"Don't go giving me compliments, Bot. You'll turn my head." She flipped a switch, shifting the inertial responders back to normal space settings before they ended up accidentally flying backwards.
"If you're implying I'm not crazy, you're wrong. Put me in some boring, backwater settlement or a glass tower on one of the primary worlds for more than a week, and you'd quickly see how mentally unfit I am. At least, I'm unfit for that environment."
"Captain, why do you think the Passage makes humans lose their minds?" She spared a second to look back at the robot, whose head was tilted slightly in the same simulated posture of curiosity it had offered back in the common area on Mebarik.
"Look it up. Something about physics and stress response and catastrophically interrupting circadian processes." She snorted a little at the idea of a robot asking her to explain scientific phenomena.
"I'm aware of the official medical hypothesis. I'm more interested in hearing why you think it results in insanity."
Shaen thoughtfully chewed on her lower lip a moment. "I don't think the official explanation is wrong, exactly. Back on Old Terra, they called it True North. Polar north was the only absolute idea of direction people had for centuries--the idea that there was one spot, one place anchoring the universe. Animals migrated by it. Explorers sailed by it. You knew where home was, you knew where north was in relation to it, so you could always triangulate. You could always find your way home.
"I think we have to have something like that, or we get lost. Not just physically lost. We lose our way, lose our minds. We moved to the stars, and polar north didn't cut it anymore.
"In the Passage, you're cut off, absolutely, from everything outside yourself. It's limbo, and I think some primal part of you knows it. Most folks, they feel a sense of being suddenly, completely alone in the dark, and it breaks them.
"You asked why I can function in the Passage? Because I have my own True North. I got it on one of those Asylum Ships you're so keen to keep that kid out of. I take care of myself. And I've always been alone in the dark.
"The first time I set foot on the Belle Starr was the first time any place ever felt like home. I have my ship, and I have myself. I don't worry about losing any other damn thing. That's how I keep from getting lost."
The android nodded slowly, tenting its fingers as it had when it first approached her in the food stalls on Mebarik.
"We're coming up on N'Bari IV, the planet you asked to land on." She nodded at the navigational screen. "I could set down at the starport in D'Nali Station, but your odds of being sent through a scanner are pretty high. They'd spot the kid, for certain."
"What do you suggest I do, Captain Morris?"
"I suggest you stay put, Whiskey. We're not landing in D'Nali. Give the Belle the coordinates to the island you mentioned."
"There's no starport or landing area there, Captain."
"I suspected as much. We have an escape pod. It'll be a tight squeeze, but it should hold you and your cargo. Might not be the smoothest landing ever, but not so much as to attract official notice. We'll orbit once. You've got a couple standard days to get what you need out of the pod and get a shelter set up before I call it back to the ship."
"I don't know what to say, Captain. That's a very generous offer from someone whose only concern is self-preservation."
"No, it's not. I had a two-day wait till my next jump window anyway. More than 24 hours of shore leave in a place like D'Nali makes me twitchy. Plus, if you get caught with the kid, it could get traced back to me. I'm just looking out for my own best interests."
"Of course," said the android. "You must keep following that inner compass. It's served you well so far. I'm only pleased to hear the safety of my ward lies along the same path."
The android started rolling back towards the storage bays, to prepare the escape pod for landing.
"Whiskey?" The android stopped, and rolled around to face her. "What about you? What's your compass? Why risk yourself to save a human kid you didn't even know?"
"I'm not certain, Captain. As an artificial intelligence, I find many things defy conventional logic. If that weren't true, we'd never have needed to develop beyond simulated intelligence. Perhaps some advanced predictive algorithm tells me my survival is best served by allying myself with a human. Perhaps by serving as the child's caretaker from infancy, he will bond with me and protect me later. Maybe the child is my True North, guiding me to safety."
Shaen frowned at the android. "I suppose that's fair enough. Hasn't been long that androids have been granted the right to earn autonomy. It's possible people might one day decide to take your freedom back. So you're raising an ally, if not an army. It's as good a purpose as any, I guess."
"Self-preservation one level of logical purpose, Captain. Your ancient philosophers assert it's not the only one. Perhaps I've developed what humans call 'compassion.' Possibly, my programming has expanded to include what your kind refers to as a soul."
"I hope so, Whiskey." Shaen turned back to the controls of the Belle Starr. "Based on what I've seen, we humans have lost ours."
The android had no response to that. It rolled back towards the cargo area, sliding the cockpit doors open. On the holoscreen, the blue-green surface of N'Bari IV shimmered against the black, its few cities twinkling like stars. Somewhere in the midnight blue of its vast oceans, an island awaited.
"Whiskey?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"Welcome home."
author's note
I hope you've enjoyed Whiskey on the Rocks, episode 1 of the Belle Starr chronicles. This was my first published science fiction story. I've since published episode 2, The Skull Game. Episode 3, A Pair of Aces is due out in summer of 2014.
This first story was inspired by Firefly, Star Wars, Star Trek and other space adventures, as well as Stephen King's short story "The Jaunt." Captain Shaen Morris has white hair in homage to that tale. As for the ship, she was named for the famous lady outlaw of the Wild West.
This story is dedicated to my online girlfriends group, one of whom offered up her name for my main character. Since first publishing this story in March, 2013 under the title Belle Starr, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Because so many people asked me for more stories with Shaen and the Belle, I decided to make it a series. The Skull Game brings back Shaen and the brothers Vahnu and Vishku, and introduces a few new characters I think you'll like. If you're curious about what happened with Whiskey and Ward, they're due to return in A Pair of Aces.
In addition to the Belle Starr chronicles, I've written several steampunk retellings of classic fairy tales. The Clockwork Republics series has been published by 3 Fates Press. The Clockwork Republics series is set in an alternate history where the American states never united, and clockwork engineering combined with alchemy has radically altered the world.
Big Teeth is a steampunk version of "Little Red Riding Hood."
Blowhard is based on "The Three Little Pigs."
Mirrors and Magic is a steampunk retelling of "Snow White" and my first novel.
Bitter Cold is a novella based on Hans Christian Anderson's "The Snow Queen." It was published by Echelon Press, as part of the Once Upon a Clockwork Tale anthology. Once Upon a Clockwork Tale also features steampunk reimaginings of "The Wild Swans," "Hansel & Gretel," and "Jack & the Beanstalk" from authors Ella Grey, Robin Wyatt Dunn, and Matt Mitrovich.
If you're interested in hearing about more of my writing, visit my website at www.katinafrench.com.
Books and stories by Katina French
The Clockwork Republic Series
Blowhard
Big Teeth
Mirrors & Magic
The Belle Starr Series
Belle Starr: Whiskey on the Rocks
Belle Starr: The Skull Game
Belle Starr: A Pair of Aces *
The Exodus of Jerry B. Johnson
Flashes of Wonder (Collection)
Bitter Cold
(novella in Once Upo
n a Clockwork Tale)
* coming soon
Whiskey on the Rocks Page 3