedure. The tube’s medical systems automatically hooked up to Fiona and the transfusion began. Kendrick prayed that it would be a success.

  Father Ronan remained in the chapel once their flight from Phoenix had subsided to suborbital cruising speed. Fiona had died, but Kendrick was not yet ready to accept this. Why does he have to? Ronan thought about all they had been through and though life was often unfair, he was having a hard time accepting it himself. Kendrick and Fiona were dear friends, a brother and sister in Christ. Though nobody ‘deserved’ anything greater than anyone else, Ronan could not help but feel that Fiona’s death was a grave injustice.

  “The captain has suffered enough,” he said aloud, lighting candles.

  Once he had prepared the chapel for quiet prayer and reflection, he knelt down and began praying in earnest for a miracle. The priest prayed that the Lord would hear his entreaties and see fit to restore the exsanguinated doctor. Though he knew that he was not any kind of saint, at least not in the sense that the Roman Catholic Church used the term, he knew that the Lord’s mercy was infinite and His grace unfathomably deep. There were no limits on God.

  Ignoring the pain in his six-decades-old knees as he knelt, he took his rosary and cleared his mind, meditating on God’s great mercy and abundant blessing. Once Ronan’s mind was calm and focused, the priest began a long day and night of prayer and fasting, asking God’s mercy for Fiona; that He restore the doctor to life, or welcome her into paradise if that were His will.

  Cyrus had located himself in the engine room with Heather at take-off, right after they took Mun to his cabin, where he could rest and recover. Cyrus was pleased to find the engine room orderly and well kept, and that Heather had an expert handle on the ship’s operation. She had given him some monitoring tasks that took some pressure off of her, but now that they had escaped, there was little to do.

  It had been three days and Heather’s spirits had returned, though she was still subdued in the wake of Fiona’s death. The petite engineer had set up the chess board and with the action of leaving Mars now over, she was ready for another game.

  “I’ll let you be chrome this time,” she offered.

  “You sure about that?”

  “Based on our last two games? Very.”

  He laughed. “All right, young lady. Let’s get started.”

  The game lasted nearly an hour, but by the end, Cyrus had secured his victory against the surprisingly skilled Heather.

  “Oh, man,” she exclaimed. “You won!”

  “It was not easy,” he conceded. “I paid particular attention to your playing style in our previous games and I’ve shaken off the rust.”

  “We’ll have to see how you do against Mun,” Heather laughed. “He’s real good.”

  “I look forward to it.” He shook his head, chuckling. “In fact, this is a nice change of pace for me; Royce is paying me to lay low, all of you are easy enough to get along with and the ship is certainly comfortable enough.”

  “What do you do?” Heather set up the board for another game.

  “I told you; I’m a robotics expert, moonlighting as a merc. Needless to say, I have a keen interest in your helmsman.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes,” he explained. “She is incredibly sophisticated, as all Escort-7s are and her synthetic musculature is beyond anything I’ve ever built. However, she’s also self-aware; alive, and I find that fascinating.”

  “But you said you’re a merc,” she reminded him. “What kind of work do you do?”

  “Security, covert ops, shock troops; you name it,” he replied. “I go where the work is and my background and reputation make me valuable to a broad range of clients.”

  “You serve in the military?”

  “I did.”

  “Why’d you leave?”

  Cyrus’ laughed was bittersweet. “The military paid pennies by comparison, but demanded a lot more, while issuing what I considered substandard equipment. The chain of command was incompetent; why put myself through that, when I could do the same thing, get paid well and not have to be owned by the military?”

  Heather shrugged. “Makes sense. Captain tell you where we’re going?”

  “No, but I’m happy to go where the current takes us.”

  “Game’s ready,” Heather announced. “You ready for another round?”

  “Ladies first.”

  With the transfusion from Kendrick, combined with the meager supply of blood that was kept on hand in the Med Bay for medical emergencies, color had returned to Fiona. After initial aid from the medical equipment, she was now breathing on her own and had a steady heartbeat, but there was no brain activity. Kendrick looked at his fiancée as she lay in the stasis-tube. It was like a simulation of life. Still, he prayed that she would come back to him.

  “I have done all that I can,” Lena declared. “She will either recover or she will not, but at least she has the opportunity.”

  “What are her chances?”

  “Low. While her body’s autonomic functions are intact, she is comatose. Fiona was completely drained of blood and went without oxygen for more than six minutes. The time taken to give her enough blood for her heart to pump added to this. Everything that could be done once we found her, has been done. Apart from caring for her, I will attempt a regenerative therapy that involves the use of her own stem cells. The treatment has had some success in cases like hers. I have installed the necessary programs to enable me to perform the care she needs.”

  Kendrick nodded, unsurprised by her words. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Visit her and talk to her. While it may not help her, I believe it will help you.”

  “You’re right about that,” he agreed. “What happens once she wakes up?”

  “Assuming she ever does, there is a high probability that she will have permanent brain damage. Fiona may have to learn to do the most basic of functions again; and both her long and short term memory will likely be impacted. She will need you more now than she did when she was on the run.”

  Kendrick nodded. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  “Captain, Fiona will need your help, possibly for the rest of her life. She may have l
ong-term cognitive and physical impairment as a result of what she has suffered. She may also come out of her coma, but remain in a permanent vegetative state, where she sleeps and wakes, but never regains awareness. Her prognosis is not good.”

  “What if she’s in that state? Permanent vegetative state? I mean, I could still take care of her, right?”

  Lena looked at him sternly. “She would need constant care and physical therapy for the rest of her life. You would not be able to marry her, nor would you have a legal right to make medical decisions for her. Fiona is legally dead and you would risk losing custody of her if she ever left the ship. You would have no relationship with her, no life together. I would recommend letting her body die in that scenario, as she would already be gone.”

  He sat abruptly, feeling the strength leave his legs. He needed to be alone with Fiona. “Thank you, Lena. You wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on things on the bridge, would you?”

  “Of course not, Captain, but first, I need to examine your port.” She added, “I know that you are upset, but time is of the essence.”

  He nodded numbly as Lena began her examination of the hardware and had him take a seat by the scanning equipment to determine the extent of the damage beneath the skin. She also connected to him directly to take a diagnostic on the port itself. The gynoid positioned his head with care, then activated the scanner, taking readings from different angles, until at last, she was satisfied.

  “Captain, you will be pleased to know that it is the hardware, more specifically, the connection to your nervous system and brain. I cannot repair it here; we don’t have the equipment. This is something you will need to have repaired at a formal hospital. There are however only a handful of people who can do such an operation, all of them on Earth.”

  “Then it looks like we’re going to Earth,” he said with resignation.

  Lena tilted her head. “Yes, but won’t that place you within easy reach of those you seek to avoid?”

  “Can’t be helped. I can’t fly the ship at any kind of speed, or remotely access anything without the port being fixed.”

  “This means taking on a huge risk, Captain,” Lena reminded him. “I also must remind you that with me aboard and with the Selene’s Ai, you do not need to pilot the ship.”

  “I know, Lena, but how many times since this odyssey began have both the Ai and you been incapacitated?”

  Lena nodded. “A valid point. Still …”

  He smiled his crooked smile, adding, “Besides, they’ll never see it coming.”

  “Captain, I cannot endorse this course of action,” Lena admonished. “Though, I must concede, you have little choice.”

  “Yeah, I know. Pretty much no safe harbor anyway.”

  “That is unfortunately correct, Captain.”

  Mun was confined to his cabin, officially on bed-rest. The possibility that Fiona could be dead was monstrous. He remembered her being taken to the Med Bay and Lena saying something about trying to save her, and wondered if those efforts had been successful. Awake for less than a day, this was one of the many questions he had, as clearly, a lot had happened since Venus. As he thought of Venus, he realized that he still had no idea how long he had been out. What he did know, was that they had picked up at least two new people; and that Kendrick looked a lot different and was engaged to a woman whose life hung by a thread, if it still hung at all.

  His door chimed and he called out, “Come in,” though his call was more like a loud whisper. Still, Selene’s Ai recognized his intent and opened the door, revealing Heather and the large black man that had joined them. Heather greeted him with a wide smile and he felt like the room had just lit up. The big merc greeted Mun with a nod and the two pulled up chairs next to him.

  “I’ve missed you, Kang,” Heather said, giving him a hug. “It’s just not the same without you.”

  “Thanks,” the gunner replied. “Say, you don’t call me that; not that I mind, but what changed?”

  “I heard Doctor Yori refer to you by your first name and thought I should too. We’re friends.”

  “The best,” he affirmed. “Say, just how long have I been out?”

  “Been a couple of months,” Heather explained. “You missed New Year’s, but at least you survived. I thought you might not make it.”

  “Not letting you off that easy, Heather. You have to beat me in chess at least once before I die.”

  The big merc laughed. “She just might do that, Kang. The girl’s good; real good.” Then he extended his hand. “Cyrus Freeman by the way.”

  Mun shook his hand. “Mun Kang Hi; but you already knew that. You play?”

  “I do, though I had to shake the rust off; your engineer beat me in our first game.”

  “So … what do you do, Cyrus?”

  Cyrus laughed a deep, hearty laugh. “What don’t I do? Extraction, covert ops, running security, hacking, robotics, even a bit of engineering; and I make a mean espresso, if I do say so myself.”

  Mun nodded, trying to decide if the big man was serious, or just pulling his leg. Cyrus was a large, well-built man. Mun guessed that he was about as tall as Father Ronan, but where Ronan was tall and a bit lanky, Cyrus was a wall of muscle. The big merc looked rough, but his speech was cultured and refined. Mun imagined that he was highly educated.

  “Captain hire you on?”

  “Yes,” Cyrus confirmed. “I joined him in a firefight at Columbia Station and we drew up a contract afterward.”

  “Cool,” Mun said. “Good to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Cyrus said with a friendly smile as he stood. “Heather, I’ll cover engineering. Take as long as you need.”

  Heather nodded. “Thanks, Cyrus.”

  “Mister Mun,” Cyrus said with a nod as he left.

  As the door closed, Heather’s cheery demeanor dampened. “Oh my God, Kang, you won’t believe the shit that’s happened!”

  “I guess we’re still being chased?”

  Heather nodded again. “Yeah, big time. Turns out, the Alliance wants the Captain for some job and they were trying to hold Lena over his head to make him do it. Keyes got them out, but I still don’t trust her; she’s the one — her and her lover — who sabotaged the Fujin and the Selene with the computer virus back on Luna!”

  Mun shook his head in disbelief. “What’s she doing on board?”

  “Not just her,” Heather said. “We rescued her lover at Columbia Station. That’s how the Captain ended up in that firefight that Cyrus jumped into.”

  “Who were we rescuing him from? Lorgen?”

  She shook her head. “No; I don’t know where Lorgen is, but his ship was destroyed. We were rescuing her from that Velos thing, and the Alliance. And Keyes’ lover is a ‘she,’ not a ‘he.”

  “Yeah, but how are they mixed up in this? If they sabotaged the ships, then they must be working for either the United States or the Alliance.”

  “Alliance,” Heather clarified. “Keyes pretty much kissed her career goodbye by helping us and I think that’s on the level. Terri was an air traffic controller. Now, she’s just a passenger with us. Also, the Captain seems to think the United States wants him for a similar job, but we don’t know for sure.”

  Mun pondered the implications of what Heather had told him. “Man! That’s intense! Where are we going now?”

  Heather broke down and began to cry. “I don’t know, Kang. I don’t know!”

  Fiona heard voices and felt someone holding her hand. Her eyelids were heavy, but she managed to open them, only to close them quickly as the light assailed them. She began to open them again, this time slowly. She could see blurry shapes and thought that she was in the Med Bay.

  “Fiona!” It was Ken’s voice.

  She looked in his direction and could see a Kendrick-shaped blur holding her hand. She tried to speak, but something was in her nose and in her throat. Fiona realized that it was a feeding tube. The doctor’s eyes were slowly focusing and she could make out a still blurry Ken, but in mo
re detail.

  “Ken …” she was able to get the word out, but nothing more.

  “It’s alright, Fi,” he assured, squeezing her hand. “I’m here.” He leaned in close and kissed her lips gently.

  This made her smile, though she did not have the strength to kiss him. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was Velos draining her; but there was something else, something that happened afterward. Something wonderful.

  Another blurry shape appeared on the other side of her, this one Lena-shaped. “Her vitals are good,” Fiona felt Lena’s touch, as the gynoid caressed her cheek. “It’s good to have you back, Doctor.”

  Fiona smiled weakly and nodded. There was so much to tell them; so much to tell Ken. She squeezed his hand with all her strength, which turned out to be nearly none, but it did not matter. The Lord had kept them together. The Lord had sent her back to Ken. I died as Joyce Keane, she thought. I have arisen to a new life as Fiona Kinsale. Kendrick squeezed her hand again, and kissed her lips once more. She had not wanted to return after seeing what she had seen, but now that she felt Ken’s touch, Fiona was glad that she had.

  Chapter 10

  Renegades

  Mun Kang Hi’s physical wounds had healed, but now he had to rebuild muscle tone lost during his convalescence of several months. Fiona had taken very good care of him during his time in a coma and now that he had been awake for a few days, he remembered hearing the voices of visitors, including Heather’s, who had visited him daily. He would have to do something special for her, though he had no idea what. A lot had changed since he had been taken out of commission, though Kang was unsure if it was for the better.

  There were two new crewmembers, one of whom he had met and a passenger. The captain had become dark blond and Fiona had worn a diamond ring, engaged now to the captain. Fiona had been a hair’s breadth from being slain and was now recovering, much like himself. The middle-aged doctor had been a part of his life for over a year and had suddenly gone from caretaker to patient in the blink of an eye, her very life hanging by a thread. Of course, some things had not changed. They were still being chased by the Alliance and he assumed that the United States government was still after them as well.